Difference between revisions of "MacBuild Desktop Build"
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==What we build== | ==What we build== | ||
We presently work on PowerMac G4s and better, eMacs, iMac G4s, iMac G5s, and any newer models that come in. The specs we build the most common models to are as follows: | We presently work on PowerMac G4s and better, eMacs, iMac G4s, iMac G5s, and any newer models that come in. The specs we build the most common models to are as follows: | ||
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{{MacBuild_Minimum_Specs}} | {{MacBuild_Minimum_Specs}} | ||
Revision as of 10:48, 25 August 2010
Building a desktop in MacBuild is a fairly simple process. Aside from occasionally needing specific hardware, building a desktop MacBox is virtually identical to building a standard FreekBox.
What we build
We presently work on PowerMac G4s and better, eMacs, iMac G4s, iMac G5s, and any newer models that come in. The specs we build the most common models to are as follows:
Minimum Specs
PPC systems
PowerMac G5
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PowerMac G5 Specs
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Mac mini
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Mac mini Specs
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Intel systems
No minimum, we build them all
What we don't build
We don't build anything below the specs listed above. PowerMac G4 Graphites (the ones with dark blue/grey cases) with Dual Processors only are presently tested to see if they post and sold in the store as is. Single processor Graphites are recycled. Systems on the Old Mac Keeper List in MacBuild Eval are kept on the Old Mac shelf for future processing. Everything else is recycled.
PowerMac G4 As-Is Procedure
- Install a tested battery
- Populate all memory slots with tested memory modules
- Install optical drive, if necessary
- Connect a wiped HD to primary IDE channel
- Connect a mouse, keyboard, and monitor to system
- Boot from OS X external drive (hold the Option key on the keyboard while system starts up, and select the external drive from the menu)
- When at the desktop, insert a CD into the optical drive and check if it mounts on the desktop
- Click on the blue apple in the upper-left corner of the screen
- Select the About this Mac option from the menu
- Click the More info button to launch the System Profiler
- Check the information for ATA and Memory in System Profiler to ensure that the system can see all devices on IDE channels and each memory module in each memory slot
- If it fails to see the HD or reports the amount of memory incorrectly, the system should be recycled
- Eject the CD
- Power the system down, remove the HD, and leave only 128MB of RAM in the system
- Attach an As Is tag to the system and take it to the store
Wiping HDs in systems
If you've just received a system from Mac Eval and need to wipe its drive without opening the system up, refer to the Hard drive wiping checklist for wiping instructions.
Building Instructions
Please refer to the MacBuild Desktop Checklist for build instructions.
Special Configurations
| Steps | Notes/Detailed Instructions | Done |
| Starting up Ubuntu on a difficult system |
There are startup options set by default in the bootloader, so startup will usually not require any input. However, the following are the default options that you can enter yourself if you don't want to wait for the bootloader to do it automatically.
Some systems will not boot properly due to video issues. These systems will usually hang with a white or black screen after the yaboot boot prompt. For these systems, providing it with Linux video=ofonly at the yaboot boot prompt should fix the problem. |
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| Permanently make the video=ofonly addition to yaboot |
If you needed to use the video=ofonly option to get the system to start up properly, you can permanently make the addition to yaboot. This is how you do it:
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| Enable the Ubuntu startup splash screen |
Sometimes a system will show a blank screen during startup instead of the normal Ubuntu splash screen. If this is the case, we can enable the Ubuntu splash screen by doing the following:
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