The 5000-series was Motorola's second generation Macompatible.
Based on the Tanzania II
motherboard with a 50 MHz bus, these tower computers provide
excellent performance at a reasonable price. All models include an
EDI hard drive, ATAPI CD-ROM player, and five-year warranty.
Variants
5000/225. 225 MHz 603e processor
5000/250. 250 MHz 603e processor
5000/275. 275 MHz 603e processor
5000/300. 300 MHz 603e processor
5500/200. 200 MHz 604e processor
Details
introduced April 1997
requires System 7.6 through 9.1
CPU: 225-275 MHz 6033, 200 MHz PPC 604e
bus: 50 MHz
RAM: 32 MB (64 MB on 5500/200), expandable to 160 MB using
3-volt 60ns or faster EDO DIMMs (older 5-volt DIMMs are not
compatible). Peculiarly, RAM slot 3 addresses only a single bank of
memory, unlike dual-bank slots 1 and 2. While you can use any DIMM
up to 64 MB in slots 1 and 2, you should only use a single-bank
DIMM in slot 3. This limits slot 3 to 32 MB. 32 MB configurations
ship with a single-bank DIMM in RAM slot 3.
VRAM: 2, 4 or 8 MB
Video: 15-pin SVGA port; 2 MB supports millions of colors at
resolutions up to800 x 600, thousands at up to 1152 x 870.
L2 cache: 512k
hard drive: EIDE, 2.5GB or 4.3GB standard
CD-ROM: 16x SCSI drive
ADB: 1 port for keyboard and mouse
PS/2 keyboard port
PS/2 mouse port
two miniDIN-8 GeoPorts on back of computer
SCSI: DB-25 connector on back of computer
PCI slots: 5
Accelerators & Upgrades
none known
Online Resources
Low End Mac's
Compleat Guide to Mac OS 9, 2008 edition, Charles Moore,
Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.05.12. Declared dead by Steve Jobs 6
years ago, Mac OS 9 remains fast and stable, but Classic software
hasn't kept up with Web changes. What Macs support OS 9, where to buy
it, and how to update to version 9.2.2.
Hacking Mac OS 7.6.1 so many Mac
OS 8 apps will run, Max Wallgren, Mac Daniel, 2007.10.30. With a
little ResEdit work and a second copy of your System Folder, you can
run a lot of OS 8 apps with Mac OS 7.6.1.
Format any drive for older Macs
with patched Apple tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations,
2007.04.25. Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple
branded hard drives - until you apply the patches linked to this
article.
SATA and PCI Power Macs: No OS
X joy, but you can boot OS 9, Nathan Thompson, Embracing
Obsolescence, 2006.11.17. Weeks of experimention find that while
you can't seem to boot a pre-G3 Power Mac into OS X from a SATA
hard drive, you can at least boot OS 9 from it.
Musings on low-end SATA cards
in PCI Power Macs, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence,
2006.11.06. Thoughts on why the inexpensive SATA card might almost
work in a pre-G3 PCI Power Mac.
Old Power Macs and SATA not a
marriage made in heaven, Nathan Thompson, Embracing
Obsolescence, 2006.11.03. The PCI SATA card said blue & white
G3 or newer and Mac OS 8.6 or later, but maybe it would work in an
older pre-G3 Power Mac....
Mac OS 8 and 8.1: Maximum size,
maximum convenience, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations,
2006.09.11. Mac OS 8 and 8.1 add some useful new features and
tools, and it can even be practical on 68030-based Macs.
Installing Linux on a PCI Power
Mac, Part 1, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.09.05.
Preparing your PCI Power Mac (or clone) for Linux and getting
openSUSE Linux installed.
Customizing Mac OS 9,
Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.08.01. Fiddling with
themes, picking a browser, and making the Classic Mac OS work just
the way you want it to.
The ins and outs of booting
Linux on the Mac, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End,
2006.07.31. "Old World" Macs can't boot directly into Linux. They
need to boot the Classic Mac OS first, then pass control over to
Linux.
Preparing your PCI Power Mac
for Linux, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.07.26. How
powerful a CPU do you need? How much memory? Do you need a faster
drive controller? Are some video cards better than others?
Getting the Mac digital
jukebox up and running, Nathan Thompson, Embracing
Obsolescence, 2006.05.08. Connecting your PowerPC Mac to your
rstereo and remote control options for running a headless digital
audio jukebox.
System 7.6.1 is perfect for
many older Macs, John Martorana, That Old Mac Magic,
2006.03.24. Want the best speed from your old Mac? System 7.6.1 can
give you that with a fairly small memory footprint - also helpful
on older Macs.
Web browser tips for the
classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence,
2006.01.03. Tips on getting the most out of WaMCom, Mozilla,
Internet Explorer, iCab, Opera, and WannaBe using the classic Mac
OS.
The best browsers for PowerPC
Macs and the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing
Obsolescence, 2005.12.16. Two browsers stand out from the pack:
iCab 3 is modern and remains under development, and WaMCom brings
Mozilla to older Macs.
Sonata SD,
Sonnet Tech, 2004.06.01. First new PCI video card for the Mac in
ages sells for just US$99, supports OS 7.5.3 and later plus OS X
10.1.5 and later, works with VGA or old Mac monitors, 16 MB
VRAM.
StarMax-Talk,
Yahoo! Groups. An email list for Motorola StarMax and related
clones.
Apple has released patch for OS 8.1 only on Power Mac 4400,
7220, Motorola StarMax, and Umax Aegis (an Asia-only model). It
fixes problems with the HFS+ driver (which loads even when HFS+
volumes are not present) and the ATA Manager, which may result in
your mouse click not registering or problems switching from a PC
card.
Read me and
download.