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Tavis · 01:37 PM

The university I go to is in the process of updating some of the older computers. Yesterday I managed to grab a iMac G5 before it got thrown out. The only problem with it is, they had to take the HD and extra memory out of it, so I gotta buy a HD, and I'm stuck with the 512 standard, non-removable memory. My questions are, what kind of HD do I need for it? I know the good and bad manufacturers, but what kind of connection do they use? Do I need to buy ram, and if so, what kind? Or, is the 512 built in good enough. Also, do I need to have a "mac" mouse and keyboard, or will any USB mouse and keyboard work just fine? Finally, should I go with a Apple OS, or Linux? Its been so long since I've used either, that I might as well consider myself as never having used them before. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

*edit*
Turns out that I had memory laying around that I believe will work, its a 128 and a 512 stick. Still would appreciate help with everything else.

mduell · Mar 24, 2008 , 02:09 PM

You need a 3.5" SATA hard drive... 750GB for $150 is a pretty good value right now. It needs PC2-4200 (533Mhz DDR) memory and I believe it may take desktop sized DIMMs instead of laptop sized SO-DIMMs. Any USB mouse/keyboard will work, although the keys to either side of the spacebar may be in the wrong order (which doesn't really matter if you're not familiar with Apple's keyboards). If it came with OS X I'd try that, but if not Linux is free.

Tavis · 03:01 PM

The Apple website has the HD replacement manual on it, and they show the HD as having a third connection on the front of the drive, a small, 4 pin connection going directly from underneath the memory slots, to the front of the HD. The SATA drive I have laying around has no extra connection-is the drive on the manual in some sort of enclosure, or what? Any I think I'm only going to go with somewhere around an 80 gig HD, this isn't going to be my main computer, so I won't need something huge.
Also, the manual is saying its a Parallel ATA, not Serial.
*scratches head*

So which do I need?

peeb · Mar 24, 2008 , 03:10 PM

Find the machine on iFixit.com.

Tavis · Mar 24, 2008 , 03:50 PM

They don't seem to have stuff for the G5's?

Sherman Homan · Mar 24, 2008 , 04:17 PM

The G5 iMacs shipped with ATA drives at first, then they went to SATA.
Next, just to add to the confusion, they started with 184 pin PC3200, then 240 pin PC2-4200, then 200 pin PC2-5300 chips(!)
http://mactracker.us

You need to plug in the serial number here:
Klantenservice: Serienummers
That will narrow the choices down!
Ifixit is a great site, but nothing for desktops there.

peeb · Mar 24, 2008 , 04:22 PM

Oops - didn't know they don't do desktops! Sorry!

Tavis · Mar 24, 2008 , 04:29 PM

thanks herman, I think I know what I have to get, that website rocks! I still don't know if I'm going to put linux or an Apple OS on it, I'm leaning more towards a linux. Thanks a million!

peeb · Mar 24, 2008 , 05:05 PM

Really? Leopard should run well on that machine.

Tavis · Mar 24, 2008 , 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by peeb

Really? Leopard should run well on that machine.

Like I said, its been years since I've used either one, convince me one way or another

I am a bit worried, the website that Sherman posted gave me a list of drives that would work, but none of the pics on Newegg show the 3 connector, and I don't want to buy something and have it not work.

Newegg.com - HITACHI Deskstar 7K160 HDS721680PLA380 (0A32727) 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

That is the HD I am thinking of getting, since this won't be my main computer. On the Apple website, in the manual for replacing a HD, they show the HD as having some sort of enclosure for the screws, any ideas on where I can get this?

Sherman Homan · Mar 24, 2008 , 06:00 PM

I have no idea what the third connector would be for... If your iMac takes a SATA drive, the one you have on newegg will work fine, no worries there. Did your school's IT dude take the entire hard drive mounting bracket? That would have been a bit mean. Open the thing up, see where the drive goes, there is a mounting assembly that the school really doesn't need for anything!

CharlesS · Mar 24, 2008 , 06:07 PM

Originally Posted by Sherman Homan

The G5 iMacs shipped with ATA drives at first, then they went to SATA.

