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PowerMac G4 MDD FW800 questions

Sure, you can resize partitions in Leopard. So you could shrink the storage partition to create a boot partition.

Just seems kinda clunky, though. Maybe a cheap 80gb boot drive isn't that much of a bust :p (ONLY buy a new drive. Used ones can have all kinds of issues)
 
OK, so. I have 64 dollars. Should I wait and buy both the RAM and the hard drive at the same time? The hard drive is 40$ plus shipping, a replacement 80GB. I can also buy 1.5 GBs RAM for 42$. Shipping is free. What should I get, and what is more urgent? The RAM I have is bad, but works. My hard drive is dying, but also (kinda) works.
 
ReanimationLP said:
Don't quote me on this, but I've seen aqua-mac using 2GB of RAM in his MDD FW800 using 2 1GB sticks. I'd see if you can find/borrow from a friend or something 2 1GB chips to test this theory.

I mean, they said the iMac G4 can only take 1GB, but it can actually take 2GB.

Back when these machines first came out, there wasn't 1GB chips out IIRC.
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It works, i got 2 1GB sticks in my MDD. Only condition is, that you must install a pair of them. Benefits of this solution are: you get more space for big graphics card cooler (if you need) and less heat produced by RAM. I didn't noticed any performance increase with this solution, even with Corsair XMS CL2 RAM.

One more: didn't tested this with 133 MHz bus. It works with original 167 MHz MDD and with OC'ed to 167 MHz too.
 
OK. So, I've decided to buy a new boot drive for my Mac. Can I install it under the DVD drive, copy all the files off the dying drive, and then swap the drives? Also, can the dying drive be reused somehow? I'd hate to waste it if it can be fixed, even if only to semi-funtional status?
 
You can switch it to whatever bay you want, yes.

I'd use the dying drive as a NON-boot drive, it will work just fine for years. When my 80gb drive started causing crashes, I just moved it to the front bay and loaded all of my Simpson's episodes onto it.
 
applegeek13 said:
OK. So, I've decided to buy a new boot drive for my Mac. Can I install it under the DVD drive, copy all the files off the dying drive, and then swap the drives? Also, can the dying drive be reused somehow? I'd hate to waste it if it can be fixed, even if only to semi-funtional status?
Click to expand...

You can zero out this dying drive with DU, after moving files to new drive. It could make its life longer.
 
UPDATE: I have bought a Western Digital 250GB HDD to be used as my main boot drive. I'd like to find a Leopard disc before it arrives, probably sometime early next week. How much is one going to cost me, and where's the cheapest place to get one?
 
ebay has plenty, though whether they're affordable...

Man, all of this over a 7-year-old machine? It must really be something. I mean, I loved mine and with such a heavy heart, I reluctantly sold it. But it was a single-processor so it was really behind with stuff like Flash. How's your's with stuff like Youtube Flash videos and watching digital movies?
 
I've got the twin processor version. YouTube crahes it, but I think it's a software problem. Some embedded video runs fine, usually. I watch hulu on it occasionally. Video is nice, but HD is laggy. I need more ram to fix that problem. I've seen computers like this one asking 800-900$ but I don't know if they sell. I might look into selling it and perhaps buy a MacBook. The reason I bought it is because I convinced my parents that I'd upgrade it and learn from it. I think it's a good computer overall. It handles what I need pretty well.
 
They're amazing. I thought I'd sell my MDD right off, but as soon as I got it working I fell in love and used it every day, even though I have a MacBook Pro :p

Download the Flash 10.1 release client, Google it, once you've got Leopard and the latest Safari.

Wow, Hulu? Damn, these things always surprise me.

Are you sure RAM is the issue? Monitor the RAM usage in Activity Monitor and see how much free RAM and CPU you have when playing HD to see which is the culprit.
 
applegeek13 said:
I've got the twin processor version. YouTube crahes it, but I think it's a software problem. Some embedded video runs fine, usually. I watch hulu on it occasionally. Video is nice, but HD is laggy. I need more ram to fix that problem. I've seen computers like this one asking 800-900$ but I don't know if they sell. I might look into selling it and perhaps buy a MacBook. The reason I bought it is because I convinced my parents that I'd upgrade it and learn from it. I think it's a good computer overall. It handles what I need pretty well.
Click to expand...

Please don't ask 800 for your MDD. 400-450 tops.

Those people you see asking 800+ have an inflated sense of value bcause they paid 2500+ for the tower new. I see most MDD's on ebay sell for 300~ and that covers pretty much every cpu speed/config. I used to own 2 MDD. A dual 1.42 I sold in late 07 for 500 and a dual 867 I sold in 08 for 400. Both had 2GB RAM.

Remember that just because an uninformed person may pay more than something is worth that doesn't make it okay. Computer karma is the worst kind. :)
 
Yeah, in my part of town, there is somebody asking $320 for a G3 iBook currently...yeah...

Of course in my part of town, the $1,299 it cost when new is a few month's salary. XD XD XD
 
I'm not planning on selling anytime soon. Hulu is ok, but it's slow because of my internet. We paid 400$ for this MDD, and it came with an excellent display.
 
My new hard drive came today, a 250gb WD. It's getting all the info off my original hard drive. It's under my combo drive right now. I'm going to swap it with my original when it finishes and then erase the original. Hope it goes well!
 
Sorry for the triple post.

I can boot of the new hard drive, but I'm using the old one for now. When the new drive is in, I can't open System Preferences. Why?

Also, Mail, Safari, and iChat have disappeared. Safari still opens, but I can't find the files in my Applications Folder. Mail and iChat are nowhere to be found. I'm thinking about just saving all my personal files to my confirmed good drive and starting over. What's the best way to do that?

Also, is Disk Utility the best software to use for all this copying and erasing, or is there some third party software I can use? I'd like to stick with freeware, as I have very little money left from the hard drive purchase.

Thanks in advance!
 
Do clean OS install on new drive and use OS X Migration Assistant (with "transfer from another volume" option). It's easiest way. Alternative is to use Carbon Copy Cloner (free third party soft) to clone entire HDD to new one.
 
I've decided I want to do a fresh start and install leopard as my boot os. I have all my personal data and iTunes etc on my 400 drive, and that's all good. I just need to find a retail copy of leopard. All the ones I found on eBay and amazon were 180$ and up.
 
Good gosh... 180%$??

For that price i would go with 10.4 or... maybe if you could find a 10.5 UPGRADE disk for cheaper that would work just fine.
 
I'm getting leopard from a place that might make Steve Jobs a little mad. :) I refuse to pay more than original retail price for older software. Well, at least I support Apple through other means, so I think all's good.
 
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