2024 PowerPC Challenge

[Branchus]

It's time for the 2024 PPC Challenge!​

The gang from Mac Yak have been running the PPC challenge for a few years now, and the 2024 challenge begins soon!​

THE GOAL​

The primary goal of the PowerPC Challenge is to use a Mac powered by a PowerPC CPU as much as you can for your day-to-day computing. Everything you usually do on your Intel or M1 Mac, use the old Mac for it instead. Or at least try.

SPECIAL CHALLENGES​

To make things a bit more interesting this year, we've put together this list of specific challenges. You can choose to do one, some or none of these, it's entirely up to you! The most important thing is to make sure you take photos and post your experiences on this thread. We want to hear all about it:

• Upgrade your PPC (hardware, software, etc)
• Give your PPC a proper cleaning!
• Overclock your CPU (upgrade card or soldering)
• Image retouching with Photoshop (or similar)
• Try some of the community projects:
  • Sorbet Leopard
  • Shuriken Tiger
  • Discord for PPC
  • OpenBSD for PPC
• Install and explore the OS that came with your Mac when you got it.
• THE ULTIMATE PPC CHALLENGE CHALLENGE:
  • Edit and render a short video
  • For the coders out there, write a new piece of PPC software!

We’ll show the nay-sayers that these machines still have plenty of usable power left in them and of course it’s a ton of fun!

THE RULES​

Every year there are questions, so many questions, sigh… So here they are, the “rules”:

• PowerPC CPU, it has to be an Apple Mac / Macintosh, or Macintosh Clone (no Hackintosh)
• Any OS goes, if you want to run Mac OS, have at it. If you want to run Linux, have at it. As long as it runs on a PPC Mac.
• Using multiple eligible Macs is fine! One to run iTunes, one to run a browser and one to run Netscape? No problem.
• No vintage Mac emulators running on modern hardware allowed (e.g. SheepShaver, Basilisk, Mini vMac etc.)
• Hardware upgrades are allowed as long as the CPU upgrade is a PowerPC.

YOUR EXPERIENCES​

We want to know how it goes for you. Please share info and pics on the hardware you chose, the software you use, the struggles, the tips and tricks, the frustrations! We ask participants to log their experiences on this thread. Or maybe you'd prefer to make a YouTube vid of your experience? Go for it, and please include the #PPCChallenge hashtag and include a link to your video in this thread.

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO DO ON MY PPC?​

As much as you can! We don't want anyone to lose their job, so if you need to use a modern computer for that, no problem. We just want to encourage people to use their PPC as much as possible, and share your experiences.

PREVIOUS YEARS​

For tips on this you can check out the pages from previous years:

• 2023 PPC Challenge
• 2022 PPC Challenge
• 2020 PPC Challenge
• 2019 PPC Challenge

These pages will link to posts about the Challenge experiences which contain tips, issues participants ran into etc. This may help you be better prepared.
The Mac Yak Discord server will host a brand new channel called #2024-PPC-Challenge where you can help each other out, share tips, stories and more.

You can find a lovely selection of period appropriate Macintosh software on the wonderful MacintoshGarden.org.

CHALLENGE START AND END DATES​

It starts on January 1st 2024 and runs for the whole month.

Looking forward to hearing all about your experiences! We’ll pick some and talk about them on the Mac Yak follow-up show.

 

[cjsebes]

Unless I find a way to import and edit 4k video, build 60mp 360º virtual tours, or figure out how to build modern Wordpress websites on my Quad G5 (fastest PPC machine I have), there's not a whole lot of participating for me.

Regardless, it's always a good excuse to at least dust off the machines and just fire them up. Maybe try and install InterWebPPC on my iMac G4s, PowerBook G4s (12, 15, & 17) and quad G5.

At some point, I need to build a high-end website and a low-end companion website to showcase my collection. I recently took inventory of what I had and was surprised to find out that I'm harboring 37 Apple computers with 29 different models. Rather than just keeping most of them stashed under desks, I found some inspiration in others' websites who showcase their Apples in beautiful photographs.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone does with thier machines. Have fun, everyone!

