Resolved Flash a PC ATI Radeon 9550 to work in a QuickSilver?

[TheShortTimer]

I pulled one of these from the carcass of a dead PC.

Could this be flashed to work with a QuickSilver? I've read elsewhere that someone had success using this card without flashing. If tried to test this for myself, would there be any risk of damage to the G4?

 

[hwojtek]

It won't do any damage. There used to be an app to do this almost automatically. Start your reading here: http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=2458.0

 

[TheShortTimer]

Ok, this was a really bad idea. It refused to boot with the 9550 installed and now that I've replaced the original card, there is no signal via VGA. I've pressed the PMU button on the logic board twice and held down CMD, Option, P and R but no joy.

Has my QS been wrecked? Help please.

Edit: I managed to resolve it and restore the computer to working order.

Start your reading here: http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=2458.0

There's an extra edge connector beside the AGP port which the 9550 card lacks and there's no details within that page or the associated links that contain any info about getting it to work on a G4.

 

[1042686]

Haha, Yanno I bricked my B&W for a few minutes playing around with various HDD configs yesterday. Glad I wasn’t the only one who had a “oh crap” moment

Anyhoo, pmu reset & All is well now.

 

[z970]

There's an extra edge connector beside the AGP port which the 9550 card lacks

That's the ADC power slot, I believe. All not having it means is that the card won't be able to drive an ADC display. Of course, being a PC card, not having the actual ADC port helps too.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Haha, Yanno I bricked my B&W for a few minutes playing around with various HDD configs yesterday. Glad I wasn’t the only one who had a “oh crap” moment

In social distancing, no-one could hear me curse or spew recriminatory tirades.

Anyhoo, pmu reset & All is well now.

In my case, I failed to reseat the original card properly. You have to hear it distinctively click into place to be certain. It's great that we both averted mini-crises.

That's the ADC power slot, I believe. All not having it means is that the card won't be able to drive an ADC display. Of course, being a PC card, not having the actual ADC port helps too.

Thanks for the heads up. The current card is a GeForce4 MX - what upgrade, if any, would you recommend?

 

[1042686]

In social distancing, no-one could hear me curse or spew recriminatory tirades.



In my case, I failed to reseat the original card properly. You have to hear it distinctively click into place to be certain. It's great that we both averted mini-crises.



Thanks for the heads up. The current card is a GeForce4 MX - what upgrade, if any, would you recommend?

The geforce4 is IMO a bit of a stinker for what we expect our Quicksilvers to do in 2020 and OSX. As an OS9 card, I think it would be fine. I drive primarily OSX Leopard, which I've found the mac 64mb ATI Radeon 9000 pro to be a nice card that gives the desktop a solid performance boost smoothing things out nicely, supporting ADC (I have two) and being relatively affordable. I scored mine free from a friend who gave me his MDD. @eyoungren has a a few quality cards too that I'm sure he could chime in on from when he was driving a bunch of monitors in his QS prior to his Quad G5 upgrade.

 

[eyoungren]

@eyoungren has a a few quality cards too that I'm sure he could chime in on from when he was driving a bunch of monitors in his QS prior to his Quad G5 upgrade.

The primary card was an NVIDIA GeForce 68000 GT, which is pretty much the extreme upper end as far as cards. I believe it was flashed, but didn't work in anything but a Quicksilver and was thus sent to me.

The other two cards I had for it are (I still have them) a Radeon 9200 and a Radeon 7000. The 9200 was an eBay purchase and is an actual Mac version of the card. The 7000 was flashed and sent to me. Both cards have been reliable.

If you can't find a 6800 GT for Mac than a good alternative which I used first is a Radeon 9800. You have to be careful on those though as these are AGP cards that have to be taped. The G5 version is 512mb and will NOT work in a G4. The 256mb version is both PC and Mac, so try and find a Mac version.

Note that both the 6800 GT and the 9800 require additional Molex power.

 

[Project Alice]

The Radeon 9600 is also a good option. They’re cheaper than 9800s. And the G5 variants can be made to fit in a G4. They needed the pins taped off, and the little latch on the end of the card needs cut off. After that, it fits and performs well. It’s a massive upgrade over a Radeon 9000 Pro IMO. Core Image support makes a big difference in Leopard.

 

[z970]

Thanks for the heads up. The current card is a GeForce4 MX - what upgrade, if any, would you recommend?

The GeForce 6800 Ultra, Radeon 9600, 9700, 9800, and X800 are all great cards and will provide a tremendous boost over your 4 MX.
[automerge]1585515761[/automerge]

the little latch on the end of the card needs cut off

The stock 9600 from the first gen G5s didn't need anything other than its pins taped to work in my MDD. No cutting required.

(A full write up on this machine is still coming, by the way.)

 

[TheShortTimer]

Thanks all, once again you've come up trumps with great info.

The stock 9600 from the first gen G5s didn't need anything other than its pins taped to work in my MDD. No cutting required.

I've found what appears to be a 9600 for the early G5s. If I buy this, I only need to tape pins 3 and 11 for it to work in the QS?

 

[z970]

I've found what appears to be a 9600 for the early G5s. If I buy this, I only need to tape pins 3 and 11 for it to work in the QS?

To my experience, yes. The QS should not be very different from the MDD as far as graphics systems extend.

 

[TheShortTimer]

To my experience, yes. The QS should not be very different from the MDD as far as graphics systems extend.

Nice one!

Purchased.