I'm pretty sure that the iMac G5 was always SATA, and everymac.com seems to back me up.

Sherman Homan · Mar 24, 2008 , 06:22 PM

Mactracker says otherwise, and since I saw it on Teh Intarwebs it must be true...!

Tavis · 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by Sherman Homan

I have no idea what the third connector would be for... If your iMac takes a SATA drive, the one you have on newegg will work fine, no worries there. Did your school's IT dude take the entire hard drive mounting bracket? That would have been a bit mean. Open the thing up, see where the drive goes, there is a mounting assembly that the school really doesn't need for anything!

Yeah, the took the whole darn thing. Not sure why they felt they needed to, I can kinda understand the need for the HD, since it probably had student information on it. But to take the whole thing does seem a bit mean.

*Edit*
Alright, heres what happened. I took the back off, hooked up my SATA that I have laying around, and plugged it in. The number 1 green light came on, as did the number 2 green light after I pushed the power button. I could hear the HD starting to spin up, the fans didn't though. Not sure if thats just how macs are, but they kicked on after about 10-15 seconds. All seemed good for about a minute, then the fans started going at a very high speed. Again, don't know if this is typical for macs or not, but they seemed to be going faster than I would have though. The whole time however, there was nothing on the screen. The white light in the front was on, the fans were going (albeit fast) and the HD was spinning/making noise. Now, the SATA I had laying around does have a windows installation on it. its not a unused HD. Would that cause the screen to show black, or would I at least get something, like an error screen?
And finally, if its something like a video card problem, is it worth it to get it fixed, or would I be better off just trading/selling on here or ebay?

ibook_steve · Mar 24, 2008 , 07:32 PM

I changed your thread title to be a little more explanatory.

As for your problem, if you have no hard drive attached, you should get the flashing folder/question mark indicating that there is no valid boot disk. If you're not getting that, try holding the option key at boot to see if you can get to the boot disk selection screen. If you still get absolutely nothing on the screen, there's something else wrong with the machine.

Steve

Tavis · Mar 24, 2008 , 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

I changed your thread title to be a little more explanatory.

As for your problem, if you have no hard drive attached, you should get the flashing folder/question mark indicating that there is no valid boot disk. If you're not getting that, try holding the option key at boot to see if you can get to the boot disk selection screen. If you still get absolutely nothing on the screen, there's something else wrong with the machine.

Steve

Thanks steve, not sure the title change was necessary since I have memory and a hard drive for it, but you're the boss. I'm not getting anything at all, just a black screen, I guess I'll either part it out or try and sell it/trade it.

mduell · Mar 24, 2008 , 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by Tavis

The Apple website has the HD replacement manual on it, and they show the HD as having a third connection on the front of the drive, a small, 4 pin connection going directly from underneath the memory slots, to the front of the HD. The SATA drive I have laying around has no extra connection-is the drive on the manual in some sort of enclosure, or what? Any I think I'm only going to go with somewhere around an 80 gig HD, this isn't going to be my main computer, so I won't need something huge.
Also, the manual is saying its a Parallel ATA, not Serial.
*scratches head*

So which do I need?

You don't need a third connector and if it's the machine with 512MB built in then it's definitely SATA.

Tavis · Mar 24, 2008 , 11:03 PM

Yeah, I put a SATA I had laying around in, and turns out that its the logic board/video card thats bad. I'm emailing Apple though, see if they can do anything for me since I know the G5's had video issues. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

P · Mar 26, 2008 , 03:50 PM

The first generation iMac G5s had HDs that used SATA, and DVDs that used PATA. Later on I believe they moved everything to SATA, but the HDs were always SATA.

And I'm not guessing - I have one of the first, it uses SATA. Don't make me take a picture of the connector.

CharlesS · Mar 26, 2008 , 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by Sherman Homan

Mactracker says otherwise, and since I saw it on Teh Intarwebs it must be true...!

Mactracker is wrong. Here's the specs right from Apple's site in August 2004, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

Apple - iMac G5 - Technical Specifications

80GB or 160 GB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm.