PowerMac G5 and recording questions

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acoustichris

New member
Newb here. Hello all.
I recently decided to start recording. I bought a PowerMac G5 off of my roommate for $200 (thought that was a good price. Is it?). I think it is from 2004. Here are the specs:

Processor: Dual 2 GHZ Power PC G5
Memory: 1 GB DDR SDRAM
Machine Model: PowerMac 7,3
It is running Mac OSX V. 10.4.11

I brought the computer to a local guy who has helped me once in the past. I told him I will only be using the computer to record and to wipe it of everything else. He was going to install Logic but had trouble installing the OSX 10.5 disc I gave him so he couldn't use a current version of Logic. He kept getting a kernel command (?). He had it for close to a month and pretty much did nothing with it. He said he was going to up the ram and never did. He did install a 250 GB hard drive. It's only going to cost me $50 for "everything" he did.

Anyway, I'm going to take it somewhere else and see if anything can be done to make it a decent computer to use to record but I wanted to see if you guys had any ideas of what can be done (if anything can be done). I use a PreSonus Inspire 1394 to plug in my guitar and mic. I won't be recording full bands with this so I don't need it to be unbelieveable but I would like it to work without latency issues. Should I have not bought this PowerMac? I figured it was cheaper than buying a brand new laptop, which I don't have the money for right now.

Thanks for the help.
 
Sorry acoustichris,

All I'm thinking is PC's give the best bang for your buck.
 
acoustichris said:
Someone has to use a PowerMac right?
Click to expand...

Yes, I use a G4 running 10.4.11.

Before you take it any where, up the RAM. 1 GB is not happening! I have 1.5 and that's ok because I use almost no VST's, hardly any tracks and external MIDI modules.

That's the first thing I'd do before I take it anywhere. Just buy another 1 GB stick off of eBay.

Whenever there's any problem, zap the PRAM. To do that on a G5:

Shut down your G5, and upon boot hold down
Apple+option+O+F
at the prompt type
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
After the last command the machine will reboot.

Then go to the Utilities folder in your Applications folder on your harddrive and go to Disk Utility. Select your hard drive in the column on the left and hit "Verify Disk" on the lower right and let the Mac do it's thing - checking for screwups.

Then I'd look at Logic's system requirements - how much RAM does it need and what OS does it need?

Also, go up to the left hand corner of your Mac and hit "Software Update" and see if the computer needs to update anything and do that if it needs it.

I'd download Reaper and see if that works.

For starters! ;)

I see no reason why that computer won't be excellent. :)
 
dintymoore said:
Yes, I use a G4 running 10.4.11.

Before you take it any where, up the RAM. 1 GB is not happening! I have 1.5 and that's ok because I use almost no VST's, hardly any tracks and external MIDI modules.

That's the first thing I'd do before I take it anywhere. Just buy another 1 GB stick off of eBay.

Whenever there's any problem, zap the PRAM. To do that on a G5:

Shut down your G5, and upon boot hold down
Apple+option+O+F
at the prompt type
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
After the last command the machine will reboot.

Then go to the Utilities folder in your Applications folder on your harddrive and go to Disk Utility. Select your hard drive in the column on the left and hit "Verify Disk" on the lower right and let the Mac do it's thing - checking for screwups.

Then I'd look at Logic's system requirements - how much RAM does it need and what OS does it need?

Also, go up to the left hand corner of your Mac and hit "Software Update" and see if the computer needs to update anything and do that if it needs it.

I'd download Reaper and see if that works.

For starters! ;)

I see no reason why that computer won't be excellent. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! That is what I needed to hear. I was planning on upping the RAM. Is that something that is easy to do once I find the right kind of RAM?
 
Yes, the RAM should be very easy to install. Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1lDOQjTFQU

Your G5 should be expandable to 4 gigs, so that's more than plenty (you definitely want at least 2).

I'm a die-hard Mac user (have a Macbook Pro), and was also looking to get a G5 or iMac strictly for recording. Of course, I want it maxed with memory, space, and OS.

By the way, did you ask your friend if he had trouble with the G5 before? In my experience, kernel panics aren't good. Sometimes they're harmless (the computer still operates fine), but in most cases it means something is about to blow (like when you least expect it). I had my logic board get fried twice (after a few kernel panics).

Anyway, just saying you check that out before investing any money in it.
 
I got this reply from an IT guy at work:

Spending the $200 or so to get it up to 4GB RAM would be a waste, in my opinion. The G5’s are big and noisy and slow. I had a dual 2.3Ghz one for a few years. New software isn’t even being compiled for PPC Macs, so dropping money into that machine would be counterintuitive. The computer itself is worth about $250-300 – if it wasn’t kernel panicing.

I am just starting out so I'm not going to go out and buy the best gear there is. Do you think it is worth it to spend some money on RAM and use this comp for a few years (if possible) and then upgrade? I am so frustrated. I just want to start recording!
 
acoustichris said:
I got this reply from an IT guy at work:

Spending the $200 or so to get it up to 4GB RAM would be a waste, in my opinion. The G5’s are big and noisy and slow. I had a dual 2.3Ghz one for a few years. New software isn’t even being compiled for PPC Macs, so dropping money into that machine would be counterintuitive. The computer itself is worth about $250-300 – if it wasn’t kernel panicing.

