Picked up a G4 1.2ghz need help

[87vert]

Hi Guys,

I recently got a powermac g4 from a friends company who was tossing it out and he didnt want it.
Specs sticker states: 1.25ghz - 256mb ram - 80gb hd - dvd - cdrw - R9000Pro

1)It came with 2 of the mac lcd monitors but I can only connect one since they have the special plugs and the the video card has one spot for that connector and the other one looks like a DVI port. Is there some sort of adapter I need?

2)They took out the drive and some of the ram. It currently has a 256mb stick and 512mb stick.
I have a 120gb IDE drive from an old pc and I have 2 extra 256mb sticks (PC2700). This stuff should work fine correct?

I put in the ram and drive and I get a chime on boot and it shows a grey screen with a icon that looks like a folder and "question mark"

Now I know there is no OS on this drive but should I be able to get into any sort of setup menus?

3)It didnt come with an peripherals, will a standard USB keyboard / mouse work or do I need a special keyboard. When I turn it on I dont get any lights on the keyboard.

Thanks for helping me out. I've always wanted to fiddle with a mac.

 

[DoFoT9]

that folder with the questionmark means that there is no OS found on the computer. you wont be able to do anything unless you put a HD into it.

you could boot into the EFI (BIOS) if you wanted to, its NOTHING like BIOS though, its just text based and wont get you anywhere. you will need a copy of jaguar/tiger/leopard to get anywhere..

no idea about the other questions, sorry

 

[cherry su]

1. you need an ADC(male)-DVI(female) adapter
2. there is no BIOS menu; just a boot disk selector if you hold down a key (forgot) and FireWire target disk mode
3. PC peripherals work

 

[DoFoT9]

1. you need an ADC(male)-DVI(female) adapter
2. there is no BIOS menu; just a boot disk selector if you hold down a key (forgot) and FireWire target disk mode
3. PC peripherals work

2. :Option: key for boot menu, :T: key for firewire booting.

 

[G5power]

That would be a pretty decent computer. You might check on Craigslist or ebay for a local that has something like a copy of 10.4 Tiger that they would be willing to sell for a reasonable price.

With at least a GB of RAM that will run nicely.

As others of said you can use other USB devices. I usually use an actual Apple keyboard and then a 2 button PC mouse.

 

[87vert]

2. :Option: key for boot menu, :T: key for firewire booting.

Is there a replacment "Option" key that I can use on a windows keyboard?

I may just have to pickup a mac keyboard.

How much do the ADC to DVI adapters run? Is that something that comes directly from MAC or are there 3rd party ones?

Is there a replacment "Option" key that I can use on a windows keyboard?

I may just have to pickup a mac keyboard.

How much do the ADC to DVI adapters run? Is that something that comes directly from MAC or are there 3rd party ones?

I got a spare mac keyboard and mouse from work so I'm all set on that end. A friend of mine said he has a copy of os 9 that I can have so Im going to try that.

 

[Pixellated]

Is there a replacment "Option" key that I can use on a windows keyboard?

I may just have to pickup a mac keyboard.

How much do the ADC to DVI adapters run? Is that something that comes directly from MAC or are there 3rd party ones?

Option equals either ALT or WINKEY

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

Please, please, please..........don't subject yourself to the horror show that was OS 9, unless you just like pain & suffering

This would make for a terrible 1st experience with a mac, and thats NOT what you want!

That machine will run 10.4 quite nicely, as others have said, with 1Gb of ram or so and a big, fast HD...... that would be the 1st step, as you won't be able to do much with it until you install & format a HD with an OS......

Actually it will run 10.5 too, just not as fast.....

That machine is spec'd for PC2700, so you should be fine there! And you should be able to find a copy of 10.4 for ~$30-40 nowadays......

good luck & please keep us posted on your progress

 

[DoFoT9]

Please, please, please..........don't subject yourself to the horror show that was OS 9, unless you just like pain & suffering

This would make for a terrible 1st experience with a mac, and thats NOT what you want!

That machine will run 10.4 quite nicely, as others have said, with 1Gb of ram or so and a big, fast HD...... that would be the 1st step, as you won't be able to do much with it until you install & format a HD with an OS......

Actually it will run 10.5 too, just not as fast.....

That machine is spec'd for PC2700, so you should be fine there! And you should be able to find a copy of 10.4 for ~$30-40 nowadays......

good luck & please keep us posted on your progress

pfft think for yourself. OS9 (IMO) was awsome. i run OS9 virtually just because its so amazing. i do know what i am doing with it though, so i guess you must need to know your way around to have a good experience with it...

 

[87vert]

I installed 10.4 running good on 1.2gb ram and 120gb hdd. I didnt realize that it was a dual cpu, didnt find out till I went to the system specs.

Thanks for the help guys.

Whats the max ram that it will support?

and is there a manual or something available for it?

 

[DoFoT9]

I installed 10.4 running good on 1.2gb ram and 120gb hdd. I didnt realize that it was a dual cpu, didnt find out till I went to the system specs.

Thanks for the help guys.

Whats the max ram that it will support?

and is there a manual or something available for it?

i believe the max is 2gb!!!!

apple.com will most likely have a manual there somewhere. (i think).

 

[G5power]

The Mirror Drive G4's have four memory slots for a maximum of 2GB.

A Quicksilver with three slots has a maximum of 1.5GB.

Last I had checked the memory for the Mirror Drive model is still pretty reasonable in cost.

 

[87vert]

The Mirror Drive G4's have four memory slots for a maximum of 2GB.

A Quicksilver with three slots has a maximum of 1.5GB.

Last I had checked the memory for the Mirror Drive model is still pretty reasonable in cost.

it is the mirror drive 4 slot model,

on newegg pc2700 is only 22bux for a 1gb stick. Should I got with 4 512's or 2 1gb sticks?

 

[Hrududu]

How much do the ADC to DVI adapters run? Is that something that comes directly from MAC or are there 3rd party ones?

Its an Apple thing. New off the website they are $99 and they don't get much cheaper used to be honest. I have one that I use with my MacBook Pro. Here's the link to the one on the Apple store. DVI to ADC adapter