Rebirth of the Cube?

[wsteineker]

Originally posted by Wry Cooter
But if you know of any other solutions... let me know.

The new PowerLogix upgrades come in two models: Cube (800 and 1000) and Sawtooth (800 and 1000). Check it out on their site. Looks like a solution to the problem. Enjoy!

As for the confusion over the Sowtooth not accepting upgrades, we have a semantic problem. The Sonnet page that you sent me to lists all PowerMac G4 models from the AGP Graphics model on up as being compatible with the upgrade. AGP Graphics PowerMacs are the first Sawtooth models. The model before that one was the first PowerMac G4 and it had PCI graphics. It wasn't based on the Sawtooth motherboard, but the Yikes! board. You're confusing the name Sawtooth with a generic name for all graphite G4 towers. The towers that you're saying won't accept processor card upgrades aren't Sawtooth machines at all. Every Sawtooth will accept a processor upgrade from Sonnet, XLR8, or PowerLogix. Just clarifying.

 

[Wry Cooter]

Originally posted by wsteineker

The Sonnet page that you sent me to lists all PowerMac G4 models from the AGP Graphics model on up as being compatible with the upgrade. AGP Graphics PowerMacs are the first Sawtooth models.

Read more carefully.
http://www.sonnettech.com/support/errata/duet_errata.html

This errata link describes the first sawtooths, not a yikes. I know the difference. Some of the early Sawtooths before the Digital Audio variant, had asics with which the Sonnet board cannot work. The entire bit concerning using Apple System Profiler is to determine which asic you might have.

[in g4 agp sawtooth] If the Uni-North ASIC number is previous to revision 7, then your system does not support multiprocessing (thus it cannot take the sonnet board, or any dual processor board) Be nice if the ASIC had a flashable ROM.

You can tell a yikes much easier- it doesn't have AGP, some ports are perpendicular to the placement as on the Sawtooth, etc....

But thanks for the PowerLogix link... those have come out since the last time I searched this spring... now if they will only work with 10.1.5 and Jaguar without a hitch. So my sawtooth could have a 1ghz G4 and a fast 2x AGP video card such as a Radeon 8500, and perhaps run quicker, and maybe even bug free, (would the mobo create bottlenecks in this set up? Maybe not) That could allow me to wait until an actual g5 comes to market, and spend that money on OS X apps (surely Apple will not mind too much if their developers are supported by my budget in the meantime, maybe they can afford to come to MWNY expo next year.)

Anyway, as far as this all relates to the Cube discussion- there is varying difficulty in upgrading our CPUs, depending on the model, apparently a secret
of the cube is, it may be easier to upgrade than some other G4s. But some of us will be have to buy a new case and motherboard as well, as perhaps we should. But I would have loved all g4s to merely have a g4 you could upgrade as easily as putting in more ram, with a removeable zif socket CPU.

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

I can't understand this deal with incompatibility issues - I was always led to believe that a ZIFF socket was as easy to replace as a block of lego.

It's so nice to know that upgrade options are so limited, and not as easy as was made out by Apple when they printed all the blurb on their website, and talked-the-talk at sales time.

Thanks for disspelling that myth, guys!

 

[daRAT]

Originally posted by King Cobra
cubist, I can't imagine having your name referring to a G4 Cube, while you don't use the word "cube" in your long statement just before.

<snip>

heck another "Cubist" and only 6 miles or so away (when in Wells, Maine)!

About the only thing missing in a Cube is a SuperDrive, thats the only reason I am looking at towers now...

cyas!

 

[skunk]

Superdrive

I resorted to the cunning ploy of buying an 800 FP iMac to get the drive. Well, you need a back-up, don't you?

 

[Durandal7]

If you're not using the rest of that iMac I'm sure I could put it to good use.

 

[skunk]

Don't call me, I'll call you...

 

[jaykk]

Too bad, cube was way ahead of its time

I saw the light very late; by that time, Cube was gone. But I switched in time to own a Ti Book..If it was not for Mac OS X and its Unix underpinnings, I should have been still stuck in the dark with Windoze.. I tried Linux for a while, but Mac OS X rocks..and hardware is even better. I hope Steve will bring back the cube

 

[Hlau]

Rebirth of Cube = Apple Gamecube?

Apple/Nintendo/Panasonic partnership anyone? I have the G4 Cube and the Gamecube and they're similar in some respects. Both cubes runs on PowerPC and OpenGL; Apple needs some games and Nintendo may want some help with its next hardware. Games can be part of the digital hub, can't they?

 

[Wry Cooter]

Nintendo made their game cube take 3 inch dvds to help prevent piracy. Any sort of apple/panasonic/nintendo console as you suggest would have to have a tray loading type of drive rather than the slot loading type drive of the Cube, if it were to take Nintendo Games. Nintendo also may not want Mario slipping over to the desktop world, although it might help boost game development for both Nintendo AND Apple. A Cube the price of a Nintendo GameCube? Or some other sort of Set Top box paradigm with Moxi?

 

[King Cobra]

>(daRAT)heck another "Cubist" and only 6 miles or so away (when in Wells, Maine)!
I'm so glad you managed to quote me about 2 and a half days late! If you don't change your name or appearance I'm comin' right over there to eat you!

