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View Full Version : What to do with 2 iMacs...



AaronRGod
April 8th, 2009, 05:06 AM
I recently came in to possession of two free iMacs (yes, those massive combinations of computers and monitors, with handles to boot), and I am pondering how to have fun with them. Any suggestions? Nothing will be considered too extreme.

myusername
April 8th, 2009, 05:13 AM
install gnome and add the eyes applet to the panel. make them face each other and have the worlds longest computer staring contest

MaxIBoy
April 8th, 2009, 05:20 AM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Trebuchet.jpg

gletob
April 8th, 2009, 05:30 AM
Give the fastest one to me:p:p

Put linux on them! Are they G3/4/5?

Put an lcd monitor in the shell and install a new computer inside of it.(You get brownie points if you use a mac mini)

MaxIBoy
April 8th, 2009, 05:47 AM
http://z.about.com/d/goeasteurope/1/0/N/1/-/-/TsarCannon.jpg

majamba
April 8th, 2009, 05:52 AM
get rid of them sell them they are apple product

the8thstar
April 8th, 2009, 05:55 AM
If the specs are good, I'll pay you if you ship one to France. Let me know if you're interested.

Stupendoussteve
April 8th, 2009, 05:56 AM
Linux on one, iMacquarium on the other... instructions at http://www.imacquarium.com/

toupeiro
April 8th, 2009, 06:00 AM
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2006/11/50imacs.jpg

Easter is right around the corner...

mips
April 8th, 2009, 08:51 AM
Easter is right around the corner...

lol

I-75
April 8th, 2009, 10:00 AM
Install OSX Tiger on One and Linux on the other. You can get OSX on E-Bay. OS 9 is in my opinion obsolete, but OSX Panther is good. I think you need at or near 512 MB Ram to run Tiger, whereas Panther can run on 256 MB.


I own two iMacs, and there are differences between models. On the newer models (the slot loader)... the ram chips (full sized PC 100) are easily accessible from the bottom compartment of the computer.

The older iMac (tray loader) has the ram chips inside the case and uses the laptop type of ram. The ram chips are hard to get at and not a easy task for everyone.

Older G3 Imacs overall are still good computers and are a great inexpensive way to get a Mac machine for almost nothing...(or nothing in some cases).

joshdudeha
April 8th, 2009, 10:11 AM
What kind of mac is it?
I doubt it's an intel machine?

3rdalbum
April 8th, 2009, 10:32 AM
http://www.alexshalman.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/wrecking-ball.jpg

No but seriously, the best thing to do with this machine is to build a Macquarium out of the case, or otherwise do some other sort of case hack like build another computer into the same case.

You can't do a lot with Mac OS 9, they run earlier versions of OS X very slowly, and they don't run the latest versions at all. Ubuntu is very slow on them too.

Kingsley
April 8th, 2009, 11:24 AM
Use one to smash the other. Or turn them into torrent slaves.

3rdalbum
April 8th, 2009, 12:43 PM
Or turn them into torrent slaves.

That's a great idea - good work, Kingsley.

Make sure that either of these is true:

1. Your broadband connection is less than 12mbps (that's the speed of the USB on those iMacs)

2. They are saving to a network share where the cables and routers in between the machines and the share are capable of 100mbps (that's the speed of the Ethernet port on the iMac).

AaronRGod
April 8th, 2009, 01:21 PM
@myusername: I do not think that any thing can compare to the silly hat application that I found on these things!

@ MaxIBoy: Damn, I wish that I owned a trebuchet, or a cannon designed to fire water buffalo!

@gletob: How do I discern the specs of these things? I have never used a Mac before.

@stupdendoussteve, gletob, 3rdalbum: Do any of you have experience modding iMacs? Is it a practical endeavour for your non extreme hobbyist?

@toupeiro: Host an iMac hunt for the neighbourhood children? I am going to need some big bushes!

@I-75: These are indeed slot loaders; does this mean that they have sufficient r.a.m. already, or that it will be easy to install it?

@joshdudeha: How would I find out?

@kingsley, 3rdalbum: Both of those criteria are true (thank you, Primus internet). When you say 'slaves', do you just mean have them doing nothing but down load torrents, or is there a way to have them both work on the same torrent that my main computer is also down loading?

insane_alien
April 8th, 2009, 01:57 PM
Damn, I wish that I owned a trebuchet!

you can build one yourself.

as for the macs, target practice? 1000 points if you hit the processor edge on from 300 meters.

gnomeuser
April 8th, 2009, 02:01 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Trebuchet.jpg

I love trebuchets.. brutal seige weapons, perfect for hurling those candy colored abominations to Hades

AaronRGod
April 8th, 2009, 02:02 PM
you can build one yourself.

Now those are some instructions that I would like to read. I wonder what the price and or killing range is...


as for the macs, target practice? 1000 points if you hit the processor edge on from 300 meters.