 

[Branchus]

Unless I find a way to import and edit 4k video, build 60mp 360º virtual tours, or figure out how to build modern Wordpress websites on my Quad G5 (fastest PPC machine I have), there's not a whole lot of participating for me.

Well we don't call it a "challenge" for nothing!

 

[cjsebes]

Well we don't call it a "challenge" for nothing!

You're not wrong. I may try it just for gits and shiggles.

 

[RetroTechy]

I took out my iMac G5 2.1ghz last night while watching MacYak, Installed InterWebPPC and logged into this site. I think I just won the challenge!


Photo of the iMac's specs attached

 

[Volvo242GT]

As @cjsebes said, it'll be pretty limited for me. I do use my G4 as a bridge machine between the MBP and my older Macs and sometimes do access sites like the Macintosh Garden, etc, directly, so it's not like the computer sits on the filing cabinet next to my desk, collecting dust.

 

[phunguss]

I just did a bunch of upgrades on 3 PPC machines in December, I guess I should have waited. G4 Lamp 17" 800Mhz got an SSD and more ram, G4 Lamp 15" 1GHz got an SSD and more ram, G4 Cube 1.2GHz got more ram, SSD, GeForce 6200 WANG flashed video card, and a slim slot load DVD drive from a donor iMac. I have an Airport Extreme and a couple standard Airport cards I am picking up next week, so those upgrades may count.

But I still have a Dual G5 MacPro with a dead PSU, and a G4 Graphite 450 with a dual-450 waiting to install...

Has anyone done a POTS simulator so we can test out all the old built in modems?

 

[3lectr1c]

Perhaps I'll finally work up the courage to replace the thermal paste on one or even all three of my PowerBook G4s. At least my 17" DLSD. Could be fun to see how much I could get done on said DLSD.
Or I could set up the G5 tower for some serious heavy lifting.
We'll see.

 

[ctb]

It's time for the 2024 PPC Challenge!​

The gang from Mac Yak have been running the PPC challenge for a few years now, and the 2024 challenge begins soon!​

THE GOAL​

The primary goal of the PowerPC Challenge is to use a Mac powered by a PowerPC CPU as much as you can for your day-to-day computing. Everything you usually do on your Intel or M1 Mac, use the old Mac for it instead. Or at least try.

SPECIAL CHALLENGES​

To make things a bit more interesting this year, we've put together this list of specific challenges. You can choose to do one, some or none of these, it's entirely up to you! The most important thing is to make sure you take photos and post your experiences on this thread. We want to hear all about it:

• Upgrade your PPC (hardware, software, etc)
• Give your PPC a proper cleaning!
• Overclock your CPU (upgrade card or soldering)
• Image retouching with Photoshop (or similar)
• Try some of the community projects:
  • Sorbet Leopard
  • Shuriken Tiger
  • Discord for PPC
  • OpenBSD for PPC
• Install and explore the OS that came with your Mac when you got it.
• THE ULTIMATE PPC CHALLENGE CHALLENGE:
  • Edit and render a short video
  • For the coders out there, write a new piece of PPC software!

We’ll show the nay-sayers that these machines still have plenty of usable power left in them and of course it’s a ton of fun!

THE RULES​

Every year there are questions, so many questions, sigh… So here they are, the “rules”:

• PowerPC CPU, it has to be an Apple Mac / Macintosh, or Macintosh Clone (no Hackintosh)
• Any OS goes, if you want to run Mac OS, have at it. If you want to run Linux, have at it. As long as it runs on a PPC Mac.
• Using multiple eligible Macs is fine! One to run iTunes, one to run a browser and one to run Netscape? No problem.
• No vintage Mac emulators running on modern hardware allowed (e.g. SheepShaver, Basilisk, Mini vMac etc.)
• Hardware upgrades are allowed as long as the CPU upgrade is a PowerPC.

