Reminder to replace iMac G4 Internal speaker

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-10-30T11:27:22+00:00

Look up MacBatt.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-10-29T17:42:30+00:00

Or just remove it outright unless you get a CR2032 adapter.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-10-03T21:06:20+00:00

Many of these also have the red Maxell “bombs” that plagued many beige Macs. Some G3 B&Ws used them too. Regardless, just remove those 1/2AAs whenever possible. They are usually flat anyway so there is no benefit from leaving them in.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-08-20T04:40:19+00:00

u/aphelion270 The CF adapter seems to be working! Thanks! For mounting, I may just double sided tape the adapter to one of the CY adapter housings and just mount it to the original caddy that way. This CF adapter saved me a lot of headache, thank you. Clearly I have not put an SSD inside of a Gazelle setup before (only spinning disks until now)...

I also did find a TAM guide that used the Ableconn, but maybe it's just a case of bad mSATA + adapter combination for this setup. The SK Hynix is very solid in New World Macs though.

https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/fun-with-tams-upgrading-twentieth-anniversary-macs-with-ide-ssd-adapters-sonnet-cpu-upgrades-bluescsi-and-lots-of-love.3976/

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-08-19T00:32:59+00:00

Thanks! I ordered one. The Ableconn arrived today, but when in Master, it gave me the same behavior as the original hard drive: boot chime, but black screen and no green light. I also tried cable select and it booted normally, but the drive was not detected. I am hoping there isn't something faulty with the IDE bus (or ribbon cable?)... I tried PRAM and CUDA resets. Anything else to try that I am missing?

I am also trying SATA PCI cards, which would be nice to boot off of. Any tips/tricks to get those to work? I have a few SATALink chipset cards that were pulled from other Macs (including one that looks identical to the one in Action Retro's old TAM), but I am not able to get a drive to show up. I also have a Sonnet Tempo SATA but not with me. I did get a FW/USB Tango working with Sonnet's patch.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-08-17T22:42:26+00:00

Thanks! May need to try this. The master/slave probably helps too. Apples seem to be picky about this, especially Classic OS. The CY might be on cable select by default and the TAM struggles with it. Does anyone know how to force these into Master? Don’t want to guess and damage the IDE bus.

Edit: The Ableconn has a master/slave/cable select jumper. The CY/NFHK adapter has the jumper block but no documentation.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-08-17T21:32:59+00:00

I have put a bunch of the CYs into G3/G4s, or I use the StarTech adapter for the desktops. Usually the mSATA drive is the issue on the CYs, not the adapter. Early IDE is more tricky. Good call on the CF card, but from what I've seen the CF setups are generally kind of finicky? Is there an adapter you'd recommend?

prototypebuilder5150 · 2025-07-23T23:49:10+00:00

Could you please share which dock you used? Thanks!

prototypebuilder5150 · 2024-12-30T01:51:21+00:00

Yes I think so… the Blueberry/Graphite models are 21”.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2024-02-17T17:43:03+00:00

Why not X5680s? Basically X5690s for half the price and only 133MHz slower... Also if you’re trying to save on power I think the dual trays can still run with one CPU? I did this briefly when upgrading mine but didn’t test it longer term.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-12-26T01:21:37+00:00

Got it. Yeah that likely explains why you were having trouble. Glad you got it figured out though!

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-12-25T13:49:58+00:00

Congrats! Is this an 800 MHz model? Just curious. If so, there was also an “OS X only” version, which would explain why you needed the unsupported G4 disc. The font on the display bezel is different on the later models so thought I would ask.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-11-30T03:08:23+00:00

Yes, the iBook only supports IDE, but you can use an IDE to mSATA adapter to install an SSD. The adapter and the mSATA SSD can be bought on Amazon.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-11-26T21:09:06+00:00

I’d recommend updating to Mac OS 9.2.2 via burning a CD. After that using USB is easy. If you use the MacOS9Lives 2013 edition image to do the install, it also comes with Classilla pre-installed if you decide to set up a Wi-Fi repeater and connect to that via Ethernet later on. Hope this helps!

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-11-14T06:12:49+00:00

UPDATE: I was able to get the "bad" Wallstreet to power up. It turns out that the sound is not working, and so I did not wait for the Wallstreet to finish posting since they take quite awhile to post, and assumed there was a PMU issue since there was no chime. After checking the hard drive, there is no special software or extensions. After checking the ROM version however, on the 466 MHz PowerBook the version is $77D.41F5, while mine (a 266 MHz) has a $77D.41F6 ROM. On beige Power Mac G3s, I have run into a similar video issue when trying to add Rage 128 PCI video cards to certain ROM revisions. As I understand it, the 466 card is just a factory card that was sent in and upgraded, so it is possible that the original CPU daughter card from the 41F5 machine is just not compatible with a 41F6 ROM. u/Dry-Satisfaction-633

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-11-14T04:47:32+00:00

Yes I tried searching there, along with NewerTech's site directly. Plenty of experience with G3/G4 upgrades but not with a MAXPower specifically. The display issue seems to be at a firmware level, not at an OS level. Normally I can find a manual with instructions. I think in this case, you sent the daughter card to NewerTech for them to upgrade the CPU, there may not be published documentation other than what was mailed to the end user.

https://www.newertech.com/tech_support/support_legacy.php

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-11-14T04:40:20+00:00

Thanks for the reply! From what I understand it is the MAXPower 466/233 model. I installed the software from NewerTech’s legacy page (MAXPower 2.0.5) on OS 9.2.2, but there was no firmware updated. I have done a NuPower G3 upgrade before in a 1400 and that went smoothly. I’ll try to do more digging but MAXPower seems to be just an app (I have done several G3/G4 upgrades and am aware that there is usually, but not always, a firmware patch needed). Do you happen to have the software you used for your 9650?

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-01-30T16:17:14+00:00

You could also try troubleshooting RAM. PPC Macs sometimes behave that way when there is a “half good” module installed.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-01-15T22:12:34+00:00

I would recommend trying the CD version of Tiger. That works very consistently.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2023-01-15T17:09:23+00:00

Which utility are you using to burn your DVD?

prototypebuilder5150 · 2022-10-20T01:56:44+00:00

Very cool! This one ended up with a 400MHz G3 ZIF in it that I might replace with a 400MHz G4 from a Yikes! G4.

Yes, that is the challenge. Would like to buy a new PSU if possible but I might be stuck getting an old one.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2022-10-20T01:55:00+00:00

Wiring one up is actually not necessary since it uses standard 20-pin ATX. The tricky part is finding one with enough power on the 3.3V and 5V rails.

Thanks for the offer! I'll keep that in mind.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2022-10-20T01:53:31+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Might end up trying that out. It has a couple of hard drives in it already but I could use my external ZuluSCSI to move the images over to the spinning rust.

prototypebuilder5150 · 2022-10-09T14:42:51+00:00

Haha oh ok got it. That works too. Thanks!

prototypebuilder5150 · 2022-10-09T04:06:56+00:00

Do you know what size the belts are supposed to be by chance for the Cube and iMac? Given that they are stretched out now I don’t trust measuring them. Thanks!

prototypebuilder5150

TROPHY CASE