Power Mac G4. When Apple Was Thinking Different

[@KernelGhost]

4:01 It's usually a good idea to test battery voltages whilst under some sort of load. Older batteries sometimes produce seemingly reasonable voltages that drop considerably as soon as a load is connected.

[@schvabek]

@@KernelGhost That’s true! However, this battery clearly had some life left in it, because I had batteries which show absolutely nothing or very little when hooked up to the multimeter. Cheers!

[@chop2093]

Epic. I remember when the G5 came out. It was mind blowing at the time.

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks for commenting! Oh yeah, we’ll have to take a look at that for sure! 😁 Cheers!

[@jensputzlocher8345]

Oh, i must be older than you. I remember when the G3 b/w came out. THAT was mindblowing.

[@schvabek]

@@jensputzlocher8345 Haha, I bet we’ll have someone in the comment section who’ll remember the original 128k Macintosh 😂

[@DJSekuHusky]

@@schvabek _shrugs_ I learned to use a computer with my dad's old _Apple IIc_ when I was 6, complete with floppies that were _actually_ floppy, and even the _Image Writer II_ "micro-perf tearing" experience for assignments I printed out. Fun times... I even had a _MDD 1.42 Dual-Processor G4_ in my teens when I learned _Final Cut Pro_ and began helping my dad create 30-second commercial spots as well as feature-length programs. It was nearly $4.5k new back then, but it paid for itself several times over. The big deal with the _PowerPC G5_ was the first implementation of consumer 64 bit computing IIRC, but I was more interested in the _"Project Rosetta"_ rumors going around at the time, and that ended up becoming _Universal Binary_ for the new Intel chip Macs. Fun Fact: Certain spacecraft have been powered by specialized radiation-shielded _PowerPC G3-powered_ boards (made in partnership with BAE Systems). This includes the NASA/JPL _Perseverance_ Mars rover, as well as the NASA/Lockheed-Martin _Orion_ craft.

[@lucasrem]

why you say that ? apple without Jobs you need ?

[@PJ-sv4iw]

I remember seeing these desktops when I was starting college back in the 2003-04 era. They had a separate Macintosh and Windows/PC sections in the computer labs.

[@schvabek]

@@PJ-sv4iw I always like hearing about the early 2000’s computer labs in the States, filled with Macs. We just had nothing like that here where I’m from. Cheers!

[@gteixeira]

Wow, you went to a really nice college. These things costed a lot of money back then.

[@PJ-sv4iw]

@@gteixeira Just a state university. I remember not enjoying having to go to an open Macintosh seat just because the Windows XP vs OSX Tiger (?) experience was so jarring to me. lol

[@gteixeira]

@@PJ-sv4iw Even there it was probably a well financed university. Those G4s would cost more than $1000 already 20 years ago. It is like $8000 today.

[@PJ-sv4iw]

Ah, makes sense. The Macs of that era are certainly classic and iconic.

[@BrandonTahedl]

I have a Dual 1.42GHz MDD, and a "Quad" G5, only and specifically for my own nostalgia. Like many have said they were truly revolutionary and mind-blowing, especially when the G5 was released. I watched it run circles around dual P4 era Xeon's in Photoshop and many other programs. Apple truly was remarkable, special, underdog and you felt like a rebel. You were using a machine that was more powerful than others, ran Unix and had the best looking gui around (Aqua was my favorite). I miss those days, a lot.

[@schvabek]

@@BrandonTahedl Hey, thanks so much for sharing your experiences! I really like hearing from people who had and used these machines back in the day. Looking back on it, it really is amazing how Apple managed to turn it around, especially now that they are one of the big companies. To think that at one point they were on a brink of bankruptcy. It super fascinating to look back to.

[@HarshFishFood81]

You know what man I'm impressed because I don't think I seen you have to use a double dongle one time! You definitely got a lifelong viewer to your channel from here on out row I appreciate your genuine vulnerable approach to tech I really do

[@schvabek]

Man, you rock, thank you so much for the kind words ❤️ and thank you for subbing, it really does mean a lot! 🤟

[@latenightlogic]

11:11 the OS never ages. Looks as elegant now as it did back then. The platinum interface and charcoal font never gets old.

[@schvabek]

@@latenightlogic I love going back to these older os’s and seeing how… little has changed actually 😁 it does look older, but somehow still doesn’t. It’s awesome. Cheers!

[@stpworld]

@@schvabek I have this in the box with all restore cds to and accessories. These also don't have audio line in I have a sound blaster for mine to bring the connections back.

[@schvabek]

@ Wow, that’s awesome! As far as audio in, yeah, didn’t notice that, I used my iRig interface to get the the sound in. Pretty cool how you can install a soundblaster in it lol

[@stpworld]

@ and ita an apple refurbished box i have that and my ibook g4 box to

[@schvabek]

@ That’s super cool. The only boxes I have for my vintage macs are my dad’s old iBook G3 and MacBook Pro from 2006.

[@OldwingGUY]

It was assembled in Cork in Ireland in the old apple 2e factory, the IBM and Intel factories are in Dublin. All the parts are shipped to Cork and it’s all assembled there.

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks a lot for the info! I didn’t know that! 🤟

[@Carnage_Lot]

Fascinating 👍 I remember my old elementary school in West Virginia, USA had some Apple III's we used to play old learning games. Granted this was in like 2003, the schools in West Virginia could NOT afford newer machines, so I got a taste for the old stuff at a very young age. Thanks for doing videos like this!

[@schvabek]

@@Carnage_Lot Man, you rock, thank you so much for the support! And, wow, Apple III?? Those are super rare nowadays, and to think you had a whole classroom full of those! What a sight!

[@Carnage_Lot]

@@schvabek Really we had like 4. Lol It was a small school in rural West Virginia. My class had like 10 students. I imagine they were donated to the school at some point!

[@schvabek]

@@Carnage_Lot Still, quite cool. Wonder what happened to them later, they would be worth thousands today.

[@leatherwiz]

Great content, you really got yourself a nice G4. When I think back to those days I was using PC hardware and every game you bought had to be patched or drivers updated or more. This one although it didn’t run many games that required windows seams to work fine even after so many years.

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks a lot! It is quite a nice machine! It does still work fine, although it doesn’t run as much software as a Windows machine would. Cheers!

