PowerBooks &iBooks

Kanga PowerBook G3

code names: Kanga, 3500

Got a G3 PowerBook or iBook? Join our G-Books Group or PowerBooks and iBooks Forum.
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Our Mac OS 9 Group is for thoseusing Mac OS 9, either natively or in Classic Mode.

PowerBook 3400 This PowerBook G3 was the first Macdesigned around the PowerPC 750 (a.k.a. G3) processor, beating thefirst G3 Power Macs by less than one week. It was the world's mostpowerful notebook computer when it was released.

Don't confuse the original PowerBook G3 (based on the PowerBook 3400) with the PowerBook G3 Series (a.k.a.WallStreet); although it bears almost exactly the same name, theWallStreet is a whole new computer.

Kanga can only handle up to 160 MB of RAM and is the only G3PowerBook not officially supported under Mac OS X. It was only onthe market for 6 months.

Kanga shipped with Mac OS 8.0, the first version of the Mac OS withbuilt-in support for the G3 processor. There are rumors that Mac OS 7.6can run on Kanga, however the standard installer will not install it,and we have not heard from anyone who is actually running it on a KangaPowerBooks.

Warning

According to the Road Warrior, the drive controller in G3 PowerBooks isincompatible with some ATA-6/Ultra ATA-100 hard drives. When replacingthe internal hard drive, you should be sure to obtain an ATA-5/UltraATA-66 compliant drive or an ATA-6 or ATA-7/Ultra ATA-133 drive knownto work with Kanga.

Details

introduced 1997.11.10 at US$5,699; discontinued 1998.05.04
requires System 8.0 through 9.1; unsubstatiated rerports that MacOS 7.6 may work (would probably require software to support the G3processor); not certified for Mac OS X
CPU: 250 MHz PPC 750 (aka G3)
bus: 50 MHz
ROM: 4 MB
RAM: 32 MB, expandable to 160 MB using a single EDO RAM DIMM
Level 2 cache: 512 KB backside cache running at 100 MHz
VRAM: 2 MB
video: Chips and Technology 65554
display: 12.1" 16-bit 800 x 600 83 ppi color active matrix
also supports millions of colors on external displays
video out: VGA port
hard drive: 5 GB EIDE drive
expansion bay: same as PowerBook 190, 5300, and 3400
CD-ROM: 20x, removable
ADB: 1 port for keyboard and mouse
serial: 1 DIN-8 RS-422 port on back of computer
SCSI: HDI30 connector on back of computer
ethernet and modem standard
infrared: supports IrDA and Apple's IRtalk protocol
PC Card slots: 2, CardBus compliant with USB Card Support patch (seeCardBusfor Your PowerBook 3400c or Kanga G3! for details and links
weight: 7.1-7.7 pounds with battery
size: 2.4" H x 11.5" W x 9.5" D
battery: rated at two to four hours of use
family number: M3553
power supply: M4896 or M4895

