iBook Upgrade Question
From Sandy Mitchell
I have a 1st generation "iceBook"
iBook, with a 500 MHz chip & 384 megs RAM & a 10 gig HD.
I'm currently running Jaguar on it (I ditched OS 9 once I got
used to Jaguar, to free up more HD space) and am pretty happy with
it, except to note that it takes quite a while to boot up.
I'd like to upgrade to Panther (I think!), but a friend who is
quite Mac-savvy insists that Panther "isn't ready for prime-time
yet." Do you know of folks who have successfully installed Panther on
an iBook of my vintage and are happy with the results? If so, what
advantages are gained with Panther over Jaguar?
I think my friend's concern is with my iBook being a G3, not a
G4.
Thanks,
Sandy Mitchell
- Hi Sandy,
Installing Panther on my 500 MHz
G3 Pismo PowerBook was like cutting in the turbo-boost. I
would estimate that most things were roughly 20% or more faster
than with OS 10.2.6. That, combined with the "150 new features"
(Exposé is the best of the bunch) makes Panther a
no-brainer upgrade for owners of slower supported machines. The
speed increase with my 700 MHz
G3 iBook was welcome, too, but not nearly as dramatic.
Still takes quite a while to boot up, though, on either machine
(even after upgrading the Pismo to a 550 MHz G4). However, I
wouldn't dream of downgrading to Jaguar on either computer.
Charles
Panther Upgrade CDs
From Andrew Main
Charles,
Just to be clear. You wrote:
"Same disks whether you opt to upgrade your Jaguar installation or go
with a clean install. I did the former with my iBook and the latter
with my Pismo. Worked fine either way."
I expect the full-install Panther CDs will do an upgrade over an
installed Jaguar, but there are also upgrade-only Panther CDs that
will not install on an empty drive. I have a set that came recently
with a new/remaindered iBook G3; they look exactly like regular
Panther CDs (same external labeling, nothing to indicate that they're
upgrade-only), but when inserted and mounted, they are labeled "Mac
OS X Upgrade Disc," and they won't do a clean install, only an
upgrade. So your correspondent must get the full install CDs if he
wants to do a clean install.
Andrew Main
- Hi Andrew,
I wasn't aware of that. Pretty chintzy on Apple's part not to
include the full-install CDs with any new or refurb machine,
IMHO.
Thanks for the heads up.
Charles
Panther Upgrade Problem on Lombards
From Kevin Weise
Mr. Moore,
In your latest Miscellaneous
Ramblings, you reported that Fluffy Monkey Ear wrote and you
replied:
- From Fluffy Monkey Ear
Hi.
I was wondering how you feel about the upgrades rather than the
full install. I have the full version of Jaguar and would like to
get Panther. Would it be OK to get the upgrade disks, or should I
go with the full install?
Thanx
Hi FME,
Same disks whether you opt to upgrade your Jaguar installation or
go with a clean install. I did the former with my iBook and the
latter with my Pismo. Worked fine either way.
Charles
I need to stick my 2¢ worth in. There is a known problem with
installing Panther on Lombard
PowerBooks, but you don't see much about it on the 'Net.
If
you have a 256 MB SODIMM in the upper RAM slot, you may get the
psychedelic screen failure partway through the installation. In
essence, the installation appears to be going well, when towards the
end (somewhere close to, but before Optimization) the screen goes all
pink, green, and blue for several minutes before freezing
altogether.
It appears that RAM used by the graphics card gets clobbered
during the install. I know; it happened to me. And if you're doing an
Archive & Install (as I was), the results can be disastrous.
After removing the SODIMM from the upper slot on my Lombard, I
restarted the installation (Archive & Install again), and then it
installed and upgraded to 10.3.2 beautifully.
It was then up to me to perform a Repair Permissions, reinstall
the 256 MB SODIMM, go find all the account info in Previous System
folder, and restore all the accounts & their contents manually
(in that order). I can imagine that being a daunting task to someone
who is not Unix or Mac OS X savvy.
However, after all this, Panther does run well on my 400 MHz
Lombard. But to anyone else who wants to install Panther on a
Lombard, beware! Remove the upper 256 MB RAM first. (I have heard
that it is only 256 MB RAM this happens with, that everything ought
to work just fine with 128 MB SODIMM or less in the upper RAM slot.
Of course, you really need RAM in the lower slot, too. Mac OS X
requires minimum 128 MB, but more is better with the Lombards.)
Kevin J. Weise
- Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the interesting and potentially valuable advice. I
haven't installed Panther on a Lombard. My son plans to upgrade
his ex-Lombard to Panther for its current owner, but it has no 256
MB RAM modules.
Beforehand knowledge of this bug would make it a relatively simple
matter of popping out the RAM card for the installation and then
replacing it when panther was in situ.
Charles
Music Production on a Lombard?
From James Pearson
Charles,
I wanted to address this in response to Christopher's
audio question.