[@mips-m]

Ahahaha, džezva and kurcic 🤣 nice touch 👌

[@schvabek]

😁🤟

[@nyccollin]

4:15 Did you install the battery backwards? EDIT: Yes it’s definitely backwards.

[@schvabek]

@@nyccollin It’s in correctly, not sure how this particular shot made it in the video 😂

[@nyccollin]

@@schvabek If you took it out and reversed it but yeah the video shows it being put in backwards.

[@schvabek]

@@nyccollin Yes, i did. Not sure how I managed to do that, pretty dumb, but it’s in the right way around now 😅

[@Dong_Harvey]

Now the battery will last even longer!

[@schvabek]

@@Dong_Harvey Haha, right? 😂

[@lunabell-2]

your stairway to heaven solo was incredible!!

[@schvabek]

@@lunabell-2 Hey, thank you so much! ❤️

[@jdarg4163]

My 1st mac was in 1993 as my mother used to be a desktop publisher and my auntie had a PowerPC mac that was top of the line at the time

[@schvabek]

@@jdarg4163 Hey, thanks for sharing! That’s awesome! 🤟

[@coolDude2612-g2k]

I remember thinking this was all I'd need till I had kids, grandkids, and oh boy those were the days.

[@schvabek]

@@coolDude2612-g2k heh, they sure made it seem like it would be plenty 😂 but hey, people used to think 640k of ram would be enough for peoples needs.

[@joshhardin666]

I was the lead apple authorized service technician working in a university bookstore repair shop when these were released. (it really wasn't that long ago). I used a dual 1.25ghz mdd g4 as my primary workstation (at work) for about 6 years when those came out (the last generation of the mdd range of g4's). So, I think the original install of os x that was installed on this machine would have probably worked, but you removed the battery which corrupted the parameter ram. if I recall correctly, if you reset the parameter ram (pram) by starting the system holding apple-option-p-r and then chose the os x volume manually from the disk chooser by starting the machine holding the option button (which displays all valid system folders of drives that are plugged in) and choosing the os x volume. I haven't touched one of these in some time though.

[@schvabek]

@@joshhardin666 Hey, thanks a lot for sharing your story and advice! As far as the pram battery is concerned, I’ll tell you a secret - the footage of me changing it was actually shot after I already did the initial power on. I didn’t have the battery handy when I first started playing with the machine, so I don’t think it was an issue. Perhaps it was just missing some key files or they got corrupted and it wouldn’t boot from the existing installation 🤷‍♂️ Cheers!

[@fookingsog]

Something else interestingly strange was that the operating system folder/drive had to be "blessed" or christened or whatever to be able to boot from!!! 😂

[@ssokolow]

@@fookingsog Blessing the system folder is basically Apple's friendly equivalent to adding something to your bootloader menu. The nice thing was that, with classic Mac OS (which is what I run on my G4 Quicksilver), it happened automatically when you dragged and dropped your System folder onto a new disk and you only needed to worry about doing it manually if you had more than one System folder on the same disk... and it just involved double-clicking the System folder you wanted to become active, at which point it would gain the distinctive icon.)

[@jamesdecross1035]

Apple had a plant in Ireland, it still has offices there. IBM had a n assembly plant in Scotland.

[@schvabek]

@@jamesdecross1035 Hey, thanks for the heads up! Yes, I’ve been told by a few people in the comments 🤘

[@thethriftyfawn]

KZbin ads today: Fleetwood Mac tribute concerts. Yes, it has the word MAC in it, but what the heck?! 😂

[@schvabek]

@@thethriftyfawn Damn, I wouldn’t mind being served a Fleetwood Mac tribute ad 😂

[@thethriftyfawn]

@schvabek I love Fleetwood Mac! 😍

[@hunkydory419]

I had a G4 silver back in the day. Remember the display it came with always looked so good! It ran Return To Castle Wolfenstein rather well!

[@schvabek]

@@hunkydory419 Hey, that’s awesome! Wish I had a Studio Display to go with this, but they are really hard to find nowadays. Cheers!

[@IpfxTwin]

$30 got me a dual/single G5 and Dual G4 in an auction. They both play Quake beautifully.

[@schvabek]

@@IpfxTwin Hey, that’s a nice find! Awesome! 🤟

[@HarshFishFood81]

Bro I usually don't give compliments or props to people that do reviews or tutorials or anything of that nature or even in this nature of computing hardware be an older new because usually they get it wrong, that said bro you're doing a great job man and do not conform to what viewers say or present in your comment area do you and do what's comfortable to you and I live in an apartment myself and I have neighbors that don't recognize times to be loud and times not to be loud but also two keep this in mind with a vacuum that only creates a magnetic static based filled when it's around the motor it does not transition outside of that and newer vacuums or shielded to protect its own electronics from that field created by the motor. Also two you run the risk of igniting and establishing an allergy to an unknown substance because you don't know where those PCs will come to from. But don't stop doing what you're doing man I love that you're digging back into what has started technology as we know it today. I hate Macs with the passion I really do but I remember back in the day when they used to ship with dual Motorola CPUs. I was so taken back by that that I ended up buying an old power Mac that was used for graphics design and a printing company Little did I know that a lot of the hardware being used on that board was also available by Texas instruments and I'm not even going to go any further with that because you know what their famous for, calculators lol. I almost forgot the most important part bro and this was actually before my short story lol, you always hear the term customer is always right well this day and age of the customer is always right they wouldn't be on your site watching a video they would be doing the video because customers come to people like you and I that take the time to learn this stuff and understand where it's come from and they don't. If people and nay Sarah's one and they say and complain let them they say complain in the mirror because that's the only demographic that they haven't reached yet.

[@schvabek]

Hey, man, thank you sooo much!! I really appreciate the support, and your comment really made my day! 🤟 thank you also for sharing your story! Rock on! 🤟

[@theshadowman1398]

This model still can run OS9 natively. It just has to be installed differently. First install OSX 10.3 or 10.4. Get hold of the 2001, 2002 model boot discs and from there you can install OS9.

[@schvabek]

@@theshadowman1398 hey, thanks for the tip! I’m fine running the occasional os9 app in classic, but if I ever need to install os9, I’ll keep this in mind.

[@reidboggs4344]

This era is what laid the ground for the iPod, IPhone, iPad that dominated everything.

