Power Mac G4 Beige minitower, worth it?

Y-Guy

I've got an old used Power Mac G4 Beige minitower. I figured it was dead, but plugged into a TV and it booted up. I've got a mouse, but not ABD keyboard. Wondering if it's worth messing with or not. Anyone have one of these laying around in use or should I just recycle it and walk away? I was debating about putting in a USB keyboard, right now I'm getting an error message 'DragLib--SetDragImage' I've found some info on this, but I can't beyond it without a keyboard.
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Smithcraft · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:06 am Post subject:

I know some people love those systems.

However, do you have anything to do with it?

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

Y-Guy · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 3:34 am Post subject:

Smithcraft · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 4:46 pm Post subject:

As for ADB keyboards, I think that the Apple Design Keyboards should be cheap, especially if you have some used computer vendors over there.

Or a cheap USB PCI card.

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

Y-Guy · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:12 pm Post subject:

SC do you know if the OS will recognize the USB card from boot? With the error message I'm getting I need to have a keyboard to to hold down the shift key on start up. If it won't recognize it I need to find ADB keyboard. We have a Mac shop in town so hoping they have one laying around cheap.
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iMac 24" 2.4 GHz 4GB | Logitech S530 | Z-2300 speakers | NewerTech Guardian MAXimus RAID
MacMini HTPC 2.26 GHz 2GB | Panasonic Plasma TV | Logitech diNovo Edge | Mercury Elite-AL Pro 800
AppleTV1 unhacked | Panasonic LCD

Smithcraft · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:16 pm Post subject:

It might, I don't know. I never had a Beige G3/G4.

I have a four day weekend, so I can go to the local peecee recycler(RE-PC) and see if they have any Apple Design Keyboards(the lowest end ADB keyboard not loved so should be cheap), or any inexpensive Extended II keyboards, to send your way.

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

macmanmacman · Veteran Member Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 1679

beige g4 is basically a beige g3 with a g4 upgrade card you can do mac os x tiger on it but not leopard as leopard wont pick up the processor card i would recommend not changing to much just keep it as a good old school machine for classic apple programs

Y-Guy · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:40 am Post subject:

SC thanks a bunch for the offer. I'll let you know what I hear from Alpha. I'm going to drop by Alpha today to see if they have any old parts for this laying around, if not I think I may take it in to have it recycled, not sure it's worth putting much money into, and would hate to waste your time.

I realized I made a huge error though, its a G3 not a G4.
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iMac 24" 2.4 GHz 4GB | Logitech S530 | Z-2300 speakers | NewerTech Guardian MAXimus RAID
MacMini HTPC 2.26 GHz 2GB | Panasonic Plasma TV | Logitech diNovo Edge | Mercury Elite-AL Pro 800
AppleTV1 unhacked | Panasonic LCD

Smithcraft · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 4:28 pm Post subject:

It could be a G4 if you want!

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

Y-Guy · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 5:15 pm Post subject:

LOL I guess it could be.. and might be.

I had a great chat with one of the guys from Alpha Computer in Richland today. Picked up a ABD keyboard for $6, couldn't complain at that price. Nice guy talked to me for several minutes about the box and possible upgrades, and how to do them cheap. I appreciated the soft sell and advice. So tonight I'll see if I can get it to boot completely and see what I've got. He say if it didn't work they would look it over from a parts perspective as he knows of a number of them still out there working away.
_________________
iMac 24" 2.4 GHz 4GB | Logitech S530 | Z-2300 speakers | NewerTech Guardian MAXimus RAID
MacMini HTPC 2.26 GHz 2GB | Panasonic Plasma TV | Logitech diNovo Edge | Mercury Elite-AL Pro 800
AppleTV1 unhacked | Panasonic LCD

Smithcraft · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 5:50 pm Post subject:

Excellent!

Just incase, if you need an ADB cable, you can also use an S-Video cable(which might be more available than an ADB cable).

Also, a great forum for general Mac-inations, and their G3, G4, and G5 section can be found here: http://x704.net/bbs/viewforum.php?f=8

Enjoy!

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

Y-Guy · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:20 pm Post subject:

Y-Guy · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:57 pm Post subject:

Good news is that it booted up fine by passing the extensions and after removing the two files it booted up normally.

Running OS 8.5 - talk about blast from the past.
_________________
iMac 24" 2.4 GHz 4GB | Logitech S530 | Z-2300 speakers | NewerTech Guardian MAXimus RAID
MacMini HTPC 2.26 GHz 2GB | Panasonic Plasma TV | Logitech diNovo Edge | Mercury Elite-AL Pro 800
AppleTV1 unhacked | Panasonic LCD

Y-Guy · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:58 pm Post subject:

Good news is that it booted up fine by passing the extensions and after removing the two files it booted up normally.

Running OS 8.5 - talk about blast from the past. Oh and it has Wing Commander!

Smithcraft · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:11 am Post subject:

Sweet!

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!


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