Re: Friend needs help with collection of Macs
*UPDATE 12/18/08* At 9:49 AM -0800 12/10/08, Digital Bill wrote: Afriendhas come into possession of a huge collection of machines all hooked together, mainlyMacs after the death of the owner, the father of a co-worker. He knows nothing about them and wants to see if they run and if so, if we can recover any data from them for his friend. 1. The original owner appears to have been a heavy smoker, but the 409 trick has worked wonders with the cases. My friend got the bottom off the iMac and cleaned it up, but he's hesitant about opening the top because CRTs retain voltage and he'd like to live a little longer. Though you can clearly tell that the bottom is clean and the top is not 2. Apparently at least one spider was living inside the iMac, as my friend found a weblike substance growing inside. Supposedly it took an entire can of air to blow all the crap out of the G3. 3. They have discovered at least four other candy-colored iMacs in an abandoned car on the property that has stuff growing inside it. I know Macs are tough, but are these puppies just a lost cause? (He's shown me pictures, and let's just say it's not a pretty sight.) 4. The owner's daughter has a bunch of OSX install discs. What's the best way to determine what's an OEM disc for a specific machine and what's a generic retail version usable on any machine? (Are the OEMs still gray?) Here's an example of 2 of the DVDs, one a Tiger install, the other a Leopard install... The Tiger just says Mac OS X Tiger Version 10.4Part # 2Z691-5305-A The Leopard says Mac OS X Leopard CPU Drop-in DVD Version 10.5 Part # 2Z691-6040-A and has additional verbiage This software is part of a hardware bundle - not to be sold separately... Obviously, the Leopard is OEM... but is there a database somewhere that would tell us for what machine? 5. Yeah, this is gonna be a project that keeps my friend occupied for quite some time, it appears. ;-) --Bill --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to g3-5-list-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Re: Friend needs help with collection of Macs
On Dec 18, 2008, at 11:44 AM, Digital Bill wrote: 3. They have discovered at least four other candy-colored iMacs in an abandoned car on the property that has stuff growing inside it. I know Macs are tough, but are these puppies just a lost cause? (He's shown me pictures, and let's just say it's not a pretty sight.) Macs are tough http://dbdev2.pharmacy.arizona.edu/flood/ Mine is still running years later. If the iMacs have been dry, and it's just an issue of grass and weeds growing into the car, some more cans of compressed air may well be all they need. If the iMac's been off for more than a day or three, there's no residual charge in the CRT electronics, and taking them apart would be the first step towards cleaning them. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to g3-5-list-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Friend needs help with collection of Macs
A friend has come into possession of a huge collection of machines all hooked together, mainly Macs after the death of the owner, the father of a co-worker. He knows nothing about them and wants to see if they run and if so, if we can recover any data from them for his friend. The machines are being removed piecemeal and he's trying to clean them up and get them running. Currently he has either an Indigo Blue or Blueberry iMac, a Power Mac G3 desktop with a Powered by Sonnet sticker on it and a G4 GigE with dual 500Mhz processors. (I haven't seen any of these machines myself, nor the others, so I'm working off his descriptions, so please bear with me.) Needless to say, most if not all of this stuff is in disarray; I don't think he even has enough power cords, mice or keyboards for these things. If he uses current day power cords, will it be safe? Secondly, what keyboards do exist need some serious cleaning up. If he plugs his aluminum Mac keyboard and mighty mouse in, will they work, or will they only work on the most recent flavor of OSX? The PM G3 has a video card in it, with DVI and VGA ports - so he can safely hook up a regular monitor to it, right? Finally, I'm concerned he may not have the original system discs for these puppies. What kind of problems might this present to him when it comes time to diagnose the hardware software and set up Admin privileges to manage the machines? And the part that scares me is, his friend did not know Macs, tried to shut them down while they were running and networked together (with apparently a ton of stuff still up and running on them), and she lost her patience and power switched them off. So... Between some pressing deadlines and the holidays and all, I probably won't get the chance to go and help him first-hand for at least another week or so. In the meantime, I promised him I'd throw this all out to the collective brain trust here to see what sticks. Needless to say, the operative word here is Help! ;-) Thanks, Bill --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Re: Friend needs help with collection of Macs
