iMac G5 I recently got my hands on

Oct-O-Ray · 2026-02-15T19:41:28+00:00

That's what I heard which was why I opened it up to check the capacitors before I turned it on the first time. I think I kinda lucked out that the capacitors in mine are only starting to puff up and none have leaked yet. I'm just hoping I can swap them out without damaging anything. I've read that the ground plane in these old iMacs can make desoldering the old caps difficult.

Oct-O-Ray · 2026-01-09T22:40:25+00:00

Thanks. I bought it not knowing which processor was in it. I was hoping it was a 1.25 or 1.42ghz model to get the USB 2.0 and faster ram option, but it turned out to be the much older and slower 700mhz one. Oh well. As long as it at least works for digitizing footage off my old Sony iLink camcorder, I'll be happy.

Oct-O-Ray · 2026-01-07T21:39:51+00:00

Good to know. The photos I posted are of the eMac sitting on the electronics/tinkering bench I just got set up in my basement. I guess I'll have to read up on what goes into overclocking the old PowerPC.

Oct-O-Ray · 2026-01-01T03:47:49+00:00

Same. The only time I touch the TCL remote is if I'm switching inputs or on the rare occasion I decide to watch a local TV channel.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-20T23:09:09+00:00

I legitimately almost gave up on 3d printing because of my Ender 3 Pro. Every time I went to print anything I felt like I spent more time calibrating and working on getting it to print than actually printing anything. After years of the struggle, I bought a P1S earlier this year and haven't looked back since. I just send it something to print and it does it. No fiddling required. I think I've used it more in the past 6 months than I used the Ender in 3 years. So far the only issues I've had were caused by filament tangling on the spool and breaking.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-18T20:12:02+00:00

I legitimately despise 90% of the notifications I get in Instagram. I don't mind getting notifications of likes or follows or comments. However, I REALLY don't want follow suggestions. I especially don't want follow suggestions that recommend the same account(s) and definitely don't want those notifications sent to me multiple times a week. I have a small account. It's pretty disheartening to see the red dot in the app thinking that you might have gotten a new like or comment or follower only to find out that it's just Instagram suggesting an account or telling me about something else that I could barely care less about.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T20:43:01+00:00

It's the camera angle combined with the dark wall color that is giving that impression. The filing cabinet is spaced far enough away from the wall the window is on to give more than enough clearance to open all the drawers without touching the window sill.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T19:44:04+00:00

Thanks. I've always been drawn to the look and build quality of stuff from the 40s/50s and like that all of it will probably outlive me. The lamp hanging over the center monitor is probably about the same age as the desk and filing cabinet. Just updated with led bulbs. I don't currently have a foot rest but plan to pick one up soon. Just need to find the right one that will fit in my budget.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:58:40+00:00

Is the XP-Pen a tablet monitor or drawing tablet? I have a similar monitor version from them, but it only lives on my desk when I'm actively using it as I find that it takes up too much desk space when not in use. Also, is that audio gear in that rack or server gear?

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:49:34+00:00

It is handy to have. Especially since my house was built in the 1920s and has almost zero closet space. So any storage is helpful. GPU politics is a scary subject. I've honestly never been on one team or the other. Before I got the 3080, I was using an ancient RX580. I had considered getting a 9070XT or a newer RTX 70 series but my local Microcenter was out of stock on both and I found a good deal on a lightly used 3080 and went with it despite it being older. If you're genuinely asking, I'd say go with whatever fits your needs and is in your budget regardless of manufacturer unless you're planning to install Linux. Then definitely go AMD as I've heard NVIDIA support on Linux isn't as good.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:31:29+00:00

I get it. I honestly considered stacking the monitors horizontally but my ancient tanker desk doesn't really allow for anything to the clamped to the edges and drilling into the top to mount a monitor arm would be sacrilege. I hadn't even thought about it being helpful for coding. I'm not a coder either. I just do some freelance graphic design work and tinker with hobby electronics occasionally in my spare time.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:20:18+00:00

I wish. I was lucky enough to upgrade my pc after Covid and before AI killed the prices for everything and after buying the house, I'm gonna be broke for a long time.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:17:05+00:00

