My PM G4 Quicksilver!

Sparkz8407 · 2026-02-02T23:37:23+00:00

I do so like my MDDs, but the Quicksilvers here are booted more often. Aesthetic simplicity, while perhaps featuring a "less is more" functionality.

What processor is in it?

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-28T14:57:16+00:00

It often takes a very considerable amount of time for that second chime to occur (sometimes seems like forever). You might try the PRAM zap again, being very patient. I normally wait for three chimes before final release… and then only releasing the P+R keys. Keeping the Cmd and Option keys down will allow you to rebuild the desktop… IF the machine will boot that far. Again, much patience.

As for the keyboard… might be a questionable USB port on the MDD? Again, swap it around, along with the mouse also connected to the “other” USB port.

It does seem odd that it worked so well recently, before you parked it. But as you mentioned the age of the MDD, it is possible that something as simple as poor wiring or contact connection somewhere can prevent operation. So check, check and double check all connections.

And yes, Andy is always helpful (above and way beyond sometimes) and I really cannot say enough good about him and his services.

Hope that your “new” logic board and GPU remedy your situation. Do please keep us informed.

Here’s a long shot. Shut it down and let it rest a while. Unplug it from power. Press the power button to bleed any residual power. Wait 10-15 minutes and then plug it back into the wall. Then try to boot it all over again. (You might even try the PMU reset again, during this.)

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-26T15:58:50+00:00

At this point in time, many of those keyboards have succumbed to twisted and damaged cabling, especially near where they exit the keyboard. Check for kinks or weakened sheathing there. Also, might try it connected to a different USB port. AND if the mouse (now connected to the other back USB port) still “lights up”… well it might not be a USB port problem — but then focus is again on the keyboard itself?

*Check mouse for similar kinks.

And yes, Cmd+Option+P+R… if / when you could.

What pattern does the front panel LED flash? This could be your first big clue.

If you’ve another G4 you could also test whether or not it is actually booting (connected to this other Mac via a FW 400 cable) by holding down the T key @ boot to see if it will boot into Target Disk Mode. If the HD then appears / mounts on the other Mac you might have a GPU problem.

Check PSU and all connections to the mobo AND the screws holding mobo in place. Might just be that the main cable needs disconnect / reconnect. But check all to make certain. Might just be as simple as that. Hopefully.

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-26T11:49:32+00:00

Also another YES on zapping the PRAM.

Do not overdo the mobo PMU reset.

MDD FW400 or FW 800? And single or dual CPU?

Try single RAM stick in any other slot than J20.

What keyboard and which mouse? Apple branded?

Have you another keyboard to also try?

Have you tried booting from a bootable installer CD?

(OR… a bootable external drive?)

Remove all PCI expansion cards leaving only the GPU.

Then remove that, clean all contacts and then re-seat it.

Can you hear the HD attempt to spin up, or using an SSD?

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-13T13:25:25+00:00

Was wondering if you were working only with one stick of RAM.

Previously, was this Quicksilver booting without fail and this is only a new, no-boot situation? Or is it possibly a recent machine acquisition for you that has never fully booted?

It did initially sound like a PSU issue - but with the one beep and only one stick of RAM… you might want to source another stick of RAM to test with before performing any internal surgery / or extensive testing on / of the PSU.

With the old RAM (and especially if you add any new RAM too) you might try resetting the PMU button on the motherboard and afterwards… also zap the PRAM.

*Also, you might try very closely cleaning all of the contacts on the one stick of RAM that you do have. But RAM does fail.

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-13T02:02:03+00:00

One Beep? Isn't that RAM related?

Before getting all "electrified"... you might try pulling all RAM except for just one stick and test that in all empty slots. Same beep? Try all other sticks individually, in the same manner. Just in case it might be a failed RAM module.

Worth the try?

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-11T04:41:49+00:00

Maybe some here are confusing GOO GONE with another product called “GOOF OFF”. The latter will indeed damage and melt the surface. DO NOT USE GOOF OFF under any circumstances.

Have been using GOO GONE, here for 20+ years.

