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[chriskleeman]

The MDD saga continues:

Got a very nice, clean, low-mileage G4 533 Digital Audio off of eBay... writing this post now from it before I tear it apart and update it's innards with more RAM, a couple of PCI cards, and a faster processor... Gets online no problem... I did some homework and it seems to have paid off!

Put in the 250 GB Barracuda drive that I had last backed-up from the MDD, boots just fine, thank you very much!

Also recognizing and booting from the Firewire drive flawlessly, albeit a bit slower due to processor speed and bus speed... but that will change soon.

This machine does have the 128 GB limitation on it's drive recognition, so I'm pulling the ACARD PCI 100/133 card from my 9600, I'll flash it with the latest firmware, and keep everyone who's interested posted on my progress.

But, it's sure nice to sit here in the studio with a Mac that works (for the moment!!!)

 

Chris K

[kelly]

Ok. Good luck.

[krissel]

My, this sounds familiar.


After playing with a wide SCSI card I settled on a couple SATAs and the speed boost is noticeable.

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(krissel @ Feb 28 2007, 02:08 AM) [snapback]120449[/snapback]

My, this sounds familiar.
After playing with a wide SCSI card I settled on a couple SATAs and the speed boost is noticeable.

Well, I'm not entirely happy with the choice I made for a processor upgrade... You can't believe every thing you read, apparently.  

The product description specifically stated that there was no software to install, literally plug and play... but that's not really the case. In order to install the NewerTechnology 1.6 Mhz G4 processor upgrade, you have to pull a file out of the 9.2.2 system folder: CPU Plugins>System Folder>Extensions>Multiprocessing Folder. And a rather extensive firmware update process, which shouldn't be a problem, just an annoyance.

And, any other boot disks need to have that folder removed... that's a pain, because you have to copy those from the originals and pull out that folder... I believe this only pertains to OS 9 boot disks, but I'm going to find out before I install it.

I'd like to go SATA at some point, but I've already got the ACARD sitting here, so I'll give that a try before I install the processor... make sure it boots, etc... And I haven't completely given up on the MDD yet; the power supply should be back at GalaxyHP this afternoon, and we'll see if it's actually the culprit.

Krissel, did you get any mounting hardware for all those hard drives you put in? I've definitely got the space insided to put them, but there's no sleds or brackets in there except where the primary drive is.

Chris K

[krissel]

My DA had three sleds. The one toward the back end was a double tiered one so I can put 4 drives in the box. Sounds like someone took them out of yours since I know the machine comes with all the sleds in place. Myrna's G3 had all the sleds, too. Bet you can get them on ebay for very little.

The upgrade processor I got was the OWC 1.5 (runs at 1.46) because it had a better L3 cache and it was certified to run with OS 9 without any of the problems you are having. It was plug and play, though two screw holes were not easy to get to without removing the AGP video card.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20Wor...ing/MEG42M1500/

[chriskleeman]

Just thought I'd post an update on this whole misadventure:

NewerTech is full of it when they say this is plug and play... went through the installation procedure, which includes pulling the Apple CPU Plugins file from the 9.2.2 System Folder, reprogramming with their disk to set NVRAM and various patches for this particular card. I did it first in 10.3.9, and then started getting kernal panics. I was plugged into my ACARD PCI controller card, which I hadn't updated, so I thought it might be the culprit... But it did the same thing on the internal ATA Bus. So, I called OWC tech support, and they informed me that the instructions are a little fuzzy, and I needed to start the reprogramming booted in 9, and I had to re-install my original processor first to go through the process all over again. So, I did that, and the machine wouldn't boot. Powered up, wouldn't boot. Tried the PMU button, nothing. Tried to reset PRAM, and it wouldn't respond to the keyboard commands.

Re-installed the original processor, then decided just for yucks to try it all over again. This time, so far, it works... while I was booted in 9, I flashed a firmware upgrade on the ACARD, and have been running now without a kernal panic for a little while. I've probably put in a good 6-7 hours worth of work to get to this point... The ACARD ATA controller is quite a bit faster than the internal ATA 66 Bus, so I'm hoping that everything I've done is going to remain stable.

Plus, the fans that Newer uses are fairly noisy... but at least at this point, it looks like I've got a fairly fast working machine. The fate of the MDD is still undecided, but at least for the moment, I think things are going to be ok. I should find out if it's really the power supply (again) sometime early next week.

And oh yeah, that OS 9 Apple CPU Plugins file that needs to be removed? In order to run any disk utility program on this machine, you need to make a custom disk with that file removed, or your utility program disc won't boot... that ought to be fun trying to find that in  Disk Warrior...  

This is the 4th processor upgrade I've done on 3 different machines. None of them were ever plug and play, and this one really takes the cake. I'm really surprised that OWC would sell this with the verbiage in the product description. I'm going to talk to them next week about it; probably won't do any good, but you never know until you try.

So much fun, so little time.

But, I've been booted for about 45 minutes, no Kernal Panics, and it's very fast.

Chris K

[kelly]

You didn't have anything better to do did you?

Isn't saving money great?

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(kelly @ Mar 3 2007, 11:45 AM) [snapback]120800[/snapback]

You didn't have anything better to do did you?

Isn't saving money great?

No, I guess I really don't have anything better to do than struggle with this stupid computer (well, maybe I'm stoopid too???) Maybe I'll go shovel some more snow (we got lots more of it yesterday...)

Wait, wait, I know what I can do! I'm going to go put my motorcycle back together so I can get the battery out and charge it up for Spring! That ought to be productive! Especially since Mud Season beckons soon...

Saving money is only worth it when you save time as well

We need a tongue-in-cheek Smiley don't you think Kelly?

Chris K

[chriskleeman]

So, just in case anyone would like to know:

Kudos to OWC, they processed my processor exchange quickly, painlessly, and refunded my credit card promptly.   I have been using the OWC Mercury Extreme now for better than a week with no problems whatsoever. Very fast, works great, less filling...   They did an advance return which expedited the transaction and got the new processor here very quickly.  

Now GalaxyHP is another story. The were very slow to process the return of the MDD power supply, and it took days to get answers to my e-mail about it's location, it was there over a week and I didn't hear anything. I e-mailed their contact David, got a reply that he would "check into it" didn't hear anything for a few days, and then got a terse e-mail that it was "shipped..." No tracking #, no nothing, no explanation.  

So, it's been sitting here a couple of days, maybe I'll get around to putting in later today and see what happens.  

Tech support at OWC was responsive, and they even have someone there on Saturdays! Great bunch there!

Chris K