Finally got around to building my "G4"

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2014, February 13 - 7:09pm

max1zzz

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Joined: 2010 Oct 3

Finally got around to building my "G4"

Finally got to build something i have been wanting to do since i built my first hackintosh back in 2007

A PowerMac "G4" that will still stand up in the modern world, Ok What i used is no mac pro, but it's still pretty decent

Specs are
PowerMac G4 sawtooth case (which, apart from the hole cut in the back for the ports, looks compleatley stock)
Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2L socket 775 motherboard
socket 771 intel Xeon 5150 dual core (@ 2.66Ghz per core)
2GB DDR2 Ram
250GB Sata WD hdd

It's currently sitting installing snow leopard (my personal favorite OS)

I did intend to use the old ASrock board out of the old hackintosh server (which apart from 2 dead sata ports still worked), but after 2 days or working on case i put it together and the fricking board died.

But at least it's working now, and the board switch gave me the space to install a dvd drive

And the best bit, the hole build (including the new board) cost under £40 (ok, i did already have the ram / hd / psu, but it's still a pretty good price)

Comments

2014, February 13 - 8:49pm

24bit

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Joined: 2010 Nov 19

Fourty pound for a "Intel G4" sounds like a bargain.
LGA775 boards seem to be rock solid, if one keeps an eye on the chipset temps.
Snow Leopard Server is my favorite too. Among other goodies SL Server can still write NDIF images with the help of DiskUtility.

2014, February 13 - 9:01pm

max1zzz

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Joined: 2010 Oct 3

Well, i have had some problems with 775 boards, but these gigabyte 945 series boards seem rock solid (and everything is supported out of the box on OSX)

2014, February 14 - 7:58am

themacmeister

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Joined: 2009 Oct 26

I just got an old 945 board, but only have 2GB RAM

That may be enough for standard use tho. Currently running it as a "mini" gaming system with a Radeon 5570 and Win7-32bit.

2014, February 14 - 5:12pm

max1zzz

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Joined: 2010 Oct 3

2gb isn't too bad, i have seen new laptops with only 2gb

For some reason i can't get 10.6.8 running on this board, the problem being for some reason it resets the bios (which drops my cpu speed to 2.13Ghz, as the fsb is overclocked to 1333mhz to get the full cpu speed)

It's running fine on 10.6.7 (apart from safari crashing it, but i have had this before on hackintosh's, never figured it out though)

2014, February 14 - 8:08pm

Protocol 7

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Joined: 2010 Aug 7

Is it resetting the BIOS after wake or on reboot? These older non-UEFI boards have CMOS reset issues like this. You need to use a DSDT fix to stop it messing up the CMOS.

I had a Gigabyte 965P board that ran 10.5 to 10.8 until it died after a BIOS flash. Everything worked with a few kexts and a DSDT.

2014, February 14 - 8:50pm

max1zzz

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Joined: 2010 Oct 3

it's resetting on reboot (well i never tried putting it to sleep, so it may have done it on wake aswell), also seemed to break the onboard graphics (windowserver crashed on loading)

2014, February 14 - 9:27pm

24bit

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Joined: 2010 Nov 19

I never had BIOS reset issues with my Intel 950 oldies, but others reported just that.
With some luck a ready made DSDT can be found here: http://www.osx86.net/files/file/1691-dsdt-autopatcher/
As the board is running fine with 10.6.7, I would consider leaving it as it is.

2014, February 14 - 9:46pm

max1zzz

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Joined: 2010 Oct 3

Yeah thats my plan, it up and running nicely with 10.6.7 so i don't see any reason to fiddle with it now

On another note, dose anyone know if 945 chipset boards will take core2quad chips? I was under the impression they couldn't but gigabyte's site lists a number of core2quads in the boards supported processor list

I did originally intend to swap the chip to a 2.33 quad core xeon which can be had for under £20 on ebay

2014, February 14 - 10:39pm

#10

24bit

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Joined: 2010 Nov 19

I would not hope for too much.
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Gigabyte/GA-945GCM-S2L.html

I would have upgraded my LGA775 with a C2Quad, but could not find a compatible one.
A 4GB RAM upgrade may be worth a thought though.

(I have got a E2180 in my crap box, just drop me a note, if you should want it.)

2014, February 14 - 10:38pm

#11

themacmeister

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Joined: 2009 Oct 26

There is a CMOS reset fix in MultiBeast, doesn't require a DSDT.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/downloads.php?do=cat&id=3

Phew - Snow Leopard supported!

2014, February 14 - 10:44pm

#12

24bit

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Joined: 2010 Nov 19

Arrgh.
http://tkware.info/blog/2013/01/29/honor-among-thieves-the-tonymacx86-hy...
http://tkware.info/blog/2013/01/27/hypocrisy-thy-name-is-tonymacx86/
http://prasys.info/2011/01/tonymac-seriously/
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/280252-tonymacx86-and-mac-man-ste...

2014, February 14 - 11:25pm

#13

max1zzz

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Joined: 2010 Oct 3

hrmf, well I did use multibeast on this install, but I'm not gonna use it anymore
I'll just bundle the equivalent of the easybeast install along with a simple bash script to install it all