screwed?

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screwed?

ok heres the deal, I just purchased my second mac, I bought a ibook 800 about a year ago and decided it was time to buy a g4 desktop to mod/upgrade. I won and auction for a powermac g4 on ebay. I thought this was a sawtooth computer, On the back of the computer by the usb ports, it say Family Number M5183. After installing os x.3 I think I got screwed. FIrst off, I dont think this computer is airport capable. I was under the impression that all sawtooth g4s where airport capable. second, the auction said this mac came with a 40gb hard drive, upon inspection, it only has a 20gb. third, I dont think this mac is the agp model. when i run system profile it says:
Machine Model: Power Mac G3 (PCI graphics)
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.6)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 400 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 320 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: f2

so i got screded didnt I? Any information you can give me on the mac will be greatly appreciated.

mike

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Yep, looks like you got a Yik

Yep, looks like you got a Yikes! model G4. PCI graphics, no airport. You should definitely complain, try to get money back or return it, report as a fraudulent seller, if indeed it was advertised as having AGP graphics. However, you can't complain if you assumed it was and didn't look for the proper indications (audio port alignment) or didn't email the seller asking, if the description didn't explicitly state that it had AGP graphics.

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yeah heres the link to the au

yeah heres the link to the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2782298652&category=14912&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWN%3AIT&rd=1

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ive emailed the seller tellin

ive emailed the seller telling them that the computer I recieced is not the one portrayed int he auction and am just waiting to here back from the seller. How hard is it to just put in a sawtooth motherboard? can I buy a sawtooth board on ebay and put it in the case i have? I plan on eventually getting a proccessor upgrade from OWC, but could I just take the proccessor I have of the yikes board and toss it on the sawtooth board untill I get an upgrade from OWC? thanks,
mike

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It depends on how comfortable

It depends on how comfortable you are working on the innards of computers. It's not really hard, but if you haven't done it before it's hard to know how much force to use, because it doesn't just slide in and out real easy. I'd suggest having someone you know who is experienced with that kind of thing help out or do it for you. That's a relatively valuable motherboard to learn with, whereas most of us here probably learned how to do that kind of thing first with old cheap boards where a mistake would only cost $20, not $150.
I assume a sawtooth board fits just fine in a Yikes case, but I don't know for sure. The processor will not transfer, they use a different type.
By strange coincidence, I happen to have a Sawtooth motherboard for sale. Send me a message or an email for details if you are interested. I was about to post it in the For Sale section.

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I'm reasonably certain that t

I'm reasonably certain that the power supply is different beween the Sawtooth and Yikes G4s...

Eh, never mind. The *original* Sawtooth AGP PSU seems to be the same as the B&W/Yikes. *All* later G4s (Gigabit, DA, etc) use an incompatible one with a 28V line.

Look at the ATX conversion articles here:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems.html

Keep in mind that the Yikes case doesn't have the built-in Airport antenna, among other things.

--Peace

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I was just digging around

I was just digging around the internet for info while you posted- information on the Yikes! PSU is scarce, but one post on another forum indicated that B&W G3 and Yikes shared a PSU while the Sawtooth was different. That would make sense to me, but without knowing for sure I wouldn't plug it in. I can't seem to find any Yikes PSU pinouts. The ATX conversion articles Eudi mentions show that the modification is different between a Sawtooth and a B&W G3 (upon which the yikes is based).
Also the different audio port alignment would require doing a little bit of cutting on the back panel.
It's also hard to say without seeing it if the mounting holes in the motherboard are the same.

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he shouldnt have to look at t

he shouldnt have to look at the ports. if the seller says its a sawtooth that should be enough. waht if someone who knows nothing about computers they arnt gonna know to look back there. and for the agp graphics thing, its says it once it should have to say it again

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I didn't take the time to com

I didn't take the time to compare the B&W G3 conversion article to the Sawtooth one... I sort of assumed when it said "The Sawtooth is different from all later AGP G4s, etc, etc" that it probably inherited the same PSU. If it does differ from the B&W that would most likely mean that its pinout is unique.

(The Yikes is nothing but a B&W with a G4 ZIF and different color trim, so I'd almost guaruntee that whatever applies to a B&W in terms of PSUs applies to it.)

Overall, honestly, I think the best courses of action here would probably go something like so:

1: Get the scoundrel/moron who sold you the system to either take it back, or give back a substantial portion of the money you paid.

2: If one fails, sell the Yikes (probably taking a hit in the deal), and put the proceeds towards a Sawtooth/Gig-E/whatever model. I'm not sure the economics of doing a motherboard swap add up.

I wonder what a fair price for a Yikes is, so far as that goes. In a fit of insanity I paid $60 for a B&W this Friday, but I suspect that's under market price. (400Mhz/544Mb/8.4Gb)

--Peace

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yeah, it is a "Yikes"That

yeah, it is a "Yikes"

That is the first generation G4.... the same mobo as the Blue&White G3s...

PC 100 ram, often unreliable ATA controllers, and PCI graphics.

I wouldn't pay more than $300 for a G4 Yikes.

They look like Sawteeth though... accept on the back panel where it tells what the specs are and where you can see the port layout difference.

The Yikes can use a regular old ATX power supply... I've done it in my old mods that used to be posted here. The CPU is a TOTALLY different type though. NOT compatible at all!

They are fun systems to work with and throw in ATX cases etc... but not what you want.

- Alison

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Refund

I would suggest you try and get a refund from the seller, and if they don't co-operate, use ebay's dispute resolution service. Ebay is obliged to protect you from out and out fraud, and if it was an honest mistake, the seller should be able to give you a refund.

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