Thank you.

[B S Magnet]

This post is long overdue, and now is a good time to make it.

There are so many generous folks here on the PowerPC community (and Early Intel Macs community) who have been doing the good work of not only keeping vintage Macs running and serviceable for a long time to come, but also by sharing knowledge and patiently helping folks to keep their own gear running. I have learnt so much from you all, and I am grateful for that. I look forward to learning even more.

I want to thank you…

@Amethyst1 for pushing the upper limits of how far GPUs can go and still produce working desktop environments in OS X. Amazing.

@AphoticD for patiently showing how to restore, clean, and maintain old hardware, especially so Power Mac G5s, and @bobesch for ways to maintain the idiosyncrasies of early Intel Macs.

@dosdude1 @LightBulbFun and @JoyBed for daring to try enhanced mods and to repair boards, by swapping out BGA-based CPUs and GPUs; to @ervus and @DearthnVader with helping them to modify OpenFirmware to create and revitalize unique Macs which go far beyond anything Apple tried, by doing the highly delicate work which few of us have ever attempted on our own; and to @dosdude1 a second mention for helping people to make later versions of macOS/OS X to come alive reasonably easy on early Intel Macs.

@alex_free for assiduously maintaining PPCMC and getting classic games ported to PowerPC Macs.

@eyoungren for demonstrating how to get the most out of vintage hardware and servers in production environments, as well as painstakingly tweaking Mozilla settings to optimize PowerPC browser performance before other folks were trying, and @Dronecatcher for demonstrating the incredible utility and stability of G3 architecture both online and with rich media, even in 2021.

@TheShortTimer for bringing a refreshing humanity to the forums.

@wicknix for not only keeping browsers alive for PowerPC and early Intel Macs, but also revealing just how much more can be done with PowerPC and Intel architecture beyond the bounds of OS X, and sharing that knowledge without a shred of pretence. You are a mensch.

@ChrisCharman @Hughmac @jimjamyaha @MacPro2006VBox @weckart @Project Alice @armdn @ScreenSavers @netsrot39 @Rikintosh and @NikolaPPC for volunteering and helping with the continued testing of Snow Leopard on PowerPC Macs, with especial mention to @Larsvonhier @vddrnnr and Julian Fairfax, who showed us the way on getting “A Clouded Leopard” (Snow Leopard on PowerPC), from mythical conjecture to proof-of-concept, and showing the MR PPC community how to do it on their own gear. This project has been the biggest motivator behind why I’ve kept coming back to the MR PPC forums.

And also a thank you to @AL1630 @swamprock @repairedCheese @galgot @Imixmuan @bunnspecial @RogerWilco6502 @CooperBox @Wowfunhappy @MultiFinder17 @MysticCow @Raging Dufus and @micahgartman for also being helpful along the way.

Thank you one and all (and if I missed you, I apologize).

 

[eyoungren]

I think one of the reasons this particular area of MacRumors has survived for so long without devolving into a cesspit of backbiting, snobby people who won't or can't help is the attitude. Almost everyone I've met in here has been here to try and help - for no gain to themselves. This is primarily what has kept me here and it will continue to be so until it's not, God forbid.

As an example of this I'd just bring up @timidpimpin. Formerly another user here that was in large part the resident expert, he was here long before I was. Things happened, and if you've been here long enough you know what that was. But there's always redemption and I'm glad we can count on his knowledge and the knowledge of all the other users engaged here.

Off topic but related to our forum

No. I'm saying he had a bad bedside manner. He delivered what he knew in a way that could be offensive. But because he was right about what he knew (and he knew a lot), a lot of users didn't challenge him. Which left him as the resident expert. When he left, that offensive personality was gone.

forums.macrumors.com

Intel Macs are primarily what I use now, but I still come here because of the community. As long as I can continue to help I will do so. It's great to be among so many willing to help others, yourself included @B S Magnet.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Indeed...it's only when you visit other forums, FB groups and Reddits that you realise how genuinely helpful, polite and enthusiastic this space is - long may it continue that way!

 

[MultiFinder17]

I’m right there with you mate - this is a fantastic group of weirdos we’ve got here, weird in that we derive joy from pushing ancient hardware to and well past its reasonable limits and we enjoy helping others do the same.

