My G5

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Hi all

Especially Chris (Omaroo) it turns out to be the 2.0GHZ DP/PCI-X/2GB 400/160GB/SD/G5200 and when I switched it on I heard the MAC music but I think I have some issues to deal with I have taken some pic's to explain I think the Graphics card might be shot but other than that it is a goer I had an old MAC keyboard plugged in so I could try to boot from a live CD but the keyboard didn't seem to be working so I could select the boot menu. Any suggestions as to possible solutions to graphics problems greatly appreciated but I am thrilled because I can see I am eventually going to get it going.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Excellent Warren Looks filthy, but that just needs a good clean out. Did they supply the perspex air channel panel that sits over the CPU/fan area just under the main hatch? It really relies on it being there, as without it the fans go full-bore for most of the time rather than just every so often.

I'd try any old AGP graphics card and see if you get a screen. If you can get a card compatible with the DirectX 9-specific GeForce FX5200 even better, but anything should "work" to give to a display. Here's one on eBay for a few tenners: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NVIDIA-GEFORC...item1e5a7f6cbe

What do you think of the solidity of the cabinet? Pretty good huh!

Maybe grab yourself a $69 Apple keyboard (extended - new new "flat" short keystroke type) - don't use a standard USB 101-key unit as the mapping is all wrong. If you haven't used one of the new keyboards they take a little getting used to, but are brilliant once you do. http://store.apple.com/au/browse/hom...co=MTM3NDY5NTE

The mouse doesn't matter as long as it's two-button.

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Hi Chris yes the clear plastic is in there and it looks like it really helps with airflow. I just love the cabinet and I will give it a good clean out. With the graphics card what is the small tab towards the connectors see picture and does it matter if an agp card doesn't have that. I have used the new flat keyboard and think they are great but I do have the older type pictured and this mouse but I dont know much about the mouse except that it is an Apple Pro mouse. Yea I tried a older AGP and got a screen just need the HDD and a decent Graphics Card and I am set I only own a copy of Tiger atm but I would like to put Leopard on it do I need a special one for PowerPC or will any Leopard work

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Warren - if I recall correctly (but not totally sure), that this tab might be the ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) port connector so that you can control some on-screen functions via software. That's only an educated guess though.

So - you got a screen? So - it all works?

Leopard came as a Universal (PPC/Intel) install for me. I bought the upgrade from an Apple Store.

Of course you've heard of the Virginia Tech G5 Terascale supercomputing cluster "MacX" from a few years ago....

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Yeah it all works Yipeeeeeeeeeeee. Wow that room looks like MAC Heaven for a MACophile very impressive. What did you think of the new 3D operating system that Apple are working on?

[AlexN]

Are you all up and running? I have quite a few AGP graphics cards lying about if you need one... Got a few oldies, nVidia TNT2 era, got a GF2, GF3, a few GF4's... One is a GF4 Ti4400... Seriously good in its day.. but that was 2002~2003 I suppose.. You can't really get much in the way of good performance AGP cards these days..

Lemme know if you need something... these things are sitting here doing nothing anyway..

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

Are you all up and running? I have quite a few AGP graphics cards lying about if you need one... Got a few oldies, nVidia TNT2 era, got a GF2, GF3, a few GF4's... One is a GF4 Ti4400... Seriously good in its day.. but that was 2002~2003 I suppose.. You can't really get much in the way of good performance AGP cards these days..

Lemme know if you need something... these things are sitting here doing nothing anyway..

Thanks AlexN I will be up and running when I have a Sata HDD and I have a few graphics cards I have to sort through its amazing how many you collect when you look through them. Thanks for your offer I wil let you know when I have seen what I have.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Yay Warren - congratulations

Yep - in this class of tower system , RARELY is it Apple-built hardware that ever fails - it's always some 3rd party device such as that video card of yours. I have a bunch of G5's and even more G4 towers at work that I've simply run out of uses for. They don't ever die, they just fade away until I replace them with the latest. My company is essentially an advertising firm and a software development function for the support of said advertising production, so ultra-reliable high-end gear is of critical importance. Our customers don't like missing publishing deadlines and I simply wouldn't risk our business on anything less. Using Apple graphics workstations has been a very solid decision so far for us (10 years).

As far as the 3D desktop goes, I don't know. From the patent outline it looks and sounds impressive, but whether it's a leap forward or sideways only using it will tell. I guess that you could potentially fit more work in progress on a desktop because it can be stacked obliquely, and if that were the case then it would likely suit some users better than others depending on their workflow. I'd have to see it in action, but it looks like it's kind of cool. I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but I trust Apples innate sense of engineering on these matters. It's not often they introduce "bling" - unless it works. They have always had a design sensibility that produces a clean, easy to use and aesthetically pleasing place to be. I can't imagine that they'd bother developing and patenting a 3D environment for the hell of it.