Can't think of a clever title for this post.
October 27, 2010 7:09 AM Subscribe
Mac PowerBook G4 question(s)
I have a Mac PowerBook G4 that is about 5 or 6 years old. It was given to me by a reputable friend and I've been using it solely for the past 4 years. I know that it is getting on in years and want to do some pre-emptive strikes in the event the machine shats the bed suddenly.
I really only use the machine for internet searches, email (2 accounts) and some MS Office work for me and my son's school work. I do depend on this machine heavily and use it for at least 4-5 hours a day. YouTube works sporadically, often hanging it up with the color wheel, forcing me to restart the machine.
I am looking on eBay for an external hard drive, probably 60-80GB, to offload all of my files/photos/music. Currently everything is stored on the computer, with no backup.
My question is, how do I find out how much space I've taken up so far? Not sure which menu places to search. How much I have used will affect the size of the external HD I purchase.
Also, does anyone have experience with this machine? Any advice?
I have a Mac PowerBook G4 that is about 5 or 6 years old. It was given to me by a reputable friend and I've been using it solely for the past 4 years. I know that it is getting on in years and want to do some pre-emptive strikes in the event the machine shats the bed suddenly.
I really only use the machine for internet searches, email (2 accounts) and some MS Office work for me and my son's school work. I do depend on this machine heavily and use it for at least 4-5 hours a day. YouTube works sporadically, often hanging it up with the color wheel, forcing me to restart the machine.
I am looking on eBay for an external hard drive, probably 60-80GB, to offload all of my files/photos/music. Currently everything is stored on the computer, with no backup.
My question is, how do I find out how much space I've taken up so far? Not sure which menu places to search. How much I have used will affect the size of the external HD I purchase.
Also, does anyone have experience with this machine? Any advice?
Best answer: Highlight the hard drive icon and hit command I or select "get info" from the file menu, or use disk first aid (disk utilities) to view the drive.
According to the wikipedia page, the G4s topped out with 60 GB of disk space, so the drive you're talking about would be enough space for the backup. I also note that Wikipedia indicates that the newest Powerbook G4s were from 2002--making yours a pretty old machine.
Instead of eBay, I recommend getting a drive from NewEgg.com. Much more reliable, and drives are incredibly cheap. Without looking too hard, here's one for $40 (though that's not a recommendation to buy that drive in particular).
Are you replacing that powerbook? It's just going to get worse. If you are replacing, you should consider getting a larger hard drive so that you can continue using it to make backups on your new machine. 60/80 Gb is pretty paltry these days; almost any new computer will have a larger hard drive (unless you're buying a new Macbook Air).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:22 AM on October 27, 2010
According to the wikipedia page, the G4s topped out with 60 GB of disk space, so the drive you're talking about would be enough space for the backup. I also note that Wikipedia indicates that the newest Powerbook G4s were from 2002--making yours a pretty old machine.
Instead of eBay, I recommend getting a drive from NewEgg.com. Much more reliable, and drives are incredibly cheap. Without looking too hard, here's one for $40 (though that's not a recommendation to buy that drive in particular).
Are you replacing that powerbook? It's just going to get worse. If you are replacing, you should consider getting a larger hard drive so that you can continue using it to make backups on your new machine. 60/80 Gb is pretty paltry these days; almost any new computer will have a larger hard drive (unless you're buying a new Macbook Air).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:22 AM on October 27, 2010
Best answer: "PowerBook G4" could refer to any one of a number of models. I have one of the later G4 models (aluminium, 15") which also has issues with sites like youtube, though I never need to restart the machine, I just wait it out.
Disks are so cheap these days, there's no real reason to get one as small as you suggest. Your laptop probably has a disk no bigger than 250G or 320G, and most likely smaller. A quick google shows various 500G external drives at around $70 each, and various 1TB drives at about the same price.
I wouldn't buy a disk on ebay, especially not one that may have been bouncing about in some guy's backpack for the past year.
Your real options are whether you want a bus powered (plug into the computer only) drive, or a wall powered (plug into the computer, and plug into the an AC adapter).
