HELP:Acquired 2 PowerMac G4’s and one Macintosh Server G4

[Appleneub]

I got these computers two without hard drives or RAM and one fully functional on OS 9.1 (the server G4)
I have one QS and one MDD they need the ram and hard drives.
Here are the everymac model specs

Server

Mac Server G4 533 (Digital Audio) Specs (Digital Audio, M8182LL/A*, PowerMac3,4, M5183, 1862): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac Server G4 533 (Digital Audio). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

QS

Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002) Specs (Quicksilver 2002, M8705LL/A, PowerMac3,5, M8493, 1896): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

MDD

Power Macintosh G4 1.25 DP (MDD) Specs (Mirrored Drive Doors, M8573LL/A, PowerMac3,6, M8570, 1914): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Power Macintosh G4 1.25 DP (MDD). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

I would like to get them all in functional condition. I plan on running OS 10.0. I have the software. If anyone could recommend upgrades or anything about the rarity of any of these?
I’d like to find the best ram I can links?

Ps they are all for sale if you pay for them😉 no HD included.

 

[bunnspecial]

Why 10.0?

I don't think you can even run that on your MDD...you'd be looking at some version of 10.2 minimum.

As for rarity-these server version is less common but without OS X server I'm not sure it's actually different from the standard version. The other two are fairly common.

For the Quicksilver and Digital Audio, you want PC133 non-ECC RAM. To max them out, get 512mb LOW DENSITY sticks. Look for exactly 8 chips per side, or 16 total.

For your MDD, you want DDR PC-2700, although PC-3200 should be easier to find. Get 512mb sticks to be safe. The same criteria apply-non-ECC and 16 chip, and make sure it's not registered RAM.

Most of these can benefit from a video card upgrade. Specific suggestions depend on how much you want to spend and whether you want to run OS 9 or OS X.

 

[Appleneub]

Why 10.0?

I don't think you can even run that on your MDD...you'd be looking at some version of 10.2 minimum.

As for rarity-these server version is less common but without OS X server I'm not sure it's actually different from the standard version. The other two are fairly common.

For the Quicksilver and Digital Audio, you want PC133 non-ECC RAM. To max them out, get 512mb LOW DENSITY sticks. Look for exactly 8 chips per side, or 16 total.

For your MDD, you want DDR PC-2700, although PC-3200 should be easier to find. Get 512mb sticks to be safe. The same criteria apply-non-ECC and 16 chip, and make sure it's not registered RAM.

Most of these can benefit from a video card upgrade. Specific suggestions depend on how much you want to spend and whether you want to run OS 9 or OS X.

For the QS?https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/133SD512328/
For the mdd

OWC 512MB PC-3200 DDR 400MHz 184-Pin DIMM Memory... at MacSales.com

3200DDR512 512MB OWC PC-3200 DDR 400MHz 184-Pin DIMM Memory Module. For Power Mac G5/G4 (requires pairs), iMac G5, Mac mini (2005), eMac (2004-2005), Xserve G4 models.

eshop.macsales.com

I’m still new to the features of each software and saw that 10.0 can emulate os 9

What options for video card?
Low medium and high prices please.

can the server run OS X?
[automerge]1592703374[/automerge]
Also hard drive options? Just want to run old games photoshop Brice and kais power tools.
40gb each?

 

[bunnspecial]

That RAM is fine, but some poking on Ebay can usually find it less expensively. I've bought in bulk in the past, and often at ~$30-40 for a tray of 10 sticks.

All of these can run 10.4.11 officially. The MDD can do 10.5.8 without any trouble, while the other two can be "hacked" to do it. In general, I think you'll find 10.4.11 a nice sweet spot-it's actually somewhat faster in my experience than earlier versions, and has much better software support.

Everything through 10.4.11 has "Classic Mode", which is an OS 9 virtual machine. If you can boot OS 9 natively, I recommend dual booting. All of your computers are capable of doing that.

40gb is a nice size hard drive for these. Any ATA(also called PATA for parallel ATA, or alternatively IDE) drive will work, but you will have trouble using any capacity over 128gb in the DA and QS.

Your server has a "Jackhammer" SCSI card with 3 SCSI drives, or at least from what I see. This was a factory option and one of the things that made a server a server. In practice, you may find the 10K drives uncomfortably loud actually running. If you're going to use it, I'd suggest replacing them with ATA drives.

With all of that said, assuming your in the US, I'm partial to the Jackhammer set-up, and would be interested. PM me if you would like to sell that one.

 

[Appleneub]

That RAM is fine, but some poking on Ebay can usually find it less expensively. I've bought in bulk in the past, and often at ~$30-40 for a tray of 10 sticks.

All of these can run 10.4.11 officially. The MDD can do 10.5.8 without any trouble, while the other two can be "hacked" to do it. In general, I think you'll find 10.4.11 a nice sweet spot-it's actually somewhat faster in my experience than earlier versions, and has much better software support.

Everything through 10.4.11 has "Classic Mode", which is an OS 9 virtual machine. If you can boot OS 9 natively, I recommend dual booting. All of your computers are capable of doing that.

40gb is a nice size hard drive for these. Any ATA(also called PATA for parallel ATA, or alternatively IDE) drive will work, but you will have trouble using any capacity over 128gb in the DA and QS.

