Ubuntu on Older Macs
From Jason Compton in response to Is Ubuntu Linux a Sensible Alternative for Mac
Users?
While it would be a tough sell to get someone to ditch OS X
10.4 in favor of Ubuntu, for the truly stripped-down low-end Mac, I
think it's a fine choice.
I came into a B&W G3 for
the princely sum of $20 recently - not much memory, not much disk
space, and no OS whatsoever. So I could have shelled out for
OS X, but I elected instead to install Xubuntu, and I'm feeling pretty
pleased about the whole thing. Since I have a comparatively shiny
new Intel mini to run OS X
on, and no particular need to run OS 9/PPC era applications,
Xubuntu seemed like a logical choice.
Admittedly, I did have to swap out the video card my B&W
came with - before I got the machine, its Rage 128 card had been
replaced with an old Rage Pro board, and the ATI drivers available
for ubuntu/ppc don't like that card one bit, so $25 later I put an
introductory Radeon in the machine - but even with that extra
expense, it was a lot cheaper than going out and buying a new copy
of 10.4 for a machine which wasn't truly up for the challenge
anyway and would have needed more memory, etc. to make it sing.
For $50 I have a blue-and-white which can be used for real
tasks, and I think that's pretty spiffy. Even setting up wireless
was comparatively painless. For people with low-end Mac hardware to
spare and no pressing need to use a Mac killer app on it, I would
say the Ubuntu family merits some serious consideration.
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the report.
I agree entirely.
IMHO (based on personal experience), The minimum
Mac system for satisfactory performance with OS X is a 500 MHz
G3 with at least 512 MB of RAM.
For your old B&W, Xubuntu makes eminent good
sense.
Lombard Memory Upgrades
From Travis Patocka
I just wanted to say "thank you" for the excellent article on
upgrading the Lombard. I am considering the
Daystar upgrade that you mentioned, but I was wondering if you
might be able to answer a question that I have.
Does the Lombard use the
same size RAM for the upper and lower slots? I didn't know if there
was a smaller RAM stick that goes in the lower slot than the upper.
I just figured that you have quite a bit of knowledge in this area
and I have only had my Lombard for about two weeks but am ready to
upgrade.
Thanks for your time and keep writing great articles!
Travis Patocka
Hi Travis,
Thanks for the kind words.
The answer to your RAM question is yes and no. The
Lombard can support low profile RAM sticks in both slots, but high
profile ones only in the upper slot. Physical clearance is the only
issue that would prevent RAM that works in the upper slot from
working in the lower slot.
Charles
Lombard G3/333 and DVDs
From Keith Veitch
Charles,
Enjoyed very much reading your
article on the Lombard - it has always been one of my favourite
Macs, and I kept mine despite moving on to a Pismo (which my middle daughter now
uses to run her iPod/iTunes setup as well as playing Bubble Trouble) and my
current 12" and 15" PowerBook G4s.
One thing you omitted to mention when discussing the 333 and 400
MHz models regarding DVDs is that not only did the 400 have a DVD
drive, it also has the necessary MPEG decoder chip to play DVDs,
something the 333 MHz model lacks and so requires an external card
(now difficult to find here in Europe). I assume that this would
not be a problem after the Daystar upgrade, but might affect those
who just fancy a great computer for a low price.
Cheers,
Keith Veitch
Hi Keith,
Thanks for your note and information covering the
DVD support issue.
The Lombard is a great old machine. My son liked
his, and it went through three more owners after him before I lost
track of it, all of whom got good service from it.
Charles
Pismo Upgrade Questions
From Tom Weis
I have recently acquired a Pismo G3/400 for free. I just spent
$200 for a new battery & clock battery + installation.
My first question is: Apple says that the max RAM for this
machine is 512 MB via two 256 MB SIMM's, but I see 512 MB SIMM's
for sale . . . can I use two of those for a total of
1 GB RAM? Will this computer address 1 GB correctly?
My second question is: I know I need an ATA 5 hard drive if I
want to upgrade the HD . . . is there anything else I
need to know about the HD specs when shopping?
Thanks.
T
Hi Tom,
The Pismo will address two 512 MB sticks of memory
for a total of 1 GB, however, the internal backup battery may
or may not have enough reserve to keep the RAM alive during main
battery changes with that much RAM. Not a big issue, IMHO.
There was some controversy a few years back over
whether the Pismo would support ATA66 hard drives, but I see that
Other World Computing, which sells a lot of hard drives, is listing
several ATA 6 units as compatible with the Pismo, so I
wouldn't worry about it. However OWC also notes that "Laptop models
manufactured prior to 2003 do not support internal hard drive
capacities of over 120 GB," which might be helpful to keep in
mind.
Charles
Installing Clamshell iBook Memory
From Arthur Cooper
Charles,
I have enjoyed and utilized your articles on older Macs and
appreciate your advice. I have a clamshell iBook with 64 MB of RAM that
I've had for about 7 years.