I’ve yet to find another forum between here and the Early Intel forum that is as open and generous about its hobby, and is as willing to help others without a holier-than-thou attitude towards the hobby. Whether someone is a regular contributor or a newbie that just found a PowerBook in a closet and wants to know what their new treasure is capable of, everyone here gets genuinely excited about helping.

I’ll admit, most of my help comes in the form of small quips or anecdotes, but I still try and do my part. I do so to try and pay forward the enormous amounts of help I’ve gotten here over the years. It’s lovely having somewhere that I know I can always go for help and get it in a friendly, warm, welcoming environment.

Y’all’re weirdos in the best ways possible. Keep on keepin’ on.

 

[RogerWilco6502]

I love this place! Thank you as well, @B S Magnet ! We truly are a special place on the internet, and I too thank everyone here. I do whatever I can to help as well as learn as much as I can along the way.

 

[eyoungren]

I’m right there with you mate - this is a fantastic group of weirdos we’ve got here, weird in that we derive joy from pushing ancient hardware to and well past its reasonable limits and we enjoy helping others do the same.

I’ve yet to find another forum between here and the Early Intel forum that is as open and generous about its hobby, and is as willing to help others without a holier-than-thou attitude towards the hobby. Whether someone is a regular contributor or a newbie that just found a PowerBook in a closet and wants to know what their new treasure is capable of, everyone here gets genuinely excited about helping.

I’ll admit, most of my help comes in the form of small quips or anecdotes, but I still try and do my part. I do so to try and pay forward the enormous amounts of help I’ve gotten here over the years. It’s lovely having somewhere that I know I can always go for help and get it in a friendly, warm, welcoming environment.

Y’all’re weirdos in the best ways possible. Keep on keepin’ on.

I think as well that you are in the unique position to demonstrate the use of the old Macs to younger generations. The Macs you have in your classroom are visible proof that they can still be useful, economical and ecological (saving old Macs from landfill). It also shows what you can do if you're determined.

That's not necessarily a spot anyone else may be in, although I know we all take any opportunity that presents itself to be evangelists

 

[netsrot39]

I also want to chime in quickly. I agree with what has been written so far, this is indeed a wonderful place for us vintage Mac enthusiasts and this forum has probably the most valuable information (due to all the great people) about older Macs. It is kind of unbelievable that PowerPC machines can still be used productively in 2021 if you know how to use them (e.g. PPCMC for YouTube, TenFourFox/IceWeasel/InterWebPPC for web browsing, etc.) Many users do not seem to appreciate those old Apple devices anymore because (supposedly) not being able to watch YouTube on a computer is a deal breaker. There are workarounds for stuff like that and I honestly would not know about it either if it weren't for the great people in this forum.

Let me share a quick story with you. I bought my first PowerPC Mac out of curiosity in summer of 2017 (15" PowerBook G4, A1106). I never used them when they were actually contemporary (I was a Windows only user up until 2014). My first Mac was and still is the Mid 2012 13" MacBook Pro and from there on I never looked back. While is still believe that this model in particular was the best Intel MacBook Pro ever made by Apple (due to its modular design), I sadly have to say that problems occurred 2 years later because the hard drive ribbon cable failed. I was kind of tech-savvy back then but not when it comes to repairing/changing hardware. I was out of warranty and they quoted me quite a high price so I went the DIY route. After replacing the hard drive ribbon cable I also upgraded RAM and to an SSD and from there on the tinkering and the fun involved started. I discovered this forum around 2016 and did not register until 2018. I fell in love with Macs ever since I got my MacBook Pro and therefore my interest in other Apple devices (particularly computers) also grew. All those great tutorials and infos on the MacRumors forum (hacking newer hardware into older devices, running unsupported operating systems, etc.) even increased my interest. Needless to say, over the years my collection grew to a considerable amount (I own about 20 Macs now and each has been upgraded/modified in some way). The funny thing is I never planned on having a collection but it sort of happened Now back to the PowerPC story. Like I stated before, I bought my first PowerPC Mac 4 years ago because I got it for a good price and I also was kind of interested what the pre-Intel Apple era was like. At first I was like omg those devices are so much slower than their Intel counterparts but they still intrigued me. I initially only intended the PowerBook for tasks like gaming but it wasn't until all those threads and discussions I read here in the PowerPC forum that I realized that those PowerPC Macs can be used as a daily driver (with drawbacks of course but still they do have the potential to be used as a daily driver for certain tasks). Exploring OS X Tiger, OS X Leopard, TenFourFox, PPCMC and finding older versions of software to make those older PowerPC Macs usable in the present was a lot of fun. I also enjoyed learning about the possibility to hack an SSD into said devices, installing Linux on it, etc. I wouldn't have know about half of this if it weren't for this forum. The content of this forum also enticed me to grow my PowerPC Mac collection (which was also not planned initially ) and I acquired a bunch of other PowerBooks, iMacs and PowerMacs so that my collection consists of 50% Intel and 50% PowerPC. I'm quite happy with my collection now and I don't plan on growing it any more but what I do plan on is to keep all the machines I have in service and try new stuff on them (e.g. Snow Leopard PPC, Linux, hardware hacks, etc.). This place allows me to do just that and I'm really grateful for all the fellow members developing/compiling software for those older machines and also for all the others for useful advices and infos.