On Dec 10, 2008, at 10:49 AM, Digital Bill wrote: The machines are being removed piecemeal and he's trying to clean them up and get them running. Currently he has either an Indigo Blue or Blueberry iMac, a Power Mac G3 desktop with a Powered by Sonnet sticker on it and a G4 GigE with dual 500Mhz processors. (I haven't seen any of these machines myself, nor the others, so I'm working off his descriptions, so please bear with me.) Needless to say, most if not all of this stuff is in disarray; I don't think he even has enough power cords, mice or keyboards for these things. If he uses current day power cords, will it be safe? Power cords are power cords are power cords. Just fine. Secondly, what keyboards do exist need some serious cleaning up. Spray some formula 409 on a thick wad of paper towels, and wipe down the keyboards. This is what we do here and it works pretty well. Don't saturate the paper towels so much that your get liquid runnign into the KB, and you have to wrap the towels aroudna finger and scrub each key separately to clean up really dirty ones, but it's quite effective. If he plugs his aluminum Mac keyboard and mighty mouse in, will they work, or will they only work on the most recent flavor of OSX? Any usb keyboard and mouse will work in the iMac and the G4, but you'll need an adb keyboard and mouse for the G3 desktop. The new keyboard will NOT support holding down modifier keys, like C or shift while booting, annoyingly, on any Mac they did not come with (I keep an old usb keyboard around for when I have to do that on mine, since I've replaced my keyboards with the new aluminum ones, I like them a LOT. The PM G3 has a video card in it, with DVI and VGA ports - so he can safely hook up a regular monitor to it, right? Yes, same with the G4. Finally, I'm concerned he may not have the original system discs for these puppies. What kind of problems might this present to him when it comes time to diagnose the hardware software and set up Admin privileges to manage the machines? If they come up asking for a password, you'll need a system disk of some sort to change it, otherwise, you should be able to at least get in and inventory things. System Profiler is your friend here, you can save a complete report, which will detail hardware, system software and applications on each one. And the part that scares me is, his friend did not know Macs, tried to shut them down while they were running and networked together (with apparently a ton of stuff still up and running on them), and she lost her patience and power switched them off. More than likely they're fine. OS X is pretty good about this. There may be some messed up prefs, but this shouldn't have killed them outright. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Re: Friend needs help with collection of Macs
Hi Bill;
Comments interspersed below.
On Dec 10, 2008, at 12:49 PM, Digital Bill wrote:
A friend has come into possession of a huge collection of machines
all hooked together, mainly Macs after the death of the owner, the
father of a co-worker.
Hopefully, the former owner wasn't paranoid. There MAY not be any
problem looking at things.
He knows nothing about them and wants to see
if they run and if so, if we can recover any data from them for his
friend.
Decide immediately WHAT sort of data you are after.
E-Mails --- locate the 'mail' handling system and get the E-Mail
program up running.
Genealogical research --- can be lots of data files. Locate the
'base' program, and run it.
Research in his field of knowledge. (Check with friends/ co-workers,
as to potential usefulness of data.)
The machines are being removed piecemeal and he's trying to clean them
up and get them running.
Physical cleaning, no problem. Even to the point of 'Keyboard in the
Dishwasher'
DON'T delete anything, DON't Delete Trash.
With the former setup being several systems Networked --- it is
possible for 'Data Files' for any subject to be located on ANY of the
available HDs.
Currently he has either an Indigo Blue or
Blueberry iMac, a Power Mac G3 desktop with a Powered by Sonnet
sticker on it and a G4 GigE with dual 500Mhz processors. (I haven't
seen any of these machines myself, nor the others, so I'm working off
his descriptions, so please bear with me.)
Needless to say, most if not all of this stuff is in disarray; I don't
think he even has enough power cords, mice or keyboards for these
things. If he uses current day power cords, will it be safe?
Secondly, what keyboards do exist need some serious cleaning up. If he
plugs his aluminum Mac keyboard and mighty mouse in, will they work,
or will they only work on the most recent flavor of OSX? The PM G3
has a video card in it, with DVI and VGA ports - so he can safely hook
up a regular monitor to it, right?
Finally, I'm concerned he may not have the original system discs for
these puppies.
Recent reference http://theappleblog.com/2008/06/22/reset-os-x-
password-without-an-os-x-cd/
What kind of problems might this present to him when it
comes time to diagnose the hardware software and set up Admin
privileges to manage the machines? And the part that scares me is, his
friend did not know Macs, tried to shut them down while they were
running and networked together (with apparently a ton of stuff still
up and running on them), and she lost her patience and power switched
them off.
