My first PPC Mac...

[Alubook133]

completist

ha ! I've learnt something today at least, never heard that term before. (maybe you should give him a rest ^^).

I'd be willing to help on the OF front if you're interested, in which case you'll have to provide more details on what you've done/typed, what you've looked for and what was the result - but don't bother if you feel comfortable enough with this.

 

[DCBassman]

ha ! I've learnt something today at least, never heard that term before. (maybe you should give him a rest ^^).

I'd be willing to help on the OF front if you're interested, in which case you'll have to provide more details on what you've done/typed, what you've looked for and what was the result - but don't bother if you feel comfortable enough with this.

Happy enough with OF, it's just that as a system, it's a pain to deal with. And that the machines can be so fussy with hardware is also a bit crazy, when in 2005 you could throw a WinBox together with more or less any components, and it would work. OF is apparently based on Forth! That's 1970 vintage. Eek. I've a gut feeling that if I refit the spinner, it will work. If so, then maybe I can restore from the working machine to the SSD via USB? Who knows?

 

[DCBassman]

I've just raided the Bookyard for two UJ846 IDE DL optical drives, one for each 17", and an English keyboard for the A1229 MBP. That will render the A1229 complete and fully functional, and also give me some hope of installing directly on the PB!

 

[DCBassman]

After some thought, I'll put the PB away until all the remaining parts arrive for it and the MBP. Then I'll have a grand day rebuilding the pair of them!

 

[Bug-Creator]

One thing I've learnt is that not all Tiger ISO's work with all Pbook models, ideally you'd need to find the original CD/DVD set included with the laptop (I've seen some sold on the bay),

A1107 launched with 10.3 so the retail version of 10.4 should be the right one to use.
The last gen of PB (A1138/39) came with 10.4 so there is a chance that those ISOs might work even more if some late A1107 shipped with 10.4 (no idea if that was the case).

-> get a retail version (physical copies would be purple in contrast to gray model specific install media).

 

[headlessmike]

Happy enough with OF, it's just that as a system, it's a pain to deal with. And that the machines can be so fussy with hardware is also a bit crazy, when in 2005 you could throw a WinBox together with more or less any components, and it would work. OF is apparently based on Forth! That's 1970 vintage. Eek. I've a gut feeling that if I refit the spinner, it will work. If so, then maybe I can restore from the working machine to the SSD via USB? Who knows?

Unless the problem is the compatibility between the SSD adapter and the computer as I suspect. You'll probably be able to transfer the data to the drive, but it still might not work reliably in the Mac.

 

[DCBassman]

Unless the problem is the compatibility between the SSD adapter and the computer as I suspect. You'll probably be able to transfer the data to the drive, but it still might not work reliably in the Mac.

Indeed, I'm suspecting that red interface is a part of the answer.

 

[Alubook133]

Yeah, that is a distinct possibility, I suppose you'll try the "green" interface whenever you have the opportunity ?

Either that, or there might be an issue with the IDE i/f on the motherboard side, maybe a bad contact on one pin or defect soldering, or could be an IDE "cable" (not sure what's the EN term for this type of cable) issue as well. So if all else fails, I would go for a thorough visual inspection there and/or continuity test with a multi-meter if you've got one.

 

[DCBassman]

Yeah, that is a distinct possibility, I suppose you'll try the "green" interface whenever you have the opportunity ?

Either that, or there might be an issue with the IDE i/f on the motherboard side, maybe a bad contact on one pin or defect soldering, or could be an IDE "cable" (not sure what's the EN term for this type of cable) issue as well. So if all else fails, I would go for a thorough visual inspection there and/or continuity test with a multi-meter if you've got one.

Yup, all of that. But will also try the old spinner and a brand new 160GB incoming.

 

[ToniCH]

I would do the installation to the original drive. If the installation fails then it's probably the installation media. If it is successfull then I would clone it to the ssd and test run the PB to make sure the adapter and ssd work properly. Superduper and CC both have ppc versions a available.

 

[DCBassman]

I would do the installation to the original drive. If the installation fails then it's probably the installation media. If it is successfull then I would clone it to the ssd and test run the PB to make sure the adapter and ssd work properly. Superduper and CC both have ppc versions a available.

God info, thanks. Awaiting parts for both 17s, then the screwdrivers come out!

 

[Alubook133]

I just found out that in some unfortunate cases, such or such OS installer would have a hard time dealing with the machine's hard drive, be it spinning or SSD, or maybe the eventual interface linking it to the rest of the machine.