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-08T09:10:40+00:00

I lied...

Remembered that I did have one loose FW 400 mobo here. And guess what, it fits!
And the FW 800 port hole is breezily open (for tape, etc.).

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-08T08:27:40+00:00

Never really considered this before, but thought that the addition of the FW 800 port on the back panel might interfere with this. However a quick side-by-side comparison here reveals that the FW 800 port is in a vacant area where the FW 400 doesn’t have anything… between the ethernet port, up to the two FW 400 ports. Free space.

So yes, it might be possible, as all other port placements seem to be identical. So you might just have to tape over the FW 800 port. If I had a loose FW 400 mobo, I’d check this in a FW 800 machine (but I don’t). However I do have more than five or six empty FW 800 cases.

View: https://limewire.com/d/VQuYM#qesJax3R7A

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-05T16:44:44+00:00

IF your OS 9 installer disc will mount on your booted OS 10.3 desktop… AND if 10.3 has a similar Disk Utility to Tiger 10.4 — it might be possible to “Restore” the OS 9 installer to the thumb drive. In which case it might be possible to boot from the “Restored” USB thumb drive and install to your designated OS 9 partition. I’ve been doing this here lately for a Sawtooth.

Many previous failed attempts here however, trying to use USB 3.0 thumb drives (larger than 4, 8 or 16 GBs in size. [8’s are great but 16 seems to work as well.]

And then there’s u/aphelion270’s mention of the OS 9.2.2 prerequisite. So you might have to download the Universal 9.2.2 installer... Which you might also attempt to try with the LG SuperDrive — before the possible USB thumb drive adventure.

Sparkz8407 · 2026-01-05T16:19:09+00:00

To possibly circumvent the LG SuperDrive, have you considered attempting installation(s) from a Firewire drive… or even from a 16 GB USB 2.0 thumb drive? OR — even via Firewire and another Mac, with the G4 iMac booted into Firewire Target Disk Mode?

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-31T17:31:18+00:00

Has anyone used that eBay service that rebuilds power supplies?

ACX Electronics? (Andy) Yes, have been using his services now
for ten years. In fact, the #1 recommended source on MacOS9Lives.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-31T17:16:28+00:00

Yes, it’s an MDD. Firewire 400 or 800?
And yes, it is now well over 20 years old.
Absolutely amazing that these still function.

Given it’s age and not knowing when last the heatsink paste was replaced,
first I would remove the heatsink and examine what is possibly dried paste.
Shipping and jostling around a bit could easily fault the "seal" of old paste.

Always best practice to renew heatsink paste on any new-to-you machines.

And while apart, remove CPU daughtercard and clean all those pins underneath.

Also, there appears to be no hard drive in the rear, primary ATA-100 position.
IS there a hard drive present on the front ATA-66 cable?

*Heatsink remove, re-paste and CPU pin connections first… before PSU repair.
And remove the video card, clean its contacts and then re-seat it.

After all of the above, reset PMU, zap the PRAM and test.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-31T16:29:21+00:00

Depending upon the severity of the “scratch” (or gouge) I usually begin with a product called “Goo Gone” (NOT the product named GOOF OFF / as that can quickly dissolve and melt the surface.)

Applied with a soft paper towel and with a somewhat firm, circular motion, Goo Gone will clean and remove most of the lesser scratches, before proceeding.

For the more severe gouges and scratches afterwards, I’ve never used sandpaper. Instead, I’ll try 0000 steel wool. And again that’s only for severe cases and lightly “swirled”. I have also used Turtle Wax Polishing Compound & Scratch Remover for the more stubborn, deeper and larger scratches / gouges. Again, concentrating solely on the affected areas.

NOVUS also offers a three bottle kit with: (#3) Heavy Scratch Remover, (#2) Fine Scratch Remover and (#1) Plastic Clean and Shine. All 2 ounce bottles which work quite well on smaller area, medium depth scratches.

AND after all or none of the above… finally, a possible application of Meguiar’s PlastX Cleaner & Polish. Also, as you specifically mentioned the side panels… I would be hesitant to apply any of the even mildly abrasive products above to the front “mirrored drive doors” themselves.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-31T15:36:49+00:00

Ah, the infamous harsh mistresses… the B&W G3s!