While I do not write as much as others, I do try to share valuable information and help others when they need information about something I feel knowledgeable about. I think the future of this forum is bright. I have yet to encounter any cocky attitude and I thankfully do not see any reason why that should change in the future. In the end we're all just enthusiasts trying to help each other out and share stories about the things we feel passionate about. Therefore a big thanks to you all also from my side! 👍

 

[lostom]

This post is long overdue, and now is a good time to make it.

There are so many generous folks here on the PowerPC community (and Early Intel Macs community) who have been doing the good work of not only keeping vintage Macs running and serviceable for a long time to come, but also by sharing knowledge and patiently helping folks to keep their own gear running. I have learnt so much from you all, and I am grateful for that. I look forward to learning even more.

I want to thank you…

I deleted most of your post only to save space on this post, no offence to those mentioned.

I want to thank you.

For making me aware of this community, I'm a long term member of MR, never ventured into old Mac stuff, it was only yesterday that I fired up a G5 for the first time and tried to connect a monitor to it, no dice, it's running Apple Display Connector, which I have no connections for.

So I'll be getting into this forum and doing some research and see what this old beast can do.

Just as a reference to my Apple history, first device was Apple ][ with 28k memory (circa ~1984'5??) , gone through the years with nearly every device and even worked for Apple for a while.

So thanks for making me aware of this, once post BTW.

 

[Riviera122]

This place (and Early Intel Macs) has been a bit of a refuge during the pandemic. Making a risky purchase on a 2007 MBP and finding out (through the advice from members on here) that it had the revised GPU chipset, allowing me to enjoy it to its full potential, was one of the few joys I experienced during those early months. So, agreed, thanks all.

 

[MysticCow]

I always come here and Early Intel because of the niceness we keep here too. Everyone here is simply the best.

Love 💖😘🤩😘🤩💖😘😘🤩💖😘💖💖💖😘😘😘😘💖💖💖💖😘

 

[AL1630]

Gotta say, this is probably the most friendly and helpful forum I've ever been on. Everyone has good intentions and wants to help out others and learn. There's drama of course, but much less than most of the other sites I frequent. Thanks to everyone here, this forum has always felt like an internet 'home' to me, where I can always go to find something cool and chill out.
So, I second the thanks to everyone! Here's to many more years of the PPC Macs forum!

 

[Malasada33]

I think what makes this place so real is that there is A LOT of humility to be found. Let's not forget that the majority of helpful advice on here is born from mistakes; our own or others. When your hobby has 10x more failures than successes, you become humble and want others to avoid the (usually bone-headed) mistakes that you, yourself, have made!

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
Some off topic posts were removed, as they were derailing this thread.

 

[B S Magnet]

Update:

I’m OK, thanks to those of y’all who’ve reached out. Y’all are awesome.

To all of y’all who’ve spoken up here about their really positive experiences in the PPC and early Intel forums, you are all the lifeblood which makes the good work of keeping vintage Macs upcycled, alive, and lively happen. And to those of y’all who’ve reached out to me privately, I’m humbled and I really appreciate it. I’m good over here.

