Mac Minipowermac G4 Cuberepair

(the issues regarding these powermacs and the power supply failure is prevalent and much discussion has been made regarding replacing the PSU with a new one or modding an ATX power supply)

Hello, I just want to share my experiences and solution with fixing my MDD PowerMac power supply.

But if you have a Mac Mini G4, it doesn't hurt to fiddle with it. Dronecatcher macrumors 68040. Jun 17, 2014 3,822 3,863 Lincolnshire, UK. May 28, 2015 #10. Age: Due to the age of the Mac Mini G4, users may find themselves in frustrating situations. For example, the latest version of Mac OS X that one can install on this version of the computer is 10.5.8. Newer software, such as newer versions of iTunes, cannot be installed on this operating system, making it impossible to keep software up-to-date. Mac Mini G4 (Original) Mac Pro Parts. Mac Pro Late 2013; Mac Pro (Mid 2012) Mac Pro (Mid 2010) Mac Pro (Early 2009) Mac Pro (Early 2008) Mac Pro (2006-2007) iMac 27. Model: M7642LL/A 450 MHz or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 (7400/7410) See original source. What version of the MacOS is pre-installed on the Mac mini G4? The original Mac mini G4/1.25 and Mac mini G4/1.42 shipped with MacOS X 10.3.7. On July 26, 2005, these models were enhanced modestly and began shipping with MacOS X 10.4 'Tiger'. The 'stealth update' Mac mini G4/1.5 also shipped with MacOS X 10.4 'Tiger' pre-installed.

First some quick background:

A few years back my Mac would reset its clock back to December 31, 1969.

And at times it would not power-up unless I switched off/on the power switch on the power strip or unplug/plug the power cable.

I replaced the PRAM battery and reset the PMU.

The problem was intermittent and though it was slightly inconvenient I was able to deal with manually updating the date/time settings, etc.

A few weeks ago, I decided to give the inside of my Mac a quick spring cleaning.

When I tried to turn it back on, it was completely unresponsive.

Since I knew the PSU, was prone to catastrophe I decided to open it up and take a peek.

But first a disclaimer:

I am not an expert in electrical engineering so my 'solution' may not (or it may) work for your particular case. Additionally I simply stumbled upon this quick solution while I was 'poking' around.

When you open up the PSU you should see something that looks like a cathode terminal, a few inches from this is a heat sink. If you happen to accidently touch both pieces at the same time you will receive a nice buzz. That is because the PSU and its capacitors/inductors have electrical charge stored in them.

What I did was simply arc the two pieces of metal using a thick screw driver with a rubber grip. This short circuit will simply discharge the PSU and you will see a spark or two as the electrical current finds the ground. (it also leaves a nice little nick on the shaft of you screw driver)

(That whole last part maybe a bit unneccessary, but it sure is fun to do and it brings back memories of how we use to 'hotwire' our HMMWVs)

After checking with a multimeter, I verified that the PSU was getting the correct input voltage.

My next logical step was to check output voltage.

Since I didn't know what to look for in the PSU, I closed it back up.

(I should mention that there were no signs of burnt or exploded circuits, diodes, capacitors etc.. and that I could not locate a standard fuse... it turns out the fuse is a built-in 250 V - 8 amp ceramic fuse and proximal to where the power cord enters the PSU)

The next step was to test the output voltage, so I figured I'll check it at the terminal where it connects to the logic board.

I googled the pin out and then I checked the voltage.

Since I was getting the right voltages I put everything back together and then... VOILA.

My Mac powered on flawlessly, even the date and time settings were preserved.

Hopefully this it will work for others. I am not sure why it worked, but it did after I was unable to power-up my Mac.

With this quick solution I was able to bring my Mac back to life three times using that last trick.

What I simply did was measure the voltage with a multimeter between, if I recall correctly, were Pins 11 and 12.

Try that combination: between Power On and Ground or between the +25 V Standby and Ground.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully this helps out. Let us know if it does.

PowerPC Lives!

The Power Mac G4 Cube

MDD Dual 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jun 17, 2013 12:24 PM

Up to Twice the Processing Power at No Additional Cost

MACWORLD EXPO, NEW YORK—July 19, 2000—In a move that makes the world's fastest personal computers even faster, Apple® today unveiled an all new Power Mac™ G4 line featuring two models that are the first mainstream personal computers to come standard with dual processors. The 450 MHz and 500 MHz Power Mac G4s each contain dual PowerPC G4 processors with Velocity Engine™, delivering up to 7 billion calculations per second. When running applications like Adobe Photoshop*, the dual processor 500 MHz Power Mac G4 is as fast as a 2GHz Pentium III is expected to be upon its release a year or more from now.

