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G4 Graphite and ADC Studio Display

bunnspecial

bunnspecial

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 3, 2014
8,390
6,565
Kentucky
I couldn't resist picking up a Powermac G4 Graphite locally, as I wanted a computer which I could run OS 9 on natively and this particular one came up with a good price.

This particular computer is a Powermac 3,4 with a single 533mhz processor. The graphics card is(I think) the stock GE Force2 MX with 32mb VRAM.

I had a 17" studio display stuck back in the closet, and had initially planned to use it with this computer. The last time I had it out(about a month ago) it worked great with my Powermac G5-I just don't use it with that computer as I've moved to bigger displays for it. Just to be sure, I plugged it into the G5 again yesterday, and it still seems to work fine.

When I plug this display into the ADC port on the G4, the computer will not start up. I sometimes get the "happy mac" chime, and sometimes not, but in either case I will then get a single, sustained beep that continues until I shut off the computer.

I now have the computer connected to the same 22" display I'm using with my G5 by way of the VGA port on the graphics card, and everything works great.

I plan to set up the computer at another location rather than right next to my G5, so how I have it set up now is not a problem. Locating another display is not really a problem(I can find all the 17" LCDs I want by dumpster diving) but would really like to use the Apple display if I can.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to where the problem might be in this particular combination of components I'm using?
 
Is the Studio Display a 17" LCD or CRT? I can only guess that the power draw from the display is enough to cause the power supply to not distribute proper voltages to the rest of the machine. The CRT pulls 113w and the LCD only pulls 40, which is the lowest draw of any ADC display. Only other issue I could see is a bad card or AGP slot on the logic board.
 
Thanks-it's an LCD.

I felt like there was an important detail I was leaving out, but couldn't pinpoint what it was :)

I'll also add that when I plug the display in, the power button on the front of the display DOES illuminate, so it at least seems to be getting some power.
 
bunnspecial said:
Thanks-it's an LCD.

I felt like there was an important detail I was leaving out, but couldn't pinpoint what it was :)

I'll also add that when I plug the display in, the power button on the front of the display DOES illuminate, so it at least seems to be getting some power.
Click to expand...

Try reseating the graphics card. Sometimes the pins do not make full contact and that would pose power issues since the display is driven off the PSU in the Mac!
 
Altemose said:
Try reseating the graphics card. Sometimes the pins do not make full contact and that would pose power issues since the display is driven off the PSU in the Mac!
Click to expand...

On this advice, I removed the graphics card, cleaned the contacts on it with denatured alcohol, and blew the socket out with compressed air.

Now that I've done this, my Studio Display is working fine! If only I could just get the long dead USB ports on the back of it to work again.

Thanks again!

By the way, when I pulled the video card, I found that it an ATI Rage 128 Pro, and not the stock card as I'd assumed. Since it does have an ADC connector, I'm assuming this is a Mac-spec card. Would this particular card be considered an upgrade over the stock card that would normally be in this machine?
 
Last edited:
bunnspecial said:
I'm assuming this is a Mac-spec card. Would this particular card be considered an upgrade over the stock card that would normally be in this machine?
Click to expand...

The Rage 128 is somewhat less powerful than the GF2MX. Neither are particularly fast cards, but for OS 9 the Rage will do an excellent job.
 
bunnspecial said:
By the way, when I pulled the video card, I found that it an ATI Rage 128 Pro, and not the stock card as I'd assumed. Since it does have an ADC connector, I'm assuming this is a Mac-spec card. Would this particular card be considered an upgrade over the stock card that would normally be in this machine?
Click to expand...
Wow! I didn't realize they actually released a Rage 128 with ADC. I have two Rage 128 cards, one at home and one in a G4 here at work. One is PCI and the other AGP, but both video ports are DVI/VGA. I have never seen with ADC. So, you probably have a rare card.

That being said, the Rage 128 is simply mediocre in OS X. As mentioned, it will do fine in OS9, but it's not a great card in OS X. Additionally, and you are probably already aware, even though it has two video ports it does not support dual displays.
 
bunnspecial said:
On this advice, I removed the graphics card, cleaned the contacts on it with denatured alcohol, and blew the socket out with compressed air.

Now that I've done this, my Studio Display is working fine! If only I could just get the long dead USB ports on the back of it to work again.

Thanks again!

By the way, when I pulled the video card, I found that it an ATI Rage 128 Pro, and not the stock card as I'd assumed. Since it does have an ADC connector, I'm assuming this is a Mac-spec card. Would this particular card be considered an upgrade over the stock card that would normally be in this machine?
Click to expand...
Actually that Rage 128 Pro would have been the stock card in that system. At the time your G4 was introduced, it was the low end card. For some reason, Apple had a serious love affair with that card. When it was introduced in the B&W G3 in 1999, it was top of the line, but the idiot thing never was a good card for OS X. It doesn't support Quartz Extreme and surely not Core Image. If you ever wanted to throw OS X on it, I would suggest a Radeon 7500 at least for your setup. I have one in my G4 Cube 500MHz (replaced that same Rage 128 with ADC) and it really makes OS X much easier to deal with. I've actually got Leopard on that Cube, and it gets the job done.
 
bunnspecial said:
On this advice, I removed the graphics card, cleaned the contacts on it with denatured alcohol, and blew the socket out with compressed air.

Now that I've done this, my Studio Display is working fine! If only I could just get the long dead USB ports on the back of it to work again.

Thanks again!

By the way, when I pulled the video card, I found that it an ATI Rage 128 Pro, and not the stock card as I'd assumed. Since it does have an ADC connector, I'm assuming this is a Mac-spec card. Would this particular card be considered an upgrade over the stock card that would normally be in this machine?
Click to expand...

