how to clear my G4 Cube to sell

[michelebaer]

I have a Power Mac G4 Cube with OSX 10.4.3 on it now. It's been in the closet for years and It's time to sell it but I don't have the original software disc.

How do I clear the hard drive to ready it for sale.

I'm going to buy Mountain Lion for my current Mac, can I use it to clear off my old Cube?

Would really appreciate any advice thanks!

- Michele

 

[tayloralmond]

I have a Power Mac G4 Cube with OSX 10.4.3 on it now. It's been in the closet for years and It's time to sell it but I don't have the original software disc.

How do I clear the hard drive to ready it for sale.

I'm going to buy Mountain Lion for my current Mac, can I use it to clear off my old Cube?

Would really appreciate any advice thanks!

- Michele

If you have a Firewire cable, boot the cube into target disk mode (hold down the "T" key upon hearing the startup tone on your Cube. Then hook the Cube into your current Mac, open up disk utility (applications--->utilities) and format the drive.

EDIT: This will work so long as you don't need to leave an OS installed. I'd be sure to take some pictures or video of the Cube working before you wipe the drive, to prove it's working properly.

 

[estrides]

If you boot it in target disk mode and you dont have a copy of the OS, youre only option will be to erase the drive. Depending on how in depth you want to get into ridding the system. You could go a quick and simple route and delete all the users. then make a basic admin user to delete all your software.

Just an idea.

 

[mike457]

It's worth bearing in mind that not having an operating system may affect the price you can get in a sale. Copies of Tiger or Leopard are fairly expensive, so buyers might be reluctant unless they already have a copy.

 

[Intell]

Just a question, what other Macs do you have and what versions of Mac OS X do you have?

 

[michelebaer]

Hmmm not sure ....

To answer questions above ..

- my current Mac is a MacPro and I'm running OSX 10.6.8 right now, waiting to update to Mountain Lion

- I don't want to sell my CUBE without an OS I think the buyer will want to see it working. It's in great shape.

So I guess my question is now can I clean the Cube with a current version of OSX or not?

I Googled and found this tip on how to clear the computer but I'm just not sure my Cube can use the new Mac OSX?

http://www.mactip.net/how-to-securely-wipe-your-mac-hard-drive-before-selling-it/

So appreciate your help!

Best, Michele

 

[mike457]

The most modern version of OSX that can go on a Cube is Leopard, 10.5.8. Some people prefer Tiger (10.4) for its greater speed on Cube hardware.

If you have a disk with Leopard (NOT Snow Leopard), you can boot from that DVD, open Disk Utility from the DVD, and erase the hard drive. The "zero out data" option should be sufficient; multiple passes would take days on a Cube. You can then install Leopard from the DVD.

 

[michelebaer]

Thank you for the great info!

Thanks so much!!!

The most modern version of OSX that can go on a Cube is Leopard, 10.5.8. Some people prefer Tiger (10.4) for its greater speed on Cube hardware.

If you have a disk with Leopard (NOT Snow Leopard), you can boot from that DVD, open Disk Utility from the DVD, and erase the hard drive. The "zero out data" option should be sufficient; multiple passes would take days on a Cube. You can then install Leopard from the DVD.

 

[tayloralmond]

The most modern version of OSX that can go on a Cube is Leopard, 10.5.8. Some people prefer Tiger (10.4) for its greater speed on Cube hardware.

Unless the Cube has an upgraded processor, you can't (officially) install Leopard. All (stock) Cubes have either 450 or 500MHz processors so even with the use of "LeopardAssist" to force the install, it'd be ridiculously slow. Tiger is the best bet for a daily OS.

 

[mike457]

All (stock) Cubes have either 400 or 500MHz processors so even with the use of "LeopardAssist" to force the install, it'd be ridiculously slow. Tiger is the best bet for a daily OS.

I do have Leopard installed on my stock 450 Cube. The only upgrade on mine is an SSD. I agree that it is slow, but I deny "ridiculously." I prefer to think of it as "stately." Leopard is more up to date, and Apple still updates such apps as iTunes for it. Tiger, on the other hand, is history. There are undeniably trade-offs here.

 

[tayloralmond]

I do have Leopard installed on my stock 450 Cube. The only upgrade on mine is an SSD. I agree that it is slow, but I deny "ridiculously." I prefer to think of it as "stately." Leopard is more up to date, and Apple still updates such apps as iTunes for it. Tiger, on the other hand, is history. There are undeniably trade-offs here.

Very true, Leopard is definitely the preferable option if the hardware can handle it. Also, I'm sure your SSD helps out tremendously.

 

[shahabmirzaei]

Is it sold or u still have it?