1.42 CPU upgrade for original MDD?

As far as I know the system bus runs at 167 MHz on all MDDs/FW800s, except for the uni-processor low-end models (MDD: 867 MHz; FW800: 1.0 GHz; both run with 133 MHz system bus). The uni-processor 1.25 GHz MDD 2003 has also a 167 MHz system bus.

What troubles me: the headsink is different and the FW800 models are not Mac OS 9 bootable. Will the MDD Dual 1.0 GHz (mid model) accept the FW800 Dual 1.42 GHz (high-end model) CPU daughter card and still be able to boot Mac OS 9?

I read about the Sonnet 1.6 GHz and 1.8 GHz processor upgrade, that ships with an Open Firmware patch. This way the MDD/FW800 recognizes the new CPU and is able to boot Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.

In my case I wouldn't be able to update the firmware. I have an MDD with its original firmware. If I put in an 1.42 GHz CPU - will it be detected correctly? Will Mac OS 9 be bootable?

I don't know. The 1.42 GHz FW800 Dual CPU daughter cards are around $250,-- on eBay. This is too much to just buy something that might not work at all.

"It should work" is okay, but "I did that and it works" is better.

Anyway, thanks for the answer. It helped a little.
A.

Thanks!

So it should work without any problems. I may grab a used 1.42 GHz Dual G4 CPU card and install it into my MDD.

I don't know when yet, but I will definitely post my results here somewhere.

Thanks again for the helpful answers.
Andreas.

Hello Nadav!

I use it as my main desktop computer.

Since you asked, here is THE LONG STORY:
I had a PC (Intel Pentium III 600 MHz) before, but it was getting too slow. I also had and still have an IBM TinkPad R51 with a Centrino, Banias core (the first Pentium-M), that runs at 1.7 GHz and with 2 GB of RAM it is all I need for every day work.
Still, because I prefer a desktop computer over a laptop I hat to get a new one. I was thinking of a Dual-Core PC (Intel Core 2 Duo or similar). Lukily my sister knew of my plans and gave me an “old” MDD as a present.

That's why I now have it. And I love it!

What do I do with it? Firstly I had a lot of fun upgrading it. It came with only the original features, no extras like Airport (WLAN), Modem or Bluetooth.

So I installed a PCI expension card for USB 2.0. Then I upgraded the HDD to 500 GB and installed an ATAPI DVD Burner. The RAM was only 512MB (lukily on one single DIMM) so I got 3 more DIMMs and it now has its maximum of 2 GB RAM.

What do I use it for?
I run Linux on it. No problems whatsoever. Since Mac OS X 10.5 is also supporting the MDD I had it installed as well. But I rarely use it.

Only one problem with the PowerPC platform: any proprietary closed-source drivers or programs like the AMD/ATI video drivers, Flash Player and Skype don't work. Wine also doesn't run, which isn't much of a surprise. Running Windows is possible thru QEMU, but it is terribly slow.

There is only one program I really miss, which I regularly use on my ThinkPad: VirtualBox for trying and running other x86 operating systems.

Overall, for me the PowerPC platform isn't that much of a concern, as long as Linux supports it so well. In fact, X with KDE looks astonishing 100% the same as on my ThinkPad.

I know Mac OS X is leaving the PowerPC behind. Since I was never ever dependant on Photoshop, Microsoft Office and +you name it+ I will not miss Mac OS on my Power Mac.

For a few months I had to lend it to my sister again since her own Quicksilver was getting too slow for her, so we switched. But the Quicksilver is nice too.

Additionally I just bought a Power Mac G5 Dual Core 2.0 GHz – and yes, I also (try) to run Linux on it. I didn't have time to fully install and configure it yet, since my time is quite limited right now. But in the end this is going to replace the G4 MDD as my desktop computer.

So my plan right now is to upgrade the G4 to a Dual 1.42 GHz system, so my sister will be even happier with it. (And I will have an awful lot of fun installing the CPU card...)

Thanks for asking.

I installed Gentoo Linux. But, if you ever heard of Gentoo Linux: you don't install it, you compile it.

Because the kernel is configured by myself and most of the packages (i.e. programs) are selected manually by myself, I had to digg deep into the system.

The fans roar loud on Mac OS X too. I wasn't able to tell any difference running Linux. The power management “windtunnel” is supported well enough to keep thinks cool and quiet (well, in G4 MDD terms).

Are you playing with the thought to run Linux on an old G4 of yours?

To be honest I never tried Yellog Dog Linux (YDL). My experiences are limited to OpenSUSE Linux (PPC is still supported by SuSE/Novell), Kubuntu Linux (not an official PPC version, but community supported) and Gentoo Linux.

The sound chip made problems at first, but it is now fixed using the snd-aoa ALSA module that comes with the kernel, 2.6.30 at least (recent version at the time of this posting). The sound was previously muted for CODEC chip TAS3004 with snd-powermac as well as with snd-aoa, but lukily got fixed recently.

Works like a charm. No problems except the missing proprietary stuff (Skype, Flash Player, …), in case you really need that…

Greetings, Andreas.

Hello.
I now have grabed a Dual 1.42 GHz processor card (original part from the fastest stock FW800) including its original copper heat sink.

I haven't had the opportunity to put it into place yet. But I'm glad to hear it will be capable to boot Mac OS 9 when installed into my MDD, originally a Dual 1.0 GHz with system bus speed of 167 MHz.

My graphics card is also original stock ATI Radeon 9000 with 64 MB of VRAM. I've neved used Mac OS 9 on it before except in Classic mode, but I hope it's supported including 3D accelleration.

My sister uses it for DTP and has a couple of (older) software running on it. I've now bought a version of Mac OS X 10.5 to keep the machine updated and fit for the internet (concerning security fixes).
The setback is of course the missing classic support which will make a dual boot setup together with Mac OS 9.2.2 necessary. I sure hope I can acomplish it.


One thing is not quite clear to me:
What is this OWC heatsink you are talking about? I've never heard of a Dual 1.42 GHz processor upgrade by OWC, although I just tried a Mercury Extreme 1.4 Ghz single in an older Gigabit Ethernet, originally 400 MHz. I tried this processor upgrade in a Quicksilver too, but reverted to the original Dual 800 MHz as it seemed still faster than the single 1.4 Ghz.

Cheers,
Andreas

Thanks. I've already got the processor+heatsink, and will install it eventually.

I know that the model is called either MDD or FW800, but technically they are almost identical. The only difference is the FireWire port and, obviously, the compatibilty to Mac OS 9. I'm not an expert but I'd say the latter is due to a different firmware only. So the difference is more of a political decision by Apple than a technical barrier.

Cheers,
Andreas.