YOUR EXPERIENCES​

We want to know how it goes for you. Please share info and pics on the hardware you chose, the software you use, the struggles, the tips and tricks, the frustrations! We ask participants to log their experiences on this thread. Or maybe you'd prefer to make a YouTube vid of your experience? Go for it, and please include the #PPCChallenge hashtag and include a link to your video in this thread.

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO DO ON MY PPC?​

As much as you can! We don't want anyone to lose their job, so if you need to use a modern computer for that, no problem. We just want to encourage people to use their PPC as much as possible, and share your experiences.

PREVIOUS YEARS​

For tips on this you can check out the pages from previous years:

• 2023 PPC Challenge
• 2022 PPC Challenge
• 2020 PPC Challenge
• 2019 PPC Challenge

These pages will link to posts about the Challenge experiences which contain tips, issues participants ran into etc. This may help you be better prepared.
The Mac Yak Discord server will host a brand new channel called #2024-PPC-Challenge where you can help each other out, share tips, stories and more.

You can find a lovely selection of period appropriate Macintosh software on the wonderful MacintoshGarden.org.

CHALLENGE START AND END DATES​

It starts on January 1st 2024 and runs for the whole month.

Looking forward to hearing all about your experiences! We’ll pick some and talk about them on the Mac Yak follow-up show.

Minor clarification to rules but figure it is fine. The Apple Network Server doesn’t fit into the definition but does fit the vibe. I assume it will be ok?

 

[wicknix]

I don't have the time i had in previous years, so i wont be hacking on anything or creating any new software this time around. However, i dug out my G4 Mac Mini that runs MorphOS, and i will spend the month updating the software on it and i'll try using it as much as i can.

 

[3lectr1c]

That's the first time I've heard of morphos. Looks nice, linux-based I'd assume? Compatibility list shows that it should work on my G4 DLSD. Sounds like something to try once I've gotten it upgraded to an SSD! Maybe I should go buy that SSD.

 

[wicknix]

No, not Linux based. It's an Amiga-like OS written from scratch. It does have ports of some popular open source software though. It's not free (30 minute trial that you can keep rebooting and use it that way if you like), but i feel it's worth the price if you grew up around Amiga's. It's lightening fast, has an up to date webkit based web browser, and can run thousands of Amiga games. More info here: https://www.morphos-team.net/intro

Edit: Due note that running from live CD is much slower vs the installed OS.

 

[Action Retro]

Well, Adelie just did a new release, and I haven't busted out the quad G5 in a while!

 

[wicknix]

Adelie just did a new release

Sadly the installer is still broken.

 

[phunguss]

No, not Linux based. It's an Amiga-like OS written from scratch

My first computer was the Coleco Adam, then I went to the Amiga 1000. Eventually got a 2000 and a Toaster, and the Flyer board + 2x 9GB (not TB) drives set me back about $7k. I think I will give MorphOS a try, wish I still had my hundreds of floppy disks!

 

[PPCAppStore]

Hi everyone! Don't forget about the PPCAppStore, which recently received a small update... perhaps it is useful to someone in this challenge! Good luck to everyone, and a happy 2024!

 

[phunguss]

Day 1

Upgrading a G4 Sawtooth (Purchased at FreeGeek for $15 this past summer)

Standard CPU G4 450MHz stock passive cooler
Rage 128 Pro 16Mb AGP video card
1GB RAM
Previously upgraded SSD on motherboard IDE single port adapter (red board)

Upgrading the IDE->SATA controller

StarTech PATA2SATA IDE to Serial ATA Bridge, eBay $25
New Old Stock, this item was sealed. The plastic was very brittle and kind of exploded as I opened it. It came with a Molex to dual mini (floppy size) power adapter and a single SATA cable. This board has a female 40pin that plugs directly into the motherboard and supplies two usable SATA ports (tan board).

