Restoring a relatively decent iMac G4

[neonfire]

Got an iMac G4 finally recently after always wanting one as a kid. It works well, but it doesn't see the Airport card at all. I'm not sure if I need drivers as it's been so long since I worked on one of these machines.

I'd also like to install os9 if I can, but idk if I need CDs or if I can do it via usb drive.

 

[phunguss]

Check the wifi card to see if one is actually installed (or reseat it if one is installed). The OS should see it automatically. What version of OS are you running right now?

So it doesn't see the airport card, or can't connect to your current wifi?

Some notes:

• The original graphite AirPort base station (ABS) was ONLY capable of 40/64 bit WEP. It never had the ability of 128 bit WEP let alone WPA or WPA2.
• When the original AirPort card was delivered it was only capable of 40/64 bit WEP. A subsequent AirPort software update installed new firmware on the card (unseen by the user).
• WPA is only supported if the Mac is running OS 10.3 or beyond.

 

[neonfire]

I reseated the card already, and I think 10.4 is installed, but I'll have to double check. I looked in Apple Profiler but under airport it doesn't show the card, so I don't think the computer sees it.

 

[phunguss]

It is not impossible to bend the pins in the socket. Remove the card and have a look to see if any pins are bent. It could be a faulty card? Do you have any other machines (or base stations) that have a similar card?

 

[neonfire]

I should have another card in another machine, but I'll have to check. Good call on the pins, I'll check those, and I didn't know the base stations had cards in them! I think someone is selling one near me, so I might get it just for the extra cards/stations.

 

[Yoda]

My G4 iMac has an AirPort extreme card and MacOS 10.4 (Tiger), and the Airport card does not require any additional software or drivers since it's natively recognised by MacOS. That said, it is certainly possible that your iMac could have had a MacOS install that was for a different system, or that MacOS has been tweaked by a previous owner causing Airport support to be lost or removed.

I must admit that I have found quirky issues to be resolved on some systems which I have bought over the years by a fresh OS install, though personally I do rather prefer the original feel of whichever System/MacOS version the machine would have come with, so it's usually been for that reason I've done clean installs.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

What is the cpu speed of your iMac g4?

 

[neonfire]

Update:

I clean installed os9 and it then saw the airport card. I was able to connect it to my phone's hotspot with no security, but the connection drops and it won't actually connect to a website. Classilla also crashes on startup. I think the HD isn't in great condition. Are they sata drives in there or something older?

I'm going to try and find my old airport base station and see if I can set that up.

What is the cpu speed of your iMac g4?

I think it's the 800mhz one, I have to double check.

 

[phunguss]

Are they sata drives in there or something older?

Old IDE drives. They make IDE to SATA or IDE to CF or IDE to mSATA adapters... lots of choices... There are other threads here referencing which ones work well and which ones don't.

Here are two threads:
SSD in B&W G3
and
Drive Replacement for Lombard 333