Apple also announced that the new Power Mac line comes standard with Gigabit Ethernet, an industry first. All three G4 models feature 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet built-in on the motherboard, making the G4 the ultimate networked client for transferring large files, such as image and digital video files, around a network.

“Apple is the first to make dual processors a standard feature in high-performance personal computers—and we are doing it without raising prices,” said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. “These machines are wicked fast, leaving Pentiums in the dust, and we think our customers are going to love them.”

The new Power Mac G4s come standard with the new, innovative optical Apple Pro Mouse and the new Apple Pro Keyboard. The Apple optical mouse provides precise positioning without a mouse pad on almost any surface, an ergonomic full surface button and a comfortable elliptical shape. Apple is the first company to provide an optical mouse standard with all of its desktop systems. The sleek new Apple Pro Keyboard offers full-size function, navigation, volume control and disc eject keys, as well as two USB ports.

The new Power Mac G4 also comes pre-installed with Apple's iMovie™ 2, the next version of the world's most popular, easy-to-use consumer digital video editing software. iMovie 2 features a refined user interface that's even easier to use, dramatically improved audio editing capabilities, enhancedcontrols for titles and transitions, and new effects such as speeding up or slowing down video clips, adding sepia tone and creating soft focus.

Apple today also unveiled a completely new family of displays that are the perfect complement to the new Power Mac G4. The new displays include: the 17 inch (16 inch viewable) Apple Studio Display CRT; the 15 inch Apple Studio Display flat panel and the 22 inch Apple Cinema Display™, the largest all-digital flat panel ever brought to market. Each display incorporates three advances to clean up the desktop cable mess:

Each display is powered from the computer, eliminating a separate power cord;
Each has a two port powered USB hub for convenient connection to desktop USB devices, such as keyboards, USB speakers and digital cameras; and
Each utilizes the Apple Display Connector, an innovative new cable and connector which carries analog and digital video signals, USB data and display power over a single cable and connector.

Pricing and Availability
The new G4 line is available immediately through the Apple Store™ (www.apple.com) and Apple Authorized Resellers in the following configurations:

Power Mac G4 with single PowerPC G4 400 MHz processor with 1MB level 2 backside cache, 64MB of PC100 SDRAM memory, ATI RAGE 128 Pro AGP 2X with 16MB video SDRAM, a 20GB Ultra ATA/66 hard disk drive, DVD-ROM drive with DVD Video playback, FireWire® and USB ports, three full-length 64-bit, 33 MHz PCI slots, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet and a built-in 56K V.90 modem is priced at $1,599 (US);

Power Mac G4 with dual PowerPC G4 450 MHz processors with 1MB level 2 backside cache per PowerPC G4 processor, 128MB of PC100 SDRAM memory, ATI RAGE 128 Pro AGP 2X with 16MB video SDRAM, a 30GB Ultra ATA/66 disk drive, DVD-ROM drive with DVD Video playback, FireWire and USB ports, three full-length 64-bit, 33 MHz PCI slots, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet and a built-in 56K V.90 modem is priced at $2,499 (US); and

Power Mac G4 Cube Teardown

Power Mac G4 with dual PowerPC G4 500 MHz processors with 1MB level 2 backside cache per PowerPC G4 processor, 256MB of PC100 SDRAM memory, ATI RAGE 128 Pro AGP 2X with 16MB video SDRAM, a 40GB Ultra ATA/66 disk drive, DVD-RAM drive with DVD Video playback, three full-length 64-bit, 33 MHz PCI slots, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet and a built-in 56K V.90 modem is priced at $3,499 (US).

The Power Mac G4 is available in more than 69,000 build-to-order configurations through the Apple Store (www.apple.com).

Apple Power Mac G4 Cube

* Based on internal tests and theoretical calculations

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.

Press Contacts:
Nathalie Welch
Apple
(408) 974-5430
welch@apple.com
Matt Hutchison
Apple
(408) 974-6877
hutchison@apple.com

© 2000 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Apple Cinema Display, Apple Store, FireWire, iMovie, Power Mac and Velocity Engine are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.