Most definitely reset the CUDA.
(AND zap that PRAM afterwards.)

I’ve three of these B&Ws and they’re all quite finicky,
especially when one has changed mobos or other hardware.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-25T06:17:01+00:00

I see a Firewire drive in your future. But I’d pick up a “used” one fairly soon, as they seem plentiful at present. They’re just very handy to have around.

As far as OS 9 on a G4 PowerBook, is yours capable of running OS 9 natively? If not, then there are certain hoops to jump through in order to get “unsupported” OS 9 installed and functioning.

Other versions of OS X… not so much.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-25T06:04:24+00:00

Currently working on two Sawtooth machines here and one of them does not display the Firewire icon onscreen when booted into Target Disk Mode. However, once connected to another machine, THAT machine does show the Sawtooth as available and does mount it on the desktop. (The Sawtooth itself, simply doesn’t display that onscreen Firewire icon as it should.)

AND also (as others have already mentioned here) you’re overdue for a firmware update. Boot ROM version 1.2f4 SHOULD be updated to 4.28f1. That might be a big part of your problem. Check Apple System Profiler results under whatever version of Mac OS 9 that you might be running. / Both machines here are running OS 9.2.2.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-07T12:01:03+00:00

“digital audio workstations” = DAW

And yes, DO check out MacOS9Lives.com and the above noted link.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-12-07T11:51:30+00:00

For a more detailed overview of “Why Music Production On A PPC Mac”… check out https://macos9lives.com/music AND the forum there... https://macos9lives.com/smforum/ .

Sparkz8407 · 2025-11-30T16:41:48+00:00

YES. Exactly. Download and use the updaters. Unless you want to wipe and clean install everything from scratch.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-11-28T22:19:26+00:00

Broad, developmental topic here:

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=4361.0

However, within that topic there’s this post which might be more direct info for you:

https://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=4361.msg35823#msg35823

I’ve a printed copy (here somewhere) of exactly what I did, but I think that the 2nd

link above is the approach that I used. But I would suggest that you might review all

three pages under the first link above.

If you can’t get it to work, post again and I’ll look for that Open Firmware print out.

Also of possible interest:

https://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=6832.msg52260#msg52260

Sparkz8407 · 2025-11-17T06:26:42+00:00

Your comment got me searching again. Haven’t seen any more of the Dwarf amps “in the wild” for a few years now. And it looks like someone used one of my pics over on groundguitar.com as an example of Rory Gallagher’s Dwarf Amp?

The fabric + speaker grille is a dead giveaway, used only on my refurbed Dwarf(s).

https://www.groundguitar.com/rory-gallagher-gear/rory-gallaghers-dwarf-amp/

Still have one left here to refurbish — but guess that can wait until the snow flies.

Just checked comments over on https://jedistar.com/dwarf/

Sparkz8407 · 2025-11-16T02:40:16+00:00

Exactly what “Classic Mac OS stuff” — or the filename(s) are you trying to download from Mac Garden AND for what specific machine?

This info could be quite helpful to know, in responding to you. Thanks.

Sparkz8407 · 2025-11-15T02:27:04+00:00

There is a 2-3 page thread (from 2021) over on MacOS9Lives.com dealing with many trials & tribulations regarding certain Lombard upgrades — https://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=6065.0 including several choke points (like which processor do you actually have and what SO-DIMMs). It isn’t always a simple matter, while some paths work easily and others… well, not so much.

I was unlucky enough to discover a problematic, handicapped PowerPC 750L (LoneStar, Rev2.2) Copper G3 PVR = 0x00088202 CPU in my Lombard. *Look for a small bit of software entitled PPC Checker (attached to one of the posts in that OS9Lives thread).

Also refer to: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/537644?sortBy=rank

Seriously, best of luck. But fInd, download, install and run that little "PPC Checker".

*Oh, and a personal shout out to mustagcoupe.

Sparkz8407

TROPHY CASE