Solutions for Imac G4 with no HDD

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Enontekio Author

Level 1

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Solutions for Imac G4 with no HDD

Bought a "Lamp" Imac G4 at auction with HDD removed.

It is such a design tour-de-force, I had to have one, if only just to use as a digital picture frame.

I'd like to use it for pictures, occasional web browsing, maybe a little music here or there.

15" screen, 1Gig processor, 512MiB RAM, 80GB HDD (removed)

I'm not afraid to install new RAM, or an airport extreme card, but replacing the HDD looks like a 36 step journey into tiny screw ****.

My two "cheat" solutions are: (I know nothing about Apple)

(1) Add an external HDD...prolly via the firewire 400 port?

Is this doable at all with no internal HDD? Can it be that simple? What kind of drive? Please advise.

(2) I use a lot of Linux distros with my PCs (it doesn't take an Apple lover to despise Windows) Would it be possible to install an IMAC G4-friendly "light" distro like puppy Linux? An OS which can run live in the RAM?

(3) Any other simple way to avoid installing a new HDD in the VERY tightly packed globe of the "lamp"?

Feel free to hold my hand like the I-child that I am...

iMac, G4 1Gig / 512 MB RAM / 80GB

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 9:19 PM

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Answer 1

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Oct 23, 2013 11:51 AM in response to Enontekio

I run an external firewire harddrive off of my iMac g3 600. Works fine.

Restore Tiger 10.4 & Leopard 10.5 DVDs are available from Apple by calling 800-767-2775 as of January 20, 2013. Collect your Mac's serial number. Prepare you credit card for a workout. There is a reasonable fee.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4720126?tstart=0

Requirements for Mac OS X v10.5

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3759

You need an external Firewire drive to boot a PowerPC Mac computer [ a few G5's will boot from USB ].

I recommend you do a google search on any external harddrive you are looking at.

I bought a low cost external drive enclosure. When I started having trouble with it, I did a google search and found a lot of complaints about the drive enclosure. I ended up buying a new drive enclosure. On my second go around, I decided to buy a drive enclosure with a good history of working with Macs. The chip set seems to be the key ingredient. The Oxford line of chips seems to be good. I got the Oxford 911.

I'd give OWC a call. 1-815-338-8685.

FireWire 800 + USB 3, + eSATA

&

save a little money interface:

FireWire 400 + USB 2.0

This web page lists both external harddrive types. You may need to scroll to the right to see both.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

(2) FireWire 800/400 Ports (Up to 100MB/s / 50MB/s)

(1) USB 3.0 Port (Up to 500MB/s / 60MB/s)

(1) eSATA Port (Up to 300MB/s)

Has a combo firewire 800/400 port. Not sure what this is. Looks like you will need 400 cable.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack

The startup manager will list all of your bootable partitions then give you a choice of which to boot.

Place cd machine. Poweroff your machine. Hold down the option key then power on. This brings up the startup manager. Click on your dvd. Click on right arrow key.

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