Power Mac G4 Cube internal cables, I need help

[ferranrobuste]

Hi,
I have the possibility to acquire a G4 cube for a very good price, with the Studio Display, keyboard and speakers. Aesthetically it is very good, and it has all the internal components.
The problem is that the 3 cables that are connected to the DC-to-Dc board are cut. The seller tells me that when he bought it they were already cut, I don't know why the first owner cut them, but they are all 3 cut in half.
They are the 3 cables indicated in the attached sample image.
Is it possible to get spare parts for these three cables? The connectors of the two cables on the left are also missing. Are they standard cables? Where could I get them?
I've done a search but can't find anything ...
Thank you very much for the help!

 

[eyoungren]

Even if they have been cut, if there is still part of the cable you may be able to find the part number. Searching for that part number on eBay may yield results. Then it's just a matter of replacing them.

 

[ferranrobuste]

Even if they have been cut, if there is still part of the cable you may be able to find the part number. Searching for that part number on eBay may yield results. Then it's just a matter of replacing them.

Thank you very much!

 

[Wouter3]

Have you managed to get these cables?

The middle one you can happily leave out as it connects the Airport card to the logic board, which doesn't work at all in a modern network, and if it does it is far too slow. I have taken out my Airport card including cables and installed a TP-link mini router which with some modifications works very well.

The right cable is the IDE cable to connect to your harddrive, which you should be able to find on ebay. It is an IDE cable with 3 (20-pin) connectors. One to the logic board (the one which is broken in your case) and the other ones to your harddrive and DVD drive. The left 4 pin connector provides DC power from the VRM to the Molex connector that feeds the harddisk and dvd drive. If you cannot find the 4 pin connector you could straight plug in the 4 cables that come from the Molex connector to your harddrive. If you need I could show you from my Cube which colours fits where on the VRM.

 

[ferranrobuste]

Have you managed to get these cables?

The middle one you can happily leave out as it connects the Airport card to the logic board, which doesn't work at all in a modern network, and if it does it is far too slow. I have taken out my Airport card including cables and installed a TP-link mini router which with some modifications works very well.

The right cable is the IDE cable to connect to your harddrive, which you should be able to find on ebay. It is an IDE cable with 3 (20-pin) connectors. One to the logic board (the one which is broken in your case) and the other ones to your harddrive and DVD drive. The left 4 pin connector provides DC power from the VRM to the Molex connector that feeds the harddisk and dvd drive. If you cannot find the 4 pin connector you could straight plug in the 4 cables that come from the Molex connector to your harddrive. If you need I could show you from my Cube which colours fits where on the VRM.

Hello,

Thank you very much for the information, it will be very helpful.
I have not been able to do the repair yet, I hope I can do it soon.

"The middle one you can happily leave out as it connects the Airport card to the logic board, which doesn't work at all in a modern network, and if it does it is far too slow".

Yes, I don't have the airport card either, so I was going to connect it by ethernet cable, I suppose it will work.

"The right cable is the IDE cable to connect to your harddrive, which you should be able to find on ebay."

Yes, I have some IDE cables saved on ebay, the problem is that I am trying to find one of the same length, since most of them are much longer than the one in the Cube...

"If you cannot find the 4 pin connector you could straight plug in the 4 cables that come from the Molex connector to your harddrive. If you need I could show you from my Cube which colours fits where on the VRM."

I have found connectors of the same type on the internet, when they arrive I will try to replace the missing connector that goes to the VRM board and a new power cable to the hard disk and the dvd.
If you could show me from your cube which colours fits where on the VRM it would be a great help.

Thank you very much!!

 

[Wouter3]

Hello,

Thank you very much for the information, it will be very helpful.
I have not been able to do the repair yet, I hope I can do it soon.

"The middle one you can happily leave out as it connects the Airport card to the logic board, which doesn't work at all in a modern network, and if it does it is far too slow".

Yes, I don't have the airport card either, so I was going to connect it by ethernet cable, I suppose it will work.

"The right cable is the IDE cable to connect to your harddrive, which you should be able to find on ebay."

