iMac G4: Help Needed

I don't have Disk Warrior, but I'll download Onyx to it once it finishes backing up to my external. I started backing it up hours ago, but I guess I expected too much of a PPC processor due to the fact that I'm used to dual-cores. With about 12GB to go as I type this, it's going to take another 4 hours...

Some apps work, some don't because the registartion codes and what-not were removed, and some only work with .Mac. Some things on it are completely junk. But here's what gets me. I did not delete the original admin account, and instead, I created a second one when I got this machine. When I go to the Users Folder now, it has the original admin's folder with a red sign and the permissions and ownerships change when I try to reset them to the original. Of course now, the folder fixed itself... and I also figured out that if I attempt to change my short name to something else, I get a folder that keeps popping back in the users folder. So I stopped that.

You say Intel version of OS X. However, Apple only offers one version that works for both, so it's curious that they would put just the Intel version on a set of install disks. But, I can understand that since they came with an Intel machine. I think it's worth a try because many of the iLife apps are ancient, or appear to be. I think it's iLife '05 but it needs an overhaul. But the license agreement with the disk prohibits me from having more copies of it so I'm not going to. I'll wait for Leopard.

Well, if it's safe to just delete all the unwanted/non-functional software, I'll get rid of it. I'll also delete the extra admin, as it is no longer used. For some reason, it had iMovie HD on it but with a ? mark in the dock when I purchased a while ago. Nowhere on it was iMovie HD, so I wonder why the previous owner may have had it on there and took it off... Oh well. Thanks.

By the way, is there some way that I can erase both users and have a brand new one, and reset it without disks? I doubt it, but that would really help me out. Thanks again,
-BMF

you can do a bunch of stuff.
One of the things that you cannot do is change your short name. You found that out.

You already know that you can create another Admin account and you can do a lot of stuff with it. Resetting passwords and reinstall both require an OS X installation disk.

To remove any account from OS X, you must go to the Accounts Pane and do it from there. Just select and hit the Minus sign. There is a procedure to follow which makes sure that everything is done correctly. Do not just trash that users Home folder, you will be in a world of hurt if you do that.

Unlike MS, Apple does not produce multiple versions of it's OS. The current retail versions of OS X are Universal Binary and the installer sorts out what code you need. However it kinda makes sense, if you are only shipping Intel Macs, to have the version that ships with a new machine, (the restore disks) to be only Intel. I did not find any information as to whether Apple actually does that or not, but I do know that some of those restore disks do not work on machines that they did not ship with.

On the subject of the time it takes to transfer data to your external. The speed of this is not dependent on your processors. Firewire transfers are dealt with by the firewire controller and really don't involve the processors at all. If you have some form of processor indicator installed, showing real time processor load, you will note that the processor(s) stay down in the single digits during the transfer.
This is one of the reasons that Firewire is preferred over USB for transfers. Although USB has a higher stated throughput, it is only attainable in bursts. Firewire supplies a constant stream.
Of course, depending on the version of your 1GHz iMac, and if your external is USB, your speed problem would be directly related to the USB 1.1 ports. (S L O W ) A later version of the 1Ghz had USB 2.0 ports.

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There's a bug with my prefs. I can go to Accounts but if I click on another account whether it be a standard or an admin, System Preferences crashes and quits. It's impossible for me to do this normally, and it happens with all the accounts, not just mine. I have the original admin pass, but it hasn't done my any good since that user's stuff had been cleaned out. I already deleted their folders, but they just pop back up when I login as them. USB 1.1 is probably the problem with the slow transfers. The iMac quit backing up anyway after it finished the apps, so I just backed those up instead of the whole system.

I don't know how to fix the System Prefs. If you know, I'd appreciate it if you post it.
Thanks,
-BMF

that you can delete them and they come back as soon as you launch that application again.

Try deleting the Finders preferences but before you do, try the Disk Permissions thing.

P

... all knotted up into one big mess.

I did a quick google...

http://www.google.com/search?q=mac%3A+how+to+fix+system+preferences&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

and clicked on this particular link first... it looks good. Maybe it can help
Twenty steps to help diagnose and fix system issues

While it's good that we know approximately where the problem is, unfortunately there's a lot of stuff in the user account to pick through. And now you will have to do some serious troubleshooting. Oftentimes, this will be a preferences file in ~/Library/Preferences/. If you can pinpoint that one bad file, you're done. If you have no idea what's going on you can try the laborious process of keeping that new account you made, and bringing over the files one by one until you find the one that was the problem. Even easier is to ask an expert if it's a frequently seen problem, first letting them know that it was a problem in your user account.

Course, this may not be what you want.

good luck

grim

a giant wad of gum that's attached to everything to a point where you can't get it off... LOL. I ran Disk Utility and it found a whole lot of stuff on AppleScript, Printers that I have never used, and a few things regarding users. There were also a few things with Flash plugins that I haven't even used. I have started the repair sequence as I type this... and I'm waiting... dang, there's a bunch of stuff.

But while it's finishing, I can say that everything else seems to be in working order. I backed up all of the apps that it originally had, then deleted the unwanted ones or non-functional ones off of the main HD, and reorganized the apps. I didn't delete all of the apps since some were apparently purchased and it would be a waste to delete them even if I don't need them. AppleWorks and a few other old things were there, and I'm actually glad about that. I could really put those to use.

Okay, everything's been repaired... and it's still crashing... I checked the preferences and preferences pane folders in both the system and library and still no solution...

Well... I'm out of plans. I think that when Leopard comes out, I'll just upgrade my laptop, completely erase the iMac and put a fresh install on it. That may be my only answer.
Thanks for your help guys. I wish it could have fixed it.
-BMF

Like mrmacfixit said before, connecting the G4 via ethernet would be much more practical and better to do. Well, knowing that some of its software was outdated, I figured I might as well update it to 10.4.10 and configure to all the right specifications I needed. Here's what I have come to think:

That whatever bug it had in 10.4.9, it had something to do with the system preferences, and this "users" issue had been resolved with the 10.4.10 combo update. I succesfully deleted the other users and now I have just mine and all the stuff I had for it. Very good for me. I think it's safe to say that it will function with great performance now that it has been cleaned up, updated, and optimized for PPC greatness LOL. I read some Intel hater letter on lowendmac.com and when he said AMD and PPC are the better proccesors and not Intel. I can say that I have had no trouble with PPC processors, but I've never heard of good experiences with AMD. But if the old CNET prizefight between AMD and Intel from '05 is still good, AMD has some serious advantages. But this was during the Pentium period, and I just detest Pentium processors, though I use them so often... LOL.

Thanks again for your help. Problems solved... (for now... this is where the ominous music plays LOL).
-BMF

Leopard will rule over all the OS-es! And on my iMac G4.