Tiger or Panther on a Power Mac G4/533?
From Mark Taintor after reading What's the Minimum Mac or 'Book for Mac OS X
10.4 'Tiger'?:
Hi Charles,
Thanks for a good article on Low End Mac about machines that can
run Tiger [OS X 10.4]. I have a [Power Mac] G4/533 desktop that is
currently running 10.2.8 very happily, and I've been very happy to
use it as is. However, time marches on, and my daughter's new iPod
won't work on it without an update. Do you think Tiger will work
for me? I've got 1 GB memory. I'm assuming I could still find a new
copy of 10.3.9 somewhere, if that'd work better.
Thanks for your time.
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark,
My daughter is running Tiger on a 233 MHz Bondi iMac, so where there's a will
there's a way.
OS X 10.3.9 would be the optimum performance
version of OS X for your Power Mac, but Tiger should work fine
on a machine with your specs, and it's what I would go with in your
shoes.
With either Panther or Tiger, you should notice
more speed than you're getting with Jaguar.
Charles
Editor's note: Low End Mac has user support forums
for Mac OS X 10.1 through 10.4 - and will launch one for 10.5 once
Apple announces a release date. dk
From Lombard to Pismo: Can I Simply Swap Hard
Drives?
From David
Charles,
I have enjoyed reading your articles and replies on Low End Mac.
I now find myself in a position to ask for your technical
suggestions.
I have just recently purchased a G3
Pismo PowerBook to replace my Lombard.
Here's what I want to do, but I'm not a Mac guy (yet) - I am
more firmly rooted in the PC world.
On many older version of Windows and possibly including XP Pro,
one could simply swap hard drives . . . say, from a
Pentium to a Pentium II machine and allow the OS to find drivers,
do its magic behind the scenes. Can I do the same thing with
OS X?
Lombard specs -
- OS X 10.3.9
- CPU - 333 MHz
- RAM - 256 MB (PC66)
- CD-ROM
- USB only
Pismo Specs -
- OS X 10.3.9
- CPU - 400 MHz
- RAM 192 - MB (PC100)
- DVD-ROM
- USB & Firewire
Why would I want to do such a thing? Laziness, perhaps. I spent
hours and did two complete reinstallations to get the Lombard where
I want it, only to find that the performance is unacceptable. I
don't want to waste all that work (configuring a wireless NIC
through Darwin, installing Fink, XDarwin, yada, yada).
Will it work, and would you do it?
Thanks in advance!
David
Hi David,
Swapping the hard drive from a Lombard to a Pismo
is relatively easy - it's simple getting it out of the Lombard and
only slightly more involved installing it in the Pismo.
To get the Lombard drive out, remove the battery
and CD/DVD module from the expansion bays before proceeding. Pop
the keyboard and flip it over to rest upside down on the palm
rests, being careful to not strain the ribbon cable. Remove the
processor heat sink (three screws, if I recall correctly). Remove
the two from the modem, and carefully pry it up from its socket.
Disconnect the cable and set it aside. Pry up the processor
daughtercard's right side carefully (fingers are usually
sufficient). Gently disconnect the orange cable at the inside end
of the hard drive from the logic board. Grasp the plastic tab and
pull the hard drive up and to the left.
That's it. Reinstallation is the reverse
order.
To install the drive in the Pismo, release the
keyboard snap clips, and flip it upside down onto the palm rests,
taking care not to strain the delicate keyboard ribbon cable.
Remove the metal heat sink plate that covers the upper RAM slot and
processor daughtercard - only a couple of screws to take out and it
lifts off. The hard drive lives in a metal cage at the left rear
corner of the PowerBook's chassis, and lifts out from there with a
convenient plastic pull tab. When it's clear of the PowerBook case,
the ATA ribbon cable connector can be carefully unplugged and the
drive assembly lifted away from the PowerBook. Four Torx T8 screws
secure the drive in its metal cage, and once they are removed, the
drive can be separated from the cage.
Reassembly is simply a reversal of these steps,
and the whole process takes barely more time that it took to write
about it here .
However, I strongly recomment that you check out
the illustrated step-by-step instructions in the excellent iFixIt
Guides for both machines which you can view at <http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/>
I think your OS X installation for the
Lombard should support the Pismo. I have OS X 10.3.9 installed
on my external FireWire hard drive, and it happily boots my Pismo,
my iBook, and my 17" PowerBook. However, I can't guarantee
success.
Nevertheless, the relative simplicity of swapping
the drives would incline me to give it a try if I were in your
shoes.
Charles
From David:
Charles,
That worked beautifully! I suspected that it might be as easy,
but I just needed to hear from a Mac-guru before I did the
deed.
I am truly impressed with the ability of the older PowerBooks to
handle OS X. My Lombard has 256 MB RAM, and I only just
replaced it because NeoOffice was so painfully slow to use. The
"new" Pismo came with Office already installed on it, and despite
having only 192 MB RAM, opens considerably faster than NeoOffice.
Once I swapped drives, I noticed no discernable differences in
speed between the Pismo and the Lombard, which leads me to think
that NeoOffice is just a bloated pig of an app - it's also
free.
Thanks very much for your assistance. I just thought you might
be interested in a few quick comments on the process. Thanks for
indulging me.
