G4 Cube, password locked, how to access?

[LucyP]

Hello... I have a G4 Cube that I would like to sell, I know it works since a local repair shop fired it up to the start screen, but it is password locked and no real hope of finding the password, is it easy to install a fresh OS system to bypass the lock? I do not have a monitor for it and so would like to at least reassure a buyer I know it is working and viable to access.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[mikehalloran]

Easily done with a boot disk. Insert into the drive, boot holding the C key to bring up the OS installer and Disk Utility. If the CD drive no longer works, a PPC can be accessed by an external through the FireWire port.

I'm pretty sure one can find the Tiger install CDs on Macintosh Garden. OS 9 is there. TechTool and other repair utility disks could do it—Apple licensed the OS for that purpose back then but you have to know which ones will work. If you have the original System Restore or AppleCare disks, either will boot that Cube.

Good luck selling any G4 nowadays. I have a working G4-700 in my garage that I can't give away on Craigslist. I've tried.

I've another 1.2 Dual Core in my office that I use to convert legacy files for older apps — that gets started once a year, maybe. It dual-boots into OS 9.2 or 10.4.11.

 

[AL1630]

A CD is the easiest way to get a fresh OS and bypass a password, but of you don't have one, there are some other methods. This link has some easy ways to bypass it. I've used the 'Single User Mode' method before and I think it's the most efficient if you don't have or want to buy a CD.

Good luck selling any G4 nowadays. I have a working G4-700 in my garage that I can't give away on Craigslist. I've tried.

Try eBay. Most of the vintage computer market has moved on there, and you can get a pretty good price for many old systems, especially macs.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Good luck selling any G4 nowadays. I have a working G4-700 in my garage that I can't give away on Craigslist. I've tried.

Cubes generally command a fair bit of a premium over most G4 systems just due to their design and general scarcity. I remember being thrilled to find one last year in a recycle pile at the local computer shop!

 

[LucyP]

Thanks all, I dont have a monitor for it so I cant access it prior to sale, so I just needed to be able to tell a buyer it works but needs a fresh install of the OS to bypass the password lock and so I needed to know if it was doable before somebody offered me peanuts for it!

I have it on eBay atm and had one offer of £125 for the cube and its power pack. Dont know how good that is but Ive seen the power pack alone go for £99

 

[CooperBox]

Easily done with a boot disk. Insert into the drive, boot holding the C key to bring up the OS installer and Disk Utility. If the CD drive no longer works, a PPC can be accessed by an external through the FireWire port.

I'm pretty sure one can find the Tiger install CDs on Macintosh Garden. OS 9 is there. TechTool and other repair utility disks could do it—Apple licensed the OS for that purpose back then but you have to know which ones will work. If you have the original System Restore or AppleCare disks, either will boot that Cube.

Good luck selling any G4 nowadays. I have a working G4-700 in my garage that I can't give away on Craigslist. I've tried.

I've another 1.2 Dual Core in my office that I use to convert legacy files for older apps — that gets started once a year, maybe. It dual-boots into OS 9.2 or 10.4.11.

If a functional G4 Cube is not selling, imo it is:
i) not being offered at a reasonable price
ii) you are in the wrong country........
In Europe they are in demand, and do sell when the price is 'appropriate'.
The power supply alone sells from 80-100euros, and complete units with screen, keyboard and Harmon Kardon speakers anything up to 500euros, although at the latter price in my experience could be a rather tough sell for a meagre 450 or even 500MHz Cube.
Anyone who finds one with a 100% functional optical drive, has a rare pearl indeed. I've bought 4 Cubes in as many years, and yet to find one with a perfect optical drive.

 

[nglevin]

G4 Cubes aren't the (still reasonably) common as dirt G4 towers.

In good condition, you should definitely hold out for a very good offer. Or seek a collector that will take extremely good care of it. On eBay, though, it's hard to tell, so go for the money.

Just IMHO.

 

[LucyP]

Its in superb condition and even empty shells have gone for over £50 so Im not accepting the offers below £175 at the moment.

 

[bobesch]

Hello... I have a G4 Cube that I would like to sell, I know it works since a local repair shop fired it up to the start screen, but it is password locked and no real hope of finding the password, is it easy to install a fresh OS system to bypass the lock? I do not have a monitor for it and so would like to at least reassure a buyer I know it is working and viable to access.
Thank you in advance for any advice.

