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- Jon LaCour
- cleverdevil
Los Angeles
California
United States
Chief Technology Officer
Mission
Male
He
/Him
- Apr, 2021
- Mar, 2021
- Feb, 2021
- Jan, 2021
- Dec, 2020
- Nov, 2020
- Oct, 2020
- Sep, 2020
- Aug, 2020
- Jul, 2020
- Jun, 2020
- May, 2020
🍎 Modern G4 Cube is Working 🧊
A few months ago, I scored a fully working Apple PowerMac G4 Cube on eBay. My original plan was to convert it into a working computer by swapping the guts for a Raspberry Pi 4. After getting the initial build working, I wasn't particularly happy with the performance for a desktop, so I decided to look elsewhere.
Last week, thanks to a friend, I was able to purchase a Dell Wyse thin client labeled as a refurbished computer for around $100. It has a Pentium Silver J5005 inside, 8 GB of RAM, and a tiny built in flash storage.
I cracked it open, stripped it down, and sure enough the motherboard is the perfect size to pressure fit carefully inside the G4 Cube chassis. Result!
Next, I added a 250 GB Samsung EVO SSD, and installed Ubuntu Linux on it. I am using a little USB switcher so I can share keyboard and mouse with my M1 MacBook Pro, and it works wonderfully hooked up to a 4K monitor.
Next up, I need to clean the interior a bit, so some cable management, and find a way to integrate the power button.
What a fun project this has been so far!