[@schvabek]

@@reidboggs4344 Sure was. Early 2000’s really brought Apple back into the picture.

[@Rickmakes]

I remember the G4s (and later G5s) were solid performers in many aspects but would often choke on HD video. My base model Intel Core 2 Duo Macbook would play video just fine but my G5 iMac with discreet graphics would stutter.

[@schvabek]

@@Rickmakes The Intel switch really was a big step up. It really left no doubt in my mind Apple made the right decision, as insane as it seemed for them to be joining with Intel.

[@nkarim4979]

Can the cases be used for building a modern PC?

[@schvabek]

@@nkarim4979 Sure, I’ve seen a couple hackintosh builds using this (or similar) case. Not something I’d do to a working machine, but if you get your hand on an empty case or a case with fried components, why not. I’d build a modern pc in that lol

[@CamdenBloke]

I had a G4 power book when I was in university in the mid-to-late 2000. A lot of the campus stuff assumed windows computers. In some ways it worked out for me, because if you had a Windows computer it would try to forcibly make you install some kind of antiviral system on your machine (whether you wanted it or not). In other ways it didn't work out for me because if you had a Windows system it would give you a notification of when your password was about to expire and you had to change it. As a Mac user, I never got such notification because it wasn't set up for that, so every once in a while I'd find I could no longer log in and I had to go to whichever building to have them change my password.

[@schvabek]

@@CamdenBloke Hey, thanks a lot for commenting and sharing your story! Viruses were a big selling point for Macs early on (and I guess still for some people). I remember my dad listing that as one of the top priorities lol

[@RossTheGenMan]

The two drives together on the right side should be the same capacity so they can be raided for faster speed

[@schvabek]

@@RossTheGenMan Hey, thanks for advice! I don’t really need this machine to be super fast. I’d rather install something like a SD to IDE adapter or something, but I don’t think the HDD is even a bottleneck in this system. And it’s quite fast for what I’m looking to do.

[@john_ace]

If you keep pressing F8, you can get an FPS counter in Nanosaur (an other Pangea 3D games).

[@schvabek]

@@john_ace Hey, thanks for letting me know, I’ll definitely try that next time!

[@MarcusAurelius7777]

AMAZING WHEN RELEASED

[@schvabek]

@@MarcusAurelius7777 …and still fun today 😁

[@VicGreenBitcoin]

1:49 DVD ''RAM'' at the 3499usd configuration 🙃😂

[@schvabek]

@@VicGreenBitcoin DVD RAM was actually a real thing back then, it was a dvd based high capacity format (up to 9.6 gigs I think). And burners were crazy expensive when they first launched, so given that this thing was introduced in 1999, yeah, unfortunately, the price was actually pretty competitive.

[@Alexlfm]

⁠@@schvabek​​⁠​⁠​⁠DVD-RAM was always rather silly to me considering it had basically no interoperability with anything with its weird 5,6GB capacity and the need for the stupid caddy. I don’t understand why Apple even offered a DVD-RAM on the G4 when everyone knew the superior interoperable DVD-RW (and eventually DVD-/+R) format drives were due any day. Would have sucked for the fools that paid almost 1K for a DVD-RAM only for DVD-RW to launch a couple months later.

[@schvabek]

@@Alexlfm I actually knew a couple of people who were into dvd-ram, supposedly because it was much more reliable for data storage. I’ve actually heard like businesses and enterprises still actually use these for data backup lol

[@lundsweden]

With Mac sales in the toilet, it might be time for Apple to sharpen it's pricing once more.

[@schvabek]

@@lundsweden It’s an open market, so definitely! I’d love to see Apple bringing back real budget options for people, like they had back in the day.

[@kennixox262]

@@schvabek I think that Apple's main focus with the Macintosh are the laptops. Their desktops have lagged for the past several years.

[@schvabek]

@@kennixox262 True. Especially the Mac Pro lineup, sadly.

[@kennixox262]

@@schvabek Agreed! Had several cheese grater pro models and LOVED the internal HD slots! Have a 2017 iMac 27 incher which I like a lot but is now out of date. New iMacs are too small and may buy a studio with large display.Started with a Quadra 700 around 1990.

[@schvabek]

@@kennixox262 Yep, Mac Mini/Studios models are the only modern desktops of their that appeal to me. Might actually get one next time I upgrade. Cheers!

[@lopwidth7343]

My uncle used to have a mid 90s grey box Macintosh, I don't know which one, but it was loaded with software and I remember playing lemmings on there. Unfortunately it was just dumped at the recycling centre along with an 1984 look alike classic Macintosh, maybe a special throwback edition or the original, im not sure also loaded with games and software that I used to play on. It came with a microphone on the side, that we used to record songs into and it played prince of Persia

[@schvabek]

Hey man, thanks for sharing your story! That’s so awesome! Pity about them ending up recycled, but I’ve also thrown a lot of cool tech in the trash, because I’ve never thought I’d need them again or that they would become collectibles.

[@compaqdeskpro5770]

Regarding Nanosaur, double jump off that first mountain and you get 999 ammo. American McGee's Alice is another good match for the G4, a lot of things don't work well in OS 9 mode, great video!

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks so much for the support and the Nanosaur tip! If you have any other suggestions about the games I could run on a G3-G5 system, I’d love to hear them!

[@Kleptophobia]

The "hungry" Apple was the best. They were trying so hard to get customers that they didn't dare abuse them or treat them as captives to their platform.

[@schvabek]

@@Kleptophobia Oh yeah! They were doing some crazy things, but boy was it fun to watch 😁

[@Salty_Cracker213]

awesome video my first Computer was a Launch Power Mac G4 then i upgraded to a G5 also at launch they are some of my fav macs

[@schvabek]

@@Salty_Cracker213 Hey, man, thanks a lot! 🤟 Must’ve been awesome having these beasts back then!

[@kevinbanahan2390]

Loved this type G4 Power Mac. Used to get them cheap from schools who upgraded to G5s. This model was Very Very Loud. You had to put it under a desk as if was on top you would go deth

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks for sharing! Haha, yeah, it’s quite loud, and one funny story I’ve read is how people bought these machines for music production, and were upset by the noise, so they had to put them in special noise cancelling chambers 😂

[@kevinbanahan2390]

@@schvabek used to sound like a plane taking off.