Your server has a "Jackhammer" SCSI card with 3 SCSI drives, or at least from what I see. This was a factory option and one of the things that made a server a server. In practice, you may find the 10K drives uncomfortably loud actually running. If you're going to use it, I'd suggest replacing them with ATA drives.

With all of that said, assuming your in the US, I'm partial to the Jackhammer set-up, and would be interested. PM me if you would like to sell that one.

How can I get rid of the jackhammer and swap to a single drive?

 

[bunnspecial]

Take the card and associated drives out. Put an IDE ribbon cable on the logic board at the bottom(same location as on the QS). Plug an IDE drive into it. You really want the little stubby ribbon cable like what's on the QS, as standard length PC one leaves you with a lot of cable bunched up that can impede airflow.

 

[Appleneub]

How much is the jackhammer worth to ya?

 

[bunnspecial]

PM me

 

[Appleneub]

I will once I get them all working and have that as spares

 

[weckart]

One addendum. I have that same 800Mhz QS and as it is a 2002 model, it will happily take drives above 128GB. It was the earlier 2001 733MHz and 867MHz models that had the older ATA controller. It's a moot point, admittedly, as finding larger capacity IDE drives is getting harder all the time.

 

[Appleneub]

Will this ram work?
QS

1.5GB 3X512MB PC133 133MHz 168Pin Desktop SDRAM Memory Ram DIMM NON-ECC | eBay

32GB 4x8GB PC6400 DDR2 ECC 800MHz FB-DIMM Mac Pro 3.1 8-core/ Quad-core 2.8/ 3.0. Helpful Links.

www.ebay.com

MDD

Kingston PC3200 (DDR-400) 512 MB DIMM 400 MHz PC-3200 DDR Memory (KVR400X64C3A/512) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Kingston PC3200 (DDR-400) 512 MB DIMM 400 MHz PC-3200 DDR Memory (KVR400X64C3A/512) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[bunnspecial]

Yes, that RAM is good.

 

[1042686]

Wow is it me or has PC133 jumped in price? I recall buying the same 1.5GB PC133 kit but being "Made for Apple" NOS for $20 shipped just a few years ago.

That PMG4 server is very cool.

I was going to say that if you have a PC recycler close to you, you may be able to do better than ebay. Best of luck to you.

 

[Appleneub]

Which airports cards can each model run?
I know the da and QS are only airports. Can the mdd have an extreme?

 

[rampancy]

Which airports cards can each model run?
I know the da and QS are only airports. Can the mdd have an extreme?

I believe the FW800 MDD has an Airport Extreme slot, but the FW400 MDD have regular Airport card slots. One can get around those restrictrions though by either using USB WiFi sticks with modded drivers, or (much easier) getting an 802.11b/g PCI card which uses the correct chipset.

Edit: More information (including chipsets) can be found here: https://lowendmac.com/2009/wifi-hardware-for-desktop-macs-running-os-x/

For potential additional upgrades, you could replace the IDE CD/DVD drives with IDE Dual-Layer DVD drives, plus add PCI IDE cards.

 

[Appleneub]

Just when to the recycle place and got ram for the mdd. Put it in and still no signs of life? Help?

 

[rampancy]

Just when to the recycle place and got ram for the mdd. Put it in and still no signs of life? Help?

You mean, the MDD won't boot? My guess is bad RAM...

 

[Appleneub]

You mean, the MDD won't boot? My guess is bad RAM...

Yep no chime at all. No fans. No lights.
Do all 4 sticks have to match?

 

[1042686]

Hmm Sounds like past PSU & logic board failures that I’ve experienced. IIRC pmg5s require matched sets but pmg4s do not. To check the ram, I’d try booting it with just one ram stick. If it boots, alternate from each stick to find the offending one. Take the bad stick back and swap it out. If it doesn’t boot, move into the PSU. An easy way to test psus is with a paper lip. Then move onto testing the power rail. Below is a good article on this.

How to Troubleshoot a PC Power Supply - Newegg Business Smart Buyer

A faulty PC power supply belies many intermittent computer problems. This is why experienced PC technicians often look first at the PSU when diagnosing PC hardware issues

www.neweggbusiness.com

In regards to wifi, I am a fan of Dynex Dx-EBDTC pci cards for pmg4s - they’re plug n play showing up as native airport. I’ve bought two of these Loose & both for under $10 shipped On eBay. One is in my MDD & another in my QS. You see em for 30+ but ignore those traps. Be patient & you can find them cheap.

Good luck.

 

[bunnspecial]

MDDs have notoriously unreliable PSUs. If it doesn't do anything, that's more than likely what it is.

 

[z970]

When I got my MDD, I saved the following piece for future reference. Their PSUs are twitchy, yes, but it may not necessarily need to be replaced.

PowerMac G4 MDD won't power up

Success!! After a couple of hours trying all sorts of remedies I finally got two MDD G4s up and running. I also got a crash course in MDD symptoms of power failure. Heres a quick list of steps to try. The list is created from hours and hours of reading other forums. In order of importance...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Appleneub]

Would anyone buy the insides of the mdd? I think that will be my gaming pc case.

 

[1042686]

Would anyone buy the insides of the mdd? I think that will be my gaming pc case.

Folks sell powermac guts all day long just because of what you're experiencing - component failure. If the machine is not easily salvageable, IMO using the case as a modern PC build is a fantastic idea. I have a dead MDD case in my closet waiting for that eventuality (dead lobo).