G-5 OS-X Tiger starting to hiccup, bummed!

[headscratcher]

New member here with little to offer but questions I'm afraid. Need to get some input, from the historians here, re:dual core PowerMAC G-5 running OS-X Tiger which has apparently lost two layers from an Illustrator piece I've been working on, on and off, over a very long time.
The paths/images are on the screen when file is opened but no longer respond to activation tools.
Luckily, I have previously saved version on Flash drive and file works fine, with the two missing layers returned, fully responsive.
Is this the beginnings of the end of the G-5, Illustrator program, both, neither? Any, simply stated, input would be most appreciated.
Also, does anyone have good ref. for RAM cards from this aging companion and source for GOOD archive quality CD-RW disks?

Blow the dust off some of those old articles and throw me a line if you can! Thanks in advance.

 

[eyoungren]

No, it's not the end.

File corruption in all kinds of programs happens from time to time. Make a copy of the file off your flash drive and work off the copy. I suggest saves any time you make either a string of small changes or one or two large changes.

You wouldn't consider your car as damaged if you had a flat tire or a quarter tank of gas left right? Same kind of thing.

That said you may want to perform some maintenance if you've never done it. Find Onyx for Tiger and run the Daily, Weekly and Monthly scripts. Clean caches and then use Disk Utility to repair disk permissions.

 

[headscratcher]

No, it's not the end.

File corruption in all kinds of programs happens from time to time. Make a copy of the file off your flash drive and work off the copy. I suggest saves any time you make either a string of small changes or one or two large changes.

You wouldn't consider your car as damaged if you had a flat tire or a quarter tank of gas left right? Same kind of thing.

That said you may want to perform some maintenance if you've never done it. Find Onyx for Tiger and run the Daily, Weekly and Monthly scripts. Clean caches and then use Disk Utility to repair disk permissions.

 

[headscratcher]

Thanks much for the input.
Did a little work on the file from the Flash drive, saved and then replaced same file on hard drive with this updated file. Showed all saved new work as well as brought back the missing layers to the G-5 and ran as normal 'till shut down.
Glitch, I guess?
I will look for Onyx and try to study enough of maintenance so as not to send up mushroom cloud on my desk. Unfortunately I am one of those who can use the computer but can't troubleshoot worth a darn. Many years and still a novice.
Any thoughts about RAM expansion, it has slowed greatly, or archive quality CD-RW disks?
Thanks again. I'll likely have to come back, hope you're patient.

 

[eyoungren]

In my time with Macs I've used one PowerMac G5 and it had max ram from the beginning.

I know they install in pairs, but I don't know what your max ram is for your model and I don't know specifically what kind of ram you should get.

A word though on "it has slowed greatly". Maintenance will only go so far. You have to understand that you are using a PowerPC Mac in the Intel Mac era (modern era). There are things that our PowerPC Macs do now that are slower then they used to be or that they cannot do any more.

Web browsing is one case. It's slower now because websites are heavy on Flash and Javascript. Newer Macs have the power to process all of that quickly. PowerPC Macs not so much.

It could also be your hard drive is starting to fail. That happens. Parts don't last forever. But there are options now, other than old mechanical drives. SSDs can be used.

But to truly help you we need to solid specifics instead of just "it has slowed greatly".

I don't really use CD-RW disks. Generally, if it's worth keeping I just burn it. If it's something not necessarily worth a burn but I do want to keep around I put it up in Dropbox or leave it on one of my external drives.

 

[DeltaMac]

If you want some answers about your RAM, you need to tell us exactly which PowerMac G5 model you have.
The only one which can be correcly called a "dual-core" is the last model, Late 2005. Earlier models have dual processors - which still have single cores.
So, from your Mac, go to the Apple menu, then About this Mac. Click the more info button.
That will open your System Profiler. On the Hardware tab, you will see a variety of information about your Mac.
What is the Model Identifier? It will be listed as something like "PowerMac7,2"
Yours may be different, but we need to know which it is...
And, that same screen will tell you exactly how much RAM you have installed now.

I agree. If you really haven't changed your workflow, but your Mac has recently slowed noticeably, it can be warning you that the hard drive is dying.

