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Inaugural Winter PowerPC Challenge! January 1-7, 2017

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.

1st Week of January, 2017? (Jan 1-Jan 7)

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
In my country Slovakia, you cant actually find any working PowerPC Machine at all..
So thats why i don't have a PowerMac G5 or replacement board for my iMac G5
PowerPC is in Slovak Republic is so rare, you can actually buy a PowerMac G4 MDD for 200euros.. And PowerMac G5 don't ask...
Too Expensive...
 
Grr, I really wish the CRT in my eMac wasn't so flaky in when it wants to work and stay working. (Although I suppose I should be grateful it's been limping along for the last couple years, and not given out completely.) Though my PowerBook is a smidge faster processor speed wise, the 1.25 GB memory limit makes my eMac faster in practice - and I can't use it as much as I would like. :/

In any case, I was able to just now create the account for my car payment like I had mentioned and am able to do everything I need to do with it on my PowerBook. +1 for PPC! :D
 
durika175 said:
In my country Slovakia, you cant actually find any working PowerPC Machine at all..
So thats why i don't have a PowerMac G5 or replacement board for my iMac G5
PowerPC is in Slovak Republic is so rare, you can actually buy a PowerMac G4 MDD for 200euros.. And PowerMac G5 don't ask...
Too Expensive...
Click to expand...
And I tought here in Italy there were the most expensive prices for PowerPC macs! Here you can get a MDD for 50-60 euros
 
Day 7

Sick with a cold, I woke up very early and hey it's snowing here in Belgium.

Decided to clean up some space on the PB 12" with CleanMyMac and completely destroyed my TFF setup.

Booted from a FW CF reader backup , Carbon Copy Cloner and 2 hours of patience, and the PB is running again.

In the meanwhile I went to pick up my eBay purchases, so today I will be installing and configuring my Cisco lab.

HWIC.JPG

Also pictured is a kanex c247dl which I picked up a while ago.

Does anybody know if it works with a PB G4 and a 27" Cinema Display ?
(I have a 27" Thunderbolt )

Ikea Lackrack.JPG Cisco stack.JPG

Ikea Lack Rack assembly planned for today , so these can move to the outside storage where the Xserve is currently humming waiting on it's uNetlab install to be completed.

Xserve.JPG

In conclusion a lot of Google in Webkit today, screen/ssh/telnet in Terminal .

Only 1 thing makes me wish this challenge is over , I really miss my 27" Thunderbolt screen estate which sits on it's desk
unable to display this Powerbook's screen , but can't spend another 500-600 EUR on a 27" Cinema Display
 
Switched to my G4 Quicksilver (1.5GB ram, dual 1Ghz L3 CPU) two days ago. So far it has worked very well. It is not quite as snappy as my PMG5 but still "fast" and usable.
Web - TFF+BHF and works fine. Zippy for most websites I visit.
Youtube - Stutters for the first 5-10 seconds or so until buffer completes, then streams just fine.
Slack PPCMACS web client - this works and is usable but is noticeably slower. Enough so that I prefer to log in using Adium on the QS.
This brings me to Adium - still may fav web chat client. It's solid across many platforms, OSX, OS9, windows, PPC, Intel.
I haven't gotten around to messing with Garageband on this box yet, however Reason works like a champ.
Email client works fine.
 
Last edited:
Orizence said:
I would buy a new charger for my G4 but unfortunately I dont get paid until next Sunday and I have a tournament in a different town I need to save my money for. After that I will purchase a charger and I will use my PPC machines for work, personal, and school use.

Im currently shocked about how much old PPC machines are going for up here in Canada...
Click to expand...

I did not know you already had a PPC portable, but eBay is your friend when it comes to getting cheap parts. It is amazing how the price on the PPC Macs has not completely tanked, but clearly judging by this challenge, they are still capable for the most part. The sad part is just a few years ago PPC Macs were given away freely, and for some models they are now rising in cost. Back in 2013 or so, I can recall iBook G3 Clamshells going really cheaply on eBay, and now they command a pretty penny the last I have checked!

Slix said:
Yup! Full screen doesn't work too well, but just in the browser it works just fine.
Click to expand...

I have honestly been trying every sort of combination of Greasemonkey, QuickTime Enabler, and all of the other work arounds but the best I have found is still ClickToPlugin on WebKit.
Lastic said:
Sick with a cold, I woke up very early and hey it's snowing here in Belgium.

Decided to clean up some space on the PB 12" with CleanMyMac and completely destroyed my TFF setup.

Booted from a FW CF reader backup , Carbon Copy Cloner and 2 hours of patience, and the PB is running again.
Click to expand...

It is snowing here in Maryland, which is why I am on MacRumors rather than at work right now. CleanMyMac is essentially crapware for our Macs, and is nowhere near CCleaner for PC and other programs like that. In fact, most Macs that I come in contact with CleanMyMac installed end up needing to be reimaged.
 
