It took me a whole year to complete this project.
Here are the specifications of my setup:
Model: Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet
CPU: PowerPC G4 1.3GHz Single Core
RAM: Samsung SDRAM 512MB x4 (Total: 2GB)
GPU: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB
SSD: Crucial BX500 128GB (for Mac OS 9), 256GB (for Mac OS X)
IDE 1: ASUS DVD Multi Drive (with SATA to IDE Adapter)
IDE 2: Original Iomega ZIP Drive
Card 1: NEC USB 2.0 5-Port Card
Card 2: LaCie FireWire 800 3-Port PCI-X Card
Card 3: Adaptec ASH-1205SA Flashed SATA Card
I also installed an original AirPort card for wireless networking.
Through this process, I discovered a few key points:
1. The Seritek 1s2 firmware is extremely picky with SSD compatibility. I initially tried Samsung drives, but they wouldn’t even format. In the end, I used Crucial’s BX500, which worked reliably. At least the BX500 operates without issue.
2. The first-generation AirPort card struggles significantly with wireless connectivity. Even when broadcasting an unencrypted SSID from the router, compatibility between a modern router and this 25-year-old AirPort card is poor. Even when a connection is established, the card often fails to obtain an IP address via DHCP.
Here is how I resolved the issue.
Since my main router couldn’t broadcast a 2.4GHz unencrypted wireless network suitable for the Power Mac G4, I left the main network encrypted with WPA2. Instead, I purchased an old secondary router solely for the Power Mac G4. I configured it in bridge mode and connected it via LAN-to-LAN with the main router. I then accessed the admin settings on the old router, disabled its DHCP server, and changed the last segment of its internal IP to avoid conflicts with the main router. After that, I created a dedicated 2.4GHz SSID.
However, since I also wanted to use this network on Mac OS 9, I couldn’t use encryption. So I implemented MAC address whitelisting on the old router, allowing only the Power Mac G4 to connect. This way, even though the network is unencrypted, only my Power Mac G4 can access it.
It took me nearly a year to complete this entire setup. Finding compatible parts for such an old machine was no easy task, but now that it’s finished, I feel very satisfied.
Here are the specifications of my setup:
Model: Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet
CPU: PowerPC G4 1.3GHz Single Core
RAM: Samsung SDRAM 512MB x4 (Total: 2GB)
GPU: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB
SSD: Crucial BX500 128GB (for Mac OS 9), 256GB (for Mac OS X)
IDE 1: ASUS DVD Multi Drive (with SATA to IDE Adapter)
IDE 2: Original Iomega ZIP Drive
Card 1: NEC USB 2.0 5-Port Card
Card 2: LaCie FireWire 800 3-Port PCI-X Card
Card 3: Adaptec ASH-1205SA Flashed SATA Card
I also installed an original AirPort card for wireless networking.
Through this process, I discovered a few key points:
1. The Seritek 1s2 firmware is extremely picky with SSD compatibility. I initially tried Samsung drives, but they wouldn’t even format. In the end, I used Crucial’s BX500, which worked reliably. At least the BX500 operates without issue.
2. The first-generation AirPort card struggles significantly with wireless connectivity. Even when broadcasting an unencrypted SSID from the router, compatibility between a modern router and this 25-year-old AirPort card is poor. Even when a connection is established, the card often fails to obtain an IP address via DHCP.
Here is how I resolved the issue.
Since my main router couldn’t broadcast a 2.4GHz unencrypted wireless network suitable for the Power Mac G4, I left the main network encrypted with WPA2. Instead, I purchased an old secondary router solely for the Power Mac G4. I configured it in bridge mode and connected it via LAN-to-LAN with the main router. I then accessed the admin settings on the old router, disabled its DHCP server, and changed the last segment of its internal IP to avoid conflicts with the main router. After that, I created a dedicated 2.4GHz SSID.
However, since I also wanted to use this network on Mac OS 9, I couldn’t use encryption. So I implemented MAC address whitelisting on the old router, allowing only the Power Mac G4 to connect. This way, even though the network is unencrypted, only my Power Mac G4 can access it.
It took me nearly a year to complete this entire setup. Finding compatible parts for such an old machine was no easy task, but now that it’s finished, I feel very satisfied.