[@haramaschabrasir8662]

My first Mac ever was a MDD that I bough tin 2007. I was 19 then and made music with it. I've been an Apple user ever since.I even had a G4 Cube for a short time which I upgraded with an aftermarket 1,6 GHz G4 processor..

[@schvabek]

@@haramaschabrasir8662 Hey, that’s super cool! I’d love to have the g4 cube myself, but haven’t been able to find one locally. It’s such a cool design.

[@TheMetalMag]

The G4 has been my fav computer for decades, I really am happy I knew this one! Apple used to do great PPC computers.. I have few MDD which are good but not as good as the first G4 due to to the way they built the inside with a huge block to cool the processor and the pci slot on top making it harder to plug cables. I had sonnet boosting the duet processor as great video cards etc.. yeah it goes to fast in the computing industry.

[@schvabek]

@@TheMetalMag Hey, thanks a lot for sharing! That’s awesome! Yeah, the huge aluminium block does take up a lot of space, but hopefully it ensures the processors run cooler 🤷‍♂️

[@MatthewHill]

I actually owned one of these. I think it may've even been this exact model. It was a huge upgrade from my G3 iMac, and to this day, my favorite Mac. The G5 I bought a couple of years later was faster, but not as elegant. And the locked-down monolithic soldered boxes they serve today are an absolute disgrace by comparison.

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks for sharing! Yeah, I also miss the crazy futuristic translucent plastic designs of the late nineties 🤟

[@Dunestorm333]

I mean, those prices back in the late 90s was crazy money, so not much has changed.

[@schvabek]

@@Dunestorm333 Yeah, and that’s late 90’s dollars too! People tend to forget how expensive tech really was back in the day. It’s quite unreal how good of a computer you can get for 300-500 bucks.

[@bfapple]

14:17 I recall from my time that this particular Power Mac G4 [and onwards] does not allow native booting into Mac OS 9. Only via "Classic" as you described.

[@schvabek]

Yeah, I think there is a specific installation for this model in particular, but I couldn’t find it, and by that point I’ve settled on installing Tiger 🤷‍♂️

[@stephenkeever6029]

Back when it was new, this G4 was a very good video editor and programmed DVD maker! It felt like a breakthrough the way the M1 did in 2021.

[@schvabek]

@@stephenkeever6029 oh yeah, these machines were very desirable in video and music production (like most macs). Also they started shipping with dvd burning drives, which was another big deal back in the day.

[@theol1044]

When I first saw the original G4 PowerMac in person back then, I thought, "Wow, that's the best looking computer I have ever seen." The b/w G3 before it had looked somehow ridiculous. I still feel that way. The Quicksilver model was just okay (looks-wise), and the MDD might have been thermally improved, but I found it to be butt-ugly in comparison. My immediate association was the Katyusha rocket launcher from WWII (for the vent openings in the front).

[@schvabek]

@@theol1044 Hahaha, I feel you 😂 People find it either extremely ugly or cool. I want to say it’s just peek 2000’s Apple look. I dig it. Good point on Katyusha! 🤟😂 Thanks so much for commenting, appreciated! 🤟

[@ivorjawa]

I loved mine. Such a cool machine. But so LOUD. It was amusing that a few years later the first Intel Mac mini ran Return to Castle Wolfenstein faster, under emulation.

[@schvabek]

@@ivorjawa Hey, thanks a lot for sharing! Yeah, this thing is loud. It’s funny, I was reading how studios bought this thing for audio production and were annoyed by the noise, so they had to put them in special noise cancelling cases lol.

[@ivorjawa]

@@schvabek I gave mine to the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. To my knowledge, it’s still running as a mail server.

[@schvabek]

@@ivorjawa Haha, that’s awesome! 🤟

[@fiskurtjorn]

Still up and running over here.

[@schvabek]

@@fiskurtjorn That’s awesome! 🤟

[@HrutkayMods]

Great Vid bud 😁👌

[@schvabek]

@@HrutkayMods Thank you so much, man, appreciated! 🤟

[@gjermundification]

21:06 IIRC the emulator you mentioned only worked when booting MacOS 9 bareback, no classic or other emulation level. Simply reboot into MacOS 9 drive and play from there.

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks for the heads up! I’ve found another one that work on OSX, so I’m good there! Cheers!

[@fookingsog]

I had one of the Graphite Grey PowerMac G4's that came out prior to the MDD...Spent a pretty penny maxxing out the RAM and upgrading to a Powerlogix CPU if memory serves me correctly!!! Later on picked up a couple of G5's from MacOfAllTrades, fastest being the Liquid Cooled Quad. Other one was a Dual processor that my wife uses iMovie for basic video editing and installed an SSD Upgrade Kit from OWC which made it much faster and smoother!!!

[@schvabek]

@@fookingsog Hey, that’s awesome, thanks a lot for sharing! Sounds like the Quicksilver model. The quad core G5 was truly a beast. Later I did some benchmarks and found it kinda amusing that it performed worse than an entry model MacBook with an Intel processor. Technology really did move very quickly.

[@fookingsog]

@@schvabek Yep. G5 is a power hungry beast!!! Power cord on that thing is as big around as my thumb!!! 😬 I never bought any more Apple computers after that as I proceeded to buy off-lease corporate machines that run windows or Linux. Only ever used Windows 7 & 10. Best Linux I used was Mint which I believe is developed somewhere in the UK, I think Ireland. Now I just use Windows 10 for basic 3D design & FDM printing as well as more recently acquiring a laser burner/engraver to use with a piece of software called "LightBurn"! Regarding PPC Mac OS X, there's a piece of software (can't remember the name!) which allows you to remove the unnecessary baggage of unused language localizations AND to remove the legacy OS 9 code so you are only left with the newer OS X program code. Works Great and Frees up some hard drive space!!!

[@schvabek]

@@fookingsog That sounds super cool! Would love to have a laser engraver 😁 Thanks for all the advice, cheers!

[@exaltedb]

I used to have a top-spec FW800 G4 that had the dual 1.42ghz G4s, 2gb ram and a 9000 pro. Thing was a very cool machine when I had it. I now have late-05 G5 2.0 that is interesting in its own right and that I wanted another Power Mac

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks for sharing! That’s awesome, G5 is such a cool machine! 🤟

[@AlienFactor]

I literally just bought an G4 same as yours do you know if I can upgrade it in any shape or form lol lmk brother 🙏🏻💻

[@schvabek]

@@AlienFactor Hey, man, that’s awesome, hope you have fun with yours 🤟 You should be able to upgrade the ram, HDD and the graphics card, this thing takes standard sdram,has an ide HDD interface and takes several different ati graphics cards. You can also add standard pci/agp cards (depending on your model). Cheers!