I am not sure if MaxIBoy's original intention was to use them as ammo or as targets. I guess I could always go with kingsley's idea and fire one at the other...

insane_alien
April 8th, 2009, 02:20 PM
I am not sure if MaxIBoy's original intention was to use them as ammo or as targets. I guess I could always go with kingsley's idea and fire one at the other...

a few modifications and a renaming to the LMC(large mac collider) :P

K.Mandla
April 8th, 2009, 02:34 PM
I suppose as long as people keep asking the question, I'll keep replying with my answers.

http://kmandla.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/ten-things-you-can-do-keep-an-old-computer-useful/
http://kmandla.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/things-to-do-with-an-old-computer/

Joeb454
April 8th, 2009, 02:36 PM
I might have to have a read of those one day KM - I have an old PC downstairs :)

That said, it all depends how old these iMac's are, I can't imagine they'd be Intel iMac's as somebody else said earlier

mips
April 8th, 2009, 02:40 PM
That said, it all depends how old these iMac's are, I can't imagine they'd be Intel iMac's as somebody else said earlier

Nah, they are PPC. There are several distros that still maintain a PowerPC arch.

AaronRGod
April 8th, 2009, 02:52 PM
@ K.Mandla: Those are some excellent articles! I am eagerly looking forward to the summer break now!

@mips: Would you care to elaborate?

3rdalbum
April 8th, 2009, 03:54 PM
I don't have any experience in modding anything, sorry.

For the torrents, the real limit is your connection speed, not processor speed; so two (or three) computers downloading from the one internet connection will not help. But you could use one computer for that.

gletob
April 8th, 2009, 04:42 PM
I think if you boot them up and go up to the little apple at the top right and the click about this mac.

Edit: Top left duh...

AaronRGod
April 8th, 2009, 08:00 PM
@gletob, any one else who is curious: I will report back on the specs later tonight.

AaronRGod
April 9th, 2009, 01:28 PM
I found this under the Apple System Profiler, which notably refused to open from the Apple menu (it just works!). (:

O.S.: 9.2.2 US
Active Enabler: Mas CS ROM 9.0.1
ATA hard drive
321 MB virtual memory
320 MB built in memory
8 MB video memory
Processor: PowerPC G3
Machine speed: 350 MHz

mips
April 9th, 2009, 07:21 PM
@mips: Would you care to elaborate?

Distros like Ubuntu, Debian, Gentoo, Arch etc have ports to run on PowerPC architecture.
http://penguinppc.org/about/distributions.php

Then there are also PPC version of BSD, NetBSD should be cool.

Yownanymous
April 9th, 2009, 07:28 PM
My suggestion:

Using one of the iMacs in place of the plane, copy the stage version of Pink Floyd's On the Run whilst using the other iMac to play the track! :P

joshdudeha
April 9th, 2009, 08:23 PM
I found this under the Apple System Profiler, which notably refused to open from the Apple menu (it just works!). (:

O.S.: 9.2.2 US
Active Enabler: Mas CS ROM 9.0.1
ATA hard drive
321 MB virtual memory
320 MB built in memory
8 MB video memory
Processor: PowerPC G3
Machine speed: 350 MHz

Oh dear.
They wouldn't be too good with much really :/

DivineTemplar
April 9th, 2009, 09:06 PM
While I would never willingly purchase an a Mac, I would always take them for free. There are quite a few things you can do with them, and older PCs.

MaxIBoy
April 9th, 2009, 09:42 PM
In all serious-ity:
http://www.dhpc.adelaide.edu.au/projects/beowulf/macbeowulf.html

And you've got an instant mini-supercomputer. Useful as a rendering farm, compiling machine, etc.

Firestom
April 9th, 2009, 10:20 PM
Linux on one, iMacquarium on the other... instructions at http://www.imacquarium.com/

Oh how I wish iMacs were crash-safe!

AaronRGod
April 13th, 2009, 03:21 PM
And you've got an instant mini-supercomputer. Useful as a rendering farm, compiling machine, etc.

That is a pretty bad *** idea. When you say 'rendering', are you referring to videos?

3rdalbum
April 13th, 2009, 03:55 PM
Ubuntu can run from that Mac as long as you install using the alternate CD. You might have a better time with Debian though.

conundrumx
April 13th, 2009, 04:14 PM
Beowulf cluster is probably your best bet. G3's aren't good for a whole lot these days. Barring that, you should definitely get OSX on them. I hated Macs for the longest time (OS8, OS9, even early OSX was disappointing) but the newer versions of OSX are very solid. If you can get 10.4 running you'll be in good shape.

Hopefully you don't suffer from IMHS (irrational Mac hatred syndrome). Worst case scenario there are plenty of charities eager for old computers.

AaronRGod
April 13th, 2009, 05:36 PM
You might have a better time with Debian though.

I was looking at the LinuxPPC page, trying to decide which operating system might be a wise choice. My guess was that a lighter distribution would be better considering the hard ware, but I am far from an expert. Can any one weigh in on this thought, if I do choose to put Linux on one?

