Dan Knight
- 2006.06.09
Pismo 'Downgrade' a Refreshing Surprise
Damien Fox writes:
I had the exact same situation: in fact, I had a 12" PowerBook with a 1.5 GHz chip and
1.25 gigs of RAM, 80 gig hard drive, plus SuperDrive. I sold it off
a few months ago to get some cash to put towards a second revision
MacBook, when they have
worked out all the issues.
In the meantime, I went back to using my 6-1/2-year-old Pismo, with a 400 MHz chip, 576 megs of
RAM, and a 40 gig hard drive. Three minor upgrades help keep it
going: first, I scrounged a 500 MHz chip from a friend's broken
Pismo; I added an additional 256 megs of RAM for a total of 768;
and I bought a SuperDrive from FastMac. Then, I moved the entire
system to 10.4.5 (10.4.6 kills many G3 Macs - a real kernel panic,
and the only solution is to wipe the system).
I use my machine every day for Web browsing, email, iPhoto,
iTunes, simple layout and text processing with Pages, a little bit
of terminal, and opening and are doing minor edits on all sorts of
documents from PDS to the odd illustrator or Photoshop file. I also
compress video files and write DVDs routinely.
Honestly, except for games or highly processor-intensive tasks
like iMovie, there is not that much of a speed difference. The
drives are the same speed more or less, the system busses aren't
that different considering that four years separate the two
machines, the Pismo's one meg backside cache helps compensate for
the slower bus, and the 3-D graphics performance hardly comes into
play with my type of usage.
I've been quite happy with my "downgrade" and don't miss the G4
in any way. iMovie is out of the question on the G3, and encoding
DVDs takes three times as long, and the odd website drags, but not
by enough to make me complain or want to even upgrade again. The
fact is, the gizmo is a high-end, well-balanced machine, whereas
the 12" PowerBook has a terrible clock to bus speed ratio and is
severely limited by many things that depend on drive speed, just
like the G3 PowerBook is. Add in expansion options, a PC card slot,
and a bigger screen, the Pismo is a strong and very low-cost
contender. I highly recommend not getting the G4 upgrade,
leaving the RAM as it is, and only getting a new battery and
SuperDrive model if they are needed. Use that Pismo for another
year, until MacBooks are stabilized and are worth getting as a
primary machine. That's my plan, and I've been happy with how it
has worked out so far.
-Damien Fox
Congratulations, Damien, on rediscovering the
power of an older Mac. My first 'Book was a PowerBook G4/400, and
it's still a decent performer (although I hardly ever use it these
days).
For me, the biggest difference between it any my
dual 1 GHz Power Mac G4 isn't browsing speed, writing speed, or
speed in any tasks. The big difference comes from dual CPUs,
because OS X lets them balance the load so no single task
dominates the computer. Since I often have a dozen apps running at
once, including a couple of Classic mode ones, I really appreciate
the fast app switching, too.
I'm going to want a new 'Book before Macworld San
Francisco, and the power and specs of the dual-core MacBook make it
look just right if you ignore my dependence on a pair of Classic
apps.
The key is finding a system that works well enough
for you, whether that's a MacBook Pro, a Pismo, or even (for some
die-hards) a Mac Plus.
Internet Explorer for OS X
After reading Help, I Need
Internet Explorer for My Mac!, Aaron writes:
Note sure if this will Help . . . Archive for
Browsers: http://browsers.evolt.org/
Note they even have a copy of Apples Cyberdog Browser including
Support files [Open Doc]
Run IE6 on OS X (WINE)
Run Internet Explorer on OS X without having to boot or
virtualize Windows. IE is right on the desktop!
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8300945231/m/397003349731
This is a little tricky setup, but it does make it possible.
Thanks for the tips. I can't imagine how weird it
would be running IE 6 on a Mac....
I (Don't) Need Internet Explorer for My
Mac
Ray Gossen writes:
Dear Dan,
Your reply to Gara Gillentine in "Help, I Need Internet Explorer for My
Mac!" failed to mention one way around some of the problems:
Using the Debug menu in Safari, it's possible to set Safari to
present itself as Internet Explorer. I'm not at home right now, so
I don't remember which options are there, but they include Windows
IE. Of course, this workaround doesn't solve the problem of those
pages' noncompliance, and they don't always display properly
because of that, but it does at least allow access.
And there is the problem that it just perpetuates the myth that
everyone is using IE. That's why I try to just turn this feature on
for the minimum time required.
