I've got an old powerbook g4 running 10.4.11 and I'd like to keep it performing for as long as possible. What are the best ways I can keep this unit purring?
Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.2)
I wanted to add that I mainly use this laptop to run my existing Quickbooks 2007 and an old scanner; maybe email and invoice but that's about it.
It depends on which PowerBook you have. Older ones can't hold much RAM; newer ones can do up to 2GB RAM.
Please find System Profiler in Applications > Utilities and launch it. On its first page the main pane is "Hardware Overview." Please tell us what the second line shows for "Machine Model." It will be in teh formate "PowerBookx,x" wherr the x's are numbers (ex: PowerBook5,1)
Also post you screen size (measured diagonally) and how much RAM is installed (also on that first Profiler page).
Remember that keeping at least 10GB free on your hard space drive helps avoid slow-downs.
From the extra information we can better advise you on what your computer can or can;t do.
Thanks Allan,
The model is Powerbook 5,8
15"
2 gb Ram
1 CPU, PowerPC (1.5)
I clicked on the Hard Drive icon and hit Command I, it shows 111.67 GB capacity, with 84.73 available.
Some symptoms the laptop is showing are:
Occasionally it won't start up
Sometimes I get a very long spinning wheel during routine tasks like initiating printing in Quickbooks
This unit basically sits on my side desk; the batteries dead so it only runs on a.c. power. All the features seem to work OK; the CD/DVD runs ok, all the inputs like USB, Firewire, ethernet seem to be ok.
I understand the limitations of working with an old machine; no updates, no security support etc.
I've got MacBook Pro and a 27" iMac for day to day photo and video editing; I'm just basically wanting to keep the PB peppy and healthy.
That's the last of the 15-inch PowerBooks and is as powerful as they got. You already have the max RAM it can handle so that's good. And plenty of HD space.
So, outside of maybe a faster hard drive, there are not any hardware upgrades left throw at it.
The computer will support Mac OS 10.5.8 but it could "feel" slower that 10.4.11 on that computer. 10.5.8 gets you a newer version of Safari (5.0.6 in 10.5 v. 4.1.3 in 10.4). Neither is supported any longer.
Occasionally it won't start up
That could be the dead main battery combined with a dead internal backup battery. My old PBG4 has a good main battery but a dead backup. If the battery is not installed, the computer will not start on wall power. If the main battery is installed but has run down to zero charge, the computer will not start on wall power for 2-5 minutes after hitting the start button.
I can't find new internal backup batteries for your model or mine, only used ones. IMHO, a used battery is like used chewing gum!
Sometimes I get a very long spinning wheel during routine tasks like initiating printing in Quickbooks
How is the PB communicating with the printer? Wirelessly? USB? Networked? Likely the fastest printing would be via ethernet if your printer has an ethernet port. We have two shared printers wired into our home network and both print MUCH faster over the network wire than they did over USB2 before we networked them. Also, inexpensive home printers may not have much internal memory for processing big print jobs.
Allan Jones wrote:
... I can't find new internal backup batteries for your model or mine, only used ones.
Isn't this what you need Allan?
http://www.ifixit.com/PowerBook-Parts/PowerBook-G4-PRAM-Battery/IF154-122
A dead internal backup battery will definitely cause startup problems. After eight years it might be due for replacement.
Hi John,
Indeed it is. I gave up checking with ifixit because they would list those batteries one week and not the next. Made me wonder if they really had them! Good to know there may now be consistency in the supply.
OWC has new ones but only for 1.67ghz 17-inch models,
Nevertheless, changing the PRAM battery on a Powerbook is not for the faint-hearted. And the one Ifixit sells is not the moduler drop-in kit--it requires soldering a new battery to another part. I've ripped into every Mac we own EXCEPT the PBG4 and the MacBook Pro. Tiny parts, clumsy fingers!
Hello,
I'm wondering if I can do anything more to my PowerBook G4 for speed, storage, etc.
Here are my specs:
Machine Name: PowerBook G4 15"
Machine Model: PowerBook5,8
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.5)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.67 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.6f0
I have 44.55 GB free of 74.41 available.
Any suggestions?
As it says in the User Guide, you can up the RAM to 2GB (you can use either PC2-4200 533MHz DDR2 or PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2). Other than making sure the hard drive's rotational speed is 7200 rpm, there's no much more you can do. The PowerBook will perform better/run faster under Tiger as opposed to Leopard.
Thanks!
Try getting cleanmymac so that it will clean out any unnecessary files and data and free up hard disk space.
Are you aware that "cleanmymac" causes all kinds of problems?
See this hread, as just one documented example: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4471255?answerId=20150623022#20150623022
I've been using cleanmymac and have now upgraded to cleanmymac 2. If you know a faire amount about computers it will work fine for you. I clean what I need to clean and leave certain log files, extensions, caches, etc untouched. Like that it is only cleaning what I want it to clean, nothing else.
I disagree.. I have the 17 inch version of the PB G4 DDR2 model with a full 2GB of memory and leopard runs very nicely on this machine.. Its not slow by any means.. Although I have heavily optimized my PB G4 1.67 DDR2 DLSD to handle Leopard very well by stripping out all the Intel code all the way down to the core system files, I haven't experienced any slow down at all with it..
Leopard runs very nicely.. If the op needs to optimize his Leopard to run as fast as mine, I can offer suggestions on how to do this...
Get an app called Monolingual.. as it will strip all Intel code from Leopard.. despite what I have heard that it causes problems, I have yet to experience any problems with my mac when using this app.
optimizing powerbook g4 10.4.11
