I am using a Mac Mini G4 with 1GB ram installed in it. I am not much satisfied with the emulation of classic Amiga and PS1 (haven't tried others) and browsing. Would it be a big leap upgrading to G5?

I do not have any idea about MAC hardware old or new. :)

G5 is much snappier than the G4 esp. with more heavy loads, also fan pitch sound is way less annoying. Comparing G4 1.67GHz in PB to 2.0GHz in PM. I had a mini G4 but sold it, though I have to say it was way bigger performance upgrade going from G3 to G4 than G4 to G5.

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At least upgrade from Mac mini or 1.67 GHz Powerbook to an iMac G5 iShight (1.8 GHz) is not that much of a performance step. In fact it seems to be a mixed bag. MPLayer is a good share faster, but for example Wayfarer is very similar, if not faster on the G4 1.67.
That said the G5 iSight is really a nice machine which I enjoy very much (and it consumes surprisingly little energy).

Don't want to open can of worm but I wish I could just install MorphOS on one my old/new laptops. At this stage, it is pretty usable for a daily drive but the hardware limits it severely.

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That's not opening a can of worms. Probably most MorphOS users are awaiting the x64 switch. And switch is being worked on (demo shown already a while ago), but it isn't easy, it#s a lot of work.
Hence we'll have to live with ppc kit for a while. MorphOS is great, but you need some patience.

Well, to be honest, there are not that much differences in speed, if you compare some of the faster G4 machines with a modest G5. Due to the faster memory access, the G5 is able to play 720p videos properly, which won't work on any G4 machine without heavy frameskipping.

A G4 Mac mini only can have 1 GB of RAM, while the G5 can use upto 1,76 GB. MorphOS and its applications have a little memory footprint, but this makes a difference when doing memory demanding tasks like browsing with OWB or Wayfarer.

Oh, and it's easier to upgrade the harddisk of the G5, as you can use SATA drives without any adapter. On a Mac mini you are limited to PATA drives (or you are using mSATA drives with a PATA adapter).

I started out trying modern Morphos on a MacMini last summer, just as the smaller form factor would mean it wouldn't take up much room in the house.

I then moved onto a PowerBook G4 so that I could use MorphOS downstairs in front of the telly in a evening when I was away from desk.

But then when Wayfarer came out I got a real desire to get some more power, as that is literally the only problem with MorphOS, and when a G5 Quad was offered for free near to me I took the opportunity and haven't looked back since.

I still use the MacMini, it sits on my desk whilst the G5 sits next to it, and run bought through a KVM switch box, with the MacMini good when I want to do something quickly and the G5 good when I want to do something where power is more required, particularly as the heat seems to build up quickly on my MacMini.

I love both machines, but the G5 is the one I think gives me the best Morphos experience and also has brought me back to tinkering with computers like I used to with my PowerTower A1200 20 years ago.

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That said, not all SATA drives will work with PowerMac G5 controller. It's generally safe to assume that all SATA-I and most SATA-II drives will work but hardly any SATA-III will.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Looks like it doesn't make much sense to upgrade at this moment unless I find a G5 machine at a reasonable price. I think I'll keep MorphOS as a hobby OS that I use to connect to BBSes or to try some of those new Amiga softwares popping up here and there.

Wayfarer is an awesome browser and it fits my needs in its current stage, but the hardware is too limiting.

Crossing my fingers for the x64 switch. :)

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I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm pretty sure that I'm using a SATA-III SSD in my G5.And that SSD is no magic mystery device. It's a standard device.

[ Edited by analogkid 19.01.2021 - 16:39 ]

>> It's generally safe to assume that [...]
>> hardly any SATA-III [drive] will [work].

> I'm not sure what you mean

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=12583&forum=11&start=1

https://www.intenso.de/produkte/solid-state-drives/2%2C5%22-SSD-High-Performance

This one is a SATA-III SSD, isn't it? Serious question.


I'm using the 240 GB version in a Powermac G5 (7.3, DualCPU 2.0 GHz).

>>>> It's generally safe to assume that [...]
>>>> hardly any SATA-III [drive] will [work].

>>> I'm not sure what you mean

>> https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=12583&forum=11&start=1

> [...] This one is a SATA-III SSD, isn't it?