Final question -- what OS are you running on it? If you're running 10.5 you'll have Time Machine which makes for a really easy backup once you have the disk.
posted by devbrain at 7:24 AM on October 27, 2010
Disks are so cheap these days, there's no real reason to get one as small as you suggest. Your laptop probably has a disk no bigger than 250G or 320G, and most likely smaller. A quick google shows various 500G external drives at around $70 each, and various 1TB drives at about the same price.
I wouldn't buy a disk on ebay, especially not one that may have been bouncing about in some guy's backpack for the past year.
Your real options are whether you want a bus powered (plug into the computer only) drive, or a wall powered (plug into the computer, and plug into the an AC adapter).
Final question -- what OS are you running on it? If you're running 10.5 you'll have Time Machine which makes for a really easy backup once you have the disk.
posted by devbrain at 7:24 AM on October 27, 2010
Oops, I was looking at the Titanium G4s on that page (like my dear old departed TiBook G4 667!)--and neglected the Aluminum ones, which were produced through 2005 and maxed out at 120GB (but that was a pretty sweet model).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:27 AM on October 27, 2010
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:27 AM on October 27, 2010
Just to the point, it doesn't matter if your machine is 6 years old or 6 hours old, if you are not backed up you are risking losing all your data. Hard drives fail more predictably as they get older, but they also fail young and in between. All. The. Time. One drop of that notebook and all your pictures, email, music, and papers are gone, gone, gone. There is no window where you're safe.
Back up.
posted by fourcheesemac at 7:30 AM on October 27, 2010
Back up.
posted by fourcheesemac at 7:30 AM on October 27, 2010
YouTube works sporadically, often hanging it up with the color wheel, forcing me to restart the machine.
That'd be Flash being Flash.
posted by nathan_teske at 7:34 AM on October 27, 2010
That'd be Flash being Flash.
posted by nathan_teske at 7:34 AM on October 27, 2010
Best answer: Also, these days there is no point buying an external hard drive that is less than 500GB (if full sized). 1TB is going for $150. The incremental cost per gigabyte falls sharply in that range, and you will eventually, always, need all that room even if you don't think so now.
posted by fourcheesemac at 7:36 AM on October 27, 2010
posted by fourcheesemac at 7:36 AM on October 27, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! It is the 15", but I don't know exactly how old it is. Not sure if it's the Aluminum or Titanium.
The information from "About This Mac" says:
OS X 10.5.8
1GB SDRAM
PowerPC G4
On the "machd" it says: 13.28 GB available
On the "data" icon it says: 46.13 GB available
The eBay advice is good. I am always a bit skeptical about buying pre-owned electronics there, but have had great success with other things. AND I'll have a look at my Time Machine too. There are probably quite a few things on this Mac that I have not accessed or explored.
I'm not in a position to replace it right now, which is why I'm trying to work with what I have. This machine was a hand-me-down, so I got it for free. I've been very happy with it so far, and hope that by taking some action, I can make it last for some time.
Thanks again, all!
posted by sundrop at 7:46 AM on October 27, 2010
The information from "About This Mac" says:
OS X 10.5.8
1GB SDRAM
PowerPC G4
On the "machd" it says: 13.28 GB available
On the "data" icon it says: 46.13 GB available
The eBay advice is good. I am always a bit skeptical about buying pre-owned electronics there, but have had great success with other things. AND I'll have a look at my Time Machine too. There are probably quite a few things on this Mac that I have not accessed or explored.
I'm not in a position to replace it right now, which is why I'm trying to work with what I have. This machine was a hand-me-down, so I got it for free. I've been very happy with it so far, and hope that by taking some action, I can make it last for some time.
Thanks again, all!
posted by sundrop at 7:46 AM on October 27, 2010
Best answer: If YouTube crashes, you can press Cmd(Apple)+Option+Escape and select to restart (Force Quit) just your browser, rather than the whole machine, too, I think.
I have an old PowerBook that I gave my husband and it still works great, so with backups you should be good for a while! Good luck.
posted by theredpen at 7:53 AM on October 27, 2010
I have an old PowerBook that I gave my husband and it still works great, so with backups you should be good for a while! Good luck.
posted by theredpen at 7:53 AM on October 27, 2010
try using grand perspective. It tells you not only how much space you're using, but also what is using that space. It's come in handy a couple of times for me.
