[MakiSupaStar]

Yo everyone. New to the site, and I did some searches and couldn't find anything on this. I've read a lot about people that have been using a Mac Mini with a seperate monitor, but what about using a Mac Mini with an old g4 imac. I'm a school tech admin and I have a ton of these guys that all have the same logic board or HD problem. Too much to fix for an old machine, BUT, I was thinking about purchasing some Mac Minis that I could use with these guys and essentially, just using these old burned out iMac as monitors. Is that possible? I haven't seen anyone do it. Does that mean I'm totally crazy?

[Tuoder]

This idea has been explored on this very forum. The conclusion has been that it is not generally possible, or at the very least practical. If the iMac will boot, it can be used to VNC or ARD the Mini. However, if the iMac boots, then what is the point of doing it anyway?

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Tuoder 

However, if the iMac boots, then what is the point of doing it anyway?

Thanks for your response Tuodor... These iMacs don't boot. They just give me the happy face folder of death. Diagnostics always say logic board or sometimes broken HD. Either way inoperable. Soo, I was thinking... instead of chucking them, perhaps I could save a couple hundred of bucks by not buying a monitor. I beginning to realize (although I'm pretty slow ) that perhaps there's no way to do it. Whatcha think... OR .

[Gossamer]

Generally no, you can't. And monitors are extremely cheap if you know where to look. Our local university surplus sale has so many 17" CRTs that they give them away free to anyone that wants them. I'm assuming if you're willing to use a dead iMac as a monitor, you'd be willing to use a 17" monitor with a couple years on it.
And instead of chucking them, why not put them up for sale on some place like eBay or the LowEndMac swaplist (Google Groups: LEM Swap). There are plenty of people out there willing to pay for stuff like that.

[hookem2oo7]

i would hardly call a bad HD inoperable

[Ice33]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar 

These iMacs don't boot. They just give me the happy face folder of death. Diagnostics always say logic board or sometimes broken HD. Either way inoperable. Soo, I was thinking... instead of chucking them, Whatcha think... .

I think your school should hire someone who knows more about Macs.

What you are describing is not necessarily symptoms of an unsalvageable system. In fact with proper troubleshooting I bet the right Mac novice could get some if not all of them working again.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by hookem2oo7 

i would hardly call a bad HD inoperable

I guarantee you they are busted and or the logic boards are fried. I have had enough experience with this guys over the last 5 years to recognize a trend when I see one. I don't want to digress on my troubleshooting skills. I'm a tech coordinator at my school, but FIRST and FOREMOST, I am a teacher. I get one hour a day to run and troubleshoot a network of 350 machines (that I built and manage by myself thank you very much), so if I've got an old iMac that's causing me problems, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it. Now if I've got a new iBook, or MacBook Pro or iMac, then I'm obviously going to spend the time to fix this machine.

I want to thank you guys for the suggestions on where to go for sending my old beaters. I'm definitely going to look in that. When I said "toss" it, I didn't literally mean dump it in the trash, I meant that it goes up to our district HQ where we have a recycling program. Still, I'd be stoked if I could do some kind of trading or get a little bit of money for these guys. That could go toward the purchase of much needed equipment.

Anyway, thanks for all you help everyone. Especially you Gossamer. I'm already sniffing around. I really like this site. It's a good resource.