G4 Tiger & FireFox problems

[cheezeymac]

This is my first time asking for help here so please be gentle! I have an IMac G4 Tiger that I bought used off eBay about 5 years ago. It may be about 8 years old now. Recently, it has been freezing or crashing where the grey curtain appears and I get the message to shut off the power. My mouse was not working well either so I tried to open it to clean out any dust but could not. I did see a lint lump near the bottom but there may be more. I bought a used mouse on eBay but it took a week to finally get it. The new mouse is working perfectly, my imac is not crashing, and I am happy but during the last week other problems surfaced that are still not working and now I don't know it they are related to the broken or damaged mouse.

1) I was using FireFox as my main browser but it stopped opening up for me. I was able to use an old version of Internet Explorer and Safari but after a few days on the other browsers, my email stopped working and I got a message asking me to create an email account which I have done and so email is now working again. I uploaded FireFox 3 thinking that would solve my problem with FireFox but that won't open either. I have moved my old FireFox icons to trash but did I make it worse or what?

2) When looking over some of the other threads on imac's crashing or freezing up it seemed that most involved early G5's. I did not see any other posts about G4's. The most common resolution was to take to G5 back to the Apple store for a replacement card but since my G4 has no warranty that is not an option for me. I am glad that the replacement mouse has restored my imac's main function but I wonder how much longer it will run for me and what my next mac should be. I see comparable G4 Tiger's selling in the $200-$400 range on eBay so there must be some people who like them. If my computer suddenly dies, I would not be able to spend more than $1000 on a new one but I would be more inclined to get another used one since I don't really need the biggest and the best to do what I need to do. I have never had a notebook and don't really like them much. My first Imac was one of the early versions and I don't want to go that way either. Since computer prices have fallen drastically, I wonder if I would be better off with a new low end imac than a used imac that could start having problems immediately. The biggest problem I have had with my current G4 was a bad airport card that went bad right after a major relocation. My wireless modem went bad at the same time which made diagnosing the problem harder but I spent $500 on a mac expert and finally got going again. So if you have a lot of experience with the G4 Tiger, I would like to hear your opinions. If I could keep my G4 running for another 5 years, I would be thrilled.

3) About a year ago I had problems with iphoto and thought the problem was related to a corrupt file so I trashed the iphoto icon hoping to download a fresh version from the apple website. So far, I have not found anything that will allow me to download just the iphoto program and I don't want to buy a package that has all kinds of features I will not use and don't have space for. I am able to crop and edit pictures on my computer even without
the iphoto software but I'm not sure why. The biggest problem is that my pics have a blank looking jpeg that makes them all look the same but I used to see a tiny image of each picture which makes it much easier to find what I'm looking for. Is this an option I just need to invoke somewhere that I haven't found yet or turned off by accident?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

This is my first time asking for help here so please be gentle! I have an IMac G4 Tiger that I bought used off eBay about 5 years ago. It may be about 8 years old now. Recently, it has been freezing or crashing where the grey curtain appears and I get the message to shut off the power. My mouse was not working well either so I tried to open it to clean out any dust but could not. I did see a lint lump near the bottom but there may be more. I bought a used mouse on eBay but it took a week to finally get it. The new mouse is working perfectly, my imac is not crashing, and I am happy but during the last week other problems surfaced that are still not working and now I don't know it they are related to the broken or damaged mouse.

1) I was using FireFox as my main browser but it stopped opening up for me. I was able to use an old version of Internet Explorer and Safari but after a few days on the other browsers, my email stopped working and I got a message asking me to create an email account which I have done and so email is now working again. I uploaded FireFox 3 thinking that would solve my problem with FireFox but that won't open either. I have moved my old FireFox icons to trash but did I make it worse or what?

2) When looking over some of the other threads on imac's crashing or freezing up it seemed that most involved early G5's. I did not see any other posts about G4's. The most common resolution was to take to G5 back to the Apple store for a replacement card but since my G4 has no warranty that is not an option for me. I am glad that the replacement mouse has restored my imac's main function but I wonder how much longer it will run for me and what my next mac should be. I see comparable G4 Tiger's selling in the $200-$400 range on eBay so there must be some people who like them. If my computer suddenly dies, I would not be able to spend more than $1000 on a new one but I would be more inclined to get another used one since I don't really need the biggest and the best to do what I need to do. I have never had a notebook and don't really like them much. My first Imac was one of the early versions and I don't want to go that way either. Since computer prices have fallen drastically, I wonder if I would be better off with a new low end imac than a used imac that could start having problems immediately. The biggest problem I have had with my current G4 was a bad airport card that went bad right after a major relocation. My wireless modem went bad at the same time which made diagnosing the problem harder but I spent $500 on a mac expert and finally got going again. So if you have a lot of experience with the G4 Tiger, I would like to hear your opinions. If I could keep my G4 running for another 5 years, I would be thrilled.