Yes, I have some IDE cables saved on ebay, the problem is that I am trying to find one of the same length, since most of them are much longer than the one in the Cube...

"If you cannot find the 4 pin connector you could straight plug in the 4 cables that come from the Molex connector to your harddrive. If you need I could show you from my Cube which colours fits where on the VRM."

I have found connectors of the same type on the internet, when they arrive I will try to replace the missing connector that goes to the VRM board and a new power cable to the hard disk and the dvd.
If you could show me from your cube which colours fits where on the VRM it would be a great help.

Thank you very much!!

If you can only find longer IDE cables, you could consider to install an SSD in stead of the harddrive. This will improve the response of your Cube quite a bit, is less noisy and will consume less power. It will also leave you more space in the harddisk tray to accommodate the SSD, a SATA to IDE adapter and the longer IDE cable (see my picture with my SSD and the short IDE cable. A longer cable would ease the installation of an SSD a bit. You might in that case also need a longer Molex cable, so make sure you allow enough cable length to connect the new connector to the VRM.

The new connector should be connected to the Molex connector as shown in the picture below. Watch the slightly angular sides of the Molex connector to fit the cables correctly. The top side cables go to your new connector, below the wires connect to the DVD drive.

On your picture I saw the Airport card still installed. Better remove it all together. Connecting an ethernet cable works well. You could also connect a Mini router the the ethernet connector for WiFi connection.

 

[ferranrobuste]

If you can only find longer IDE cables, you could consider to install an SSD in stead of the harddrive. This will improve the response of your Cube quite a bit, is less noisy and will consume less power. It will also leave you more space in the harddisk tray to accommodate the SSD, a SATA to IDE adapter and the longer IDE cable (see my picture with my SSD and the short IDE cable. A longer cable would ease the installation of an SSD a bit. You might in that case also need a longer Molex cable, so make sure you allow enough cable length to connect the new connector to the VRM.

The new connector should be connected to the Molex connector as shown in the picture below. Watch the slightly angular sides of the Molex connector to fit the cables correctly. The top side cables go to your new connector, below the wires connect to the DVD drive.

On your picture I saw the Airport card still installed. Better remove it all together. Connecting an ethernet cable works well. You could also connect a Mini router the the ethernet connector for WiFi connection.

Thank you very much!

I just discovered that the 2-wire power cable that goes from the battery (which is missing), to the connector on the same board where the graphics card is connected is also cut, and the connector from this cable to the board is missing (the cable and the connector indicated in the example photo).
Would the mac work without this battery cable connection, or without the battery? If not, I would have to find a new connector and replace the cut wire.
I don't understand why someone would want to cut so many cables? I see that a lot of work awaits me ...

 

[Wouter3]

Yes, your Cube will start without that cable, I just tried it with mine. Yes it is pretty stupid to cut these cables, but this might have resulted in you being able to buy the Cube for a decent price.
I would install the cable and connector anyway as it will probably keep date settings. The connector is standard 4 pins, which should be still available as they were also used in PCs at the time.

 

[WhoNet]

My Airport card works well in my Cube and I'm running Tiger on it. Not sure
what you mean by slow? My iBook running OS9 cannot connect to my
Network. Though this known.

 

[Wouter3]

I get the message that the proper security protocol is not supported and cannot connect to my router. When I connect it to an old router it should probably work, but only at a speed of max 11 mbs.

 

[WhoNet]

Hi Wouter3, just done a internet speedtest and my Cube was 2.6mbps. that is ok for
me. lets face it our computers are old and so is our Browsers.I still think for me my
Airport card is fast enough. I love my Cube... Very expensive when i bought it in
Australia 450 au (five yrs ago). You cannot buy one in Australia any more (last time i looked on eBay).

 

[Wouter3]

What tool are you using on the Cube to measure your internet speed? I would like to know how fast my new wifi connection is as compared to the ethernet cable.

 

[WhoNet]

I just used a Internet speed site. My Internet speed is not that good anyway. I am
on NBN Satellite 25mbps in WA. My Network is dual 2.4/5 GHz