Online Resources

Low End Mac'sCompleat Guide to the Kanga PowerBook, Charles Moore, 'Book Value,2008.05.29. The first G3 PowerBook was the world's fastest laptopcomputer when it was released - and 2.5x as fast as the PowerBook 3400that it replaced.
Best PowerBook G3deals.
Best classic MacOS deals. Best online prices for System 6, 7.1, 7.5.x, Mac OS 7.6,8.0, 8.1, 8.5, 9.0, 9.2.2, and other versions.
Low End Mac'sCompleat Guide to Mac OS 9, 2008 edition, Charles Moore,Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.05.12. Declared dead by Steve Jobs 6years ago, Mac OS 9 remains fast and stable, but Classic softwarehasn't kept up with Web changes. What Macs support OS 9, where to buyit, and how to update to version 9.2.2.
WiFi cardsfor PowerBooks with PC Card slots, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum,2008.08.12. PC Card and CardBus 802.11b and 802.11g cards known to becompatible with Apple's PowerBooks.
Environmentallyresponsible retirement for old Macs, Rick Lawson, Pioneers in MacDevelopment, 2008.06.13. After you've scavenged what useful parts youcan from your old Mac, what's the most environmentally friendly way todispose of the rest?
What's thebest Mac OS for your iBook, PowerBook, or MacBook?, Charles Moore,'Book Value, 2008.08.19. Tips on choosing the best OS for yourPowerBook 500 Series or newer Mac notebook.
WiFi PC Cards forPowerBooks running Mac OS 9, MetaPhyzx, Mac Daniel, 2009.03.10.PCMCIA cards and drivers reported to be compatible with the Classic MacOS.
Cheap USB 2 CardBus solution, OS 9and Kanga, mobile Mac value, and more, Charles Moore, MiscellaneousRamblings, 2009.09.09. Also a look at several options for using an oldLocalTalk printer with a Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'.
Mac 'Book powermanagement adventures, Charles Moore, 'Book Value, 2009.05.19. Ifyour 'Book won't power up, shuts down while your working, or has otherpower issues, resetting its internal power manager may clear thingsup.
500 MHz iBook keeps going, iBookvideo repair, a WiFi card that costs less than AirPort, and more,Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2009.05.13. Also Dell'salternative to the 12" PowerBook, WiFi hotspot insecurity, and feedbackfrom a Eudora fan.
The 25 mostimportant Macs, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2009.02.17. The 25 mostsignificant Macs in the first 25 years of the platform, continued.
Blackouts and Web access, death ofa Kanga, the future of PowerPC Macs, and more, Charles Moore,Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2009.01.07. Also another email clientsuggestion and whether a G3 iMac can handle a 7200 rpm hard drivewithout overheating.
Why youshould partition your Mac's hard drive, Dan Knight, Mac Musings,2008.12.11. "At the very least, it makes sense to have a secondpartition with a bootable version of the Mac OS, so if you haveproblems with your work partition, you can boot from the 'emergency'partition to run Disk Utility and other diagnostics."
Another free POP3 provider,recharging a dead PRAM battery, current Kanga value, and more,Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.09.03. GMX email nowavailable in US, Panasonic UJ-841S drive won't burn discs, restoring adead PRAM battery in a Pismo, and thoughts on Kanga value today.
Turn your oldMac into a web server with Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, JasonPacker, Macs in the Enterprise, 2008.07.09. Step-by-step instructionsfor installing and configuring Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP on anolder Mac.
Praise for Opera, low cost iBookmobo replacement, IrDA and IRtalk, WaMCom recommended, and more,Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.06.18. Also the use of'compleat', booting from CD, new Toshiba 1.8" drives too thick for MBA,and PowerPC support and Snow Leopard.
CardBusfor your PowerBook 3400c or Kanga G3, Rob Frohne. Kanga and the3400 electronically support CardBus, but the card cage is slightlysmaller than required by the CardBus specification and there is nogroundplane. Cards that fit seem to work.
Wireless FAQ for OlderApple PowerBook Computers. Resources to help you to install andmaintain 802.11b/g wireless PC Cards on older PowerBook computers.
TheComplete and Utter Guide to PC Cards and Expansion Bays on thePowerBook, Insanely Great. All about the PCMCIA, PC Card, orCardBus slots used in various PowerBooks.
Solving Macstartup problems, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.12.12. When yourold Mac won't boot, the most likely culprits are a dead PRAM battery ora failed (or failing) hard drive.
10 years since the first G3Macs, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.11.10. The world's fastestnotebook was soon joined by a 266 MHz Power Mac G3 that ran circlesaround 300 MHz Pentium II computers.