No problem! I had a similar issue with a PC, but that is another story for a different forum. I would recommend upping the graphics card if you even want to run OS X part time!
 
Thanks again everyone for the help.

Although-as I said-I'm planning primarily to run OS 9, but had planned all along to have it set up as dual boot with OS X 10.4. I actually already have it installed on the second drive in the system. I've done done any "heavy duty" work in OS X yet, but it does definitely feel a bit laggy.

I've been pretty seriously considering upgrading the graphics card in my G5 from the stock GEForce 5200 to a Radeon X800XT.

Assuming I did this, would the GEForce 5200 work in the G4? It seems as though that would be a significant upgrade for the G4, and would also allow me to "kill two birds with one stone."
 
bunnspecial said:
Thanks again everyone for the help.

Although-as I said-I'm planning primarily to run OS 9, but had planned all along to have it set up as dual boot with OS X 10.4. I actually already have it installed on the second drive in the system. I've done done any "heavy duty" work in OS X yet, but it does definitely feel a bit laggy.

I've been pretty seriously considering upgrading the graphics card in my G5 from the stock GEForce 5200 to a Radeon X800XT.

Assuming I did this, would the GEForce 5200 work in the G4? It seems as though that would be a significant upgrade for the G4, and would also allow me to "kill two birds with one stone."
Click to expand...

On my G5, going from a Nvidia FX5200 to an ATI Radeon 9600XT (128 MB) was like going from a Corolla to a Camaro when it came to general snappiness when driving dual 20" displays. When only display was attached it was okay with either card but when the strain was on, the 9600 shows its strength. I just wanted to reinforce your purchase.

As for using the 5200 in a G4. It will work if the pins are taped off. I forget which pins it was, but if I recall correctly it was 3 and 11. However, I don't believe the ADC power will work then due to the pins not connecting with the G4 Logic Board. Intell will tell you for sure though...
 
Tell I shall, an OEM G5's GeForce 5200 won't work in a G4 without taping pins 3 and 11 and cutting off the AGP Pro tab. Even when modified, there is a very high chance it won't work. In my opinion, GeForce 5200's aren't worth the time. You'd be better off with an ATI 9200 or a Nvidia GeForce 4 in the G4.
 
bunnspecial said:
Thanks guys-sounds like I need to be shopping for two different graphics cards!
Click to expand...

I actually have the GeForce 4 and the 9200 in my G4s and they do great even with dual displays. They lack the power of the G5 driving both, but they do fine anyway but have issues playing games like Battlefield 1942 on one display with the other connected.

I recommend the 9600 XT for the G5. Not too much dough, 128 MB of VRAM, and can drive dual displays fine. Mine came with the Mac, but they aren't too bad in terms of cost.
 
And, for $12.95 shipped, a "pulled working" Mac Edition GEForce 4 MX is on its way to me.

Expect to pay a nice price for a Mac Edition ATI X800. They tend to go for $70-$100 used.
Click to expand...

Any opinions on the flashed PC version of this card? I've seen a couple on Ebay(pre-flashed) for around $100, and like the idea of dual DVIs as found on the PC version as opposed to DVI and ADC on the Mac edition.
 
For flashed ATI X800's you'll want the a flashed ATI Fire GL3 with dual-DVI ports. Those will output DVI and VGA over both ports and show up in Mac OS X as an ATI X800. A flashed ATI X800 will only do VGA out of both ports. They do lack the ADC support, as you noted.
 
bunnspecial said:
And, for $12.95 shipped, a "pulled working" Mac Edition GEForce 4 MX is on its way to me.



Any opinions on the flashed PC version of this card? I've seen a couple on Ebay(pre-flashed) for around $100, and like the idea of dual DVIs as found on the PC version as opposed to DVI and ADC on the Mac edition.
Click to expand...

I stay away from flashed anything unless Intell gives the official "it will work fine".
 
Altemose said:
I stay away from flashed anything unless Intell gives the official "it will work fine".
Click to expand...

My word isn't the best to go on for flashed video cards. I still feel rather bad about telling eyoungren to get a PCI 5200 that he hasn't yet been able to flash.
 
bunnspecial said:
And, for $12.95 shipped, a "pulled working" Mac Edition GEForce 4 MX is on its way to me.



Any opinions on the flashed PC version of this card? I've seen a couple on Ebay(pre-flashed) for around $100, and like the idea of dual DVIs as found on the PC version as opposed to DVI and ADC on the Mac edition.
Click to expand...

I see a few Radeon 9600s on eBay. If you do graphical intensive work and play then get X800.
 
Altemose said:
I see a few Radeon 9600s on eBay. If you do graphical intensive work and play then get X800.
Click to expand...

The 9600s are tempting at the ~$50 price I'm seeing them for on Ebay.

I don't have any real application where I need the horsepower of the X800(I just want something better than what's in it now). I guess part of my draw to that particular card has been that the cost difference between it and some of the other G5 cards isn't that great and I'd like to just go ahead and get the best.

My main "real work" on the G5 is in Photoshop CS4, although I don't really even stretch it to its limits as I'm mostly working on/cleaning up film scans.
 
bunnspecial said:
The 9600s are tempting at the ~$50 price I'm seeing them for on Ebay.

I don't have any real application where I need the horsepower of the X800(I just want something better than what's in it now). I guess part of my draw to that particular card has been that the cost difference between it and some of the other G5 cards isn't that great and I'd like to just go ahead and get the best.

My main "real work" on the G5 is in Photoshop CS4, although I don't really even stretch it to its limits as I'm mostly working on/cleaning up film scans.
Click to expand...

There is a X800XT running at $40 but there is 5 days left. Buy the best card you can afford.
 
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