I don't remember right now how to turn the Debug menu on, but
it's not difficult and there are even a couple of Safari extensions
that will make the job even easier.
Oh, and one quibble, kind of a pet peeve of mine: "it's" means
"it is", not "belonging to it". Other than that, nothing but
praise. Keep up the good work.
Ray Gossen
Thanks for the catch, Ray. I've corrected the
article. Guess who is the only Low End Mac writer without a
proofreader? :-)
Church Needs 5 Cheap Macs for Internet
'Cafe'
Ted Bragg writes:
Hi Dan,
Can you help me out? I'm looking for a place to get 4 to 5 used
Macs for my church's youth center, an 'Internet cafe'. Convinced
them to go Mac to ward off virus/typical threats, but also to keep
fuss to a minimum.
At first I was about to get 5 iMac G3s, but they're too deep for
the counter - need smaller. Laptops won't work, too easy to lose
those here....
These machines need to run OS 9 (OS X not needed for basic Web
and email/myspace) so a slimline would work, I guess. We have a
wireless router downstairs, and my thought was if these can't use
Airport cards, then we could pipe them via ethernet to a wireless
access point to connect the cafe upstairs with the router in the
main office.
An all-in-one design would be awesome, but most of the CRT
models are too deep. I'm taking measurements today to be certain
how big to go.
If I go with slims, I'll need a source on cheap 15" LCD
monitors. I've got $1000 to spend for this. You are the beast of
Mac deals, man.
Bust out.
Thanks bro,
Ted Bragg
New Covenant Church
Houston
And a while later:
Hi Dan,
Just measured the counter space, turns out they are deep
enough for the Lifesaver iMacs. Shreve Systems has them for $49 ea.
Have you ever dealt with them before? Heard good/bad reports? Do
you know of a place where a nonprofit org. can order multiple units
like these at a similar price?
-Ted
I'm glad to hear you have room for G3 iMacs,
because I was racking my brain to come up with a Mac that had a
smaller footprint. And the color should really brighten up the
room.
I have purchased a few things from Shreve in the
past. They have obscure stuff you just won't find elsewhere, like
Newton accessories. I've been happy with their service.
Education Market Reality
In response to Apple Needs to
Offer Less Mac for Less Money, Bill Doty writes:
Hi Dan
As a teacher, I agree we need an education Mac. You are almost
on target with your article of 6-7. Leave the optical drive in.
Make it a SuperDrive so the kids can burn CD/DVD of projects and
play them at school or at home. I would also like to see a port to
connect computer to TV or to connect computer to projector device.
Many classrooms have one computer. If you can project or
enlarge the image, it does wonders for the lesson.
Make network compatibility job 1 and the display options second
priority.
Thanks
Bill Doty
West Branch
One computer per classroom? Ouch! I have high
hopes for MIT's $100 laptop project, even if current price
projections are closer to US$135. I'd love to see every student
with a laptop, and that's just not feasible in most locales with
the cost of Windows notebooks or Apple's 'Books.
With a FireWire SuperDrive, it would be possible
to connect the drive to the education Mac without having to leave
it connected all the time.
Pimp My SE/30
After reading Mac IIfx ROM in an
SE/30, Steffen Barabasch writes:
Hi,
just give me some more weeks (or years now...) till I eventually
finish my "Pimp my SE/30"
project. My goal was to put the finest expansions available into
one just normal-looking SE/30, pushing every limit possible. So far
I got a 50 MHz 030 CPU card, 128 MB RAM, Asante Ethernet card,
Xceed graphics card with greyscale adaptor, and, finally a IIfx
ROM. The two biggest steps left now are the adaptor for the PDS
slot of the Asante card to turn the 90-degree slot (that was
intended for the IIsi pizzabox case) to the 180 degrees needed for
the gfx card and then checking if the PSU will be able to cope with
all the additional stuff I put into the box.
Long story short, the IIfx ROM runs fine in the SE/30, I already
tried and tested that. Only a slight cosmetic disadvantage is the
random pattern appearing at power-up; apparently the IIfx ROM
doesn't expect a classic graphics RAM, so it won't be
cleared/filled with a regular pattern. But after a few seconds the
Mac just starts up as expected.
Take care,
Steffen Barabasch
Thanks for the feedback, Steffen. I've got an
SE/30 (maybe two) that I'd like to try this in someday....
Mac IIfx ROM in an SE/30
Mark Gadzikowski writes:
Please do not publish my email address, although you may publish
the rest of this content as you like.
