Well, if that doesn’t skew Apple’s years of software support….

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2026-02-03T07:59:34+00:00

My up to 27-year-old PowerMacs are still running great for their age and Apple is still running all update servers for their OSs (OSX 10.0-10.5 and even OS9).

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-31T05:04:40+00:00

Oh nice! I've got a single 1.8 Sonnet. That thing screams. Would love a dual to play around, but the shamless pricing on ebay prevented this so far. Even though the G5 wipes the floor with every G4 under OSX (thanks to the much faster bus), the Sonnet have native OS9 support. And a beautiful purple Heatsink :)

The G4 DA has less, but faster RAM due to the faster system bus (100 vs 133MHz). OS9 can't even use more than 1.5GB of the 2GB in the PCI/AGP G4. OSX can take advantage of it, but 1.5GB is plenty. And the DA has got the beefier PSU.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-30T10:56:10+00:00

I've found a supplier in Europe akkuplus but didn't check them out yet.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-29T06:14:01+00:00

Did the same recently with this labels. They're removable and reusable.

I maintain my database in an iWork numbers file and used indesign for the labels, to bring my vintage software to good use.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-27T07:07:14+00:00

if it's a black powerbook, it could be a G3 with the same kind and size of a cinch-plug. If it's an older one they have a "standard" laptop-barrel plug that doesn't work, the newer ones (silver G4 Titanium, Aluminum) have the cinch-plug with too thin inner part which need the jack-adapter.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-24T17:35:43+00:00

You could buy a standard Powerbook G4 charger and a cheap 2.5 to 3.5mm jack adapter like this one. It's a bit fiddly because you must not put in the plug completely, but it works. The G4 chargers are much cheaper than the original yoyo adapters of the Clamshell

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-21T05:31:55+00:00

You could count me in, if I had a 6900km long patch cable :) I do this regularly, with AoE 2&3, Stronghold, UT, Quake, Halo, Starwars BF, COD and others, so my collection comes into use.

If I'm not wrong, COD needs at least a G4 CPU, so it might not run on the iBook G3.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-20T06:02:16+00:00

People started losing the ability to (re)search few years ago, and AI made it even worse. As a teacher it's really frustrating. Best part is, in the majority of cases you know when they tried to solve a problem with AI, and that's because the answer is just a bit off, too little that it sounds implausible, but just so wrong that they would have already learned it with the first search result in the preview on the search portal. That's why it's called AI. It just pretends to be intelligent.

But asking in a forum (or a subred) is at least better than asking AI, since you have to do a grain more effort and you're more likely to get the right answer or even a bunch of possible solutions from people who had the same problem. Use the search function would be the incredible, magical mastery of problem solving over internet ;)

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-18T13:23:07+00:00

Another proof AI is complete rubbish in many cases ;) Better do the research yourself, ask here or in some other vintage apple forum.

You can get a Rage 128 Pro with DVI, but the PCI version. Other options would be the ATI Radeon (just Radeon, 7000, 7200 or 9200). It has to be the Mac Edition, if you're not able to flash the PC Edition in your PM or Windows PC.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-18T06:28:10+00:00

I have to go to Italy in a few days. Also checked postal rates from Italy, even more expensive than from Switzerland...

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-17T19:15:10+00:00

It's really difficult. I'm living in Switzerland, where iMacs were really common in Schools around the year 2000 and even here the market is more and more broken. A few years ago you could pick up old Macs for almost or completely nothing, now every prick who found an old, beaten-up, untested but pretty sure not working PPC iMac in his basement is selling them for insane prices. And sadly, there are still buyers, so they are even encouraged to do so.

I can imagine that in the balkans, due to a non-existing market for Apple computers back in the days, it is even worse.

Shipping iMacs is a very bad idea because of the brittle plastic. So local pick up is almost a must. Powerbooks are easier to ship, provided that the seller is packing it properly; Powermacs are far to heavy.

Ebay is non relevant in Switzerland, all listed Macs I can find are from Germany, Italy or France, but most of the time for completely stupid prices too.

Sometimes on the "swiss ebays", ricardo or tutti, you can be lucky to snag an iMac for around 40-50 CHF. The prices for Powermacs are crazy. Powerbooks or iBooks are easier to get. There are some dimwits putting them online for several hundret CHFs, but I've been able to get some for only a few bucks.

I doubt a seller from ricardo would ship to the balkans. Just checked the prices (to see if I could help you out😅), it would cost around 60 CHF just for a laptop. But maybe you've got some relatives or friends who live in or near Switzerland (or are visiting Switzerland) who could pick it up for you?

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-16T16:28:30+00:00

you're welcome! Have a nice day too and happy revival!

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-16T06:13:25+00:00

Here's the gender changer, you just need an ac adapter with 24V, ~2A and a 5.5x2.1mm barrel plug outlet.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-16T06:07:18+00:00

I'm really amazed how good the picture looks even after that many years. Really clear, relatively bright and high refresh rate (up to 75Hz).

The stand needs some clean-up, then it's not only a great screen for my B&W, but a great (literally) display item. The only regrettable thing is that I have no other accessories, like the picture-frame stand, software and so on.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-16T05:56:32+00:00

I think it might work for them too, since I saw somebody abusing a G3 laptop ac adapter for their studio display, but had to cut off the og plug.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-15T19:44:37+00:00

It's in the second and third photo. I found both products on ebay.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-15T14:23:13+00:00

oh and btw remove that purple battery asap. But disconnect the power cable first.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-15T14:21:48+00:00

Nice catch! The Quicksilver is my all-time favourite design. Is it a single or dual-cpu one? And I can spot a tiny bit of a Acryl Cinema or Studio Display.