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 8:25 AM on October 27, 2010
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 8:25 AM on October 27, 2010
Best answer: Oh devbrain, there is no running Snow Leopard on a G4. I wish it weren't so. G4s were PPC, as in, not an intel chip set and likely running OSX Tiger, if not something older. So no Time Machine. There was an Apple authored program called Backup which you got when registering for a .mac account. (which no longer exists)
I'd suggest you use SuperDuper, which luckily still offers a PPC version. You can schedule incremental backups or one-to-one copies.
As for the drive you'll need to buy: are you going to need to use this computer after the drive dies? And the drive will die. Probably with in a year. It is rather improbable that that drive hasn't already failed after 6 years.
If you are going to need to use this computer after the drive fails, I'd suggest two options for you:
First is to buy a replacement laptop drive and an enclosure. You can use this drive to replace the dead one. If you are using SuperDuper to make 1-to-1 back ups, you won't need any operating system disks, just stick it in and i'll be like nothing ever happened. Any computer repair shop can do this for you for the price of labor. (WorstBuy charged me $50 for the exact same repair) You can also follow the instructions on iFixit and DIY. Those guides will also show you the correct type of drive to purchase if you want to go this route.
Secondly, you could purchase a FireWire drive. FireWire can be used in "disk target mode" when the primary hard drive fails. This allows you to boot from the external drive. This means you need to cary around the external with you at all times. FireWire enclosures are slightly more expensive, and you'd need a FW400 to 800 adaptor. This drive would also be able to be used on other computers when/if you get a new computer so it wouldn't be money sunk into a very old computer.
If you are not going to need to use this computer after the drive fails, I'd get a nice big USB drive and use it as a back up for future computers. A 1TB drive can be had for $100 on sale. This way your investment transfers when this laptop dies.
The most important thing, regardless of what kind of drive you end up buying is you need an independently powered drive. The G4s did not supply enough power to the USB or FW bus to drive even a small laptop drive. If you see a drive that says "no power supply needed!", it is lying to you. You need a drive with a separate AC adaptor, or buy yourself a powered USB hub. I got a 7 port hub for under $10, and again, it is an investment that will transfer to your future computer.
In addition to the hard drive dying, you can also expect the monitor backlight to go soon. You could use an external monitor and an adaptor and have a working computer. If you can find the adaptor and monitor for very cheap, (there's a Goodwill computer store in my city), it might be worth doing. Repair or replacement would not be cost effective. Your Airport (WiFi) antennas are also likely to go, but that can be solved by using a direct connection to your modem/router.
You can also expect to find your computer growing obsolete in big ways. You probably won't be able to use new printers with it, as they won't make PPC printer drivers. No new programs. Can't use new WiFi standards. Even websites are going to outpace your processor. Don't get me wrong, I squeezed every drop of life out of my PBG4 and don't regret it, but you'll reach a point where your laptop is going to be totaled.
The cold hard truth is, what was once a $2500-$3000 computer is now the equivalent of a $300 netbook. If any repairs or replacements are going to cost you near $300, it is not worth it.
You likely already know this, but start saving up for a new computer because the one you have is on borrowed time as it is. Try to keep purchases for the G4 to things that are transferable and modern.
Good luck!
posted by fontophilic at 8:30 AM on October 27, 2010
I'd suggest you use SuperDuper, which luckily still offers a PPC version. You can schedule incremental backups or one-to-one copies.
As for the drive you'll need to buy: are you going to need to use this computer after the drive dies? And the drive will die. Probably with in a year. It is rather improbable that that drive hasn't already failed after 6 years.
If you are going to need to use this computer after the drive fails, I'd suggest two options for you:
First is to buy a replacement laptop drive and an enclosure. You can use this drive to replace the dead one. If you are using SuperDuper to make 1-to-1 back ups, you won't need any operating system disks, just stick it in and i'll be like nothing ever happened. Any computer repair shop can do this for you for the price of labor. (WorstBuy charged me $50 for the exact same repair) You can also follow the instructions on iFixit and DIY. Those guides will also show you the correct type of drive to purchase if you want to go this route.
