Using a DVI monitor with a G3

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Using a DVI monitor with a G3

Is it possible to use a DVI monitor on a PowerMac G3?

We have a G3 that is been kept for various reasons, due to space I would like to get rid of the really large old CRT monitor that comes with it. I have a DVI to VGA adaptor and would like to simply connect the G3 to one of the DVI monitors we have using this, whenever the G3 is needed.

Whenever I try and using the DVI monitor with the G3 I get no output to the monitor, any advice, is it even possible?

PowerMac G3, Mac OS 9.0.x

Posted on Feb 24, 2010 2:23 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 24, 2010 6:40 AM in response to jr119

There is no affordable stand-alone VGA-to-DVI adapter. That conversion takes as much Hardware as a display card, because it contains a new screen buffer and scan converter.

There is a very simple VGA extractor that will connect up the pins already present in many DVI connectors to produce VGA output. It is not reversible.

I think an ATI Radeon Mac Edition has a DVI connector and should definitely work in a Blue & White G3, and possibly in a Beige G3.

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Answer 2

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,344 points

Feb 24, 2010 10:06 AM in response to jr119

To add to Grant's thoughts about the video card, I have an ATI Radeon Mac Edition 9200 PCI card in a Beige G3 and, although I don't use the computer much any more, my recollection is that it has both VGA and DVI ports. My Beige G3 has an upgraded processor (was 300mhz; now 500) and OSX "Panther," installed with the help of XPostFacto.

A PCI video card will not by default support the OSX technology of "Quartz Extreme" (QE). That can lead to some choppiness when scrolling or dragging but I've been able to live with it. There are hacks to enable QE on a PC card but a lot of people using the hacks say they create other problems.

The Beige G3 is limited to PCI video cards.

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Answer 3

Feb 24, 2010 5:41 PM in response to jr119

You should be able to run the G3 "headless" and then remotely access it from another computer. To trick the computer into thinking a monitor is connected, I think you can just plug in a Macintosh-to-VGA adapter on the built-in video port, or an RCA or S-video cable to the (optional) AV personality card output.

http://lowendmac.com/ed/rosen/08ar/macintosh-remote-control.html

(I no longer have a G3 to test this out myself to verify that it can work, so this is just a guess on my part, not personal experience.)

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Answer 4

Feb 24, 2010 5:49 PM in response to Glen Doggett

Glen-

I am pretty sure you are right.

Note that you cannot run it without a display card and expect to access it, because it still has to have a place to put the screen buffer. And the bit about the adapter is CRUCIAL, as the default (if no adapter or display is found at startup) is to not initialize the display, and never draw the screen, giving nothing to share.

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