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I bought three...

J

johnbono

macrumors member
Original poster
May 7, 2019
30
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Powermac G5s today, which I am going to pick up tomorrow:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Untested-3X-Power-Mac-G5-no-hard-drives-they-power-up-they-all-as-is-cheap-2003-/113712576824?_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

I plan on keeping one of these and flipping the other two after I install a hard drive(I have a pair of 170gb drives which I think will work fine, and if I can find a 128G or less SSD, I may use that as well). I looked through the FAQ and didn't see anything about installing the OS from scratch. So, the question is, how do I start? For supporting hardware, I have a Mac Pro running High Sierra. I know I can't install High Sierra on a G5, but I might be able to build boot media or something. So, where do I get started?
 
You may get lucky with your purchase, but had it been me, I'd have looked around for a known functioning G5 with original OS disk for less or the same amount you paid. Far less risky. But for those who like a challege, hey - why not!
Please keep us posted on your findings/progress.
 
The way I figure, unless the cases are completely beat to hell, I should be able to sell them per unit for roughly what I paid. If I can install an OS, those systems are now worth $100 or so, not enough to make a huge profit, but enough to clear my expenses for the trip and give me one left over for myself.
 
Well, here's the picture of the three. One has a gimpy leg and all of them look like they've been ridden hard and put away wet, but they do all power on. Two of them are single processor machines and one is a dual processor machine. Here are the EasyMac links for the three machines:

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/specs/powermac_g5_1.8_2.html

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/specs/powermac_g5_1.8_dp.html

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/specs/powermac_g5_1.8.html

One machine has bent the tabs that latch the side of the case, and you saw the gimpy machine in the photo. Other than that, just scratches, dirt, and one kinda nasty looking gouge in one of them.

I'm going to vacuum out the interior and I want to get them up and running, so I can see exactly what is installed. I have a pair of SATA drives that I can used to get started. Being a Mac newbie, what do I need to do next to get these critters up and running?
 

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I'd start by seeing if the work... I work a lot with G5 towers- they are as difficult as any other PowerPC system to work on... but that's the fun of it!
 
In the UK, the Power Mac G5s - except perhaps the Quad Core 2.5GHz - are worth very little. I recently picked up a lovely dual core 2.3GHz for around $10 equivalent on ebay (local collection, mind you, so might have got more bids with delivery included). My Quad Core only cost me £40 (about US$50) - again local collection - though have seen Quads go for more than £100. In the UK, you cannot even give away Single cores and below Powermac 2Ghz G5s. Hopefully for you, there's bigger demand in the US.
 
 
Good news and bad news. Good news:

Picture 1.png



The single processor G5 is now fully armed and operational running Tiger. The biggest problem was that the superdrive does not really want to open. I swapped it with another one, which also was a bit balky. I blew on it, so a cleaning might be all it needs for long term. I also have an old drive from my Dell that might fit, so I may swap it.

The bad news is that the first dual proc G5 did not boot. The fan spins up, but no image on the screen and the led does not light up. If I pull the internal plastic cover, a red LED lights up on the MB, but that's it. The single proc has every dimm slot occupied. The dual proc one has two banks of dimms, each populated with just one dimm each, if that provides any help.
 
First of all- use TenFourFox- that version of safari is unusably outdated.

My first guess if it won’t post is bad RAM. Try all different combinations. There might be a PMU reset button in there too, can’t remember.
 
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I shouldn't have any problem pulling RAM off one to put in another, right?
 
johnbono said:
The bad news is that the first dual proc G5 did not boot. The fan spins up, but no image on the screen and the led does not light up. If I pull the internal plastic cover, a red LED lights up on the MB, but that's it. The single proc has every dimm slot occupied. The dual proc one has two banks of dimms, each populated with just one dimm each, if that provides any help.
Click to expand...
Does the power button LED flash at all? If so what is the pattern?
 
update:

Ok, I've tested all three. The first machine works fine, except the DVD needs coaching to open up.

The dual proc machine starts the fan, but no flashing LED of any kind unless I remove the plastic insert. Then the red LED is on and stays on. It doesn't seem to post at all.

The third machine which has a bent leg (also a single cpu) is the most interesting of all. I turn it on, it just blinks once, repeating every five seconds, and the red LED is on. I look at the MB, and it only has a single DIMM. I decide to cannibalize the memory off the dead dual CPU machine and put it in this one, and crank it up. Light turns on, red LED is on, and it is making a sound like a hurricane. Crap. I fiddle around with the clear plastic thingy hoping maybe it just isn't seated right or something. I look at the monitor, and there is the apple logo. Sweet! Ok, now to time to get my DVD installed. Going by past history, I'm expecting the DVD drive to barf a lung and not want to eject. So I turn off the machine and start trying to get the DVD out so I can at least attempt to mechanically coax the drive to open. No dice. It's wedged in there something fierce, and when I start the machine, it is whirring something fierce. For some reason, I try starting it up again hoping if I can get the door open manually, the drive will open on its own. No dice.

Then I look at the screen. It's asking me to choose a language. Strange. Oooo. It's got the OSX(Tiger) install disk already in the drive! A half hour later, and the machine is up and running with the SATA drive I took off of my old dell. So I go through the install, and at the end, I eject the drive(Thank the Lord that worked), and it's got the OSX full retail install disk, and not a bootleg.

So now I just need to figure out why the machine thinks the plastic tray is missing when it obviously isn't. I'd also like to figure out what is wrong with the dual CPU machine that is keeping it from booting. And I need to get me some memory.
 
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johnbono said:
update:
So now I just need to figure out why the machine thinks the plastic tray is missing when it obviously isn't. I'd also like to figure out what is wrong with the dual CPU machine that is keeping it from booting. And I need to get me some memory.
Click to expand...

And now it is fixed. I searched, and found this thread, which said the rear most tab was painted, which flipped the sensor or something. So I looked at the dead mac, pulled its cover and saw that it wasn't painted, it is actually a piece of aluminum that is pressed into the tab, and my guess is that strip of aluminum closes the circuit that triggers the sensor to tell that mac that yes, the cover is in place. It was missing that little aluminum strip. Once I swapped covers, everything was hunky dory.
 
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