 

[Macbookprodude]

I love this place! Thank you as well, @B S Magnet ! We truly are a special place on the internet, and I too thank everyone here. I do whatever I can to help as well as learn as much as I can along the way.

There are thousands of other places that are just as good. But, still a nice place, some good apples here, some bad.. I admit I am in the middle though, but my reasoning is based on ideological and not revisionist.

 

[Macbookprodude]

On a scale of 1-10 regarding most on this foum.. I can rate about a 7.5. Not great, but very very good

 

[Slix]

I also don’t post a ton here, except when I feel I have something unique to share regarding PowerPC Macs and my unique set of knowledge but I’m also thankful for everyone who posts here! You all are awesome and share some awesome stuff, I find myself reading more than I need to just to soak in the stuff you’re sharing haha. Stay awesome!

 

[alex_free]

I really did stumble across this place. I saw PPCMC 6, manually updated youtube-dl (as suggested by the original author which I’m still in contact with getting feedback from!), and saw the potential on PowerPC Mac OS X immediately. My only Macs to this day are PowerPC ones, I was planning on getting an Intel one just for YouTube (yes I’m one of those people, if it doesn’t run YouTube it isn’t a daily driver for most use cases) until I stumbled across PPCMC 6.

I thought, wow, I can just compile my own dependency programs directly into the PowerPC Media Center app, and nothing else would need to happen for it to run. For those who don’t know, you had to install like 3 different packages (like some ancient python 2 release for PPC) before PPCMC6 would work. This was all documented in the read me of PPCMC6.

My alternative was to just use ancient Xcode on my Mac mini G4 and compile modern equivalents with some patches to be PowerPC compatible, which all are installed directly to the app. Fun fact, PPCMC 7.0 didn’t even run correctly. I think @z970mp pointed this out in the first reply to my first thread on these forums. 7.0.1 fixed this soon after, and from there PPCMC 7 has started from a simple idea, “compile and install modern dependencies to the app itself to simplify installation (just copy the app to /Applications)”, to expand and support an insane amount of features to give the best YouTube/Twitch/SoundCloud/CD burning/ripping experience I can think of to PowerPC Macs running Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above (no one supports Panther except me nowadays it seems!).

There are even relevant features to Mac OS 9, like converting YouTube videos to formats automatically supported by QuickTime 6 on Mac OS 9. Download and convert a video on Mac OS X, then watch it on Mac OS 8.6, etc.. I even ported the newest FFplay media player to Panther after popular request.

PPCMC 7.x is definitely my most popular software, and with a clear roadmap for the future and by being completely public domain open source, has much more to bring to a platform often overlooked. Sure this platform is hard to develop for, being big endian an unsupported by the official manufacturer since the 2009 release of snow leopard.

My real goal with PPCMC 7 is to just show that the platform is very much alive. I support Mac OS X 10.3.9, and almost all the programs used in PPCMC 7 are modern up to date versions. This platform is long from dead (mainly due to being soo Unix compatible, unlike Mac OS 9 which is very different), and many others realize the same.

 

[z970]

Seven wikis and ten projects over a 2.5-year period of volunteered time, and the first passive acknowledgement I get by anyone only happens nearly 20 posts in.

Here I was regarding you people as borderline family. In my eyes, at least.

 

[MacFoxG4]

Since this thread started, I've been thinking of how to word my comment. In hindsight, I took too long. So instead of posting a big long thing, I'm just gonna make this relatively short. I came to this forum because I was looking for a place discuss PPC OS X and the other vintage Mac forums I'm in, aren't that interested in OS X. I stayed because of the community. In addition to the community members already mentioned, one community member I also want to thank is @z970mp . I admire the effort he puts into his projects and I have used his trimcelerators as well as TenFourFoxPEP (FoxPEP prior to that) on both of my OS X-equipped PPC Macs. I apologize for not posting this earlier. If z970mp is reading this, I hope he reconsiders his decision to quit.

 

[09872738]

Seven wikis and ten projects over a 2.5-year period of volunteered time, and the first passive acknowledgement I get by anyone only happens nearly 20 posts in.

Here I was regarding you people as borderline family. In my eyes, at least.

