I am thinking about repurposing my eMac as a media
server/VPN. Can I use macOS Server to do
this? If so, which version since I am
running Snow Leopard or Lion? Also,
should I upgrade my modem? I still have
the original installed (56k v.92 modem).
First, let's make sure you have an eMac. Please don't think I'm being condescending; rather I've been here a long time and have seen the confusion Apple has caused with its similar-sounding product names. Some people interchange "eMac" and "iMac" especially those whose native language does not use the "i" sounds as in "site." This is the eMac, all 50 pounds of it:
I still own 100 pounds of working eMacs!
Before embarking on this project, we should precisely identify the eMac you have. There were four eMac variants and two had serious (and project-ending) hardware issues. One of those with issues had a fatal flaw that is today not practically repairable. Please use this archived Apple support article to identify your eMac so we can advise if this is worth pursuing:
eMac: How to locate the serial number and identify your model - Apple Support
Let us know what model that shows but please do not post your serial number.
Can I use macOS Server to do
this? If so, which version since I am
running Snow Leopard or Lion?
If you have Snow Leopard or Lion on the eMac, it's not an eMac--one reason for my initial query above.
Because the eMac is one of the last PowerPC Macs, it can run no OS higher than 10.5.8 "Leopard" due to hardware constraints, even on a late-model unit. Early eMacs with 700 and 800mHz processors can run no higher that OS 10.4.11 "Tiger." Snow Leopard and Lion require an Intel processor, something an eMac never had. So you will be looking for of 10.4 Tiger Server or OS 10.5 Leopard Server depending on which eMac you have. Legitimate copies of that package are selling for about 10X the value of any eMac today:
Also,
should I upgrade my modem? I still have
the original installed (56k v.92 modem).
eMacs had an Ethernet port. Even though they are the slower 10/100Base-T protocol, I would used that for any networking.
eMac modems are slotted and theoretically replaceable but there are reasons to go in a different direction:
1) the internal modem is a proprietary design and you can't get one any faster than what you have. An external USB modem might work if yours has USB 2.0 ports but I doubt you can get much faster than the v92 you have now.
2) accessing the modem requires a fairly involved takedown of a computer that is notoriously difficult to reassemble without breaking something you really need, like the power button.
Hi ,
Yes, I do have an eMac, I was mistaken about the operating system. It is indeed running Leopard. What I have is the eMac with ATI Graphics, nicknamed “Northern Lights”. I have upgraded the memory to 1 GB, but that is the only modification, so far. I know that those machines aren’t necessarily meant to have much done otherwise, I guess I should have asked “if” the modem could be upgraded.
Sorry I'm late getting back.
You have one of the the two models that actually work and I think you can make it work. 1GB is the max RAM. The "iffy" one was the original eMac--some had bad IVADS cables that made a mess of the video. The ones with the fatal logic board flaw were the 1.0 and 1.25Ghz USB2 models. The "northern Lights" and the eMac 2005 were solid performers. The bad news is that its USB 1.1 ports don't work for faster intranet than the existing ethernet port nor, with a wireless USB dongle, permit speeds faster than wireless "b"
The good news is that the built-in slot for an Airport card uses the Airport Extreme card which will get you to wireless "g" speeds. Better.
What is the processor speed? Those shipped with 800mHz processors with the option of 1.0 ghz. If you have the latter, it can handle OS 10.5 Leopard.
I'll check on the processor this evening after work, although I'm pretty sure it's the 1.0 ghz. The good news is I have my eye on a copy of mac OS server 10.5 on eBay with several licenses still left for $35, so this shouldn't be super costly.
So, now I have "cleaned" my eMac, as well as purchased the X Server 10.5. Once I load the disc, it tells me that I can not run the software on my computer. I know I accidently erased some of the foreign languages that were part of Leopard, but didn't think that would effect installing the server software. However, many of the errors in the install log refer to "German", "French", etc. Any ideas on how to recover these languages? I do not have the original Leopard disc, only a copy on a USB.
To correctly install and restore a system you'd either need the original official install/restore
Apple media (no torrent copies, USB sticks, etc) or a clone of your fully installed original OS.
Later after you've found to not need any additional languages, you may try to see if this
utility could be useful to remove other non-native languages you don't need. ~ A server
actually running online may need several languages. For local file sharing not so much.
Most of the Monolingual utility archive including older versions are linked from here:
https://ingmarstein.github.io/Monolingual/ main
Tried to edit other thread post, but it had timed out. Sometimes slow internet is painful.
You may have to reconsider the hardware and re-purpose the eMac for another duty.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
Update: I have now installed Mac OS X Server on my eMac, and have updated it with the 10.5.8 combo. I'm in the process of adding a few more software updates, as I have found a few things aren't running so smoothly. Hopefully I'll have time to play around some more this weekend!
As I thought, I do have 1 GHz. The full specs are an eMac
Power Mac 4,4
PowerPC G4 (3,3)
1 GHz
1 GB
133 MHz
You may be able to do that the problem is that macOS Server may not be able to run on it, but may be able to.
You could possibly get an OLD version of Mac OS X server but i haven't been able to ever get any version of OS X server to work
eMac as a media server/VPN
