My experiences thus far with multiple machines.

[shazbot]

Hello folks, I will share my experiences thus far with OS9 and a variety of machines. Here goes:

I have a lot of machines and the time has come to share some info:

1. 1GHz TiBook (dual boot) mint as new not a mark - but my main machine with a 128 MSata drive - fast as f**k. Down side proper blower - to the point that you want to switch it off after 30 mins. As it makes a racket I started a journey to find the quietest OS9 G4 laptop.

2. 12" 1Ghz - worked but can be hit and miss

3. 12" 867 - it actually died tonight and will not switch on. I had just fitted a new MSata and popped in the unsupported cd - followed the comments of one of the posts and it would not boot. I then installed via Target Firewire mode. It then went tits up and made a long beep (like a Mac OS firmware BONG and then dead)

4. The biggest surprise and the quietest 12" iBook G4  - installed OS9 a few week ago - even on the stock drive runs really well. Running Cubase 5 VST32, Logic 6, Pro Tools 5.3.2 with Digital 002 and Reason 3.0  - just recently picked up a Yamaha 01X also.

5. Mac Mini 1.42 - great quiet powerful desktop.

6. Powerbook G4 12' 1.5Ghz - running Tiger - fan is mental - could be the SSD and a possible firmware issue. Stock drive it ran fine.

Going to revisit the 1ghz 12" again and see how it fairs.


Machines I need to get rid off:

Backup 1 Ghz TiBook with a faulty SuperDrive
3 x Powermac (Mirror Door, Quicksilvers Dual and a 933)
Powermac G4 450. (This is the quietest of all my powermacs)


I did have a 17" at one point with OS9 but it bit the dust.

I'm going to push the iBook with recording and sequencing over the next few weeks so will feed back.

Laters,

Shea.

[ssp3]

Powerbook G4 12' 1.5Ghz - running Tiger - fan is mental - could be the SSD and a possible firmware issue. Stock drive it ran fine.

SSDs, especially large ones, run hot. I've been saying this all the time, but nobody listens.
I have the same machine and use(d) it as a test bed for all sorts of OSX PPC stuff. At the moment I'm using low power 128GB Samsung SSD plus G4FanControl and everything is fine.

[robespierre]

I got a 1 GHz TiBook in 2002 and never thought that it was loud or ran hot. OS 9 has primitive energy saving features compared to 10.2, but it was still pretty tame. I think what happens is that people find these 20 year old computers and assume that they work as well as when they were new, which is rarely the case.

[Jubadub]

SSDs, especially large ones, run hot. I've been saying this all the time, but nobody listens.

Gotta make sure it keeps on running hot, too. Cold SSDs are good when they are off, else they fail to retain data (data loss). But when on, the opposite is true: they lose data if the temperatures are lower than they should be.

Be it in the sunniest summer days or in absolutely frost winter, though, I never experienced SSD data loss in all the 10 years I have been using them.

On the other hand, though, I have been utterly $&%! by failing HDDs, floppies, flash drives (i.e. USB pendrives), CDs, DVDs (no issues with BDs, though) and so on. But I also try to make sure I at least turn them on every 6 months or so, else that could be an issue.

But yeah, I can imagine in terms of temps that SSDs won't be ultra friendly. My Mac hardware old and current have been fine with them so far, though: MDDs, PBs, mini etc..

[ssp3]

SSDs, especially large ones, run hot. I've been saying this all the time, but nobody listens.

Gotta make sure it keeps on running hot, too. Cold SSDs are good when they are off, else they fail to retain data (data loss). But when on, the opposite is true: they lose data if the temperatures are lower than they should be.

It's the controllers that run hot and produce extra heat, not so much flash memory chips

[Jubadub]

It's the controllers that run hot and produce extra heat, not so much flash memory chips

Nice, those are cool and educational pictures. It seems the actual memory modules are also running hot, though (53 to 60-ish °C), although, as you pointed out, indeed less than the controllers.

I forgot where I read it all from, but apparently that heat present in the memory modules is very important to retain the data. I guess the controllers run even hotter for entirely different reasons, though. I have no idea if there could be any issues, were the controllers to run cold.

[ssp3]

I forgot where I read it all from, but apparently that heat present in the memory modules is very important to retain the data.

This issue is quite complex



When it comes to unpowered storage, the opposite is true.




https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/12/understanding-life-expectancy-of-flash-storage.html#section--1379857599

https://www.atpinc.com/blog/ssd-data-retention-temperature-thermal-throttling

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0026271418305079


Since controllers consume most of their power and get hot during write operations, keeping flash memory chips, that sit near by 'warm enough' is not a problem. It is the heat that gets generated into surrounding air that can cause problems like it is in the case of the above mentioned 12" PowerBook G4.

Increased power consumption of the SSD drives compared to original rotating HD drives is another, often ignored issue. I've touched it briefly here: http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,6804.msg52089.html#msg52089