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eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
I have just picked up a 450mhz G4 cube. I've wanted a PPC Mac again for a while to relive the glory days, and am glad to be back in the fold. Will probably have lots of questions so please bear with me! I am running 10.3.9 currently. Three to start with:

1) It has an Airport card but I can't connect to any networks. It can see various wireless networks, but then just refuses to connect with a generic error. Is this likely to be a hardware issue, or just that the old card can't connect to networks with modern security?

2) The cube powers off whenever I lift it up or tilt it. It's not an instant power loss which makes me think it's not a loose cable, it's like it shuts down. Quite annoying as I need to tilt it to swap USB sticks etc. Is this a feature or a problem? I'm not accidentally pressing the power button (that only sends it to sleep when on anyway.)

3) The DVD-ROM reads discs but won't eject. Is this fixable?

Any help appreciated!
 

647156

Cancelled
Dec 4, 2011
276
376
The original AirPort Card (not AirPort Extreme) will only connect to WPA, not WPA2, networks, so you may need to drop your encryption level down or set up a separate network for it. Also they do not like some newer routers/the default settings on them, you might need to try settings that are for compatibility with older devices. Or use an ethernet to WiFi bridge like a flashed WRT54 router running in bridge mode, Powerline adapters, etc if you can't or don't want to change any settings, or still can't get it to work.
 
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eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
OK thanks, I thought that may be the case. Ethernet is fine. Any idea about the shutting down when tilted?
 

0248294

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2016
713
869
Those DVD-ROM drives tend to fail to eject, and I haven't heard of someone being able to fix it. The slotloading iMac G3 drives are compatible, so you could look for one of those. I have one that I would give away for the price of shipping it (don't know if it works or where I have put it for the moment, but I could check), but I don't know where you are located, and if you're in the US, shipping from the Netherlands might make that more expensive than simply buying the part from eBay.
 

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
There are a few threads on here about cleaning and repairing the slot loading drives used in Cubes. For the shutting down, it could be caused by the touch sensor. Remove the cube's core and put a piece of paper over the touch sensor at the top of the core then give it a try.
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
OK thanks that's good to know, will try that. After a bit more playing around I have a weird issue - I have put an OS 9.2.2 "System Folder" on the root of the HD from the Apple Netboot DMG, and Classic mode now works. However OS 9 won't boot (shows floppy with question mark) and also weirdly if I then hold ALT at boot I don't see OS X, only OS 9. The only way I can get back in to OS X is from the install DVD and changing the startup disk. Is this normal? I like the idea of running OS X and OS 9 from one partition if it works reliably and I can switch between the two at boot.
 

CooperBox

macrumors 68000
I have just picked up a 450mhz G4 cube. I've wanted a PPC Mac again for a while to relive the glory days, and am glad to be back in the fold. Will probably have lots of questions so please bear with me! I am running 10.3.9 currently. Three to start with:

1) It has an Airport card but I can't connect to any networks. It can see various wireless networks, but then just refuses to connect with a generic error. Is this likely to be a hardware issue, or just that the old card can't connect to networks with modern security?

2) The cube powers off whenever I lift it up or tilt it. It's not an instant power loss which makes me think it's not a loose cable, it's like it shuts down. Quite annoying as I need to tilt it to swap USB sticks etc. Is this a feature or a problem? I'm not accidentally pressing the power button (that only sends it to sleep when on anyway.)

3) The DVD-ROM reads discs but won't eject. Is this fixable?

Any help appreciated!

1- With routers available today I've never had sucess using the old airport card in the Cube, and stick to Ethernet via a Devolo 1200 PowerLine adapter which works a treat.

2- For the Cube powering off when touched, mine goes to sleep if I inadvertently touch some parts of it. I initially added the thin paper or scotchtape trick to the touch sensor as it wasn't very sensitive. Now works well, perhaps too well......
Ensure that the Power Button gasket is centred correctly. See HERE (page 19-20). Also whilst you're at that location, remove the gasket and turn it over so that it may reseat and make better contact with the power button metallic ring.

3. Anyone finding a Cube today with a perfectly ejecting DVD-ROM drive has a rare bird indeed. I've recently salvaged compatible drives from two slot-loading G3 iMacs. Only one ejected the CD, albeit sluggishly. I attempted to recondition it and did improve the ejection, but the time & trouble required to disassemble the drive rails/rubber sleeves is somewhat of a pain.

