My PowerMac G5 Modernization Project

[Saxito Pau]

So I got my hands on an Apple PowerMac G5 the other day as 'payment' for reloading windows on a guy's PC

(Yes, the flipping thing is 10 years old, but say what?)

When I got all 45lbs of it home, it wasn't booting, but he had the install discs and I managed to get  OS X 10.3 on it.

After some research, I decided I will invest some causal time to modernizing it via the following steps:

1. Update to Leopard 10.5.8 (highest OS X supported)
2. Install internal DVD Burner with double layer support
3. Install 250GB SATA drive as a boot drive (supports 1TB drives max and can hold two - but at 1.5Gbps)
4. Get Wireless and Bluetooth working
5. Add extra USB ports using a PCI to USB card (thing just has three)


Stages 1 & 2: Installing Leopard

To cut to the chase:
- doesn't seem to boot from USB burners, but can boot from firewire burners.
- it can boot from a USB hard drive, but my efforts to go that route have been futile.
- Internal drive can't read DVD double layer, but the Leopard install disc I burned is double layer (image is 7.2 GB)

So I ask: anyone have a Pioneer (it has to be pioneer!) IDE DVD Burner lying around that you know can read and burn double layer discs? Example models is DVR-111D, DVR-112D and similar
Message me if you have such. If you happen to have a firewire burner that reads double layer, I'm for that too.

[Spazosaurus]

I know you doing it just because eh, but interfering with produce from the biggest "walled garden" around (voluntarily!!) is like sticking your face in a fan...at first it feels cool but quickly turns to pain as the blades have their way with you.

[Saxito Pau]

I know you doing it just because eh, but interfering with produce from the biggest "walled garden" around (voluntarily!!) is like sticking your face in a fan...at first it feels cool but quickly turns to pain as the blades have their way with you.

Hey, you taking to the guy who successfully built a Hackintosh and having it proving very useful thus far.

I know where you coming from, but my fan has a plastic mesh that protects my face. Besides, I'll not keep it as an ornament in my house. If I have it, it gonna work for me like an Egyptian slave, bitch!

(And I'm sure someone will buy it after I done with it!)

[Arcmanov]

I know you doing it just because eh, but interfering with produce from the biggest "walled garden" around (voluntarily!!) is like sticking your face in a fan...at first it feels cool but quickly turns to pain as the blades have their way with you.

SwiftKey 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Tapatalk 2 | Omega v16

[Saxito Pau]

Installing OS X Snow Leopard : success!

I did not need a DL dvd burner. I had to take out the hard drive in the G5, hook it up to my hackintosh and partition it with an empty drive and an 8GB partition with the Leopard install files. Popped the drive back in the G5 and it worked after some initial anxiety.

Installed all updates, so it is now at 10.5.8.

Some downsides:
only Flash 10.1 can be installed, so YouTube can be iffy depending on the browser used. I found Safari works best.

Next step: getting wifi, bluetooth and extra USB ports. Already identified the following:

Sonnet Allegro PCI USB Card: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002UHUME/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

TP-Link TL-WN851N wireless N adapter: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0034COYDA/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A24S0N00890G3R

IOGear USB Bluetooth adapter: http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU421/dp/B0018O9JIG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1366606485&sr=8-2&keywords=IOgear+bluetooth

All are supposed to work natively in OS X. I have and already confirmed the bluetooth adapter works.

Will likely do this when pay day comes, which will be soon 

[Arcmanov]

Installing OS X Snow Leopard : success!

I did not need a DL dvd burner. I had to take out the hard drive in the G5, hook it up to my hackintosh and partition it with an empty drive and an 8GB partition with the Leopard install files. Popped the drive back in the G5 and it worked after some initial anxiety.

Could I have provided the inspiration for this piece of brainstorming? 

Nice work.




SwiftKey 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Tapatalk 2 | Omega v16