[@samshort365]

I remember when the original Mac came out in 1984. Staff in my lab bought one. I had never seen anything like it. When this G4 came out I was blown away again. Compared to my lowly pentium running an early Debian, that thing looked futuristic. TY

[@schvabek]

@@samshort365 Man, thanks for sharing! I’m glad this took you back ❤️

[@letusplay2296]

6:15 the Apple European headquarters is in Ireland (in Cork). I don't know if that's where this machine was assembled but they've been operating here for a good while

[@schvabek]

@@letusplay2296 Hey, thanks for the info! It’s entirely possible it was assembled in Cork 👍

[@Wurlyscope]

I had a dual 867mhz. New. It was a super computer at the time. I made a lot of videos editing and audio mixes on this machine. Found memories! Thanks!

[@schvabek]

Thanks for sharing, that’s awesome! 🤟

[@ssokolow]

As an owner of a G4 Quicksilver 2002 running OS 9.2.2 (last model family before your G4 MDD), I knew right away that a retail OS 9 disc wouldn't work. Apple thinks of retail discs as "bootable upgrade discs", so they make no provision for being able to boot your mac from a retail disc released prior to whatever the system came with and the last OS 9 retail disc is too old for my system.

[@schvabek]

@@ssokolow Hey, thanks for commenting! Yeah, it sucks, I have to go through all my discs and just label the ones I can boot from 😅 Thanks for the info! 🤟

[@rolux4853]

What does MDD stand for?

[@schvabek]

@ mirrored disk drives

[@ssokolow]

@@schvabek "Mirrored Drive Doors", actually... which does make more sense. The drives themselves are just stock parts.

[@Njbuilder95t]

The G4 MDD is one of my all-time favorites! I’m still running one right now with powerPC supported versions of Linux,in fact I’m watching this video on an MDD right now. I can even install a g5 upgrade card from sonnet!

[@schvabek]

@@Njbuilder95t Hey, that’s awesome! To think people are watching this on a G4, just insane! 🤟

[@rinnin]

09:50 did you not press the C key when restarting to boot from the CD-ROM?

[@schvabek]

Yep, didn’t respond. Also, if you have a bootable CD, you don’t have to hold the C key, it will boot automatically.

[@gentuxable]

@@schvabek it depends what you set in "Startup Disk" control panel on old Macs, the choice is then stored in PRAM. If the chosen startup disk is not available, it will cycle through all available drives. So if you set it to CD and "forgot" about it, it would always try first from CD but if the startup disk was changed, it will not first try CD. If you want to bypass the chosen startup disk and boot from CD instead, you can hold the C key. On the newer G4 I think you can hold the option (or Alt on a PC keyboard) to get the boot menu anyway.

[@schvabek]

@@gentuxable Sure, but if the computer is not booting at all, pressing button combinations is not going to help. It should automatically detect a bootable volume. In my case, that wasn’t happening, so it means the disc isn’t bootable and the HDD volume also wasn’t bootable (for some reason). It has nothing to do with me not pressing buttons (even though I’ve also tried that)

[@gnommak]

PowerMac G4 MDD require very specific version of 9.2.2. If I'm not mistaken it should be version 9.2.2z and it can be found only with second eMac (ATI Graphics) or MDD recover media. Those 9.2.2 should have Mac OS ROM v9.6.1 file.

[@schvabek]

@@gnommak Hey, thanks for the heads up! Yeah, that’s what I figured and said in the video.

[@kennixox262]

A few weeks before Jobs returned to Apple and it was well known that he was coming back; I purchased 1,200 shares of Apple stock on a whim. It was either that or a new 1998 BMW 3 series. That investment is worth a whole lot more today! The price was around $27.00 per share back then. Best single investment I ever made. How many 1998 BMW 3 series are still on the road in 2024? Not many. I can also remember those days, the little Apple section at the back of the CompUSA, was poorly manned by people who knew nothing about Macintosh or cared.

[@schvabek]

@@kennixox262 Wow, that’s an awesome story! What an investment! And it’s not like it was the safest bet back then either, many predicted Apple would fail miserably. I’ve also read/heard about the CompUSA deal, but it wasn’t too long after that they started opening up Apple stores. Cheers!

[@Allinfun6789]

I have two of them, and the master disc from Apple ($$$ at the time) set that will work on any G4 Mac, sitting in a closit.

[@schvabek]

@@Allinfun6789 Hey, that’s awesome! 🤟

[@RideManDave]

One of these was my first Macintosh and was my daily driver from 2002-2020. I stopped upgrading it at X.IV.XI (Tiger). It can run X.V (Leopard) but mine was running as an Avid system, and the version that runs beyond Tiger required an Intel CPU. What finally killed my system was when the video system stopped working. Now I have the last Intel Mini, and it doesn’t run as well as the dual-G4 did.

[@schvabek]

@@RideManDave Wow, thanks for sharing your story, that’s amazing! Glad you had such a good time with your old Mac! 🤘

[@waydegutman7339]

What I would be digging around for, is a Yellow Dog Linux cd for that rig.

[@schvabek]

@@waydegutman7339Hey, thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely be experimenting with Linux in the future! 👍

[@scarlettppc]

great video! I've got one of these and it's perfect for just playing retro games, though I also use it to browse the internet once in a while. It actually performs alright and can play KZbin videos, although only at a lower res. I have it paired the Apple Pro Speakers and audio quality is amazing. Also just wanted to point out that you put it the PRAM battery backwards

[@schvabek]

@@scarlettppc Hey, thanks a lot! Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s crazy that it can actually play KZbin at all! And, yeah, I’ve already gotten a ton of comments about the battery - not sure how that happened, pretty dumb 😅 it’s fixed now!

[@scarlettppc]

@@schvabek ah nice! tbh u can use these without a PRAM battery as well, i have it removed from all of mine and set them to use network time and yeah its amazing how much these can still do

[@schvabek]

@@scarlettppc Yeah, I know, but I also had some weird cases where the computer wouldn’t start without a working pram battery. Not very common, but it can happen. Cheers!