To wipe out the Cube's drive: start the Cube in Target-Disk-Mode. Connect with another (PPC-)Mac via FireWire. Run DiskUtility and erase the Cube's hard-drive. Mission complete.
But to be sure the Cube is in a working-condition, you'll need at least a VGA-monitor /w connector (or the original acrylic display) and boot it up to the point, where either the option to select the booting-partition or a password is required.
About reasonable pricing: 150-180€+ for a working cube with working power-supply. Add 30€+ for mouse&kb, 30€+ for speakers, 50-70€+ for a 15"/17"/20" acrylic LCD-display.

 

[mikehalloran]

A CD is the easiest way to get a fresh OS and bypass a password, but of you don't have one, there are some other methods. This link has some easy ways to bypass it. I've used the 'Single User Mode' method before and I think it's the most efficient if you don't have or want to buy a CD.




Try eBay. Most of the vintage computer market has moved on there, and you can get a pretty good price for many old systems, especially macs.

The market certainly has improved since the last time I checked. Looks like I could get $50–100 plus shipping for my G4–700. The drive spins up and it may have the full 2G RAM

 

[andkdna]

Hi! Is the cube still for sale?

 

[bunnspecial]

The market certainly has improved since the last time I checked. Looks like I could get $50–100 plus shipping for my G4–700. The drive spins up and it may have the full 2G RAM

How did you end up with a 700mhz G4? Do you have an upgrade card installed?

BTW, note that the market for Cubes...as has been said many times in this thread...is MUCH different from the market for G4 towers(BTW, my last few towers have been acquired for the cost of shipping...which was not inexpensive in and of itself).

 

[AL1630]

BTW, note that the market for Cubes...as has been said many times in this thread...is MUCH different from the market for G4 towers(BTW, my last few towers have been acquired for the cost of shipping...which was not inexpensive in and of itself).

Yep, I think G4 Towers are often seen as 'Boring' PowerPCs, so they're one of the few macs of this era that can be found at a low price without too much searching. I think they're cool though, with all the easy upgrades available you can turn a higher end one into a decent workhorse.

 

[bunnspecial]

Yep, I think G4 Towers are often seen as 'Boring' PowerPCs, so they're one of the few macs of this era that can be found at a low price without too much searching. I think they're cool though, with all the easy upgrades available you can turn a higher end one into a decent workhorse.

I love them-in fact I love them enough that I quit counting how many I had a long time ago .

The Quicksilver remains one of my favorite case designs, while the Sawtooth seems to have nearly bullet proof reliability. I have a soft spot for the DA, as my first G4 tower and it has the nice combination of the graphite case with what is more or less a Quicksilver LoBo(along with the faster bus speed and great number of PCI slots that comes with that). I actually went out of my way to get DAs in every factory speed, plus have several upgraded ones-including a dual 1.8ghz Sonnet and a 2ghz Newertech 7448.

I've not gone as wild over MDDs, as I had some early bad experience with the PSUs. Still, though, I love the built-in expandability, the GPU compatibility(there are cards that for, inexplicable reasons, will work fine in an MDD but not reliably in a Quicksilver or DA), and the fast bus on the higher end models. The 1.25ghz models, whether single or dual, are OS 9 beasts. The Dual 1.42 is competitive-both in benchmarks and in real world use-with faster clocked upgrades in earlier towers thanks to its 2mb of L3 per processor backed by a 167mhz bus.

I do a lot of photo work, both film and digital, and finally retired my last regularly used SCSI based scanner not too long ago. SCSI in a G5 is a nightmare, while it just works in a G4 provided that you're not adamant about using Leopard. In fact, within the past month I've used my "backup" Nikon Coolscan III, which a superb scanner that sells for a little of nothing because it's SCSI. I run it in OS 9 on the dual 1.8 DA...and right off the Adaptec 2930CU that shipped from the factory in a lot of G3 and G4 towers. The Coolscan V I usually use has a lot of advantages(aside from being USB, it is higher resolution and perhaps most importantly has more dynamic range) but the III can still turn out a perfectly acceptable scan. When the new Ektachrome started getting in end user's hands last month, I was one of the first people I know of to post scans, and all of my initial scans were done on the III.

 

[LucyP]

Hi! Is the cube still for sale?

Hi, Sorry, I missed seeing this, Yes it did sell thanks.