David
Thanks for the report, David. Glad to hear that it
all went smoothly.
Charles
WallStreet Wireless and USB Questions
Dear Charles Moore,
I just discovered your site.
I am writing to you on my iBook
G3/800 MHz. It will probably shut down on me in another few
minutes. I have had the logic board replaced twice under the
extended warranty, and now that the warranty program is finished, I
am in need of yet another - a third logic board replacement.
So I pulled my
old WallStreet out of the
original box in which I had it stored and started considering its
possibilities as a replacement. When I acquired this iBook back in
November of 2000, my WallStreet was working fine, but I was feeling
cramped by its limitations (no writeable drive for backing up, no
practical way of connecting it to a USB printer - or so I
thought).
Almost immediately upon getting the iBook G3, the WallStreet
started to become unstable, so it went unused. I really don't know
what its issues are at this point. For instance it may have some
kind of short in the AC adapter port. Evidence for this is the fact
that the battery no longer charges at all. And movement seems to
cause a shutdown.
My questions are these: If it were a fully working stable
WallStreet computer:
- Is there a way to make it wireless?
- Must it first be upgrade to OS 9 or even OS X
before doing so?
- If OS X is needed for WiFi, will its current hard drive of 4 GB
be sufficient?
- Is there a practical way of hooking it up to a USB
printer?
Finally, I must say that I suddenly confronted with a personal
history with Apple that is very disappointing. My first Apple was
the 5300, which has so many problems
that Apple had a buy back program. That is how I came into the
WallStreet. I was given a credit of some $500 or so towards the
purchase of the WallStreet Series II. After using that for a few
years, I got the iBook, which needed two logic board replacements
and now needs a third. Meanwhile the WallStreet is completely
unstable.
Linux beckons, but until I become very savvy at that program I
will need a fully functioning computer. I am really at a loss of
what to do.
Thanks for your time and attention in this.
Sincerely,
Joseph
Hi Joseph,
Sorry to hear of your troubles. You've definitely
had a run of bad luck. I also have a 5300, a WallStreet, and a G3
iBook, and all have been decently reliable machines, although the
WallStreet did burn out its processor at 3-1/2 years. It's still in
service as my wife's computer, and the original battery still takes
a charge. My iBook has been virtually flawless with no problems in
more than four years (three of them as my main workhorse), and the
5300 still runs.
It's hard to diagnose tour WallStreet's issue.
Some of them did have problems with the power adapter plug shorting
out on the RF shielding. Peer in around the AC adapter socket to
check if any foil shielding might be contacting the connector. It
is usually possible to shift it out of the way using a toothpick or
some such. Of course, the problem could be something other.
Don't spend any serous money repairing the iBook.
You can pick up a refurbished 800 MHz one with a warranty for about
$450, which is less than a logic board replacement would cost. A G4
model isn't that much more. You can check the latest prices in
my 'Book Review column here in
Low End Mac every Friday.
Charles
Dropped iBook G4
From Jon Dintzis
Dear Sir,
I have an ibook G4 which has had a few low level drops. The
problem is that the screen has started pulling away from the
plastic strip at the bottom of the screen, exposing the wiring etc.
at the base of the screen. I opened it up to find the metal piece
(hinge?) broken. Where can i get this fixed, and what would be the
normal cost?
I am living in Bogota, Colombia, but could not find authorized
repair shops in Bogota on the Apple website. Any help would be
greatly appreciated. I am also in the market for a set of fairly
simple laptops for my employees and wondered if you could recommend
an Apple model.
Many thanks,
Jonathan Dintzis
Hi Jonathan,
Your last question is easy, at least if you're
shopping new. The current Core 2 Duo
MacBooks would be an excellent choice.
As for fixing your iBook, I don't know of any
Apple repair shops in Columbia, although there may be some. There
are several firms in the US that offer mail order Apple laptop
repair, including (in no particular order):
You could visit their websites and then contact
them with regard to shipping your 'Book for repair. You will have
to judge for yourself whether the shipping and repair costs make
sense in terms of the value of the machine.
For comparison, TechRetore will sell you a
refurbished 12" iBook G4/1 GHz 256/30/Combo with a 6-month warranty
for $549.99, and the PowerBook Guy has the 12" iBook G4/1 GHz
512/30/CD for $429.95 and the 12" iBook G4/1.2 GHz 512/30/CD for
$479.95.
Charles
Upgrading RAM on Lombard
From Jon Leist
Charles:
Thanks for the great online articles.
Question: I want to add more RAM to my Lombard G3/400. Every online direction
says to remove the keyboard, but no one details how. I have removed
the battery pack and DVD drive from the front bays and removed the
allen screws from the bottom of the laptop. However, the keyboard
does not come off.
Any hints? Need to access the memory slots to add RAM.
Thanks,
Jon
Hi Jon,
Glad you enjoy my scribblings.
First, put the battery, optical drive, and Allen
screws back in. They don't need to be removed.
For illustrated instructions on how to remove the
keyboard from your Lombard, visit <http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/31.0.0.html>
The keyboard release tabs on the Lombard are at
the top of the keypad and accessible without removing anything
else.
Charles
From Jon Leist
Thanks for the help! The upgrade went great!
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