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Experience so far with G4 Mini

Cal J Harris

Cal J Harris

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2020
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Well first off you saw my prior post, experiments with Samba failed. Apparently Samba3 supports SMB2 but only for server not on the client. I will state here I don’t have anything against Leopard but with 1GB on the mini I just don’t think it’s usable enough. In fact the only reason apart from newer software is Leopard WebKit because that’s probably the best browser for speed, but I find TenFourFox under Tiger is only slightly slower and displays all websites thrown at it, for example during my Samba experiment WebKit failed to be able to load the official Samba site

Basically I have decided right now Leopard is not something I strictly need, it runs slower and offers newer software, but I don’t need that newer software, if I did I’d probably just run out and get a Snow Leopard mac, obviously I personally don’t really need any PPC software, this is mostly for fun but tiger will run most PPC software that is form the PPC era. As for Tiger, I can see why people like it, it’s kinda the windows xp of Mac, assuming Snow Leopard is the Windows 7. Im wondering what else I can do with it. I think I’m going to try install MintPPC, I also need to play around more with OS9 but it runs like lighting. If anything, if they can get that build of Snow Leopard working with the Radeon 9200 because eww no acceleration is sluggish, then I would probably mess with that.
 
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Whatever OS fits your needs and purpose is what you should use. If that's Tiger, then great.

I prefer Leopard and I've run it on G4s with 400mhz processors and less than 1GB ram. I currently have it on a G4/500 with a little over 1GB ram. It's mainly being used as a file server and so I want things up to date.

Leopard Finder handles connections better and it has a better printserver. Tiger is just very difficult to work with in a mixed PC/Mac environment where your server is a PC. I dealt with all that for years in a previous job and a lot of it went away when I upgraded Macs to Leopard.

Leopard can also be optimized (there is a thread on that in this forum) and it helps a lot. It won't make it faster than Tiger, but the improvement is significant. A stock install of Leopard just doesn't cut things.

I am running Tiger Server on my G3 B&W though, but that's only because the G3 won't run Leopard Server without a processor upgrade.
 
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If you are interested, there are many ways to make Leopard "almost" as fast as Tiger. Check this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/guide-leopard-speed-improvements.1723868/ for some tips. Also regardless of browser used, use a hosts file to block ads vs an adblock extension. It frees up some resources by not taxing the browser to handle rendering and adblocking at the same time. I use this: https://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

I prefer Leopard personally over Tiger. LWK, while not perfect or updated is still smokin' fast. I like Leopards look too. More software choices as well. Even apps i made over the years was possible on Leopard, or continued to be possible on Leopard, but not Tiger. Seen here: https://randommacstuff.blogspot.com/p/powerpc-mac.html

Otherwise Linux runs well. For a G4 mini, without sounding biased, i recommend ubuntu 12.04 remix. Everything on your mini will work out of the box, and the slightly older 12.04 system (which i updated to some degree) is more period correct and is just a more enjoyable experience vs the newer heavier distros which are better suited for G5's.
12.04 is linked towards bottom of post under the 16.04 links. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lubuntu-16-04-remix-updated.2204742/

Replying from a G4 mini using Leopard, which also dual boots 12.04 remix.

Happy tinkering.
 
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I still maintain and will continue to do so that Demeter is the fastest browser out there for PowerPC. LWK and Safari can't touch it for speed. If no bones, bare speed is all you want, Demeter wins every time.

The only problem is that Demeter hasn't been maintained in years and has a lot of difficulty handling the modern web. I relinked it once, using the LWK scripts and that helped considerably, but it still has a lot of issues.
 
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wicknix said:
If you are interested, there are many ways to make Leopard "almost" as fast as Tiger. Check this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/guide-leopard-speed-improvements.1723868/ for some tips.
Click to expand...

... Or they can avoid all the manual work and simply run AuroraTrimcelerator instead.

forums.macrumors.com

AuroraTrimcelerator - Snow Leopard Comes To PowerPC

Well, it's finally here. After twelve months+ of development, TenFiveTrim is now well and truly ready for action. The NEW AuroraTrimcelerator is an automated script that will optimize Mac OS X Leopard, removing redundant extensions along with disabling BeamSync that results in a faster and more...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

Likewise, AquaTrimcelerator for Tiger.

forums.macrumors.com

AquaTrimcelerator - The Unofficial 10.4.12

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/tiger-at-a-magnifying-glass-tolerating-osx-starting-with-tiger.2112845/ Good news everyone! More has come! A simple automated script has been built that optimizes Tiger! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After an exhaustive amount of research...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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Yea MintPPC is not working, grub being the issue. I know yaboot is the preference. I might go back to Leopard sure feels more at home for me as somebody who use modern Mac OS. I was thinking about messing around with some PPC App development, that’s a big maybe. But is Leopard better for that, I have heard people say Leopard is much more modern than Tiger but at this point I don’t know if many differences between the two matter.