Ok, normally I use CleanMyMac to uninstall Applications and now it told me upfront that if I would clean certain folders, Applications might no longer work, cleaned a Firefox folder and ...

So I will either no longer clean any old files, mention CleanMyMac or post on here ?
 
Lastic said:
Ok, normally I use CleanMyMac to uninstall Applications and now it told me upfront that if I would clean certain folders, Applications might no longer work, cleaned a Firefox folder and ...

So I will either no longer clean any old files, mention CleanMyMac or post on here ?
Click to expand...

Nah... We did not mean it like that. What I am mentioning is that CleanMyMac does more harm than good...

OS X generally works just fine by just dragging standalone applications to the Trash and using provided uninstallers for software like Office, Creative Suite, iWork, etc. There is one "cleaning" app that I do recommend and that is AppCleaner. It is a much slimmer interface where you simply drag an app that you want to uninstall and it obliterates any sign of it ever being there.
 
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Altemose said:
Nah... We did not mean it like that. What I am mentioning is that CleanMyMac does more harm than good...

OS X generally works just fine by just dragging standalone applications to the Trash and using provided uninstallers for software like Office, Creative Suite, iWork, etc. There is one "cleaning" app that I do recommend and that is AppCleaner. It is a much slimmer interface where you simply drag an app that you want to uninstall and it obliterates any sign of it ever being there.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. OS X has maintenance scripts that run on a schedule. Products like MacKeeper and CleanMyMac are just placebo with marketing spin and can cause irreparable damage. AppCleaner or AppZapper are useful for clearing the usually hidden data from hidden Library folder for those without a Apple Support qualification. ;)

OS X isn't Windows.
 
Final day, final endeavor: Running all day on my G4/550 Pismo with two fully charged (and fully good!) batteries installed. There's a total of 11,400 mAh (6600 and 4800). Running almost an hour, still 92% battery.
 
Today I tried running the iTunes Store on Leopard on my PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz with 1 GB RAM, as well as authorizing and downloading an episode of The Flintstones to see how it ran on this machine. Overall pretty good! This was a standard definition file, so it obviously might vary if we're comparing an HD movie, but it was fine, not much stuttering except when it started up initially. The iTunes Store was actually in some ways more responsive than on Sierra, which is a little crazy.
 
Altemose said:
I did not know you already had a PPC portable, but eBay is your friend when it comes to getting cheap parts. It is amazing how the price on the PPC Macs has not completely tanked, but clearly judging by this challenge, they are still capable for the most part. The sad part is just a few years ago PPC Macs were given away freely, and for some models they are now rising in cost. Back in 2013 or so, I can recall iBook G3 Clamshells going really cheaply on eBay, and now they command a pretty penny the last I have checked!
Click to expand...

The Canadian $ is another contributor to the issue of prices here as almost the ENTIRE PPC MARKET seems to be in the US on eBay, if you click "Canada Only" you're lucky if you find 3 Powerbook G4s sometimes and they are usually at least $120... Judging by the descriptions as well it seems as if people don't understand that these computers arent as fully capable as their 2016 counterparts (it does'nt justify the price still)... I don't believe that a computer from 2005 should be worth more than $50 at all. Unless there is a significantly low amount of them out there there shouldn't be such a high asking price IMHO. I can pay $130 for a G4 Powerbook shipped to my door here, or I can $40 USD and $30-60 shipping and after the conversion to CAD pay just as much, it makes me not want to buy the things I like at all, it doesnt make sense to me.
 
Orizence said:
The Canadian $ is another contributor to the issue of prices here as almost the ENTIRE PPC MARKET seems to be in the US on eBay, if you click "Canada Only" you're lucky if you find 3 Powerbook G4s sometimes and they are usually at least $120... Judging by the descriptions as well it seems as if people don't understand that these computers arent as fully capable as their 2016 counterparts (it does'nt justify the price still)... I don't believe that a computer from 2005 should be worth more than $50 at all. Unless there is a significantly low amount of them out there there shouldn't be such a high asking price IMHO. I can pay $130 for a G4 Powerbook shipped to my door here, or I can $40 USD and $30-60 shipping and after the conversion to CAD pay just as much, it makes me not want to buy the things I like at all, it doesnt make sense to me.
Click to expand...

Be patient. Kijiji and Craigslist are your friends :p
 
The challenge ended for me yesterday. today is the 8 January 2017. I will say all I really did was just watching youtube on the G5 and using the G4 for spotify :) I hope you all survive the last day of the Power PC Challenge. ;)
 
Challenge over?

It was so nice of you guys to join me where I've been since 2003. While you make your way back to your PCs, your MPs, your MBAs and your MBPs, I'm just going to stay here…on my PowerMac G5 and my PowerBook G4.

See you guys the next time you visit! :D
 
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MagicBoy said:
AppCleaner or AppZapper are useful for clearing the usually hidden data from hidden Library folder for those without a Apple Support qualification.
Click to expand...