Everything else you find for IDE to SATA seem to be single controller. If they do have a dual SATA ports, one is for SATA->IDE and the other is IDE->SATA, so still just one drive (red board).

StarTech is selling what looks like a newer dual version here: https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/pata2sata2
So, turns out the limiting factor is the ATA66 bus, so my 500GB drive shows up at 128GB. Time to look for a PCI card.


CPU upgrade

Power Mac G4 450MHz Dual Processor 820-1053-A, eBay $35

I have 5 cube shells. Some were purchased with guts many years ago and stripped and guts sold, as I was not in collector mode, I was in Hackintosh case-mod mode. So when some G4 guts became available recently on eBay for cheap, I jumped on them. Assuming I was getting a single 450MHz, I looked for a dual G4 that I could use to upgrade the guts. Once the guts arrived, it turned out it already had a single 1.2GHz G4 in it, so the dual G4 was spare parts laying around until I found this Sawtooth unit. I ran the test on the Sawtooth to see if it had the correct firmware for a CPU upgrade, and it does.

Closeup of the jumpers it appears this is already set for 500MHz. No cooler. The only dual passive cooler I can find is for $75 on eBay delivered from England, so time to build my own. I have many coolers laying around, some great low profile server stuff, but the Sawtooth has an interesting limited space. Closest thing I could find that will need lots of mods is a Dell Optiplex SFF Heatsink and fan.

I will not be using the fan, it has a dual pipe with fins and a support bracket. It appears I already used the copper plate for another project, so I substituted a piece of flat aluminum stock. I don't have a real mill, so I put an end mill router bit in my drill press and the stock in drill vise and moved it around manually. Pretty scary as it almost got away from me a couple times. No injuries.

Added a couple holes to mount the stock to the cooler. Added a couple more holes to add the peg legs so it won't slide around, and it should touch both CPUs correctly. I am not sure if Red Green would be proud or appalled.

Benchmark comparison and Thermals
Seems like these G4s do not get very warm to begin with. After running all benchmarks (and during) I took some thermal pics with a Seek Thermal camera attachment to an iPhone. The CPU coolers barley get warm to the touch. It is not an issue of thermal paste missing, but I think the power draw is low (EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPC_G4 only 4-6W) , and the intake fan blows right at it. Camera shows 87F for the stock 450,

and maybe something under 105f on the "Red Green Cooler", as the 105F temp is the motherboard below the fins, the fins are much cooler.

The jumpers did not lie, it is a dual 500MHz.

And the benchmarks:
Xbench 450 on left, dual 500 on the right

Geekbench 2.20 with dual 500 on the left and single 450 on the right.

 

[iBookSpeedster88]

Hello everyone! This is my first time participating in the PowerPC challenge! My computer of choice will be the iBook G4 (12 inch, 2005, 1.33Ghz, 512MB RAM, 40GB drive). I wanted to begin posting yesterday, but I created my account and was awaiting administrator approval, so here I am today instead. I am ready and eager to begin!

I haven’t played with the iBook for that long before the beginning of January, as it was only recently that I received this computer. The iBook had arrived in remarkable cosmetic condition, with very light scratches on the exterior and no discoloring on the keys. However, the trackpad is worn in the center to the point of being shiny and a little slippery to the touch, which is to be expected. Other than that, the laptop appears to be seldom used or at least very taken care of by its previous owner. The battery had 251 cycles upon receiving it and I received a message stating that the time had been set to December 31st of 1969, so I had to fix that immediately. The proper time is now retained after that hiccup. The charge doesn’t last terribly long, but with the condition seen in most used PowerPC laptops, I’m happy that it even holds a charge for longer than an hour (with light desktop use) to begin with! The person selling it did not disclose the specs of the machine, so it was a surprise to me first using it when I had placed two of my fingers on the trackpad to see whether or not it had two-finger scrolling or not, and it did! Two-finger scrolling is a very nice convenience that is taken for granted today, and now I won't have to install a program like iScroll2 had I received any other iBook model. As you may know, the importance of me testing for that feature was because the only iBook that supported native two-finger scrolling is the final iBook released, the 2005 model. That two-finger test had guaranteed me that the laptop had a 1.33Ghz processor and at least 512MB of RAM built in, as per the specifications I knew of the 2005 model. I perused “System Information” to see what else specific to this particular machine I can identify. This iBook is essentially the base model 2005 iBook G4, so unfortunately no upgraded RAM (but can later be expanded to 1.5GB) and only 40GB of hard drive space, most of which had already been abundantly filled. Only 6.81GB of storage remained. It was time to find out what was left behind on this machine from many years ago.


