just remembered that a couple of days ago I started the G4 up
and the date/time was way out said it was 1974!

was that the start of it all?

also
I've just installed my old 40gb HD
booted with OSXtiger disk 1
went to disk utilities
erased disk - format Mac OS Extended (journaled)
with 'install Mac OS 9 drivers" checked

erased OK

went to install - basically almost completed disk 1 then it says
error installing software!!!

booted up again
now disk utility says there is an error with this disk!!!

just wonder if my G4 is stuffed

getting worse!

just tried again what I mentioned above
it just about finished with the disk 1 install and now I got
what I think is the kernal panic notification.

opaque black panel that comes up saying

You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button
for several seconds or press the Restart button.

then in spanish/german/asian text under that

what is going on????

Hang on , it sounds like your PRAM battery is dead. That could explain why you are having these problems too. A flat battery can cause all sorts of problems in desktops. Get a new one and whack it into the G4 and see if these problems persist. About $12 from any DSE or other computer store if my memory serves me correctly.
Mind you if the pins came out of the connector for your HD , then that is not a good sign either. Bear in mind also, if that is the original HD , then it is at least seven years old which in dog years means it is ancient. You are lucky for it to survive this long.

Stewie

Just a reminder that Digital Audios don't have large drive support so you are limited to 137 GB (128 proper) unless you use the third party Hi-cap driver (how good/reliable this is probably doesn't need to be discussed; some people love it, some don't).

Firstly, the G4 Digital Audio's have a limit on the maximum capacity of hard drive that can be used -- the onboard IDE controller can only reliably make use of the first physical 128 GB worth of a drive's storage-space. Essentially, the biggest hard drive you can connect to a G4-DA's onboard parallel IDE connector is 120 GB (unless you use Intech HiCap, which renders the machine unable to use OS9).

Secondly, the date issue you have means that the onboard PRAM battery is near death. Remove it and take it to a Dick Smiths or jaycar and find a replacement -- you need a 3.6V 850 mAh lithium "half AA" battery. Not having sufficient charge in your PRAM battery will affect the behaviour of OSX, which is date-sensitive to a high degree.

The fact that your original HD came out sans pins means that some form of corrosion has got to your machine -- this would have caused the pins in the power connector to become fused, and could have also caused degrading of the solder connections on the hard drive itself. And if that were the case, then other components or solder connections on the hard drive that has failed could also have become affected, whch would have led to the S.M.A.R.T. "failing" warning.

Considering the capacity of the 40 GB drive you are trying (and thus its age), I would not be suprised to find that there is a physical problem with that drive as well. It could also be that the above-mentioned corrosion has affected the pins inside the 40-pin IDE header.

What to do?

First and foremost, buy a PRAM battery and replace it. Buy a brand-new 80 GB or 120 GB hard drive. You can use a larger capacity hard drive, but you must partition it so that the usable partition(s) do not exceed 128 GB in total.

Disassemble your G4 and clean it thoroughly -- disconnect all cards and connectors, remove the RAM, and attempt to remove any visible dust. Use a small stiff brush to clean the blades of the side (case) fan. It would be beneficial if you could remove the PSU and the case fan as well for more thorough cleaning, so that you can use a vacuum cleaner to get at the grillwork behind the case fan to remove the years worth of build-up on the vents.

Replace the short IDE cable that goes between motherboard and drives. The actual spare part may be hard to locate, and you can use a normal PC-style 80-way, three-header cable in place, but you must be careful how it is folded. if you are truly paranoid and wish to continue using the existing short cable, remove it from the G4, spray a small amount of WD40 into the pin-holes and leave to soak for at least two hours to break up any oxidisation, then dip the headers into mineral turpentine to wash away residual oil and oxide waste, then wash in methylated spirits to disperse as much of the turps as posssible; allow to dry overnight before putting the cable back into use.

thanks for the in depth instructions.
just got a new battery placed it in switched it on
(still had the OSX disk1 cd in the drive)
now it wants to install OSX, went to disk utility and no hard drive is showing at all now?
simple Q but didn't take note, which way does the battery go in?
+ end towards the pram reset button???

Yes. I just checked mine ( DA too )

Stewie

what do you mean by DA too?
sorry it's all getting too much at the mo!

It means he too has a G4-DA, and you were right about the orientation of the battery.

The + and - markings are moulded into the battery-holder, if you shine a torch into where the battery goes, you can make them out. Bit difficult, otherwise.

I think I just have to resign to the fact that she is cactus!
I'm sure that because those pins for the power connector have come out
that it has now totally stuffed the drive up as it doesn't get recognised
anymore.
Try to start and I get the folder with flashing "?"
Boot from OSX tiger Disk 1
go to sys profiler - no hard drive
go to disk utility - no hard drive

she's @#$%ed!

No, I'd say the machine is actually quite all right (a little bit of dirt and corrosion notwithstanding), it is just your hard drives -- and possibly your hard drive cables -- that are giving you the most grief.

If you were to follow my instructions above, and attempt to install a brand new hard drive, it should come back to life.

Even in the eventuality that the motherboard's first IDE interface is not working (which I doubt) you can still keep your G4 alive for some time to come by installing a Projovian SUA-100E card, which will give you bootable high-capacity SATA and parallel IDE capabilities.



Australian reseller BlackFire sells these for A$129. I highly recommend them. Once you upgrade your Mac, with the ProJovian card installed your old G4 will make an excellent server.

just purchased a 320gb drive with the intention to create 3 partitions.
through disk utility and the partition section it is only giving me 128gb.

is there a special way to partition into 3 lots....


it's been a very long day sorry!

Both Brains and I mentioned that this would be an issue without a third party driver ($24.95 US): Hi-Cap driver by Intech

I am not aware of another solution.

I read that as I need the driver if I wanted to use a HD above 120gb meaning one partition. And then going by what was said after that
"You can use a larger capacity hard drive, but you must partition it so that the usable partition(s) do not exceed 128 GB in total."
that I could partition a larger drive into sections no greater that 128gb...
without the driver!
So how does the driver work? Don't I have to install OS to then be able to install driver?

sorry mate

Your assumption is right, you need to be able to install the HiCap driver into a working install of OSX.

What you do is make one 128 GB (or smaller) partition, and then install OSX into it. The very first thing you do after that is install the HiCap driver -- this then takes over and invisibly controls all access to the space above 128 GB. Once that's done and the driver is in place, you can create partitions in the higher-than-128 GB range.

Because the install process doesn't write crap all over the shop, all activity by the install process happens within the first, safe 128 GB of the drive. This is all mentioned in Intech's installation guide.