Posts by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AxfHvCHvaW8bsPtWXg by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-05-30T15:41:37Z
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I forgot to mention, I've already followed the instructions in the manual to reset the CUDA:"1. Unplug the computer.2. Press the Power On button on the front of the unit.3. Open the side access panel.4. Remove the battery from the logic board.5. Wait at least 10 minutes before replacing the battery.6. Make sure the battery is installed in the correct +/-direction.7. Reassemble the computer and test the unit."
(DIR) Post #AxfHvHM0klNJaWqM6K by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-05-30T15:59:59Z
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Swapping out the DIMMs, one by one, and on the third one I got video!
(DIR) Post #AxfHvMZfLQGhmKGpZw by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-05-30T16:01:23Z
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Time to reconnect the hard drive and see whether it gets anywhere on boot.Actually, time to grab a sticker so I can mark this DIMM as working, at least for now.
(DIR) Post #AxfHvRTT7tHYyYPS76 by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-05-31T02:45:30Z
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I poked at it further over the rest of the day, but sadly got no further. The hard drive feels to be spinning -- the CD drive definitely is -- but nothing loads. It's possible that the previous owner did the smart thing and wiped the hard drive before selling it.I have tried to burn an ISO to CD in order to make a system install disc, but I can't get the optical drive to spin up and read it.
(DIR) Post #AxfHvWYyCreal41Psm by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-05-31T02:48:46Z
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After I posted to the TinkerDifferent forums about the situation,,a helpful person instructed me on how to boot into Open Firmware and try to boot, or even read, a CD from the command line. No luck, it's giving the errorDISK-LABEL : read of block0 failedcan't OPEN: cdokon both my burned CDs and commercially mastered discs.But that gives me a direction to try: swap the optical drive. I have exactly one other IDE optical drive, from my relative's G3 desktop. I'll give it a shot.
(DIR) Post #AxfHvbOsDpY3lCKvL6 by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-06-05T16:06:49Z
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Before swapping it, I went to check the optical drive out of the G3 desktop. Does it, in fact, spin up at all?No, what a ridiculous notion.So both of these Macintoshes, more than 25 years old, have failed optical drives. And I have no other ATAPI drives in my possession. I'll look for one at the MIT Flea or a Goodwill shop.Alternatively, I could learn to repair an optical drive. It isn't like they're going to get less functional if I don't succeed.
(DIR) Post #AxfHvgE4HQsMj8Jrgu by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-11T16:44:08Z
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A month or so on, I have the mental space to return to my G4 tower. With a replacement IDE optical drive in hand (see https://mastodon.social/@GamesMissed/114835574146420100), I set about removing the drive cage, following a seemingly-ancient-but-still-useful video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-v1iEeK_9s).
(DIR) Post #AxfHvl2uMLv5fy8WUS by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-11T16:44:43Z
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Remember how I was praising the design of these cases above? Well, that wonderful design didn't extend to the drive cage. I sliced my finger on thin sheet metal getting it out -- I haven't cut myself inside a computer case since ... well, since this case was contemporary. I didn't miss this part of old computers at all.
(DIR) Post #AxfHvq0buK3L4I6G6S by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-11T16:55:11Z
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With the new drive in place (an Asus 52X CD-ROM drive), I closed up the case, powered on the computer, waited for it to give me the flashing question mark, and ...Voila!So no I can install the operating system!Except the internal hard drive (a Seagate 500 GB) isn't detected. Time to dig into the shoe box of old hard drives. (That's not odd, right? Someone else please confirm that you also have a shoebox of old hard drives.)#Macintosh
(DIR) Post #AxfHvv1VGQjocVYXgm by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-11T17:27:14Z
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Because I can't leave well enough alone, I connected the seemingly dead Seagate drive to a Raspberry Pi computer, via an IDE-to-USB adapter. The setup is janky, so I'd much rather risk a Pi than my regular computer.And here, the drive spins up fine and is readable. This was definitely never a Mac boot drive; it's labeled IOMEGA_HDD, formatted as vfat, and has a bunch of files and data from a research project.
(DIR) Post #AxfHvznrUZnTReDDcW by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T20:26:54Z
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I'm currently installing OS X 10.4 on the Sawtooth Mac, using CDs.And the computer just rebooted as I was typing this -- heard the tone and turned around to see the screen had gone black, then restarted. I really hope that was supposed to happen.#Retrocomputing #Macintosh #PowerPC
(DIR) Post #AxfHw4Cp7i8n6DvD5E by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T20:30:01Z
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Oh, good, it looks like that reboot was deliberate. Asking me for Disc 2, which I have just freshly burned.This also gave the chance to explain "burning a CD" to one of my kids. They're asking about burning an audio CD containing only songs about how awesome they are.#Parenting
(DIR) Post #AxfHw93n4it09ejZCK by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T20:33:17Z
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Time to burn installer CD No. 3 while 2 is in the Mac.I am not sure whether OS X 10.4 is a good choice for this system; I'm new to this era of Macintoshes. I'll find out when I get there.
(DIR) Post #AxfHwE0mfKS5VmMjho by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T21:31:52Z
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Success!I'd forgotten that the mid-2000s was still back when operating systems had theme music.I'd also forgotten that old mechanical hard drives make an actual, audible noise when they spin down. And I can confirm that sleep mode works fine on this Mac, because that was abrupt enough to rattle me. It came back out of sleep again just fine with a tap on the keyboard, though.I keep thinking this box might detonate on me, for some reason.
(DIR) Post #AxfHwILqWxg0yGFc5g by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T21:36:36Z
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A clean desktop, and the basic system information.Am I wrong in thinking it's weird that the "Machine Name" describes it (incorrectly) as a PowerMac G3?#Macintosh
(DIR) Post #AyB4f1aqVCHbjCQ2SW by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-09-13T22:03:42Z
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Hello @foone , I saw an interesting keyboard today. To be honest, the whole shop looked interesting, but the posted hours say they're only open Monday through Friday.
(DIR) Post #AymHtJjlHKEpx7jV0S by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-10-01T21:33:30Z
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@rain There's your free time set for the next week or so.I haven't played that Picross yet. Which one is it?
(DIR) Post #B17H6zAUn8CS479Dk0 by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2023-10-05T13:55:09Z
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If you are looking to mod a Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Wii/Wii U, I used these guides:https://3ds.hacks.guide/https://wiiu.hacks.guide/https://wii.guide/Everything went smoothly for all devices. It had no effect at all on online functionality. In my experience, there's a lot more homebrew available for the 3DS and Wii than for the Wii U, but I figure that's just down to the install bases for the systems.Mod your devices and add or restore the functionality you want.#3ds #wiiu #wii
(DIR) Post #B17H75ni8F8KdTXchM by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2025-06-18T16:56:00Z
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If you're looking to jailbreak an old Kindle e-reader tablet (e-ink screen, not Kindle Fire tablets), I recommend the guide athttps://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/I have a brief thread on the process here: https://mastodon.social/@GamesMissed/114676749049208029
(DIR) Post #B2OePGj0qc2lgRsvho by GamesMissed@mastodon.social
2026-01-18T03:10:01Z
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Cat decided to be photogenic, allowing me to get a #Caturday pic in under the wire.