Secondly, you could purchase a FireWire drive. FireWire can be used in "disk target mode" when the primary hard drive fails. This allows you to boot from the external drive. This means you need to cary around the external with you at all times. FireWire enclosures are slightly more expensive, and you'd need a FW400 to 800 adaptor. This drive would also be able to be used on other computers when/if you get a new computer so it wouldn't be money sunk into a very old computer.
If you are not going to need to use this computer after the drive fails, I'd get a nice big USB drive and use it as a back up for future computers. A 1TB drive can be had for $100 on sale. This way your investment transfers when this laptop dies.
The most important thing, regardless of what kind of drive you end up buying is you need an independently powered drive. The G4s did not supply enough power to the USB or FW bus to drive even a small laptop drive. If you see a drive that says "no power supply needed!", it is lying to you. You need a drive with a separate AC adaptor, or buy yourself a powered USB hub. I got a 7 port hub for under $10, and again, it is an investment that will transfer to your future computer.
In addition to the hard drive dying, you can also expect the monitor backlight to go soon. You could use an external monitor and an adaptor and have a working computer. If you can find the adaptor and monitor for very cheap, (there's a Goodwill computer store in my city), it might be worth doing. Repair or replacement would not be cost effective. Your Airport (WiFi) antennas are also likely to go, but that can be solved by using a direct connection to your modem/router.
You can also expect to find your computer growing obsolete in big ways. You probably won't be able to use new printers with it, as they won't make PPC printer drivers. No new programs. Can't use new WiFi standards. Even websites are going to outpace your processor. Don't get me wrong, I squeezed every drop of life out of my PBG4 and don't regret it, but you'll reach a point where your laptop is going to be totaled.
The cold hard truth is, what was once a $2500-$3000 computer is now the equivalent of a $300 netbook. If any repairs or replacements are going to cost you near $300, it is not worth it.
You likely already know this, but start saving up for a new computer because the one you have is on borrowed time as it is. Try to keep purchases for the G4 to things that are transferable and modern.
Good luck!
posted by fontophilic at 8:30 AM on October 27, 2010
Best answer: since you're on 10.5, you can do Time Machine with a Time Capsule. it's somewhat expensive, but it does also do your wireless network, and you won't have to have anything physically connected (except for the first time around - doing the initial backup over Ethernet is faster than doing it over WiFi) to have it backing up. you might also look at doing something off-site too - Backblaze or Mozy both will let you back up your stuff over the internet in a secure fashion, and you can get to it later if you need to. more backups are always better. (I recently set up a client with a Time Capsule, an external drive with SuperDuper, and Backblaze. it's not excessive, really.)
if you're using Safari, try adding ClickToFlash. it'll keep random Flash crap from firing up and bogging down your machine. it also tricks YouTube into sending you the raw H.264 video rather than the Flash video - Flash isn't as optimized as it really ought to be and your computer will have an easier time playing the raw video file. (there are similar things for Firefox and whatnot, too.)
posted by mrg at 8:31 AM on October 27, 2010
if you're using Safari, try adding ClickToFlash. it'll keep random Flash crap from firing up and bogging down your machine. it also tricks YouTube into sending you the raw H.264 video rather than the Flash video - Flash isn't as optimized as it really ought to be and your computer will have an easier time playing the raw video file. (there are similar things for Firefox and whatnot, too.)
posted by mrg at 8:31 AM on October 27, 2010
MicroCenter has a 2TB external Seagate USB on sale for $119. That's powered from the wall.
If you were going with a bus-powered drive, look for something that uses FireWire (pretty sure your machine has a FW port). We have a Verbatim 320GB bus powered on a laptop of similar vintage, used for the itunes library.
After your stuff is backed up (get a big drive, do Time Machine *and* do a full disk clone using Carbon Copy Cloner) then consider adding more memory to the beastie. It will be a lot happier with 2GB than 1.
Also go into Disk Utility and do "repair permissions" on your main hard drive. I think this machine has a lot of life left in it.
posted by omnidrew at 8:31 AM on October 27, 2010
If you were going with a bus-powered drive, look for something that uses FireWire (pretty sure your machine has a FW port). We have a Verbatim 320GB bus powered on a laptop of similar vintage, used for the itunes library.