That is exactly why I prefer those programs...

ApplesDotCom101 said:
The challenge ended for me yesterday. today is the 8 January 2017. I will say all I really did was just watching youtube on the G5 and using the G4 for spotify :) I hope you all survive the last day of the Power PC Challenge. ;)
Click to expand...

Who says the challenge must end?
 
Hello everyone,


I'm a bit new here and I heard about this challenge just a few days before it started so I didn't had the time to prepare, especially since I'm abroad (French living in Japan), which means I didn't have access to my usual machines.
Not that I have a lot of PowerPC Macs anyway. Just a G3 Powerbook (and a few way older Macs, nice but completely irrelevent for this challenge I think).

I still ordered myself an iBook G4 12', really cheap and in an awesone condition (with some "new Apple product smell" left :D) but it arrived too late. I'm actually still waiting for its RAM upgrade to arrive, as the first stick I bought proved to be defective.

Full config is as follow :

PowerPC G4 800 Mhz
640 Mb of RAM soon to be upgraded to 1,12 Gb
30 Gb HDD
Mac OS X 10.4.11
Airport card installed
With a classic Apple Optical Mouse included
I replaced the original battery with a new one, giving me 5 hours of autonomy.
Also ordered the mini-VGA to VGA adaptor

I plan on using it as much as I can, for presentations and paper writing, as we are nearing the end of the semester here (yes, graduate student). I have the full iWork '09 suite running on it and I may order an Office 2008 or 2004 if needed (and cheap).

I already have used it to browse the web and, with the exception of youtube, no major problem even though sometimes a bit slow. I'm using it to post this! Using the mobile version for Facebook helps a LOT.

Given the prices of the local market, I'm even hesitating now buying a PowerMac G5, but sending it back home is going to be bloody expensive.

Still, I may ask some questions about which model to get in the PPC section of the forum later :).

If any interest, I'll keep you updated with this PPC adventure of mine!
 
All right guys.. Today is the end of this challenge.. This week was really interesting tho..
My G4 iBook survived several damages during this week.. It had a main board issue, AirPort issue later my cousin broke my screen and keyboard... Currently is working fine :)
My question is.. Why my G4 iBook was faster than my PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0GHz ?
I tried several apps how they perform on G5 and how they perform on G4..
I later found why sometimes G4 is faster than G5... Some Apps are optimized for single core or they are just apps around G4 era..
The biggest surprise to me was working PowerBook G4 Ti. That laptop doesn't want to boot at all .. So in summer 2016 i put into "ShitBox" (its a box with unworking stuff) In 6th of January 2017 i tried to fix it..
Surprise i needed to replace screen,hinges,keyboard keys,dvd drive, DC jack, and AirPort card..
I tried to power it up and ! That sound make me happy :) I was excited how it perform with L3 cache..
Installed Leopard and everything works but bottom SDRAM slot doesn't work.. That PB is 17yrs old and its faster than my current iBook G4 1.33GHz.. That was my first experience of true L3 cache..
Well my week was really interesting because my experience with PowerPC was really good.. My MDD was daily driver until August 2016, and then it broke.. So later i bought a iMac G5 2GHz and 4 weeks later it had a issue with Capacitors.. :/ So i abandoned PowerPC for a little bit.. This year i participed PowerPC Challenge 2017. This week was a really tough for PowerPC to use in modern world..
I had issues with:
Google Drive(cant upload files from system)
My file server was not visible in OS X network (i tried insert manually ip but os x cant connect to it..)
iTunes cant backup my iPhone 5S because its too old.. And i Image Capture doesn't work with 5S at all..
Youtube struggled a LOT but later i discovered PPC media center..
Spotify its too old to sync playlists..
iChat doesn't work anymore with my Google account..
Mail every time i opened it it crashed..
VLC on my iB G4 can't play 720p but on PB Ti 867MHz it does..
TenFourFox was usually slower than Safari, but i used always Safari it was faster to open and load sites.
Remote Desktop Connection with DATA SERVER does not work.. anymore
I can't download Flash 11.7, any website that had one their server doesnt work.

I will continue to use PowerPC tech as long as i can.. But i will use PB G4 Ti as my portable PC..
[doublepost=1483884388][/doublepost]My two reliable and durable PPC machines :) ❤
 

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Slix said:
Today I tried running the iTunes Store on Leopard on my PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz with 1 GB RAM, as well as authorizing and downloading an episode of The Flintstones to see how it ran on this machine. Overall pretty good! This was a standard definition file, so it obviously might vary if we're comparing an HD movie, but it was fine, not much stuttering except when it started up initially. The iTunes Store was actually in some ways more responsive than on Sierra, which is a little crazy.
Click to expand...
Great you've mentioned video from iTunes. I didn't try that yet 'cause I thought it wouldn't work.
Last night I watched an SD-video with my 12"PB and I was amazed about that was possible!
 
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