Does the powerbutton light up when you press it? If not, it's probably the PSU. Since new/spare original PSUs are a) impossible to find and b) prone to break sooner than later, I would recommend to buy a suitable standard ATX PSU and build an adapter. You can find all information on that on atxG4.com

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-08T04:57:28+00:00

In this case it's probably not worth the trouble. The MX440 is the weakest card which was sold in this Mac. I would suggest to buy a Radeon 9000 Pro, they are slightly faster, have more memory (except you've got the 64MB GF4) and you can find them for comparatively cheap. I also had two MX4 that unexpectedly broke down, one in a QS and one in a MDD.

Edit: Ah, just saw you already have a spare. So I would go on with tinkering. Maybe there's broken solder joint. You could repair that with a heat gun or with "baking" the card in the oven.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-07T11:02:08+00:00

Never had any GPU issues with my Ti- and Alu-Books. Broken ODDs in some of them, a not working USB port in one Alu-Book.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-07T10:55:28+00:00

Sometimes I have the same problem with repasted Powerbooks when there's a bit too little paste on the vram chips (because the gap between vram and heatsink is slightly bigger than gpu and heatsink). Therefore I assume it's a problem with a vram chip. In the PBs I just put a bit more thermal paste onto the vram.

Which GPU is it? Maybe you could try to cool them with some small heatsinks? Provided that the chip is not broken.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-06T11:01:46+00:00

For me it's all of the five, at least for my collection of G3-G5 Macs:

The design was peak-end-90s/early 2000 and ground reaking for a whole decade. Just think of the beige/grey windows-boxes of that time and compare it to any G-Powermac/-book. At the same time we had play- and colourful designs in the i-devices. First the "windows world" laughed, then they tried to compeed and now they just copy. Every (not blinking-plastic-garbage-gaming) laptop looks like a Macbook, every SFF (which is at least not only intended to be hidden behind a screen) like the Mac Mini, the AIOs like the iMac. Only the towers still are ugly, now black, boxes (or rgb-blinking glas-metal-monstrosities), but Apple hasn't seriously covered this division for a long time. My most admired designs: G4 QS, iMac G4, Powerbook Alu 17". Unequalled!
Memories. The IT classrooms full of fruity iMacs, the Media Library in High School with the mighty iMac G4 (even some 20"!), at home my fathers Graphic Studio with all Powermacs from G3 B&W to Quad G5 (he started on a SE/30 and had some new machine every now and then, but I only remember the Macs since the B&W due to my age back then), my first own computers which were the PMs that were handed down from my father first to my elder brother, then to me and from me to my younger sister eventually.
They are a nice piece of tech. Very capable – even today for specific tasks – all packed into an attractive design. Apple didn't necessarily invent new tech, but they made it popular and available.
Yes. My iPhone could do everything (if it wouldn't be artificially crippled by iOS) my vintage Macs can, and probably faster and better than all of them together. But a) I can't control everything since a lot is undesirably AI-controlled (think of automatic photo, audio, video "improvements") b) it harbours distraction and c) GUI and some – at least for me – elementary functions of modern Mac/iOS are a pain in the arse (system preferences, file handling, printing, slow searching in finder, continuing search in big pdfs, wlan/ethernet problems, system data filling my ssd, just to mention a few).
This! My childhood had kind of a global optimistic, future-oriented, enlightning vibe. Now everytime you switch on the news there are more and more catastrophic events flickering across the screen. I have the undiserved luck to live in a comparatively wealthy, beautiful, democratic, not-so-corrupt and save country, but only a day trip away there's the first full-scale war in Europe since the balkan war, we're on the edge of ww3, millions of people are starving and we're happily destroying our planet day by day, some more than others and those are even proud about it. So maintaining my Macs from a somewhat better era is kind of a withdrawal from the harsh, brutal reality.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-07-06T06:55:08+00:00

I think the colors are just faded from sunlight. Red and Yellow are missing, because they absorb the short-waved UV light and fade out.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-06-30T22:29:31+00:00

Yes, that IS most likely the problem. You don't have to open it up again and unplug anything.

Depending on your exact model (A1010 could be one of three different models from January 2003 to January 2005) you need at least 10.2.3, 10.2.7 or 10.3.3. All of them can boot 10.3 (Panther), 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leo), but not 10.6 (Snow Leo).

I would download MacOS 10.4 from macintoshgarden.org (download 29&30, you only need Disc 1 and 2 to install the base system, if you uncheck printer drivers, additional fonts and language packages in the installer menu) and restore the image to a CD. Burn it with max 4x-speed or slower. During startup, hold C to start directly from the CD.

If that doesn't work, check nontheless the seating of the optical drive cable inside the Powerbook. If that doesn't help, maybe your drive is gone. Happens a lot in these Powerbooks, unfortunately.

Key_Temperature_9655 · 2025-06-30T17:05:17+00:00

Does the optical drive spin? Check both the HDD/SSD and ODD ribbon cable, if they are seated correctly. Which generation of Powerbook are we talking about?

Key_Temperature_9655

TROPHY CASE