[@PRH123]

I have a Quicksilver G4 733 right under the desk here. Still works great as it always did. Amazing that it can be upgraded to a dual CPU G5. Only downside is the loud fan noise (a later G4 model was even known as the wind tunnel Mac). It came as a dual boot OS9 and OSX. I prefer OS9, for me that was the peak Apple user interface.

[@schvabek]

No kidding? Had no idea you could put a g5 in it. I also like os9, but I’m just more familiar with osx

[@Maxtraxv3]

system setting --> select start up drive, try that next time.

[@schvabek]

@@Maxtraxv3 Hey, thanks for the advice! I did try that, there was no start up drive that showed up in the settings.

[@95Comics]

kewl video, i love the strat! g4's are my fav, i still have a g4mdd running open suse its great for everyday surfing and streaing video! thst is one of macs best machines ever! i made a sweet hackintosh using a g3 mac pro case. it looked original but had an i7 and running monterey

[@schvabek]

Hey, that sounds AWESOME! I would love to see that thing! And I can’t believe you’re still surfing the web using that thing, that’s mind blowing! Thanks a lot for commenting, cheers! 🤟

[@Silly-g]

A few things I noticed, although the gpu has 2 ports, it cannot support more than one monitor. The case plates are removable but it requires the motherboard to also be removed. And you can also spare cd/dvd-r and just boot from usb. Besides that, thanks for the content!

[@schvabek]

@@Silly-g hey, thanks for the input! I know I can boot from usb (I do that on Intel machines), but for these older ones I just like booting off of CD’s and DVD’s. Cheers!

[@dvdr866]

Was the bios battery installed backwards?

[@schvabek]

@@dvdr866 hey, thanks for commenting! I don’t think so.

[@arianaponytail]

Vacum cleaning computers have killed so many computers :/ Sad times. R.I.P. anyhow really fun and nostalgic video

[@schvabek]

@@arianaponytail Hey, thanks so much for your support! Really appreciated! 🤟

[@trastewere]

I was hoping to see repasting of the IBM Power CPU:(

[@schvabek]

Hey, I also thought about changing out the thermal paste, but since I wasn’t going to be using it for extended periods of time, I just decided not to mess with it for the time being. I’ve read some horror stories about the CPU’s cooking themselves to death if you apply an incorrect amount of TP. 😬 But if I do end up using it more often, I’ll definitely change it. Thanks for commenting! 🤟

[@solomonveliki1]

Добра ти је кафа ! !! Поздрав

[@schvabek]

@@solomonveliki1 E, hvala! 😁🤟 Pozdrav i tebi!

[@Lerod_Driger]

I love old PC tech, I have in my posession the PowerMac G4 in the blue case one of the 1999 models I got it from a friend and it has a dead power supply and am waiting for the replacement to arrive. I also have an iBook G4 1.2ghz model that works great for what I need it for. What facinates me is the community and folks like me that have respect of these old systems and how PAINFULLY SLOW they were back then compared to today but they still got the required task done.

[@schvabek]

Hey man, thanks a lot for sharing! Hopefully you’ll get yours up and running soon 🤟

[@Lerod_Driger]

@@schvabek thanks for that. I hope so too.

[@orestes1984]

A small thing. If the binary was universal, you could still run OS 9 apps under Rosetta up to Snow Leopard 10.6

[@schvabek]

@@orestes1984 Really? That’s pretty interesting, I know Rosetta runs ppc apps, but I didn’t know it went back to OS 9. I was reading how support for OS 9 support ended with Power Mac G4 and Tiger.

[@orestes1984]

@@schvabek it depends. If they were written in cocoa or carbon. There were two APIs that developers could use by OS 9 one was Cocoa the other was Carbon. Provided an app was written in Carbon and there was a universal binary patch it can run either on OS 9 or OS X up to Snow Leopard. It's one of the reasons why I kept a 2011 MacBook Pro for so long. It can play some older games, provided they had a universal patch.

[@revco196]

Leopard. 10.5.8 is latest version you can install on MDD Macs.

[@schvabek]

@@revco196 Sure, but I don’t think that runs Classic.

[@orestes1984]

@@revco196 I was not talking about that.

[@MK-of7qw]

I would love one of these cases... even if the computer inside is not salvageable

[@schvabek]

@@MK-of7qw Yeah, I also love the late nineties Apple aesthetics! 🤘 That would be a fun project too - putting a 4090 in it or something lol

[@Mad4400]

I pulled a G3 (the blue and white one) out of e-waste last year. I cleaned it up and put it away until I can dedicate some time to tinkering with it. It looks complete, and I have since collected copies of the OS and software from that era hoping that I can get it running again.

[@schvabek]

@@Mad4400 That’s an awesome find! 🤘

[@dktr2]

In 4:13 you puts battery backwards polarity ;/

[@schvabek]

@@dktr2 I did switch it to correct polarity later 😁

[@Vindix007]

Steve Jobs: Guys, let’s think different. Years later… Steve Jobs: Fuck that motto. Let’s use Intel chips.

[@schvabek]

@@Vindix007 Haha, yeah, many hc Apple fans were quite upset about that at the time. But, as far as I’m concerned, the Intel switch was the best thing they did at the time. Not just performance wise, but the compatibility got so much better. As a Mac user, I was all for it back in the day.

[@gentuxable]

And the media: "Apple makes the best Windows laptop". I specifically waited and bought the very first MacBook Pro in 2006 and everyone was jealous as it ran everything way better than the HP dc7600 CMT we had in the lab, which not even bad PCs at the time.

[@schvabek]

@@gentuxable Yeah, I dual booted xp back in the day and it looked like black magic 😂 especially after ppc architecture which could hardly run any wintel software

[@jfbeam]

@@schvabek You do realize the complications of running Windows/Intel software on a system that is neither Windows nor Intel?