 

[hwojtek]

To my experience, yes. The QS should not be very different from the MDD as far as graphics systems extend.

I believe this same card ran in my Power Mac GE with pins masked, so it should work in a QS.
All the flashing/getting it to work information IS indeed in the links. Here's the direct route:

Nvidia Section - The Mac Elite

themacelite.wikidot.com

Ati Section - The Mac Elite

themacelite.wikidot.com

I was able to successfully run a flashed ATI9800 All-In Wonder in my G4 after using the procedures from MacElite, my last (and probably the most powerful anyway) AGP card.

 

[weckart]

The Radeon 9600/9650 are fine for OSX but you won't get accelerated video under OS9 if plan on using that too.

 

[1042686]

IIRC his QS was slotted for OS9 duty to replace his sawtooth & is why I suggested a os9(9.2) compatible card that does well in OSX. No fuss, no muss.

 

[TheShortTimer]

IIRC his QS was slotted for OS9 duty to replace his sawtooth...

That's right.

The seller has cancelled the 9600 transaction without any explanation. Ah well, the search resumes!

 

[RogerWilco6502]

I believe this same card ran in my Power Mac GE with pins masked, so it should work in a QS.
All the flashing/getting it to work information IS indeed in the links. Here's the direct route:

Nvidia Section - The Mac Elite

themacelite.wikidot.com

Ati Section - The Mac Elite

themacelite.wikidot.com

I was able to successfully run a flashed ATI9800 All-In Wonder in my G4 after using the procedures from MacElite, my last (and probably the most powerful anyway) AGP card.

Any idea if this would work for an All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro and would I be able to use any of the special capabilities of the card (video capture, etc.) in OS 9/OS X?

 

[TheShortTimer]

I've been looking online at the prices and whew, this is an expensive hobby!

There's another G5 compatible 9600 for sale but the seller hasn't even bothered to clean away the dust... If the 9600/9650 doesn't provide acceleration under OS 9, I imagine that this would affect gaming performance. What card would I need to provide accelerated video with 9.2.2?

 

[1042686]

IIRC the very best OS9 card is the GeForce 4 titanium 4600.

2002-2003 Apple Power Mac G4 T14600 GeForce 4 Graphics Video Card | eBay

<p dir="ltr">⭐Works with 2002-2003 Power Macs. Reported as working, but untested by me. </p> <p dir="ltr">? I Ship Fast! (Same or next business day depending on time ordered)</p> <p dir="ltr">?100% Positve Feedback. Check my reviews, I aim to please! I will always communicate quickly and be...

www.ebay.com

Man, what a surfboard!

 

[hwojtek]

Any idea if this would work for an All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro and would I be able to use any of the special capabilities of the card (video capture, etc.) in OS 9/OS X?

Geez, that was so long time ago
I did not have the Pro, but I think these cards are fairly similar. It worked for me in OS X Panther with TV, I used ATI's proprietary software for this. I believe OS X Tiger broke the support and then I moved to Intel.

 

[Amethyst1]

IIRC the very best OS9 card is the GeForce 4 titanium 4600.

2002-2003 Apple Power Mac G4 T14600 GeForce 4 Graphics Video Card | eBay

<p dir="ltr">⭐Works with 2002-2003 Power Macs. Reported as working, but untested by me. </p> <p dir="ltr">? I Ship Fast! (Same or next business day depending on time ordered)</p> <p dir="ltr">?100% Positve Feedback. Check my reviews, I aim to please! I will always communicate quickly and be...

www.ebay.com

Man, what a surfboard!

That PCB is a lot longer than it "needs" to be. That's cheating.

 

[1042686]

That PCB is a lot longer than it "needs" to be. That's cheating.

Apple was over-compensating a bit eh?

 

[RogerWilco6502]

Geez, that was so long time ago
I did not have the Pro, but I think these cards are fairly similar. It worked for me in OS X Panther with TV, I used ATI's proprietary software for this. I believe OS X Tiger broke the support and then I moved to Intel.

Ok, thanks for the info!

 

[TheShortTimer]

The geforce4 is IMO a bit of a stinker for what we expect our Quicksilvers to do in 2020 and OSX.

I've put the GeForce4 MX through its paces and it's dreadful! The Radeon 7000 in my Sawtooth wipes the floor with it. Exactly the same standard-def video files that play decently with the 7000 on the Sawtooth are laden with pixelation and other horrible artefacts with the MX on the Quicksilver during particular sequences. It makes them almost unwatchable because throughout the viewing process you know that they can and do look much better on other GPUs. It does a disservice to the Quicksilver because you're not seeing its true capabilities. If I'd bought a QS brand new with that card as stock, I would've been annoyed to say the least.

IIRC the very best OS9 card is the GeForce 4 titanium 4600.

2002-2003 Apple Power Mac G4 T14600 GeForce 4 Graphics Video Card | eBay

<p dir="ltr">⭐Works with 2002-2003 Power Macs. Reported as working, but untested by me. </p> <p dir="ltr">? I Ship Fast! (Same or next business day depending on time ordered)</p> <p dir="ltr">?100% Positve Feedback. Check my reviews, I aim to please! I will always communicate quickly and be...

www.ebay.com

Man, what a surfboard!

Between the shipping to the UK and the import taxes this will be a tidy sum but I've seen the PC version of that card being sold for even more so I'll have to shut my eyes and hand over the money if it means I'll get an improvement over the MX. If this will give me good results in 9.2.2 and OS X then I'll buy it today. The MX is just too horrible. 😧