3) About a year ago I had problems with iphoto and thought the problem was related to a corrupt file so I trashed the iphoto icon hoping to download a fresh version from the apple website. So far, I have not found anything that will allow me to download just the iphoto program and I don't want to buy a package that has all kinds of features I will not use and don't have space for. I am able to crop and edit pictures on my computer even without
the iphoto software but I'm not sure why. The biggest problem is that my pics have a blank looking jpeg that makes them all look the same but I used to see a tiny image of each picture which makes it much easier to find what I'm looking for. Is this an option I just need to invoke somewhere that I haven't found yet or turned off by accident?

1) Your Firefox profile is probably corrupted. To test this, open your home folder, then Library, then Application Support. In there you should see a Firefox folder - move this elsewhere and try launching Firefox again.

2) If you're looking for a Mac to replace your aging G4 I highly recommend a used Mac, as they're much cheaper. Which sort of used Mac depends on your needs. If you want a major power boost get a used Intel Mac from the Special Deals section on Apple's online store.

3) Unfortunately, iPhoto doesn't work like that. You can't just redownload it from Apple's site - and, if you lack the discs that came with the computer you really have no way of restoring iPhoto. I'm not sure about the icon preview thing, to be honest.

 

[cheezeymac]

Thank you to wrldwzrd89!

Dear Wrldwzrd89,

I followed your instructions and now FireFox 3 is working! Thank you for the detailed instructions. I just have a few more questions for you. One of your steps was to move the Firefox folder from the Applications Support folder so I moved it to my desktop. Now that FireFox 3 is working, should I trash this folder or put it back into the App Support folder?

Also, I did get a bundle of disks when I bought this imac but have never used them. I will look for them and try to find the one with iphoto on it.

Lastly, I just read a post about snow leopard which might be coming out in a few months. If my computer manages to hang in there, maybe I will go window shopping for a new one. I like the idea of getting the latest OS so I don't have to worry about doing a lot of updates or upgrades for awhile but while everyone else is looking for the biggest and best and all the bells and whistles, I'll be looking for something much more basic. I just don't want to get a new computer that will crash or freeze up all the time.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Dear Wrldwzrd89,

I followed your instructions and now FireFox 3 is working! Thank you for the detailed instructions. I just have a few more questions for you. One of your steps was to move the Firefox folder from the Applications Support folder so I moved it to my desktop. Now that FireFox 3 is working, should I trash this folder or put it back into the App Support folder?

Also, I did get a bundle of disks when I bought this imac but have never used them. I will look for them and try to find the one with iphoto on it.

Lastly, I just read a post about snow leopard which might be coming out in a few months. If my computer manages to hang in there, maybe I will go window shopping for a new one. I like the idea of getting the latest OS so I don't have to worry about doing a lot of updates or upgrades for awhile but while everyone else is looking for the biggest and best and all the bells and whistles, I'll be looking for something much more basic. I just don't want to get a new computer that will crash or freeze up all the time.

Don't trash the folder just yet. You'll probably want to rescue your bookmarks, at the very least, from that old folder. The easiest way to do that is to use Firefox's built in restore from backup feature. To do that:

Open Firefox, then go to the Bookmarks menu, then Organize Bookmarks. In there you'll see a menu with a sort of solid black star on it - click this, and 4 options will appear. You want Restore, then in the submenu, Choose File. Navigate to your Desktop, then that Firefox folder you moved, then Profiles, then (random string).slt, then Bookmark Backups. In there you'll find backup files. Choose the most recent one to restore from - they're named by date.

Once you've done that, it's safe to trash that folder.

As for your Snow Leopard question, keep in mind that it's going to be Intel-only so you will need a new Mac to run it. Your idea is a good one - minimize the software you install, and take special care with any software that installs kernel extensions, as these programs are the ones most likely to break when Apple updates the Mac OS. This way, you'll keep crashes and freezes to a minimum, unless hardware problems occur.