Powermac G4 - Revision history

Loganius: Tweaked some wording.

2025-04-18T23:36:13Z

Tweaked some wording.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:36, 18 April 2025
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	I currently own <s>two</s> ONE unit~~. A Dual~~ 1.42Ghz "~~Firewire~~ 800" (FW800) model <s>and a ~~Dual~~ 1.25Ghz FW400 model.</s>		I currently own <s>two</s> ONE unit: a dual 1.42Ghz "FireWire 800" (FW800) model <s>and a dual 1.25Ghz FW400 model.</s>

	== 1.42Ghz model details ==		== 1.42Ghz model details ==
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	== 1.25Ghz model details ==		== 1.25Ghz model details ==

			This machine was originally purchased for testing upgrading the [[Xserve G4]] with a faster dual processor CPU; however, this was unsuccessful.

			'''It has since been [https://loganius.org/2025/04/i-bought-a-mac/ sent to Loganius] and is now their problem.'''
	~~This machine is currently unused. It was purchased for testing upgrading the [[Xserve G4]] with a faster dual processor CPU however this was unsuccessful.~~

	'''~~This unit was~~ [https://loganius.org/2025/04/i-bought-a-mac/ ~~later~~ sent to Loganius] and is now their problem'''
	== Images ==		== Images ==
	[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD front]]		[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD front]]
	[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]		[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]
	[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]		[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]

Loganius: The G4 1.25 GHz in question was a FW400 model, not a FW800 model.

2025-04-18T23:29:27Z

The G4 1.25 GHz in question was a FW400 model, not a FW800 model.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:29, 18 April 2025
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	I currently own <s>two</s> ONE unit. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model <s>and a Dual 1.25Ghz ~~FW800~~ model.</s>		I currently own <s>two</s> ONE unit. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model <s>and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW400 model.</s>

	== 1.42Ghz model details ==		== 1.42Ghz model details ==

CursedSilicon at 23:25, 18 April 2025

2025-04-18T23:25:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:25, 18 April 2025
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	I currently own two ~~units~~. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model.		I currently own <s>two</s> ONE unit. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model <s>and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model.</s>

	== 1.42Ghz model details ==		== 1.42Ghz model details ==

CursedSilicon at 23:24, 18 April 2025

2025-04-18T23:24:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:24, 18 April 2025
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	~~This machine is currently unused and lacks a graphics card. It was purchased for testing upgrading the [[Xserve G4]] with a faster dual processor CPU however this was unsuccessful.~~

			This machine is currently unused. It was purchased for testing upgrading the [[Xserve G4]] with a faster dual processor CPU however this was unsuccessful.

	~~The~~ unit ~~has a SCSI card of currently known vendor as well as~~ a ~~dual gigabit PCI~~-~~X SFP NIC of unknown vendor~~		'''This unit was [https://loganius.org/2025/04/i-bought-a-mac/ later sent to Loganius] and is now their problem'''

	== Images ==		== Images ==
	[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD front]]		[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD front]]
	[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]		[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]
	[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]		[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]

CursedSilicon at 11:59, 2 September 2024

2024-09-02T11:59:51Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:59, 2 September 2024
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	The unit has a SCSI card of currently known vendor as well as a dual gigabit PCI-X SFP NIC of unknown vendor		The unit has a SCSI card of currently known vendor as well as a dual gigabit PCI-X SFP NIC of unknown vendor

			== Images ==
	[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD front]]		[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD front]]
	[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]		[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]
	[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]		[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg\|none\|thumb\|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]

CursedSilicon at 11:59, 2 September 2024

2024-09-02T11:59:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:59, 2 September 2024
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	I currently own two units. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model.		I currently own two units. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model.

	=== 1.42Ghz model details ===		== 1.42Ghz model details ==


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	The second port was originally configured with a second 120GB drive for PPC Linux. However the "nouveau" Linux driver causes system lockups due to (known) endianness issues on PowerPC platforms		The second port was originally configured with a second 120GB drive for PPC Linux. However the "nouveau" Linux driver causes system lockups due to (known) endianness issues on PowerPC platforms

	==== 1.25Ghz model details ====		== 1.25Ghz model details ==

CursedSilicon: Created page with "Apple's PowerMac G4 "MDD" or "Mirrored Drive Door" units are common enough and have been documented heavily enough across the internet by people smarter than me that I don't have much to add about them here. I currently own two units. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model. === 1.42Ghz model details === This machine is outfitted with the maximum 2GB of memory (1.5GB under MacOS 9.2) and the fastest supported GPU, an Nvidia Ti4600..."

2024-09-02T11:58:58Z

Created page with "Apple's PowerMac G4 "MDD" or "Mirrored Drive Door" units are common enough and have been documented heavily enough across the internet by people smarter than me that I don't have much to add about them here. I currently own two units. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model. === 1.42Ghz model details === This machine is outfitted with the maximum 2GB of memory (1.5GB under MacOS 9.2) and the fastest supported GPU, an Nvidia Ti4600..."

New page

Apple's PowerMac G4 "MDD" or "Mirrored Drive Door" units are common enough and have been documented heavily enough across the internet by people smarter than me that I don't have much to add about them here.

I currently own two units. A Dual 1.42Ghz "Firewire 800" (FW800) model and a Dual 1.25Ghz FW800 model.

=== 1.42Ghz model details ===

This machine is outfitted with the maximum 2GB of memory (1.5GB under MacOS 9.2) and the fastest supported GPU, an Nvidia Ti4600

The 1.42Ghz model is also equipped with a SeriTek/1eVE2+2 expansion card. This card appears(?) to have been discontinued as the SeriTek "Yahoo" store is no longer operational.

The SeriTek card provides a 64-bit PCI-X (266MB/s) interface for attaching two SATA II hard disks. The PCI-X bandwidth allows attached drives to operate near their theoretical maximum of 300MB/s (SATA II 3Gbps) however in operation due to the old, slow G4 CPU typical data transfer rates are roughly half that. This is still considerably faster than the ATA-66 IDE bus installed on the motherboard as standard.

The SeriTek card also contains an OpenFirmware compatible Boot ROM, allowing the card to be used to boot OS 9 natively. The additional I/O performance massively improves I/O bound workloads such as "StuffIt" and heavier apps such as ClassZilla.

The internals of the 1.42Ghz model have also been modified. The power supply has been replaced with a PicoPSU style unit for ATX PC's (with corresponding adapter cable) along with dual Noctua 40mm fans for additional cooling. The main CPU fan has been replaced with a 120mm Noctua "PPC" Industrial fan. This fan outputs considerably more airflow than the original fan, while maintaining comparable noise levels. The CPU has yet to be measured above 35C while in operation under this configuration.

At this time the machine currently operates with MacOS 9.2 and OS X 10.5.9 "Sorbet Leopard" from a 240GB SSD partitioned 50/50 between the two operating systems

The second port was originally configured with a second 120GB drive for PPC Linux. However the "nouveau" Linux driver causes system lockups due to (known) endianness issues on PowerPC platforms

==== 1.25Ghz model details ====

This machine is currently unused and lacks a graphics card. It was purchased for testing upgrading the [[Xserve G4]] with a faster dual processor CPU however this was unsuccessful.

The unit has a SCSI card of currently known vendor as well as a dual gigabit PCI-X SFP NIC of unknown vendor

[[File:G4 MDD Front.jpg|none|thumb|G4 MDD front]]
[[File:G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear).jpg|none|thumb|G4 MDD 1.42Ghz (rear)]]
[[File:G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear).jpg|none|thumb|G4 MDD 1.25Ghz (rear)]]