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Powermac g5 and hard disks


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Hi all,

 

I'm considering buying a PowerMac G5 Mid-2004. The owner told me that the computer is working, though he keeps saying that the machine can't be turned on because he removed the hard disk.

 

I've never had a PPC mac but it's absurd that a computer can't be turned because of the absence of the hard disk.

 

could anybody please enlight me about this point?

 

Thanks in advance,

cili0.

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Don't know if that's true as you'd think it would at least give a flicker and spin the fans or something, if in fact it were to require the presence of a hard drive to simply turn on, if you can see it in person first, bring an old one with you to put in just to test it powers up, it would not boot obviously but should verify some signs of life at least.

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  • 2 months later...

@cili0

 

The seller should have an OS X install DVD for his G5, e.g OS X Tiger or OS X Leopard, that the G5 if working, should be able to boot from....

 

Any serious seller should want to prove that what they are selling as working, does indeed work......step carefully......

 

A good place for info about the PowerMac G5 is http://lowendmac.com/ppc/index.shtml and for an interesting blog.....http://powerpcliberation.blogspot.ca/.......

 

To see just how much thermal and mechanical engineering went into the G5, read this article:

 

BGA Solution for G5.pdf

 

and here for an inside look.....http://hardforum.com...d.php?t=1618765

 

BTW I have a Powermac G5 Dual 2.0GHz CPU (June 2004) with 2.5GB RAM, 2x250 GB HDDs, modem, and ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB that I bought on eBay in August 2005 that was used but still eligible for a 3 year Applecare warranty for around 1,530 Euros, that has worked perfectly until August 2012, when one of its 2 CPU/CPU cards died.......not a bad return on the purchase cost......equivalent to 0.60 Euros a day...... :)

 

So, I bought a pair of working 2.0 GHz CPU cards for the June 2004 G5 on eBay for around 40 Euros and fitted one CPU card to the heatsink off the dead CPU card using Arctic Silver Ceramique thermal paste (the other is a spare), and then ran the ASD v2.5.8 CD to thermally calibrate the replacement CPU and now the G5 is up and running OS X 10.5.8 and OS X 10.4.11 again....... :)

 

I also got off eBay at the same time a fully working Powermac G5 Dual 2.3GHz (Early 2005) with a Radeon 9650 256MB graphics card and 2Gb RAM plus SATA HDD (but no keyboard or mouse) for around 152 Euros.........just in case it was a failed MOBO in my June 2004 G5.......so now I have two working dual CPU G5s for less than 200 Euros..... :thumbsup_anim:

 

Some additional G5 system architecture/design information: PowerMacG5.pdf

Edited by verdant
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...though he keeps saying that the machine can't be turned on because he removed the hard disk
Sounds like BLLSHT to me. It's either working (i.e. turns on, boots with bootable media present) or it's not. There is no such thing as a half pregnant woman.
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