As for Linux I’m gonna have a test and see maybe I will try 12.04 first 16.04 did lock up a couple times
 
Cal J Harris said:
I was thinking about messing around with some PPC App development, that’s a big maybe. But is Leopard better for that, I have heard people say Leopard is much more modern than Tiger but at this point I don’t know if many differences between the two matter.
Click to expand...
I'd say if you can develop for both Tiger and Leo then that's great but don't hesitate to leverage APIs etc. that are Leo-only, ie don't let Tiger hold you back.
 
Make sure to boot Linux with radeon.agpmode=-1 to prevent lockups with the 9200.

Boot the live CD with:
live radeon.agpmode=-1

Once installed boot with:
Linux radeon.agpmode=-1

Then edit /etc/yaboot.conf and add radeon.agpmode=-1 to the "append" line and save. Then in terminal type: sudo ybin -v to update the bootloader and make the change stick between reboots.

Cheers
 
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Looks like this has probably been talked about enough but I also run Leopard on literally everything that it will boot on, including a B&W with a G4. I recently bought another G4 card so it’ll go on my Beige G3 tower when I get around to it. I’ve used Leopard and Tiger both heavily and I legitimately don’t see why people think Leopard is slower. It does use more memory but anything with 768MB or higher it runs as well as Tiger. The only thing I will say is that Leopard “feels” slower on non Core Image GPUs but it really isn’t.

It’s very usable on my G4 upgraded Pismo which has by far the worst GPU ever for Leopard, and 1GB of ram. OS X regardless of what version runs like crap on Rage chips. I have no idea why Apple used them in half the systems they were in.
 
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I think I might reinstall Leopard, I liked using it, But at stock Tiger defo feels more snappy and , it’s a shame Mini G4s have the 1GB ram limit I think on 2GB Leopard would feel smoother. I tried the remixes, maybe it’s because of the CD I used but 12.04 locked up on the boot screen with the Radeon option. I tried Void and it failed to get to installer on both 4.4 and 5.4. So I thought I’d go stock and probably mess with and add some stuff from Remix 16.04, used the 16.04 NetBoot image. Worked fine and installed without issue. Probably gonna link it up to Debian Ports to pull newer packages.

As for Leopard APIS I’d have to see how much more than can offer, I have only heard that in the case of TenFourFox, targeting Tiger is a factor which holds it back slightly.

Probably gonna post a video soon, managed to get Sims 2 (all time favourite of mine) to run. Performance is well to be expected. Not great, but for the Sims is not unplayable, just slow.

One other thing that crossed my mind. I know from experience on the Windows Side that Server often can be slightly lighter on reassured usage, especially in the RAM department. Could the same be said for Leopard Server over Client or is the difference only in the Server software?
 
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Cal J Harris said:
One other thing that crossed my mind. I know from experience on the Windows Side that Server often can be slightly lighter on reassured usage, especially in the RAM department. Could the same be said for Leopard Server over Client or is the difference only in the Server software?
Click to expand...

I’ve got experience with Windows Server as well. I used Server 2003 as my main OS for awhile back in the day lol.
The same is not true for OS X however. The Server and Client versions are the same, the only difference being the server apps and the default wallpaper.
 
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I like my G4 mini. I run an optimized 10.5.8 using much of the info already linked to ( this was before z970mp's successful all-in-one efforts). I pull mine out from time to time, but mostly as a defacto TDM machine. I'll alwyas love the small form factor of this box.
 
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swamprock said:
My overclocked (to 1.42ghz) 1.25ghz G4 Mini runs unsupported OS 9, and it's a screamer for games and emulation. I used to think it was useless until they figured out how to get OS 9.2.2 on it...
Click to expand...
Mine seems to have about the same specs, but it just doesn't want to boot any of those, original universal version, later universal version, unsupported G4s version. No luck, although the .iso files seem to be burned correctly.

Do you need to have MacOs on them to boot? Do you need to burn the CDs on a Mac?
 
I'm also a recent proud owner of a PowerMac 10,1 with just 512MB of RAM, but a 300GB HDD.

Would anyone suggest partitioning and installing Tiger with Classic mode, or rather Leopard and a separate 9.2.2 partition? I don't plan any particular tasks for the Mac OS X partition, just playing around.

I also want to install MorphOS and BeOS.

Any advice is appreciated!
 
Amethyst1 said:
BeOS doesn't run on a Mac mini.

As for the partitioning, my take is if you do want OS 9, run it natively. I'd go for 9, Tiger and Leopard.
Click to expand...

Thanks, guys!

I purchased the BeOS Pro version many years ago, and simply relied on the "PPC" printed on the CD, so I had not done any research if the Mini G4 can install it. Oh well.

I'll follow your advice about the partitions.
 
CocoaNut said:
Thanks, guys!

I purchased the BeOS Pro version many years ago, and simply relied on the "PPC" printed on the CD, so I had not done any research if the Mini G4 can install it. Oh well.
Click to expand...

I have BeOS installed on a couple of my older PowerMacs. To be perfectly honest, it looks and works exactly the same as the Intel version except that there are far fewer device drivers and applications compiled for PPC than for Intel and what there are of those are dispersed far and wide over the internet since most BeOS users used PCs.

tl;dr you aren't missing much.
 
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