AaronRGod
April 13th, 2009, 05:47 PM
Hopefully you don't suffer from IMHS (irrational Mac hatred syndrome).

Do not worry about that, my friend. Personally, I am extremely tired of the flame war that exists between Apple and Microsoft users. An operating system is a means to an end for me. Do these 'fan boys' across forums every where not realize that this 'any thing you can do, I can do better' argument is a result of blind consumer loyalty?

If these people truly understood what they were arguing about, they would realize that Windows is made for one thing, OSX (?) is made for another thing, and Linux is made for some thing else, and that is that. Every one should just find the operating system that works best for their needs, and stop choking the internet with nonsense. Refusing to use a device strictly because of the name attached to it is irrational, unless there is some realistic, ethical concern with said device.

And by the way, if I had to guess, I would say that this is all just another case of 'Coke versus Pepsi', where it will turn out that both Microsoft and Apple are both owned by one company using hatred to make the most money out of two demographics.

It is probably the Illuminati.

conundrumx
April 13th, 2009, 11:01 PM
Depending on what you like about Linux, now would be as good a time as any for you to check out OSX on the cheap. People sell Tiger (10.4) disks on eBay, craigslist, etc, etc for pretty cheap.

collinp
April 13th, 2009, 11:09 PM
Probably a mini-cluster, like the one linked above, is your best bet. Pretty awesome too.

Mokoma
April 13th, 2009, 11:11 PM
omg an imac g3 :D

i have had one of those since i was 11!!

i wanna install ubuntu on it but no version will really work =(

handy
April 13th, 2009, 11:26 PM
I dual boot Leopard & Arch on my intel alu' iMac. Arch does everything faster than Leopard, which I hardly ever boot into.

As mips stated previously there is a PPC version of Arch available. It would be a good solution as you build Arch to only have what you want on it, & due to Arch's inherent simplicity you won't find it hard at all to control which daemons are running.

If you find the iMacs too slow to do anything useful for you, use one as a torrent slave & the other as a spare.

stream303
April 14th, 2009, 04:09 AM
ATA hard drive
321 MB virtual memory
320 MB built in memory
8 MB video memory
Processor: PowerPC G3
Machine speed: 350 MHz

Note that under the best of conditions, what you'll end up with is roughly similar to a 700mhz Intel box, (double the G3 ppc speed for comparison to standard machines) although your memory is relatively good since many came originally with only 64mb. And don't expect any flash or 3D.

What you might want to do is use one for spare parts and make one a "super" iMac maxed out with ram if they are compatible.

Even so, in reality you are probably going to be happiest with a very lightweight DE, or perhaps just running a simple window manager. And keep the apps light.

At this stage, you'd have to look at it as more of a project to getting it to run Linux efficiently with low resources than any Apple thing.

HOWEVER, due to the fact that the Apple hardware was only designed for OS9 / OSX, you'll be manually editing your /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and possibly altering your bootloader /etc/yaboot.conf - not to mention having to manually partition the drives to keep root under 8gb if the disk is larger than oem. The Apple forum, wikis and other material can help if you want to go this route.

In the end, you have to ask yourself is it worth it? From a modern consumer standpoint - no, but if you view it as something to challenge yourself and get running as efficiently as possible - yes.

Sinkingships7
April 14th, 2009, 04:44 AM
install gnome and add the eyes applet to the panel. make them face each other and have the worlds longest computer staring contest

That is the most awesome thing I think I've ever heard.

Mokoma
April 14th, 2009, 04:46 AM
That is the most awesome thing I think I've ever heard.

lmfao xD

ajy0852
April 14th, 2009, 05:20 AM
install gnome and add the eyes applet to the panel. make them face each other and have the worlds longest computer staring contest

You don't need gnome, just run

xeyes

Or if you have a really big desk, you could try to figure out a way to use them as additional external monitors.

MaxIBoy
April 14th, 2009, 05:39 AM
Note that under the best of conditions, what you'll end up with is roughly similar to a 700mhz Intel box, (double the G3 ppc speed for comparison to standard machines) although your memory is relatively good since many came originally with only 64mb. And don't expect any flash or 3D.The old PPC chips ran circles around equivalently-clocked Intel chips. A 1.3 Ghz PPC could easily beat the pants off a 1.7 Ghz x86 chip. Also, two processors at 350 Mhz does not equal one processor at 700 Mhz. The code has to be written in such a way that it can run on multiple processors. Luckily, compiling code and rendering are easy to parallelize.




That is a pretty bad *** idea. When you say 'rendering', are you referring to videos?
Yeah, or still shots. It would be just slightly worse than a low-end Core 2 Duo, but it would be dedicated to the task, and meanwhile you'd use your main computer for something else.

handy
April 29th, 2009, 03:16 PM
I still say, that if you have use for torrents, then set one up as a torrent slave & use the other as a backup - spare. Torrents require little CPU or other horsepower & just a consistent internet line.

[Edit:] The internet speed can be throttled to suit your situation as well, it certainly doesn't have to be fast.