I am just starting out so I'm not going to go out and buy the best gear there is. Do you think it is worth it to spend some money on RAM and use this comp for a few years (if possible) and then upgrade? I am so frustrated. I just want to start recording!
Click to expand...

Your IT guys sucks. Comp should be fine. Dual 2.3ghz procs are plenty fast. Bottleneck is going to be your HDD anyway. Latency is going to be more of an issue for your DAW software than your machine.

Welcome to HR.
 
First test your G5. If there was a problem installing, it could be the DVD, the DVD reader or you G5's logic board failing. Replacing the DVD or the DVD drive won't break the bank, but replacing the logic board isn't economical.

Then, expand the ram. Look for 2nd hand cheap ram and upgrade at least to 2 GB. If there's any budget left, buy a second harddisk just for your audio files. Any cheap IDE drive will do, but a 7200 RPM is a little faster, so it will enable you to track a few channels more.

Look for a 2nd hand PCI audio card. These are cheaper than USB or FW interfaces and together it will make a nice DAW that will keep you going for a couple of years.

And when you're ready for bigger things you will still be able to sell it as a DAW in a few years. There's still demand for G5's from people who need to run older software to open up old projects or to run old audio hardware.
 
I'm running Logic 8 express on a ppc G5 10.4.11 at the moment.
I've only got 1 gig ram installed, had 3 but they made the machine unstable, I'm gonna buy a few 1 gig crucial ram's soon.

But it works flawlessly with logic, infact more stable and faster than my Intel macbook pro:cool:
 
cyrano said:
First test your G5. If there was a problem installing, it could be the DVD, the DVD reader or you G5's logic board failing. Replacing the DVD or the DVD drive won't break the bank, but replacing the logic board isn't economical.

Then, expand the ram. Look for 2nd hand cheap ram and upgrade at least to 2 GB. If there's any budget left, buy a second harddisk just for your audio files. Any cheap IDE drive will do, but a 7200 RPM is a little faster, so it will enable you to track a few channels more.

Look for a 2nd hand PCI audio card. These are cheaper than USB or FW interfaces and together it will make a nice DAW that will keep you going for a couple of years.

And when you're ready for bigger things you will still be able to sell it as a DAW in a few years. There's still demand for G5's from people who need to run older software to open up old projects or to run old audio hardware.
Click to expand...


Can you point me to where I can find cheap RAM online? I am not even sure what kind I need so if you could tell me that too, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
acoustichris said:
Can you point me to where I can find cheap RAM online? I am not even sure what kind I need so if you could tell me that too, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the help guys.
Click to expand...

treble check the ram you need, look it up..do not buy ram until you find out exactly what the specific type you need, exactly...some idiots just buy any ram of the internet only to find it doesn't fit...idiots :rolleyes: <whistle> :D


and yeah your IT guys a fool...thats plenty MAC to be starting on :)
 
acoustichris said:
Can you point me to where I can find cheap RAM online?...
Click to expand...

On this site: http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4cube if you go to the column on the right and find your computer (make sure you get the right one) a page will come up with the specs and it will tell you the RAM type.

This site http://lowendmac.com/ppc/index.shtml has good info too.

If you don't know what your computer is, go to the upper left corner and click on the apple icon, and choose "About This Mac". When the small box comes up choose "More Info". The Hardware Overview there gives you your specs.

What I did for RAM was find out the type and then on eBay searched for that plus Apple, i.e. "Apple PC3200". :)
 
I think you got a pretty good deal. Like everyone else said, just upgrade your RAM to at least 2 GB and you'll be fine. Two hard drives is preferrable, but for no more tracks then you'll be recording you won't even need a second hard drive. Download Reaper for free if you can't get Logic to work.

Bottom line...spend $40 on another gb of RAM and you've got yourself a very solid & capable machine. :D
 
I'm not sure if this applies to the G5's:

One thing I didn't realize about my G4 for awhile was that the Apple monitor I was using hooked up to the video card via some special apple connector and beside that connector there was a standard SVGA connector, and you can use both of them at the same time. :)

So with nothing but a second monitor I got free off of Craigslist I was able to add a second monitor on to my system. Using two monitors is very nice - one for the main page and the second for edit modes or mixers etc...
 
dintymoore said:
On this site: http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4cube if you go to the column on the right and find your computer (make sure you get the right one) a page will come up with the specs and it will tell you the RAM type.

This site http://lowendmac.com/ppc/index.shtml has good info too.

If you don't know what your computer is, go to the upper left corner and click on the apple icon, and choose "About This Mac". When the small box comes up choose "More Info". The Hardware Overview there gives you your specs.

What I did for RAM was find out the type and then on eBay searched for that plus Apple, i.e. "Apple PC3200". :)
Click to expand...


So, I figured out that the RAM in my machine now is 1 GB DDR SDRAM. IS this enough information to buy the RAM online? Or are there different "types" of DDR SDRAM?
 
acoustichris said:
So, I figured out that the RAM in my machine now is 1 GB DDR SDRAM. IS this enough information to buy the RAM online? Or are there different "types" of DDR SDRAM?
Click to expand...

No. You need to determine what the pin configuration is, what speed the ram is rated to run at, and whether it is single or dual-channel.

I think running CPUid (for mac) will tell you what you need to get.

My experience with PCs is that one avoids issues by using the same ram in all available slots, so unless you can find the same sticks at the same speed, you may be better off just picking up some new sticks.

You could probably chat up the folks at your local Apple store, and then purchase at Newegg.
 
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