 

[headscratcher]

Obviously my limitations are greater than the machine's. Just FYI: G-5 is not connected to net, used to be but now I use the Mini for net connection. Can't afford to replace G-5 and certainly not my Adobe Suite, I really use the G-5 for graphics, word, spreadsheet and little else, hopefully preserving as much lifespan as possible. Can't justify great outlay for ext. drives etc. since machine is not used for commercial production, for me it is another artistic medium.
I will pull out more detailed info on system if I can find easily but I think I have seen comments that RAM can be expanded in this machine. It has expansion slots which have never been used, its just so old I'm not sure if anyone still has any.
Shame, my ignorance of computer science will likely cost me my favorite toy/therapy. Lost my previous G-3 same way.
Don't mean to sound pitiful just fed up with my limited understanding. They should give aptitude tests before they allow the likes of me to buy such a machine.

Thanks again.

 

[Altemose]

its just so old I'm not sure if anyone still has any.

The RAM is out there and I am sure you can get some on eBay. I just traded 12 sticks of RAM for a G5 so they are definitely out there!

 

[DeltaMac]

Most G5s use PC3200 DDR SDRAM sticks. Those are easy to find.
The exception is the last model, which uses PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM sticks. Those will not be as easily available as the older sticks.
So, we need to know which G5 you have.

Boot up your G5.
Go to the Apple menu (top left corner of your screen), Click About this Mac.
You will see an information window. Click on the More Info... button.
And, look for the Model Identifier in the Hardware Overview.
That same screen will also tell you how much memory is installed.

 

[headscratcher]

Most G5s use PC3200 DDR SDRAM sticks. Those are easy to find.
The exception is the last model, which uses PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM sticks. Those will not be as easily available as the older sticks.
So, we need to know which G5 you have.

Boot up your G5.
Go to the Apple menu (top left corner of your screen), Click About this Mac.
You will see an information window. Click on the More Info... button.
And, look for the Model Identifier in the Hardware Overview.
That same screen will also tell you how much memory is installed.

Sorry, don't mean to be unresponsive when you're all trying to help.

Machine model: PowerMac11,2, CPU type: PowerPC G5 (1.0), Memory: 1GB, 2 - 512MB DDR2 SDRAM installed (6 empty slots remaining).

If I'm a little slow getting back, my apologies. Currently I'm preparing the house for sale, listing one of our vehicles for sale, conquering logistics of the move and trying to finish a couple of projects in the wood shop. And if my wife figures out a way to install that broom handle I'll be sweeping as I go. I actually opened the illustration to work on it for while as a way to relax last night. HA on me.

 

[Gamer9430]

In case your hard drive is failing, and in order to check you definitely should run the software that eyoungren suggested. It it shows up positive, you are fine for now, if it doesn't show up positive, I'd quickly get a new hard drive, whether it be an SSD or mechanical (in most cases mechanical is cheaper). Before more damage is done to your files or the HDD itself, you really need to get the system copied onto a new drive so you don't have imminent data loss hanging over your head. It's a very easy task in Disk Utility, first format the new HDD as Mac Extended (Journaled), 1 partition, and in Options, set it to Apple Partition Map. Then simply go to the restore tab, select the old hard drive as source and the new one as destination and restore... Finally, take out the old drive and put the new one in it's place

 

[headscratcher]

In case your hard drive is failing, and in order to check you definitely should run the software that eyoungren suggested. It it shows up positive, you are fine for now, if it doesn't show up positive, I'd quickly get a new hard drive, whether it be an SSD or mechanical (in most cases mechanical is cheaper). Before more damage is done to your files or the HDD itself, you really need to get the system copied onto a new drive so you don't have imminent data loss hanging over your head. It's a very easy task in Disk Utility, first format the new HDD as Mac Extended (Journaled), 1 partition, and in Options, set it to Apple Partition Map. Then simply go to the restore tab, select the old hard drive as source and the new one as destination and restore... Finally, take out the old drive and put the new one in it's place

Thanks again for the help and particularly specific keystroke directions, I am that incompetent at troubleshooting, ASAP I will attempt to follow thru with all input, meanwhile I'll let the G-5 rest until I can concentrate fully on the problem. Can't do it effectively a little at a time, amidst all the other items on the desk right now. Its a big ugly surprise at a very inopportune time.