[@schvabek]

@@jfbeam Sure, now I do. As a kid a didn’t. I was just frustrated I couldn’t run my pc friends game discs lol

[@markockwell]

List of My Mac Collection ------ Imac G3, eMac G4, PowerMac G4 Mirror Door, PowerMac G5, Intel PowerMac dual 2ghz, iBook G4, PowerBook 2.5ghz Intel, MacBook Air 2017, MacBook Air 2022, Mac Mini Intel, Mac Mini M1, Mac Pro 2015 Trash Can 6,1, Mac Mini M2Pro and finally Awaiting ----- The Mac Mini Pro M4

[@schvabek]

Hey, that’s and awesome collection! 🤟

[@markockwell]

@@schvabek Its taken several years to find and repair/upgrade my little retro museum - but I love them ......

[@Maxtraxv3]

mac update disk ONLY update, you can not boot off them.

[@schvabek]

@@Maxtraxv3 Yep, well, now I know 😅

[@coredoughboy]

Great video! Subbed!

[@schvabek]

@@coredoughboy Aww man, that’s awesome! Thank you! 🤟❤️

[@superstar64]

Just for the record on a MDD tower like this, the best way to get OS 9 running (if you have a model that can boot OS 9) is the original restore discs that came with the computer, which you can usually download on the Macintosh Garden and/or the Internet Archive. These models would have most likely shipped with 10.1 Puma or possibly 10.2 Jaguar, as well as 9.2.2, which is the only version of classic Mac OS that runs on post OS X Macs. I also found a 9.2.2 universal installer that should theoretically work on all OS 9 capable computers, though something like my 2003 800MHz eMac used an OS X application to install a bootable OS 9 installation. Later PowerPC Macs shipped with an install pkg to put a Mac OS 9 system folder on Macs that couldn't natively boot OS 9 for the sake of backward compatibility, which works great on any pre Leopard version of OS X. For that reason, I like my 2000 Gigabit G4 for running OS 9 apps natively, but I have a whole assortment of late model PPC Macs I've toyed with over the years.

[@ProtoFalcon07]

To this day, selling my complete-in-box, G4 MDD FW800 back in 2013 is my biggest regret.

[@schvabek]

@@ProtoFalcon07 Hey, man, that sucks! I also have my fair share of regrets. My dad and I had like 5-6 Macintosh Performas we got for free, and ended up recycling them because we had to get rid of them, and nobody wanted them back in 2007-08

[@michaelanderson654]

People always complain. As they say in any job that you deal with customers a customer is going to customer. Thanks for making this video to try and give back to the KZbin community

[@schvabek]

@@michaelanderson654 man, thank you sooo much! 😢❤️ I really appreciate your support, you rock! 🤟

[@chrisa4072]

what auction did you get this from? i love these machines. never had one. i kept my dual-socket mac pro 5,1 just in case.

[@schvabek]

Hey, thanks a lot for commenting! It’s a local auction here where I live, so not eBay.

[@chrisa4072]

@@schvabek oh nice. I've always wanted a quicksilver Mac (that's what that powermac was called). Some of the best versions Apple had. The early G3/G4 with the frosted text was my favorite, since Mac OS 9 was also my favorite OS (the window shares were fantastic)

[@schvabek]

@@chrisa4072 there were three generations of g4, quicksilver is the second one I believe. This one is great, but as far as design goes, they’re all superb in my opinion. The g3/g4/g5… There’s just something about the design of the day, before aluminium.

[@chrisa4072]

@@schvabek actually I think those were called the mirror powermacs because of the shiny cd/DVD/super drive tray. The quicksilver came later (those had the optical doors which slid a different way) but also just as nice looking. The Aluminum G4 power books were very nice too but most covered were the titanium PowerBook G4. OS X tiger was their best visual implementation IMO, and I think began the move away from the aqua interface which Microsoft tried to copy with XP media edition/longhorn that eventually became vista/7

[@schvabek]

@@chrisa4072 Yeah, Mirrored Disk Drives - MDD 😁

[@MarcusAurelius7777]

I remember using this in my high school computer lab b/c it was faster than the 30 relatively good Windows PCs they had...

[@schvabek]

@@MarcusAurelius7777 thanks for sharing, that’s awesome! 🤘

[@Freestyler4130]

You need os9 universal install

[@schvabek]

@@Freestyler4130 Hey, thanks for commenting! I’m pretty sure that’s what I tried (among other things), but it wouldn’t work.

[@nomeat1337]

You sound a bit like Halliday from Ready Player One. Quite therapeutic.

[@schvabek]

@@nomeat1337 Man, thank you so much! I’m still quite self conscious about the narration thing, since English is not my first language. Glad you don’t mind my voice lol! 🤟

[@Maxtraxv3]

if you have 2.4ghz band, you should be able to connect to wifi, there notihng on the internet that can target this thing any more, not that any one would want to.

[@schvabek]

@@Maxtraxv3 I wasn’t really worried about security, it’s just that I know that even if this thing could technically run modern websites, it wouldn’t be pretty lol

[@Alex2OC]

I have made a mATX Hackintosh in this Case.

[@schvabek]

Hey, that’s very cool! Would love to see how that runs! 🤟

[@Kerivity]

they got Wulf Yularen to voice over a macintosh g4 ad? No fucking way!

[@schvabek]

@@Kerivity Yeah, they had an awesome cast for their advertisements. Alan Rickman, for example, did the iBook ads 😁

[@Kerivity]

@@schvabek I was half expecting him to narrate anakin skywalker using the powermac g4 for a moment there.

[@schvabek]

@@Kerivity Haha, that would’ve been cool 😅

[@burnedoils]

its somethong how something so expensive and wanted most ppl would nt even want for free now thats how fast n powerfull our computer evolutiio is now

[@schvabek]

Yeah, it’s crazy! Although these old Macs have become quite a collectible, and they can fetch insane prices actually.

[@nickwood8694]

I have a iMac G4

[@schvabek]

@@nickwood8694 hey, that’s awesome! Me too! I’ll be doing a video on it soon 😁

[@christopherhood9241]

still using my g4 powermac & scsi canon scanner to scan in my photos :)

[@schvabek]

@@christopherhood9241 Haha, that’s AWESOME! 🤟

[@jensputzlocher8345]

I still own a G4, unused on the shelf for about 10 years. Time to restore it. And time to restore the iMac G5... and the G3DT... and the Motorola Starmax PowerMac Clone... Need to have more time...

[@schvabek]

@@jensputzlocher8345 Hey, man, that’s awesome! What a thing to have, an unused G4! I’ll try covering all the models I have 😊

[@chrisa4072]

@@jensputzlocher8345 haha your iMac G5 is still alive? Those things were toasters...