Yes, seems so. And I don't see how this SSD working in your PowerMac G5 contradicts what was said in this thread. Nobody claimed that SATA3 drives categorically cannot work in a PowerMac G5. What was said here is that hardly any of them would work, and in the linked thread it was said that some of them wouldn't work. I guess the truth lies somewhere in between :-)

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Well, it's the slight difference between "hardly any drive will work" and "the first drive I tried works OOTB".

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Welcome to the wonderful world of nit-picking.

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Then I'm happy for you but the first SATA-III drive I tried didn't work OOTB or any time later. The computer saw the disk, even tried to partition it but with no effect whatsoever. And no matter if I used OSX or MorphOS. Strangely enough it worked straight away in my wife's laptop.
I also heard numerous reports from other users that they had trouble with newer harddrives in their G5's.

If we are to make some rule then I believe a statistically significant group is needed and one is not nearly enough.

>> Yes, seems so. And I don't see how this SSD working in
>> your PowerMac G5 contradicts what was said in this thread.

> Well, it's the slight difference between "hardly any drive will
> work" and "the first drive I tried works OOTB".

No, it's not, because the former does not preclude the latter. You just want to see a contradiction where there is none, at least not without having enough data for representative statistics and an exact definition of "hardly any".

>> Nobody claimed that SATA3 drives categorically cannot work in a
>> PowerMac G5. What was said here is that hardly any of them would work.

> Welcome to the wonderful world of nit-picking.

There is no nit-picking, just someone who deliberately misunderstands what was actually written. Did the thought cross your mind that you may have just been lucky with your choice of SSD? Anyway, you may want to add your SSD model to that thread for others to find.

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Thanks, I haven't dared to buy random SSDs myself, but I ordered couple of these now because of your confirmation (and they seemed to be cheap too) :)

I tried a Kingston A400 240GB SATA 3 in my G5 and can confirm it did not work.

My experience with the Sata III Crucial MX500 250GB CT250MX500SSD1 (Z) was also negative. The drive was not recognized by my iMac G5 iSight neither under MorphOS nor under OSX.
The Sata III SSD 256GB SK Hynix SC311 worked great on the first try.

I tried a Kingston A400 240GB SATA 3 in my G5 and can confirm it did not work.

G5 aside, I am using for almost 2 years an ADATA SU650 248GB (SATA 3) via a Digitus ide-sata converter. which is afaik the only adapter that plugs onto the old 40pin ide ribbon. Should anyone have an old Peg. or PMac with regular PATA HD interface, I strongly suggest not to think of any other alternative: absolutely no need for extra SATA PCI cards which take space and/or using slots of lesser bandwidth. Also, you can combine 2 x Digitus and 2 x SSDs onto the same ribbon compared to other solutions (adapters) which plug into the mobo and offer only 1 SATA slot. Suffice to say that the old mechanical 7200rpm took about 10 secs to index my Games' drawer (about 65GB), wheeras the new config does the job in less than half a second, pus it offloads crucial cpu cyrcles which help overall multitasking. I would say that the system, feels about 40% more responsive in real life usage after the upgrade. Heck, upgrading to SSD showed more benefit to MorphOS compared to my win/pc when I did it :P

Now, I am gonna populate the 2nd ribbon slot (salve) with a Digitus again. However, I am bouncing between the ADATA SU800 512GB and the Crucial MX500 500GB. They are priced virtually the same, Crusial uses latest gen Microns compared to previous gen by the SU800 and all hw reviews present it as best buy choice. Still, my last Crucial SSD went KIA suddenly a couple of years ago which wasn't a pleasant surpise and I think that the current setup already tops IDE bandwitdh, so a faster SSD won't help it. Also the ADATA has been proven so damn good and the fact that it uses chip combos that already have been proven to be working flawlessly with Digitus is an advantage.

Anyone using iMac G5 reliably with MorphOS 3.15? My Mac mini PPC is on its last leg. I would love to swap it out with a G5 iMac until x86 port is done.

> Anyone using iMac G5 reliably with MorphOS 3.15?

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=11&topic_id=12759&start=72

I'm using a 2.1Ghz iMac G5 iSight without any issues at all.

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I've made very good experiences with a Docooler mSATA to PATA Adapter and a mSATA 60 GB drive. First I used this combo in a Powermac G4 Quicksilver, and then migrated it to a Powerbook G4. It fits perfectly, should work in a Mac mini, too. For me, it's a perfect SSD solution for PATA computers with limited space.