I recently purchased the max RAM of 256 but do not know how to
access the open slot. Can you advise.
AC
Hi Arthur,
For nice, illustrated, step-by-step instructions
on how to access the Clamshell's RAM expansion slot (and much
else), see iFixIt.com's free teardown guide for the Clamshell iBook
here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/49.0.0.html
Seven years is a long time to go with just 64 MB
of RAM. I think you'll be happy with the performance improvement of
the upgrade.
Charles
From Arthur Cooper
Thanks for the advice! I use the iBook for my grades for school
as well as rough editing for iMovie. I have a dual 2.0 G5 that I do
my major stuff on. If it wasn't for the fact that my printers will
not accept anything lower than OS X, I probably would not have
thought about upgrading!
But as you said, I'm sure I'll appreciate the performance!
Thanks again!
AC
Problem with Wallstreet CPU Upgrade
From Mark Lowery
I hope you don't mind me writing to you to ask a question that I
am sure has been dealt with hundreds of times.
I have had a number of WallStreets that I have done
repairs on, and recently I got a PowerLogix 466 upgrade in a
WallStreet that was not working. Since I bought it for the other
parts (14" screen, ram, etc.) I wasn't expecting much with the
upgrade CPU. I was pleasantly surprise to find it works
. . . I think.
In one of my WallStreets, it works but does not give me 32-bit
resolution, so my DVDs have a ghost image to them. In a couple of
others I can hear the system boot up, but there is no video on the
screen. I haven't tried using an external monitor to see if there
is some video.
Anyway, I know there are problems with this particular CPU
upgrade, but do you have any answers for me for the problems I am
experiencing.
Thanks for your help,
Mark Lowery
Hi Mark,
Wish I could help, but this issue is beyond my
level of expertise. My understanding would have been that video
support is handled by the graphics processor, and the symptoms you
describe are not something I would expect from a processor defect
or incompatibility, but my knowledge in this area is far from
encyclopedic.
PowerLogix no longer makes PowerBook upgrades, but
their tech support people might be willing to address your issue.
Never hurts to ask.
Charles
Beige G3 Unable to Read CD-R
From David Walker in response to Beige G3 Unable to Read CD-R
Charles,
The beige G3 probably has a 24x CD-ROM, so the editor's note
about really old drives not being able to read CD-Rs is not
applicable. Having said that, older CD-ROM drives often have
trouble with modern CD-Rs because the new discs use lighter
coloured dyes and have a lower contrast ratio than older discs had.
CD-RW discs have also changed over the years, and drives from the
beige era can't cope with high speed CD-RWs. It's usually possible
to use low speed CD-RWs in older drives. I have some Maxell 4x
CD-RWs that I'm using for off-site copies of my digital photos
because they work in everything from my G5 to the Power Mac 7600 from a decade ago (the
oldest machine I have tested the discs in).
Your reader should probably invest in a USB 2.0 PCI card for the
beige G3 and use a USB flash drive instead of a CD to transfer
data.
David Walker
Hi David,
Thanks for the additional information.
Charles
Russell Beattie's Underhanded Criticisms of Mac
OS X
From Chris Turpin
Hello, Charles.
Even though this article you wrote [A Flameless Response to Russell Beattie's 33
Criticisms of Mac OS X] is almost a year old, I have a point I
want to make known. Actually, a couple.
If this were a tech journalist, I would criticize him for saying
"Smoking Dope" on item #1 in the list. And using the word "Fucking"
later on. It's not good form if you are trashing an operating
system, and using such profanity. It usually fails to capture an
audience.
On to what I had originally planned to say on item #11, which
reads:
11. Yahoo! products work better on Windows: Yahoo!
Messenger and Yahoo! Music Engine are awesome on the PC. Yes Y!
could concentrate more on Mac products, but they're hardly alone
here.
This was kind of an underhanded stab at OS X, in my
opinion. Pretty much what he did is called (in a book I read)
framing the debate, in which he mainly focused on something that
would give him an advantage in his argument that the Mac OS doesn't
meet his needs. It's easy for Yahoo to give Mac users all those
extra features, but they instead choose to leave us out of the
loop. And Yahoo not concentrating on Macs because they are
minorities is also fast becoming an invalid argument.
Heck, I'm of the opinion that Yahoo can support Macs just as
well as PCs. For Mr. Beattie to say that was really underhanded and
unfair towards Mac users, in my honest opinion.
And lastly, I thought it was really great of you to take a
flameless approach to this, even though Mr. Beattie flamed all
throughout the list.
-Chris
REPLY
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the commentary.
If Yahoo! continues to all but ignore Mac users,
that's their policy decision, and their loss of customers who won't
tolerate indifferent performance.
I agree that gratuitous profanity detracts from
the effectiveness of an argument.
Charles
Editor's note: Yahoo! has updated Yahoo! Messenger to version 3.0
(well, it's still considered a beta), and it's a much better
OS X client. It's a universal binary, but there's still no
support for voice chat. dk
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