If any readers have successfully used IIfx or IIsi
ROMs in an SE/30 with an accelerator, I'd love to hear about
it.
I used multiple IIfx ROMs and one IIci ROM in SE/30 machines
with great success. I acquired the IIfx and IIci ROMs after great
perseverance, searching from approximately 1990 to 1994 before
finding my first IIfx ROM. From 1994 through 1997, a 32-bit clean
ROM was relatively easy to come by, at least in Silicon Valley
where I had moved. In 1997 I gave away my last SE/30 and stopped
experimenting with 32-bit clean ROMs in SE/30s.
HARDWARE
My primary SE/30 had 32 MB RAM, a Daystar 50 MHz 68030 CPU
accelerator, and a RasterOps 264/SE30 24-bit color card. Note that
the RasterOps 264/SE30
video card was explicitly equipped with a 32-bit clean ROM upgrade
long before the SE/30 has a 32-bit clean IIfx or IIci ROM.
The Daystar and RasterOps items were installed before the ROMs
were acquired. There was never any problem with
compatibility. I was relieved, as these upgrades were more
important to me than addressing 32 MB RAM without Mode32.
A Second Wave PDS-to-NuBus 4-slot expansion chassis would
not operate with the 50 MHz accelerator, but it did
work with the IIfx ROM using the stock SE/30 16 MHz 68030. I don't
recall testing the expansion chassis with the IIci ROM. I do recall
that the 32-bit clean ROM in the SE/30 caused crashes with a 24-bit
dirty RasterOps 264-NuBus video
card. Overall, the 32-bit clean ROMs were more stable than the
PDS=to-NuBus expansion chassis.
SOFTWARE
The ROMs were able to give me 32-bit clean operation without
Mode32, visible via full access to the 32 MB RAM. The ROMs never
seemed to interfere with operations of System Software 6.0.3
through System 7.5.4. However, if I recall correctly, System 7.5.5
would not install with a 32-bit clean ROM in my SE/30, but it
(7.5.5) would operate properly with the ROM installed after
the System software.
I was never able to install System Software 8.x. Not with the
stock ROM or either 32-bit clean ROM. If I recall correctly, the OS
8.x installer would refuse to install at all, because the Macintosh
model was not recognized (32-bit ROM) or had no 68040 CPU (24-bit
dirty ROM).
Mark Gadzikowski
P.S. I still own one IIci ROM and one IIfx ROM. If you run
across a reader who wishes to experiment, you may forward their
email address to me. I'm likely to give them away free, one at a
time. [UPDATE: These ROMs are no longer available.]
Mark, we never publish email addresses without
permission - and when we do, we encrypt them.
Thanks for the info. The SE/30 was a great Mac,
and there were hacks that allowed installing Mac OS 8.0 and 8.1,
such as Born Again. I don't
think I'd want to run OS 8.1 on anything slower than a Mac IIfx, so
an accelerated SE/30 should be a decent performer.
Looking for an ADB Mouse
Responding to "the mac acito's"
need for a mouse, Andrew Main writes:
Dan,
For the guy who needs an ADB mouse, may I suggest - ahem -
the LEM Swap List?
Andrew
Doh, now why didn't I think of that!
ADB Mouse? Go USB!
Jim Strickland writes:
Another solution for the person wanting an ADB mouse for a
9600 would be to put a USB card
in the 9600. This works reasonably well for mice. It works with
keyboards as well, but if memory serves, you can't turn the
computer on and off from the keyboard if it's on a non- factory USB
interface. I think adding a USB interface is probably the best long
term solution for this person, since USB keyboards and mice will
(probably) be around a while, and the difference in cost might pay
for the board.
- Jim Strickland
Thanks for the suggestion, Jim. I was looking for
the simplest solution, since a lot of people aren't comfortable
inside a computer, but adding a USB card is a great suggestion, as
that would allow use of modern printers, digital cameras, and other
peripherals as well.
Re: Hailing Mac Gurus! Video Recording Ideas
Needed
Responding to his own search for software, Tim Larson
writes:
Finally hit on the right combination of search terms!
<http://www.lowendmac.com/tech/video1.html>
Looks like I can do capture with built-in Apple software.
:) Woo hoo, LEM rides to the rescue again!
Tim
You know, Tim, there's so much stuff on Low End
Mac that I can't keep track of it. Hooray for Google!
Dan Knight has been publishing Low
End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.