He should check out Tracktion at Rawmaterialsoftware.com,
now distributed by Mackie. Links are on the Raw Materials site. This
program is singularly responsible for my being able to get some more
audio production life out of my older stock PowerBook WallStreet
G3/266 running OS 10.2. With more memory and a faster hard drive, I'm
sure he'd have a pleasant experience using Tracktion on the Lombard
for demos and light session work.
For the record, I don't recommend the WallStreet to others just
getting started in audio production, if for no other reason than the
fact that it didn't ship with a USB port. No USB pro audio interfaces
will work via the PC Card slot.
I was very excited by Apple's move to buy Emagic.
Many of us expected something like GarageBand as the end result.
Unfortunately, I also suspected that the system requirements would be
established to push new hardware sales.
Tracktion isn't perfect, but it is amazing. Furthermore, it's
proof that audio production software can be innovative without
crippling your system. With a full feature set, a developer that
updates regularly, downloadable demo's and a retail price of $80,
it's worth trying.
That Lombard could still be useful.
James Pearson
- Hi James,
Thanks for the report and helpful advice.
Charles
Pismo Processor Upgrades Article
From Brent
Charles,
Nice article. I like the data
that you gave. I'd love to see more in-depth information and feed
back on the PowerLogix's
Pismo G3-900 upgrade.
I'm a bit upset with PowerLogix prior failure and their
President's complete denial of any responsibility. He even went so
far as to pretend that there was a new management of the company. I
wish he had just disclosed the facts instead of pretending. I am
still interested in the G3-900's performance and stability. It is a
good alternative if it is stable and reliable.
But....
The name Newer Technology is now owned by OWC. That leaves
the question who is producing the upgrade. The old Newer Technology
no longer exists. To my knowledge OWC owns no manufacturing or
assembly facility.
In a filing with the National Arbitration Forum, Larry O'Connor
disclosed that he is the CEO of New Concepts Development. New
Concepts Development has as divisions OWC, Newer Technology, and
others.
I have had many repeated problems with OWC and will no longer do
business with them. If they have something that I want, I try to
locate the manufacture or another vendor, even if the price is
higher. At least I know the customer service if there is a problem
will me better.
I have tracked several items that OWC carefully suggests that they
manufacture, but really are private labeled products from MacPower
(Taiwan) and Battery Biz/Hi-Capacity batteries (California).
I am suspicious that the the OWC, Newer Technology NuPower G4
Pismo is actually from FastMac.
FastMac is a d.b.a. for AllMac/WeFixMacs, a company in California.
But I can not get any information on who the actual owner of
AllMac.com is. The graphics that they use on the FastMac and OWC
sites of the G4 desktop processor upgrades seem to be of the same
item. With and without a FastMac logo.
I have done a little business with WeFixMacs when I was living in
California, but if they are owned in anyway by Larry O'Connor, I want
to know.
Do you have any guess if I am correct in my assumption about the
Pismo upgrade?
Do you have any info on the ownership of AllMac?
Brent Hoffman
- Hi Brent,
I knew that OWC and the new Newer were in tight formation but have
no knowledge beyond that regarding any formal corporate link to
FastMac.
Personally, I've had good service from OWC over the years
purchasing RAM, hard drives, one processor upgrade (PCI), and even
a computer. However, I've never required any after-sales service
on any of these items. Your mileage seems to have varied.
I can unequivocally say that I was very impressed with Daystar in
the context of my recent Pismo G4 upgrade.
Charles
Re: Pismo Processor Upgrades Article
From Brent
Charles,
My problem with OWC was with after sale service. Unfortunately,
most of what I bought from them needed it. The nicest thing I can say
about it was it was very negative.
I think that FastMac has a California owner and is only a supplier
for OWC. I was just wondering if you knew otherwise.
OWC, Larry, likes to pretend to develop and manufacture what they
sell.
BTW, I am about to give away my baby, my Road Warrior, my
PB 5300ce to a friend, a PC user.
I'm having a hard time letting it go. It was my first laptop model.
It was one of the last to go thru the REA program, it replaced my
original PB 5300, and it looks like it just left Apple. All four that
I have owned have been Road Warriors, but my needs have grown, and it
is time to move on.
The form factor is the reason I now love my Pismo
and hate to replace it, and just want to upgrade it.
Brent
- Hi Brent,
Gotta love those 5300s. Still my favorite PowerBook form factor,
save for the lack of an optical drive. My daughter still has my
old one, albeit now little-used. It really needs a new hard drive,
but is otherwise in good working order.
Charles
FastMac's G4 Pismo Upgrades
From Michael Lowdermilk
Charles,
Thank you very much. We appreciate the
good word. Again, if you or any of your readers ever have any
questions please don't hesitate to ask or send them my way. We are a
small company and are able to respond to emails pretty quickly and
provide personalized service and attention.
Also I just wanted to let you know that we are actually starting
to see some email inquiries already from your articles! Thanks
again.
-Michael
FastMac
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