I discovered that the iBook G4 came was left by the previous owner many old programs, photos, and a hefty iTunes music library. The person’s full name was used as the username for the laptop’s only account registered. To protect the previous owner’s identity, I have blocked out their name in my photographs provided here. The iBook appears to have been last used in 2009 judging from the latest “Date Modified” tag which I found belonged to the iTunes library folder. All of the photos found were dated prior to 2007 and most were taken in 2006. The iBook had been purchased new some time in mid-to-late 2005 and had been used for a few years before being retired. The “Software Update” history shows its first update installed on the 11th of October, 2005, and the final update being Safari 3.1.1 installed on the 4th of May, 2008.

Everything about this iBook is refreshingly stock original with many personal files, songs, and programs contemporary for the time period. With all the neat stuff kept on here from 15+ years ago, this iBook is essentially a time capsule, but I intend to use it for myself, so I began the process of backing up what I had wanted to save for historical preservation’s sake before fully committing to modifying the system to my liking. Before suddenly remembering on the 31st that the PowerPC challenge was upon us in January 2024, almost all of what I did to the iBook thus far was back up the old programs (some of which are not even stored on the Macintosh Garden), remove the personal photographs, and edit some system preferences to my liking, such as setting a desktop wallpaper and changing dock magnification and auto-hiding and the like. You'll see photographs of what the iBook's desktop and contents currently look like at a later post. I also began installing software I desire before approaching a road block: I don’t know the user’s password.


The laptop had been set to automatically log in to the desktop without the need for the password, but I had come to find that in order to install certain software that requires a password, I was unable to continue. The password hint the previous owner sent was unhelpful to me, unsurprisingly. The person who this laptop was purchased from actually was not the previous owner either, as I had just learned, so they were unable to provide me with the password. I had to boot into single-user mode and reset the password from the command line. I used this tutorial if anyone is interested: https://swissmacuser.ch/howto-reset-mac-osx-tiger-password-for-admin-user/. It was actually a lot simpler than it’s sometimes made out to be. Thankfully, I reset the password to something trivial that I can easily remember for future need.

The next things on my list would be to get my wallpaper collection on here, clear up some more space (I’m currently sitting at about 11GB free as of today), get it online, and install more software to make best use of this comfortable, and still somewhat capable, little machine. I presume you all are much more talented than I am, so I won’t be doing anything like disassembling, overclocking, or coding new PowerPC software for this challenge. Have fun! I’ll keep you all updated!

 

[3lectr1c]

Nice system, those iBook G4s are rock-solid machines that can run forever.
An SSD upgrade would get you more space and faster performance, but taking apart one of these is not for the faint of heart unfortunately. They're a royal pain.
Go ahead and check out InterWebPPC for a relatively up to date web browser: https://github.com/wicknix/InterWebPPC

 

[phunguss]

Day 2, a little lighter side....

Picked up a couple original airport cards from craigslist, $12 each local (for the G4 FP 17 800MHz and Sawtooth). A package arrived containing an Airport Express that I got on eBay for $9 delivered (for the G4 FP 15 1GHz USB 2.0).

And a little light gaming on os 9.2.2 on the Sawtooth: Tomb Raider Trilogy (I, II, III, and gold versions)