Power Mac G4 - can you identify which model?

mattblack · Feb 4, 2008

Hi - I am about to buy what I know as a 400Mhz PowerMac G4. Can someone ID this machine for me?.

Also, the machine boots fine, but won't chime

is there a reason/simple fix for this?.

Many thanks!

mcjacksonnelson · Feb 4, 2008

could possibly be this one:

http://lowendmac.com/ppc/yikes-power-mac-g4-pci.html

dtravis7 · Feb 4, 2008

What does the back (Rear) of the machine look like? Check the Speaker and Mic jacks. Are they stacked one above the other or side by side to each other? That machine is either a G4 Yikes (PCI Graphics) or a Sawtooth AGP Graphics.

The older PCI one had the ports side by side and the newer and better AGP had them one on top of the other.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58418

What OS is installed on the machine? If OSX open the sound panel in System Preferences and check the Alert Volume. If that does not get you the startup sound, try booting holding Command-Option-P-R all at the same time. You should then hear the startup sound. Let it repeat twice then let go the keys.

harryb2448 · Feb 4, 2008

Ask for the model number as it may be, as dtravis7 points out, a PCI, AGP Sawtooth, Gigabit Ethernet or even a Digital Audio, hopefully one of the latter two.

If you download a program such as Mactracker it will help identify each and every model, as sometimes it is necessary to see if the logic boards meet model criteria.

mattblack · Feb 4, 2008

dtravis7 said:
What does the back (Rear) of the machine look like? Check the Speaker and Mic jacks. Are they stacked one above the other or side by side to each other? That machine is either a G4 Yikes (PCI Graphics) or a Sawtooth AGP Graphics.

The older PCI one had the ports side by side and the newer and better AGP had them one on top of the other.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58418

What OS is installed on the machine? If OSX open the sound panel in System Preferences and check the Alert Volume. If that does not get you the startup sound, try booting holding Command-Option-P-R all at the same time. You should then hear the startup sound. Let it repeat twice then let go the keys.

PS: WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM SIZE HARD DISK THAT THE POWERMAC G4 CAN ACCEPT?.
Good plan; will try that when i get my mitts on it

thanks!.

rman · Feb 4, 2008

mattblack said:
Also, the machine boots fine, but won't chime is there a reason/simple fix for this?.

Many thanks!

Check the volume, make sure it is not muted.

dtravis7 · Feb 4, 2008

mattblack said:
PS: WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM SIZE HARD DISK THAT THE POWERMAC G4 CAN ACCEPT?.
Good plan; will try that when i get my mitts on it thanks!.

Those older G4 machines take a 120GB IDE drive. Anything larger and you will still be limited to 120GB (actually 128GB I believe). You can purchase a PCI IDE controller and put in any IDE drive. Older machines had a 128GB limit.

Also besides my suggestions, like RMan stated, do check to see if the volume is muted.

mattblack · Feb 5, 2008

dtravis7 said:
Those older G4 machines take a 120GB IDE drive. Anything larger and you will still be limited to 120GB (actually 128GB I believe). You can purchase a PCI IDE controller and put in any IDE drive. Older machines had a 128GB limit.

Also besides my suggestions, like RMan stated, do check to see if the volume is muted.

Hey thanks. SO, if I partition the 250Gb hard drive I have into two, 120Gb partitions, I should be ok?.

celica73 · Feb 5, 2008

mattblack said:
Hey thanks. SO, if I partition the 250Gb hard drive I have into two, 120Gb partitions, I should be ok?.

Nope, doesn't work that way. Disk Utility will report the drive as 128 GB. Been there, done that.

mattblack · Feb 5, 2008

celica73 said:
Nope, doesn't work that way. Disk Utility will report the drive as 128 GB. Been there, done that.

Hmmm... okay... well I shall have to invest in an IDE card then. Thanks mate.

MikeM · Feb 5, 2008

mattblack said:
Hmmm... okay... well I shall have to invest in an IDE card then. Thanks mate.

I would look into a SATA PCI controller over a standard IDE one. Many SATA drives are now cheaper then the older IDE ones and it just makes more sense to go with the newer technology.

-MikeM

P.S.
The controller I got for my system is a 3 in one controller. It has internal SATA, Internal ATA133, and external eSATA connectons. I picked it up from Frys and it was the only HDD controller card they even had for Macs but it's worked very well and I'm satisfied with it.

dtravis7 · Feb 5, 2008

MikeM, Do you have a brand and model of that 3 In One controller? That sounds great for up-graders of older Mac towers.

MikeM · Feb 6, 2008

dtravis7 said:
MikeM, Do you have a brand and model of that 3 In One controller? That sounds great for up-graders of older Mac towers.

Here is a link to the company's website. Its a Macsense SUA-100E PCI Host Adapter Card.

http://www.macsense.com/product/storage/sua-100e.html

I'm having a hard time finding them for sale online. Like I said before, I picked mine up at Frys so I don't know what their current availability is.

-MikeM

mattblack · Feb 6, 2008

It's an M5183 PowerMac G4, 400Mhz - AGP. Just threw in 2x 256Mb and 2x 128Mb SDRAM sticks, for 768Mb total!

. Sweet little runner, but I still can't get her to chime (speaker works fine in OS 9/OS X)...

http://hotimg6.fotki.com/a/86_130/16_230/DSC00022.jpg

Thanks for the edit - admittedly the image was a tad large lol.

harryb2448 · Feb 6, 2008

Matt check that the firmware is up to date - should read in Apple profiler as 4.2.8 and perhaps f1 after that.

dtravis7 · Feb 6, 2008

mattblack said:
It's an M5183 PowerMac G4, 400Mhz - AGP. Just threw in 2x 256Mb and 2x 128Mb SDRAM sticks, for 768Mb total! . Sweet little runner, but I still can't get her to chime (speaker works fine in OS 9/OS X)...

http://hotimg6.fotki.com/a/86_130/16_230/DSC00022.jpg

Thanks for the edit - admittedly the image was a tad large lol.

Yep, that is the Sawtooth AGP Graphics.

Did you try zapping the PRAM like I mentioned a few posts back? Command+Option+P+R and hold it down for 2 restarts? You should hear a low startup sound each restart.

mattblack · Feb 6, 2008

harryb2448 said:
Matt check that the firmware is up to date - should read in Apple profiler as 4.2.8 and perhaps f1 after that.

Downloaded 4.2.8 to Macbook >>> extracted and burned to cd >>> put CD in Powermac G4 >>> ran update >>> shut down >>> held in "programmer's button" as I powered on >>> "booooooop (power light going crazzzzy blinks!)....BONGGGG!!!!" >>> firmware progress bar appears, and process completes - reboots... BONGGGG!!!!

Thanks!!

I paid £50 ($100 USD?) for this machine + a blue/white G3 300Mhz. What a bargain (alas, no keyboards but meh!). Mint condition, and full working order!!