PowerMac G5 Resurrection

artaxerxes

artaxerxes

artaxerxes

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After receiving a faulty PowerMac G5, (Dual G5 2.0GHz 1.5Gb ATi X800), I was looking for a way to revive it. After this thread Hades proffered me his. His had lost its mainboard - whereas mine had lost its PSU. Together they would make one frankenmac....

[click thumbnails to embiggen]

Hmmm, thats a suspicuously sized box... what could be inside?



As the layers come off...



Together at last!



It boots the Yellow Dog Linux DVD, and installs Leopard! But sadly never reboots from any HDD....



We must consider more radical surgery doctor...



The shields are down!



The plastic rivet was a bugger to remove without destroying the housing... but after finding the official tech manuals it was a breeze

The first PowerMac has been badly mauled insde by someone trying to get the G5-G5 shield off.

Next steps will be removing the bottom processors and whipping out the PSU from Mac Hades and placing it in Mac Prime. Really long limbed Torx 10 and Phillips are required!
 
Glad it got there safely. I will be keeping an eye on this thread :) They really are beautiful machines.

I'm glad it's gone to someone who really wants a G5 too :)
 
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I found a PowerMac dual G5 at work a few weeks ago.

Apparently it was bought new for something, used for a few weeks and never used again.
Now I keep looking at it and having un-holy thoughts of putting one of the standard Dells in its case..
 
Westyfield2 said:
I found a PowerMac dual G5 at work a few weeks ago.

Apparently it was bought new for something, used for a few weeks and never used again.
Now I keep looking at it and having un-holy thoughts of putting one of the standard Dells in its case..
Click to expand...

Noooooo. If it's working then use it. DOn't butcher it. Only use the case if it's not working.
 
Lets face it the G5 Powermac however awesome they have been, has its days numbered.

Its no longer supported by Apple due to going X86 and very shortly the security fixes and updates will stop and they will wither and DIE...

R.I.P Powermac. sob..sob...
 
Full Steam Ahead... oh bugger

From one to another.. CPUs adrift, fans out, screws lost and recovered... Damn the PSU is tricky to get out!










ENGAGE...

Whirrrrrr.... whiiirrrrrrrr.

Grrr!

From Apple's diagnostic decision tree.



Power-on LED illuminates when pressed in, but goes out when button is released, fans spin, and there is no boot tone or video


1.Verify that the processor module is properly seated. Check diagnostic LED 1 and/or LED 6.

Love to check it is seated properly but i have just stripped a Torx screw! So stuck there right now! Will either drill it out or bung in some loctite!


2.Verify that the processor mounting screws are properly tightened.

3.Check for trickle voltage from the power supply. Refer to “Power Supply Verification” in this chapter. If verification fails, replace power supply. Replace logic board.

4.Power-on LED illuminates when power button is pressed but fans do not spin (or spin only momentarily) and there is no boot tone or video

5.Reseat video card. (Make sure video card is fully inserted in connector and end of card is secured by the connector latch.) For video cards that require power cables, check that they are connected.

6.Reset logic board. Refer to “Resetting the Logic Board” in this chapter.
Verify power supply cables are fully connected and power bus bar screws are tightened.

7.Check diagnostic LED 1 and LED 6 for processor connection.

8.Reseat processor and check for bent pins.

9.Check for trickle voltage from the power supply. Refer to “Power Supply Verification” in this chapter. If verification fails, replace power supply.

10.Replace logic board.

11.Replace processor.
 
Well you've got two of almost everything to swap and change to get it working... and 4 CPU's! Keep the updates coming :)

I so want a Mac Pro now. Also wish I'd kept the case and built a Hackintosh.
 
I wish Apple would recognise the problems with the G5. My 2.0Ghz dual G5 is dead aswell.

Tried numerous things to get it working, namely taking it apart and rebuilding it from scratch. I think my logic board in mine is bust though. I also bought a new battery for the motherboard which didn't help either.

Hehe, and as you've said, the PSU is a PITA to get out! Don't do what i did and put the whole thing together and realise you forgot to put the plate in that sits over the PSU! Doh!

Problem with mine was if i left it without power for an extended time it wouldn't boot. I would usually just take the RAM out and it'd reset itself and work but now whenever i press the on button there is a click sound but that is it. It's dead.
 
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Alas for your machine Logsi. You can still get a load of cash selling even broken machines on eBay... a testament to their value and the fact that people are looking for spares!

I will agree they seem to be quite finickety devices. Basically overclocked out of the box with their epic cooling systems... well they where for the time. Nowadays the cooling is just mid range enthusiast.

I left my torx bit superglued to the stripped torx bit over the weekend and it succeeded in getting it free today. So when I have another free moment I will reseat the processors and fire her up again.

Any one have any tips on seating the processors? Random googling sugggests it is a crapshoot - and given my enthusiasm I will probably strip more! Luckily I have a spare machine to steal bolts from :P
 
I have a G5 dual 2ghz here and am wondering how long its going last due to the amount of problems with them.

Fortunately Apple moved to a more reliable architecture.
 
I still love my G5. Just wish it worked... :(

Still is ridiculously quick compared to a PC of that era. I miss the RAID 0 i had going on mine. That was so quick to do anything compared to my lappys now.
 
Good work there fella. Currently selling my dual 2.0 G5 (dead logic board on 1 cpu).
Gutted as it was a very good machine before the board went (Logic user when I have time) though showing its age when you chucked a load of AUs/FX at it, and I prefer osX as a working environment. At least my Powerbook (g4 1ghz, 12" screen) is still going strong.

Disagree with the post about them fetching loads of cash on ebay, lucky to get 10% or so back on the RRP from what I've seen

cheers
A
 
And said:
Good work there fella. Currently selling my dual 2.0 G5 (dead logic board on 1 cpu).
Gutted as it was a very good machine before the board went (Logic user when I have time) though showing its age when you chucked a load of AUs/FX at it, and I prefer osX as a working environment. At least my Powerbook (g4 1ghz, 12" screen) is still going strong.

Disagree with the post about them fetching loads of cash on ebay, lucky to get 10% or so back on the RRP from what I've seen

cheers
A
Click to expand...

I sold my £1300 PowerMac G4 for £300 5 years later.

They arn't worth 4 figures but they will certainly fetch decent three figures!
 
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