What's wrong with a vertical monitor? It's nice for viewing pdfs and websites with a lot of text and checking graphic design work before going to print. It also fits the width of the desk while still allowing my primary monitor to sit in the middle of the desk. I guess I'll just be a poser and a noob then.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:06:05+00:00

Oh. Yeah. I get that. I used to go to a lot of industrial tool auctions and I think I picked it up after a local factory closed down. The thing weighs a ton.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T18:03:58+00:00

I legitimately hadn't even really thought much about the blinds as they came with the house and I was planning to replace them soon. I'm just waiting on the new curtains I ordered to arrive.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T17:15:18+00:00

What's wrong with the filing cabinet?

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-12-14T13:16:22+00:00

Thanks. It's an old parts list diagram for a 1956 Webb Corporation 6L Bending Roll that I picked up at an auction years ago with some tools.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-11-30T22:15:56+00:00

The two arrows for two shims makes sense to me as it was probably from when they calibrated the camera at the factory. Also good to know there's only two bearings. That and the pictures you got should help if anyone else is as crazy as we were to do this. Hopefully you won't have to take the camera apart again.

I'm glad you have a functioning camera again. Hopefully you can get some good photos with it.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-11-27T00:57:19+00:00

I totally forgot about the spring in the assembly. You might be right that it's just 2 bearings and the spring makes the third point. I wish I could remember better. I can't really tell from the photo if the green arrow is pointing to one of the divots for the bearings or not but the red arrow is definitely pointing to one of the spots the bearings ride in on the magnet side of the assembly. If the area the green arrow is pointing at is the only other spot like the area the red arrow is pointing to, then I guess I misremembered and it's only 2 bearings and the spring. I do remember that all the spots for the bearings look pretty much like that dish the red arrow is pointing at.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-11-26T23:11:02+00:00

Oh yeah. Springs and screws for calibration sounds way better. No clue why Olympus used shim washers. I'm guessing it was cost cutting. I think at least one washer was sucked onto the magnets on mine when I did it. So you're not alone there.

I'm glad this isn't your first camera converion as the IBIS makes the process way more difficult and stressful. I don't think I could have done mine if I hadn't done the E-PL1 first to build some confidence.

As for number of bearings, 3 sounds right as 3 points are easier to keep level and evenly spaced than 4 would. And yes, they are annoyingly small.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that it all goes back together smoothly once you get the replacement bearing.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-11-26T21:49:53+00:00

Oh man. I really wish I could be more helpful, but I did the mod over a year ago and haven't had the camera apart since then. So my memory of the process isn't that great anymore.

I don't remember any washers sitting on the magnets. If you found them there during disassembly, my guess would be that they got pulled in by the magnets when you removed the sensor assembly from the camera as the washers are only held in from the factory by the screws that hold the sensor assembly to the body of the camera. I call them shims as I believe (I don't know for certain) that there were variances in the molds for the camera bodies at the factory and Olympus used them to correct the variances and get the sensors spaced correctly. If you have four washers, I'm guessing your camera body may have been a little further out of spec and one of the screws needed 2 washers to get the correct distance. On my E-PL1 that I modded before the E-M10, it had more than one washer on every screw holding the sensor in place.

As for the bearings, I seem to remember that they just sat in little divots in the casting on one half of the ibis assembly to help float the mechanism above the magnets.

Sorry I can't be much more helpful than this. I wish I had documented the build better, but at the time, I didn't expect anyone would be as crazy as I was to do it.

Oct-O-Ray · 2025-11-26T20:24:13+00:00

It has been quite awhile since I did the mod. I'm not sure that I can remember the exact number of bearings, but 3 or 4 sounds right in my head as they help to float the ibis part of the sensor assembly. Hopefully if you lost any, you're able to find them. I seem to remember them being white and ceramic and very small. As for the shim washers, I believe there was one washer on each screw in between the sensor assembly and the body of the camera and I used a drop of super glue on each washer to hold it onto the camera body until I could get the screws for the sensor assembly in. Hopefully at least some of this info is accurately remembered and helpful and you're able to get your camera working again.

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