Misc teardown info HERE & HERE

Here are a few long forgotten posts relating to the G4 Cube.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2001/01/19/cube.html
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/cube/dual_g4_cube/dual_g4_cube.html
http://www.smalldog.com/techtails/46/
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
Tonight I'm trying to install Tiger, but keep getting this while booting from the DVD. I have managed to get to the setup screen a couple of times but haven't dared format the drive in case the install fails and I 'brick' it (if I can't install from DVD I have no other way of getting an OS on there.) Anybody know what this error is? The Cube seems a bit unstable at the moment.

kernel.JPG
 

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
What does that Tiger disc that your trying to boot from look like? For OS 9, it sounds like your cube does not have the OS 9 drivers installed. You'll have to erase the hard drive in order to install those.
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
I don't have an original, it's just a 10.4.0 ISO I downloaded. It does sometimes boot so I don't think it's the disc, more likely the drive.

Sorry could you elaborate on installing OS 9 drivers?
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
Well sadly it looks like this thing might be scrap. The USB ports intermittently stop working, I need to unplug and re-connect the keyboard and mouse repeatedly. Also, the DVD drive won't boot at all if the Cube is upright. If I lay it on its side so the disc is facing up as it should be, after about 10 minutes it eventually gets to the 'welcome' screen, but can't get any further than that.

Without a working optical drive it's pretty much useless as I can't think of any way to get an OS on there.
 

FNH15

macrumors 6502a
Apr 19, 2011
822
867
Well sadly it looks like this thing might be scrap. The USB ports intermittently stop working, I need to unplug and re-connect the keyboard and mouse repeatedly. Also, the DVD drive won't boot at all if the Cube is upright. If I lay it on its side so the disc is facing up as it should be, after about 10 minutes it eventually gets to the 'welcome' screen, but can't get any further than that.

Without a working optical drive it's pretty much useless as I can't think of any way to get an OS on there.

Target Disk Mode?
 
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eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
I don't have another Mac with Firewire. I don't particularly want to spend $50+ on either an external FW HD or optical drive on the slim chance it might work.
 

0248294

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2016
713
869
I don't have another Mac with Firewire. I don't particularly want to spend $50+ on either an external FW HD or optical drive on the slim chance it might work.
I know TDM works between FireWire and Thunderbolt, so if you have any Mac with TB, that, along with a TB to FW cable/adapter, could be an option.
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
I do have a 2016 MBP with TB3, would that work? Also how would I go about installing a PPC OS from an Intel Mac?
 

v1597psh

macrumors regular
Feb 4, 2014
245
396
London
Take the drive out. Plug it to another Mac via IDE to USB adapter and restore an image of installed OS to it.
 

0248294

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2016
713
869
I do have a 2016 MBP with TB3, would that work? Also how would I go about installing a PPC OS from an Intel Mac?
That would probably not work. The MBP probably is too new to boot the Leopard installer, and has no optical drive it can share with the Cube. The only option that would work, is to somehow create a virtual machine that uses the physical Cube HDD either in a USB enclosure or over TDM, and then install it in that. Remember, Leopard is an Universal OS, so if you install it on an Intel Mac and move it over to a PowerPC Mac, it will work fine.
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
I want to retain classic mode, so 10.4 is the highest I can go.
 

AphoticD

macrumors 68020
Feb 17, 2017
2,283
3,466
Could be a long shot, but can you dismantle the cube, grab a free (or borrowed) PC IDE DVD drive, plug it into the logic board, connect it to 12v and then boot from it? I don’t know what kind of restrictions the cube would have on this...

I’m fortunate to have a couple of Firewire 400 IDE /ATA enclosures which have come to the rescue quite a few times.
 

eddjedi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 7, 2011
632
853
For anybody interested I have found a work around. You can't boot a Cube from a USB optical drive, but you can install from it once already booted! So I used the faulty internal optical drive to (slowly) boot to the install screen, then in disk utility I ejected the disc, and then put it in my external USB drive and carried on with the installation. Works like a charm :)

However it looks like the HD is faulty as I can't get the install to complete, it keeps failing at various stages. I've ordered a new HD (managed to find a NOS 80GB 7200RPM drive for $10 on eBay) so will try again when that arrives.

EDIT: Forgot to add that the hardware test CD passed just fine.
 

LightBulbFun

macrumors 68030
Nov 17, 2013
2,900
3,195
London UK
its also a good idea to make sure the BootROM of your G4 cube is fully up to date :)

having an outdated BootROM can cause a whole host of issues especially if your trying to boot Leopard, the Latest BootROM Version for the cube is 4.1.9 :)
 
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