Bruce has already commented -- he's right.
INDIVIDUALLY, bring each system up, look at About this Mac'/'More
Info {Blue apple icon, upper left corner of initial 'desktop'}
The _look_ at the 'file system'. After you have looked at all of the
available systems, there MAY be some 'Ah Ha' moments where you
recognize that there are 'data files' for this program, on That machine.
If all else fails, consider letting the machines boot in to 'Target'
mode, and look at the file system from another machine (yours).
There is always 'Nuke Pave', but that's for AFTER you are satisfied
that there isn't anything else to recover.
HTH
Chuck D.
So...
Between some pressing deadlines and the holidays and all, I probably
won't get the chance to go and help him first-hand for at least
another week or so. In the meantime, I promised him I'd throw this all
out to the collective brain trust here to see what sticks.
Needless to say, the operative word here is Help! ;-)
Thanks,
Bill
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Re: Friend needs help with collection of Macs
At 9:49 AM -0800 12/10/08, Digital Bill wrote: A friend has come into possession of a huge collection of machines all hooked together, mainly Macs after the death of the owner, the father of a co-worker. He knows nothing about them and wants to see if they run and if so, if we can recover any data from them for his friend. The machines are being removed piecemeal and he's trying to clean them up and get them running. Currently he has either an Indigo Blue or Blueberry iMac, a Power Mac G3 desktop with a Powered by Sonnet sticker on it and a G4 GigE with dual 500Mhz processors. (I haven't seen any of these machines myself, nor the others, so I'm working off his descriptions, so please bear with me.) You can't necessarily trust the stickers. I've swapped out components on various machines enough that they don't always contain what the label says anymore. (or, as Talking Heads put it: I've changed my hairstyles so many times now I don't know what I look like...) Hopefully the deceased was more anal retentive than I about that kind of thing. Needless to say, most if not all of this stuff is in disarray; I don't think he even has enough power cords, mice or keyboards for these things. If he uses current day power cords, will it be safe? Power cords are interchangeable on those machines that you've described. If the beige G3 has a USB card, it's quite possible that you'll be able to use a USB keyboard on it instead of an ADB. Secondly, what keyboards do exist need some serious cleaning up. If he plugs his aluminum Mac keyboard and mighty mouse in, will they work, or will they only work on the most recent flavor of OSX? The PM G3 has a video card in it, with DVI and VGA ports - so he can safely hook up a regular monitor to it, right? One of the nice things about Macs is that if the cord fits, it probably won't blow up and there's a good chance it'll work. Aside from the comments that Bruce made about the newer keyboards... I've never experienced that, as everything I have is in the souped up LEM category. Finally, I'm concerned he may not have the original system discs for these puppies. What kind of problems might this present to him when it comes time to diagnose the hardware software and set up Admin privileges to manage the machines? Worry about that once you know what systems are running, whether there are passwords on the machines, etc. It may be helpful to have the installation disk #1 for a couple different OSXs - 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, maybe even 10.5 (though at the listed processor speeds it's not likely). And the part that scares me is, his friend did not know Macs, tried to shut them down while they were running and networked together (with apparently a ton of stuff still up and running on them), and she lost her patience and power switched them off. Any idea of the nature of the programs that were running? What kind of business or hobby he used them for? That could give a few clues as to what may be on them. It may have just been that they were set up for filesharing and the standard 10 min warning came up. If set up to auto connect to other machines there may be warnings on startup that such-and-such a machine can't be found; there may be a specific sequence that the owner Rube Goldberged together. Or they might just come right back up with no problem. Between some pressing deadlines and the holidays and all, I probably won't get the chance to go and help him first-hand for at least another week or so. In the meantime, I promised him I'd throw this all out to the collective brain trust here to see what sticks. Needless to say, the operative word here is Help! ;-) Just out of curiosity, what city/state/country are we talking about. It may be possible that someone here could physically visit... -- Bill Christensen http://greenbuilder.com/contact/ Green Building Professionals Directory: http://directory.greenbuilder.com Sustainable Building Calendar: http://www.greenbuilder.com/calendar/ Green Real Estate: http://www.greenbuilder.com/realestate/ Straw Bale Registry: http://sbregistry.greenbuilder.com/ Books/videos/software: http://bookstore.greenbuilder.com/ --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