After your stuff is backed up (get a big drive, do Time Machine *and* do a full disk clone using Carbon Copy Cloner) then consider adding more memory to the beastie. It will be a lot happier with 2GB than 1.
Also go into Disk Utility and do "repair permissions" on your main hard drive. I think this machine has a lot of life left in it.
posted by omnidrew at 8:31 AM on October 27, 2010
On a similar vintage PowerBook I've used a firewire drive and Carbon Copy Cloner (as omnidrew mentions) which will allow you to make a bootable clone of your drive. That makes accessing files/programs in a pinch super easy -- just hold down the Option key as you boot the machine to run the entire system off of the external drive.
A USB drive won't be bootable, although it may be cheaper and just as effective for backup purposes. Also, since it's doing a full backup it takes longer to run - I just set it up and let it go overnight. I actually partitioned the drive (so that it appears as two separate drives) and keep two full backups on it.
If ever need/want to replace the internal hard drive, I highly recommend checking out the Mac drive compatibility database at xlr8yourmac.com.
posted by nuffsaid at 9:43 AM on October 27, 2010
A USB drive won't be bootable, although it may be cheaper and just as effective for backup purposes. Also, since it's doing a full backup it takes longer to run - I just set it up and let it go overnight. I actually partitioned the drive (so that it appears as two separate drives) and keep two full backups on it.
If ever need/want to replace the internal hard drive, I highly recommend checking out the Mac drive compatibility database at xlr8yourmac.com.
posted by nuffsaid at 9:43 AM on October 27, 2010
Time Machine is available for 10.5 and later. It'll work fine on any external drive you get. However, a Time Machine backup is only going to work if you get a new Mac. If you plan to switch to Windows on machine death, you'll need a plain old copy, nothing fancy.
And don't wait to buy your backup disk. Go buy something today, right now. At minimum, go get a USB flash stick and copy over the most important things.
posted by chairface at 2:10 PM on October 27, 2010
And don't wait to buy your backup disk. Go buy something today, right now. At minimum, go get a USB flash stick and copy over the most important things.
posted by chairface at 2:10 PM on October 27, 2010
Response by poster: Wow. Came back to revisit and found even more very helpful info!
All of these are best answers. And lots of info that I had not thought of. My head is spinning.
Ultimately, it looks like this machine is living on borrowed time, as one poster said. Guess I better start saving up while taking immediate precautions now.
Again, thanks folks!
posted by sundrop at 6:39 AM on October 29, 2010
All of these are best answers. And lots of info that I had not thought of. My head is spinning.
Ultimately, it looks like this machine is living on borrowed time, as one poster said. Guess I better start saving up while taking immediate precautions now.
Again, thanks folks!
posted by sundrop at 6:39 AM on October 29, 2010
It's not on borrowed time in that it doesn't sound like anything is about to break, it's just becoming obsolete, although those are close to the same with computers. Computers don't "wear out" in a linear fashion if they are handled carefully. Components generally fail completely but not predictably. I have a 20 year old Powerbook Duo 230 that still runs like a top, hard drive and all. (Can't do anything with it, of course).
Make sure you only run one or two applications at a time, keep only a couple of browser windows open, etc. I recommend running Flashblock (for Safari at least), and then just clicking on the flash content you really want to see. Saves a ton of memory and bandwidth, makes browsing so much less eyestraining.
Make sure you run all Apple software updates. Don't update software that works right, since newer versions are going to be Intel native.
Just be backed up completely.
posted by fourcheesemac at 9:09 AM on October 30, 2010
Make sure you only run one or two applications at a time, keep only a couple of browser windows open, etc. I recommend running Flashblock (for Safari at least), and then just clicking on the flash content you really want to see. Saves a ton of memory and bandwidth, makes browsing so much less eyestraining.
Make sure you run all Apple software updates. Don't update software that works right, since newer versions are going to be Intel native.
Just be backed up completely.
posted by fourcheesemac at 9:09 AM on October 30, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Capacity:
Available:
Used:
Or, if everything you'd want to transfer is in your personal folder, you can just do the same with the folder (It'll just say Size:).
posted by General Malaise at 7:18 AM on October 27, 2010