As far as I understand it was more like an accident you haven‘t been mentioned earlier. Its not because you aren‘t appreciated, I am pretty certain you are. Very much so indeed
I know I do.
Are you serious about quitting? I hope not

 

[AdelaideBen]

I bought a G5 late last year for MorphOS but I've found myself really enjoying OSX, so much so that I haven't really done much with MorphOS. A lot of that enjoyment comes from the active community, thanks

 

[TheShortTimer]

@TheShortTimer for bringing a refreshing humanity to the forums.

Thanks so much for those kind words @B S Magnet I'm truly honoured to be regarded in that way.

...one community member I also want to thank is @z970mp . I admire the effort he puts into his projects and I have used his trimcelerators as well as TenFourFoxPEP (FoxPEP prior to that) on both of my OS X-equipped PPC Macs. I apologize for not posting this earlier. If z970mp is reading this, I hope he reconsiders his decision to quit.

As far as I can tell it was more like an accident you haven‘t been mentioned earler. Its not because you aren‘t appreciated, I am pretty certain you are. Very much so indeed
I know I do.
Are you serious about quitting? I hope not

@z970mp Are you reading these responses? Please stay! Far more people value and appreciate your contributions to this community than you realise - I'm one of them.

 

[RogerWilco6502]

Seven wikis and ten projects over a 2.5-year period of volunteered time, and the first passive acknowledgement I get by anyone only happens nearly 20 posts in.

Here I was regarding you people as borderline family. In my eyes, at least.

You have honestly done so much for all of us. From the wikis to the projects, I appreciate it all. My machines are running better and more efficiently due to what you have done for us. I do hope it wasn't intentional that you were left out because there is no doubt you're one of the largest contributors here.

 

[z970]

@MacFoxG4 @09872738 @TheShortTimer @RogerWilco6502 I have reason to believe it wasn't an accident.

The OP of this thread made her displeasure with my presence very clear by including multiple veiled jabs targeted directly at me, as evidenced by the "before other folks were trying" comment in regards to browser performance tweaks (completely dismissing foxPEP, which the average Joe can actually make use of, unlike other tweaks). In addition to the other comment of "sharing that knowledge without a shred of pretence", which when taking her previous disparaging label for Sorbet Leopard into account, paints a clear and defined narrative being played here.

Add insult to injury, the "revealing just how much more can be done with PowerPC and Intel architecture beyond the bounds of OS X" comment just prior to the previous point, totally ignores what the library of information organized in The PowerPC Debian Wiki has enabled others to achieve on their own over the two years-plus it's been up, including assisting @wicknix in the creation of Debian Sid Remix, alongside the almost 20 pages' worth of help and support I continued to offer for other users.

And in the last statement, considering there are even additional acknowledgements for pretty much everyone who has maintained a somewhat consistent and non-destructive presence here over the last two years, makes me very plausibly believe that there is a passive-aggressive underlying motive here.

-

That being said, perhaps I owe you an explanation.

I would be able to overlook that if it weren't for the fact that despite these glaring omissions, 40 people immediately poured out their overwhelming support and approval for this in one big and carefree Summer of Love, seemingly forgetting all the things I've decided to pour 2.5 years of time into, despite two of my longest projects being in constant view at the top of the forum. And for an entire week (which would have been much longer had I remained quiet - maybe I should have), as other threads and discussions came and went, no one saw the slightest thing amiss with this gesture. Certainly, no one questioned it. And that struck me.

Life is hard enough behind the screen. Really. Especially after 2020; so many of us are now struggling with mountains of horrible issues no one saw coming (I could mention a prominent one that my signature has passively addressed for the last several months, but I will hold my tongue). The last thing I need now is to maintain petty rivalries with certain people online and only receive silent glares from others, just as I have for years. In truth, I don't appreciate their presence, and they probably don't appreciate mine.

I'm heartened by your support, but I don't know if the mostly silent support justifies the warring undercurrent here. And the fact that I was left out so easily from the "Let's Love Everybody" thread, which everyone ran with despite its clearly barbed conception and execution, was enough to remove any reservations I had.

Someone once told me that for better or for worse, some view this forum as an arena ... and I can absolutely see what he meant. And the truth is, I can't work in an arena when the world outside is already a gladiator pit.

This place will be fine without me, just as it was before I signed up.