Toniemae
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Q: Failed G4 Monitor

Can any flat screen monitor with a VGA input be connected to the HD15 cable from my Mac G4 computer to replace the failed Sony Monitor?

Posted on Sep 1, 2015 11:09 AM

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Toniemae

Q: Failed G4 Monitor

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Sep 1, 2015 11:14 AM in response to Toniemae
    Level 9 (54,195 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2015 11:14 AM in response to Toniemae

    I believe so.  Check the monitor's possible resolution settings and make sure there is some overlap with what your computer supports.  Everymac.com is a good place to get that kind of specification information for computers.

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Sep 2, 2015 6:08 AM in response to Toniemae
    Level 8 (35,166 points)
    iPad
    Sep 2, 2015 6:08 AM in response to Toniemae

    It might help us if you say which G4 Mac you have. There were:

     

    • PowerMac G4 towers
    • iMac G4
    • eMac G4
    • iBook G4
    • PowerBook G4
    • Mac Mini G4

     

    With so many variants, there may be connectivity/adaptor issues to be managed, and remember that, in the G4 days, models that Apple considered "consumer/education" only allowed a mirrored desktop on the external monitor (probably a good thing in your case!). They allowed "spanning/extended" desktop to an external only on what they saw as "pro" models (PowerMac G4 towers and PowerBook notebooks)/.

     

    I have an older ViewSonic 22" wide-ratio monitor with both VGA and DVI video ports on my PowerMac G4 tower and it works fine. Some older Macs may not support a wide-screen monitor with some image distortion.

  • by Toniemae,

    Toniemae Toniemae Sep 2, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 2, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Allan Jones

    Thanks for your reply Allan.

     

    My computer is PowerMac G4 tower which was connected directly to a 21" Sony GDM-F500R trinitron color display via a HD15 cable. There was no adapter on either end of the HD15 cable. I want to replace the Sony with a standard flat panel monitor rather than a wide screen monitor.

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Sep 2, 2015 1:12 PM in response to Toniemae
    Level 8 (35,166 points)
    iPad
    Sep 2, 2015 1:12 PM in response to Toniemae
    There was no adapter on either end of the HD15 cable.

     

    Sounds like an older G4 tower, or al least an older video card. Newer ones had video cards that may require an adaptor. I think we need to pin down your video card before proceeding. If you have OS 10.4 or 10.5, please look in the folders Applications > Utilities and find "System Profiler" and launch it. From the left-hand "Contents" pane select "Graphics/Displays" (or it may say "Displays/Graphics").

     

    The main Profiler page should now show something like this:

     

    SysProf info on video hdwe.png

    Ignore the red arrow I drew (it was for another question) and tell us what shows in the first line, 'Chipset model," and what the "VRAM (Total)" line report on your computer.

     

    With that we can figure out what ports you have available, what resolutions are available to that card, and if a different cable/adaptors are required.

  • by Toniemae,

    Toniemae Toniemae Sep 3, 2015 8:19 AM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2015 8:19 AM in response to Allan Jones

    Thanks Allan,

    From your advice about the necessity of pinning down the video card in my G4, it appears that simply attaching a flat panel monitor to my HD15 cable, as stated by a Staples salesman, is not that simple.

     

    Since my G4  monitor has failed, how can I determine the Chipset Model and VRAM?

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 3, 2015 9:41 AM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 10 (123,720 points)
    Sep 3, 2015 9:41 AM in response to Allan Jones

    .

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 3, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Toniemae
    Level 10 (123,720 points)
    Sep 3, 2015 9:45 AM in response to Toniemae

    At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac.

     

    Then click on More Info>Hardware>Graphics/Displays and report like this...

     

    NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT:

     

      Chipset Model:    GeForce 7800GT

      Type:    Display

      Bus:    PCI

      Slot:    SLOT-1

      VRAM (Total):    256 MB

      Vendor:    nVIDIA (0x10de)

      Device ID:    0x0092

      Revision ID:    0x00a1

      ROM Revision:    2152.2

      Displays:

    VGA Display:

      Resolution:    1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

      Depth:    32-bit Color

      Core Image:    Supported

      Main Display:    Yes

      Mirror:    Off

      Online:    Yes

      Quartz Extreme:    Supported

    Display:

      Status:    No display connected

  • by Toniemae,

    Toniemae Toniemae Sep 3, 2015 9:58 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2015 9:58 AM in response to BDAqua

    My monitor for the G4 has completely failed. Therefore, it is not possible to click on any icon that could only be visible if the monitor were working.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 3, 2015 10:29 AM in response to Toniemae
    Level 10 (123,720 points)
    Sep 3, 2015 10:29 AM in response to Toniemae

    LOL on me... just thought of that! Duh.

     

    Power Mac G4: Display Compatibility...

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1825

     

    Is it one of these connectors, if so which one(s).

  • by Toniemae,

    Toniemae Toniemae Sep 4, 2015 5:56 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2015 5:56 AM in response to BDAqua

    My Mac G4 has a VGA connector (3 rows of 5 pins in each row).

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 5, 2015 11:16 AM in response to Toniemae
    Level 10 (123,720 points)
    Sep 5, 2015 11:16 AM in response to Toniemae

    Then most VGA monitors will work... if you can find one that isn't too Widescreen Shortscreen, what resolution is the one(s) you're considering?

     

    Or links to them.