[@jensputzlocher8345]

@@chrisa4072 All of these computer have been hibernating on the shelf for years. So i hope the iMac G5 would not toast itself. The early Intel iMacs had the same problem: not enough ventilation on the motherboard. Mine died suddenly with a little cloud of smoke.

[@chrisa4072]

@@jensputzlocher8345 funny, my core2duo mbp 1,3 actually melted the surface of the desk it was sitting on. I was testing XP media center via boot camp and of course Apple during that time said that running Windows is at the user's risk. Boot camp had fan drivers that matched OS X profile rather than Windows'. My Mac didn't last very long (and it was a costly $2500 then when minimum wage was still $4)

[@jvebarnes]

Install Debian on it and use it as a NAS or a workstation.

[@schvabek]

@@jvebarnes Hey, thanks for commenting! I already have an old Mac Pro I use for backup, did I video on it a while back. Cheers! 🤘

[@rinnin]

13:00 did you not try booting holding the Alt key to select which OS you wanted to boot up from? There could have been an OSX bootable option on one of the hard discs. This is painful to watch 😬

[@schvabek]

I did, but again, if you have a bootable volume, you don’t have to hold alt, the system will automatically detect it can boot from the HDD/CD/firewire.

[@schvabek]

Also, sorry the video wasn’t more enjoyable 🤷‍♂️

[@joshj88]

oh! if you can find the copper heatsink and dual 1.42 G4s get them

[@schvabek]

@@joshj88 Is that the last model 3,6, FireWire 800 one? I’d love to have one! 🤟

[@joshj88]

@@schvabek I mean you can upgrade the CPU module in the Mac you already have.

[@joshj88]

But it runs pretty warm so Apple made the heat sink copper instead of aluminum for most of the duals

[@digitalizeddeath]

lol you missed the best Power Mac. The G3 architecture is the pinacle of the PowerPC era. The G4 and G5 are just bloated cpus. The G3 was a true beast.

[@schvabek]

@@digitalizeddeath Nope, didn’t miss them, I have G3 iMacs and iBooks 😂 Is there a reason you feel that way?

[@PRH123]

G3 with OS9 was a great combination. Loved it. OSX with its Quartz and other display eye candy overloaded the G4. G4 with OS9 was a dream :)

[@thethriftyfawn]

Oh my goodness, this was a ROLLERCOASTER of a video! I never really "studied" anything Mac before 2007 or 2008, so these old machines are totally new in my eyes. That machine is simultaneously hideous and cool looking at the same time lol! The opening "door" feature is cool. I laughed out loud at the "boom" sound it made when powering on! 😂 Thanks for the story time about how you got into old computers, and the old footage of you and your friend! It really gives context as to WHY you spend your free time working on these old machines! You're right- not all of us grew up with all types of computers (or any computer at all for that matter) so you definitely need to enjoy what you have whenever it shows up in your life! I never got into playing PC or Mac games, but definitely played games on NES, SNES, Gameboy, and N64 consoles - so that footage really gave me a rush of nostalgia! Sorry to hear your previous uploads got cc flagged! Totally ok for talking over that portion of the video, especially on this video because that song was played at my cousin's funeral... I'm ok, and I didn't cry- thanks to the voice over! 😊

[@schvabek]

Hey, Thrifty! Glad you enjoyed this one too! I’ll have to remember to give you a shout out next time I make a video, your warm comments have always been such a motivation! 🤘 I recently found some all footage of me and my friends while digging around, so I thought it helped paint the picture. P. S. I’m sure your friend is rocking it up there somewhere ❤ 🥲

[@thethriftyfawn]

@@schvabek @schvabek Lol- no need for shout outs for the time being, as I'm not currently uploading on this channel right now due to other factors... maybe down the line though! 😅 I noticed you've been posting consistently, and that's great- glad all those auction wins and warm comments from viewers have been a motivation for you! Yeah, I'm certain my older cousin is rocking his heart out! 😎

[@schvabek]

@@thethriftyfawnWell I’m trying to see if I can make this YT thing work 🤷‍♂️ And I’m thrilled with the response! Aaaaand it’s a good way to justify cluttering my storage room with old auctioned off junk 😂

[@thethriftyfawn]

@@schvabek You will DEFINITELY make this work! To put it into context- I am NOT "techy" at all, I don't do electronic related repairs, and I otherwise would not have likely had any interest in watching content related to "the insides of old computers" or anything else related to electronics... However- the delivery of the subject, the before and after of each piece, the storytelling, the editing... it allows the videos to appeal to a wider audience of people. I love vintage things, thrifted things, restorations, and creativity/innovation with cleaning and repairs when needed to bring something back to being usableand enjoyed again. And of course, nostalgia! Plus- you are genuine, you are being yourself, and you reply to comments/interact with the audience. It's obvious you enjoy what you do, and you would be doing these activities with or without rolling a camera and posting it online. That right there shows your authenticity and allows the viewers to be at ease and enjoy the videos! 😊

[@schvabek]

@@thethriftyfawnif I ever “make it big”, I’ll never forget people like you being there for me in the beginning❤

[@arnoldrehwinkel9938]

Hi there, I know exactly what you mean! I do this frequently and recently I bought a Powermac G5 Quad to patch up. This one did not survive unfortunately, LCS died. But I also have a Powermac G5 early 2005 maxed out. Is works great with two Apple Cinema 23 Displays, 8gigs of RAM and a killer Nvidia 6800 Ultra DDL videocard. It runs on Sorbet Leopard.

[@schvabek]

Hey, that’s AWESOME! Sounds like a killer config. Thanks for sharing!

[@joshj88]

you think that bong was nuts, try the Pioneer japan only power mac 6100 clone... it has a real big bong thanks to an integrated 2.1 speaker system

[@schvabek]

@@joshj88 Haha, I’d love to try that one! It’s not only loud, but like distorted, woolly and harsh, that speaker is kinda blown out. I loved the sound!

[@asdf9890]

My first IT job, the marketing/design department had these! I always thought they at least looked cool. As a Windows guy I didn’t really like working on them though 😂

[@danielktdoranie]

Nanosaur has an M1 Apple Silicon version

[@schvabek]

@@danielktdoranie I knew there were ports to x86 and m1, but come on, this is cooler 😁