Have a look, I seem to remember you talking about having the HDD/SSD "invisible" to the OS (Tiger, I believe), so maybe a change of IDE<->mSATA i/f will do the trick. Or again, maybe it won't.

 

[DCBassman]

I just found out that in some unfortunate cases, such or such OS installer would have a hard time dealing with the machine's hard drive, be it spinning or SSD, or maybe the eventual interface linking it to the rest of the machine.

Have a look, I seem to remember you talking about having the HDD/SSD "invisible" to the OS (Tiger, I believe), so maybe a change of IDE<->mSATA i/f will do the trick. Or again, maybe it won't.

That was using an Adelie Linux installer. I haven't retried that yet - will do later today.

 

[Alubook133]

Spoiler: wrong interpretation of above post :/

Actually no, initially that thread was indeed about installing Adélie Linux, however I was getting errors and errors - but not related to not correctly detecting the hard drive - such that I stopped trying and moved on to Lubuntu-remix (which works great on my Alubook). Then tried to install a more modern OS (Fienix) and that's the one that gives me this problem of the installer not being able to deal with the SSD/IDE2mSATA combo.

 

[DCBassman]

New spinner arrives, and new optical drive. Spinner is SATA, despite ordering PATA/IDE. Grrr...
Refit original spinner. Nothing shows up. Go back to SSD device. Invisible again.
And to top it all off, there's no way to eject the damned DVD.
Not a happy bunny.
🤬🤬🤬
Will now dismantle the MBP 17" and fit new optical drive and keyboard.
Harrumph...

 

[headlessmike]

New spinner arrives, and new optical drive. Spinner is SATA, despite ordering PATA/IDE. Grrr...
Refit original spinner. Nothing shows up. Go back to SSD device. Invisible again.
And to top it all off, there's no way to eject the damned DVD.
Not a happy bunny.
🤬🤬🤬
Will now dismantle the MBP 17" and fit new optical drive and keyboard.
Harrumph...

Press and hold the mouse/trackpad button while powering up the machine. That should force the drive to eject the disc.

 

[DCBassman]

Press and hold the mouse/trackpad button while powering up the machine. That should force the drive to eject the disc.

Absolutely none of te usual methods work. There'snophysical barrier, it's a freshly installed drive. I'veeven tried booting another OS via a Firewire DVD drive and using that to eject. There's nothing there to eject. Something on this machine is "hiding", for want of a better word, the ATA bus.

 

[DCBassman]

Found a repeatable way to eject: boot into boot picker, then hold down eject key.
EDIT: Nope, not reliable!

 

[headlessmike]

You're not having much luck with that machine. Now you know why Apple switched to Intel!

 

[DCBassman]

You're not having much luck with that machine. Now you know why Apple switched to Intel!

Indeed, even the earliest of the early Intels are easier to manage!

 

[Doq]

Found a repeatable way to eject: boot into boot picker, then hold down eject key.
EDIT: Nope, not reliable!

Drop into OF and try eject cd.

That should work every time and if it doesn't it should also tell you why.

 

[DCBassman]

Drop into OF and try eject cd.

That should work every time and if it doesn't it should also tell you why.

It doesn't, and it tells me that it has no idea what 'eject' means!
I'm also thinking that the PRAM battery is toast, which probably doesn't help.

 

[Doq]

It doesn't, and it tells me that it has no idea what 'eject' means!
I'm also thinking that the PRAM battery is toast, which probably doesn't help.

Your optical drive is dropping out. Check the connections to the logic board and to the optical drive. You might have to reseat some connections if you haven't already.

Having a cooked PRAM battery shouldn't matter as long as the machine has power from some other source (AC, main battery).

 

[DCBassman]

We've had no internet here for 24 hours, so got on with another attempt on the beast.
At the last attempt, I had yet another disc stuck in the Superdrive, and nothing would get it out. So I removed the drive, removed the top cover, and removed the faulty disc. But now it ONLY ejects discs! It won't accept anything. 😡🤬
I retrieved the two 'broken' drives I'd just replaced, from this machine and the Intel 17. Took off the covers. Cleaned the lenses. Reassembled them. How to test? Aha! the Firewire LaCie drive is an IDE interface, so iFixit kit putty knife thing, pop it open, carefully remove e the tray-loader, and slot the two slot-loaders into the interface. Plug it in. Both now work perfectly. So I'll put one back in the G4 at some point. But sheesh, I'm pretty certain that this will be my LAST PowerPC Mac, as well as my first - because I still can't make it see a hard drive.