>About the only thing missing in a Cube is a SuperDrive, thats the only reason I am looking at towers now...
The best of luck, man. Again, wait until after the expo before you purchase a tower, or you will get $çréwëd, especially since it's just over a week away.

>cyas!
English translation, RATmyster!

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Well, King -

Rumour has it that an Optical drive hardware supplier is well into development (if not completion) of a slot-loading SuperDrive for the TiBook. That may be one of the major new hardware releases for the MWNY Expo.

If this is the case (being that the designers have finally conquered the ever-present problem of slot-loading SuperDrives currently only being able to read the disk in the horizontal position as opposed to the vertical position), then, my friends, a whole new can of worms are about to be released into the Apple stable of systems.

Imagine, then, the new range of iMacs - if you look at a picture of the new Wacom Cintiq graphics tablet, then you'll probably be on the right track. No base, no need for a bulky CPU - just a monitor and a keyboard/mouse configuration. The monitor will have to be a nice, large LCD variety (of, say, around 17-18"), just to give it that techno-edge. The SuperDrive would be housed in the Monitor, as would the motherboard. And ALL of this will be achievable solely due to the fact that slot-loading SuperDrives can work whilst laying sideways.

And that's good news for the Cube - for it is then that we, too, can enjoy the benefits of the SuperDrive inside our little beasties.

 

[DakotaGuy]

Originally posted by verbose101
Any one seen this before? PC rip off of the cube. Yuck!

Okay you are all gonna flame on me for this one...but it kinda looks like what you would get if you crossed a cube and an XServe...

 

[skunk]

Yucky!

Looks more like a dog's breakfast...

 

[jefhatfield]

Re: Too bad, cube was way ahead of its time

Originally posted by jaykk
I saw the light very late; by that time, Cube was gone. But I switched in time to own a Ti Book..If it was not for Mac OS X and its Unix underpinnings, I should have been still stuck in the dark with Windoze.. I tried Linux for a while, but Mac OS X rocks..and hardware is even better. I hope Steve will bring back the cube

and it would be nice if there could be a newer cube with the power supply inside the actual cube and a wireless keyboard and mouse

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Well, I dunno Mr. Hat...

I reckon that the Cube was fine just how it was, with the power supply away from the motherboard - giving us a small desktop footprint, and a cooler, quieter enclosure (and a darn cool-looking one at that).

The fact that it was easy to get to the core should indicate that Apple really had great plans for it. Look at the new iMac - the graphics card is soldered on-board, the screen is rigidly stuck at 15", and the memory is a bugger to get at; all unlike the Cube.

As for the wireless keyboard and mouse, well - when Apple's Bluetooth adaptor supplier finally pulls their finger out, perhaps all USB-based Macs can benefit from having them.

 

[PyroTurtle]

that PeeCee thing looks about as bad as you get, there was one at Fry's awhile back....ick...
anywho, the power supply outside the "box" was a smart idea i though, i like it more, i wish i had a cube....the noise that most computers make is really really anoying imho, i like laptops for that reason...i'm rambling....i wish school would start....i need a new mac, this 400Ti is getting slow....have a nice day everyone

 

[King Cobra]

You would qualify for rambling automatically, since you said your 400Ti is getting slow!

>(kiwi)Mr. Hat...
That's classic. First we go from jhatfield to Mr. Hat. Leave me guessing for the follow up.

If you think the noise of computers is noisy, have you heard the mp3 of the new Xserve? It's like a Hoover a couple of feet away. The only difference is that the Hoover doesn't blow.

 

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by King Cobra

Mr. Hat...
That's classic. First we go from jhatfield to Mr. Hat. Leave me guessing for the follow up.

my name is actually daniel but i chose jefhatfield from a cartoon character i invented

from my long essays i used to post (most early macrumor posters only had one sentence retorts), i got the name hatman with the long hatman essays

i actually only wear a 49ers or raiders baseball cap denoting my northern california origin so i do have a hat

i was usually two to three times older than most early macrumor posters so i used to give those parental, "i did this so you don't make the same mistake" speeches...he he

i fell in love with a prostitute/heroin crack junkie when i was a social worker...this happens a lot...and i learned a good lesson on making bad choices

more than a decade later withvolunteer social work with heroin addicts, i know how to keep a distance and help the way i was trained to in the first place

long distance bills to and from jail is not my idea of spending one's wages on late night bull sessions...he he

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Sorry, mate...

No insult intended with the "Mr. Hat" thing - it's just easier to type the abbreviation, especially when you want to put something down fast (before you forget your train of thought - the unwanted byproduct of age!).

Actually, I think Mr. Hat is a great shortened version. After all, if the Hat fits - wear it!

 

[King Cobra]

>if the Hat fits - wear it!
I can't imagine what happens if a jefshoefield starts posting on the board!

I realize that the hatmaster gets a lot of nicknames, but some of them just seem to catch my eye (no pun intended).

Hey, jef, I just read your drug and prostitute-filled life story. Maybe we should call you jefhornyfield!