The future of G3 PowerBooks inthe Age of Leopard, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.09.11. There's noG3 support in Leopard. What does that mean for Kanga, WallStreet,Lombard, and Pismo PowerBooks?
Silence is golden: Running yourexisting notebook using flash memory, Dan Knight, Low End MacReviews, 2007.05.23. With a new adapter from Addonics, you can replaceyour laptop's IDE hard drive inexpensively and boot silently from aCompact Flash card.
Appearance Manager allows InternetExplorer 5.1.7 to work with Mac OS 7.6.1, Max Wallgren, Mac Daniel,2007.05.23. Want a fairly modern browser with an old, fast operatingsystem? Mac OS 7.6.1 plus the Appearance Manager and Internet Explorermay be just what you want.
Format any drive for older Macs withpatched Apple tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.04.25.Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple branded harddrives - until you apply the patches linked to this article.
First Blu-ray drive for Apple's'Books, replace notebook hard drive with Compact Flash, and more,The 'Book Review, 2007.04.13. Also 160 GB 7200 rpm hard drives,upgrading from a MacBook Pro to a MacBook, Waterfield's flexible newSling bag, bargain 'Books from $170 to $1,699, and more.
PC Card WiFi for OS X PowerBooks,installing Classic for OS X, Gmail problem with Shiira, and more,Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2007.01.15. A low-cost WiFi PCCard for PowerBooks running OS X, tips on installing Classic underTiger, Gmail broken with Shiira 1.2.2 browser, and stimulating a flashdrive on pre-USB PowerBooks.
System 7 Today, advocates of Apple's'orphan' Mac OS 7.6.1, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh,2006.10.26. Why Mac OS 7.6.1 is far better for 68040 and PowerPC Macsthan System 7.5.x.
Is Ubuntu Linux a sensible alternativefor Mac users?, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2006.09.18.If your Mac can run OS X decently, is there any reason to try UbuntuLinux? If it can't run OS X well, is Ubuntu a reasonable choice?
iMac startup problem solved, PowerBook5300 and WallStreet memories, removing languages, and more, CharlesMoore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2006.09.11. Also Kanga "all I need",another WallStreet upgrade, dual USB iBook thoughts, and problemsreading CD-R in older Macs.
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 caneven be practical on 68030-based Macs.
Inside your notebook's battery:Ordinary AA Li-Ion cells, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2006.09.08. Thatexpensive battery in your notebook computer probably holds less than$30 worth of off-the-shelf AA Li-Ion batteries.
Many G3 Macs now consideredvintage, Mac News Review, 2006.03.31.
Is the G3 still a practicalchoice?, Matthew Jay, Macs to the Max, 2006.08.10. Although the G3is several generations old, it has enough horsepower for most of thethings we do on our computers.
The ins and outs of booting Linuxon the Mac, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.07.31. "OldWorld" Macs can't boot directly into Linux. They need to boot theClassic Mac OS first, then pass control over to Linux.
System 7.6.1 is perfect for manyolder Macs, John Martorana, That Old Mac Magic, 2006.03.24. Wantthe best speed from your old Mac? System 7.6.1 can give you that with afairly small memory footprint - also helpful on older Macs.
Web browser tips for the classicMac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.01.03. Tipson getting the most out of WaMCom, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, iCab,Opera, and WannaBe using the classic Mac OS.
The best browsers for PowerPC Macsand the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence,2005.12.16. Two browsers stand out from the pack: iCab 3 is modern andremains under development, and WaMCom brings Mozilla to olderMacs.
Why you should use Mac OS 7.6 to getthe most out of vintage Macs, Thomas Ahart, The Productive Mac,2005.12.12. Although you may be able to run OS 8 or 9 on your old Mac,you'll generally find better performance using Mac OS 7.6.
WirelesslyNetworking a PowerBook 1400 or Other Old Apple Laptop: Step ByStep, Derek K Miller, Penmachine.com, 2003.04.12, updated2004.05.17. You can put one of these older 'Books on an AirPort(802.11b) network for under US$50.
Kanga PowerBook a best buy, DanKnight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2003.03.25. "It's a great machine forintroducing people to what an older PowerBook can still do well enoughfor most for around $250."
Cardbusfor your PowerBook 3400c or Kanga G3!, Rob Frohne. "...the 3400c isalready cardbus compliant as far as I can tell!"
Is the original PowerBook G3 toolimited today?, Dan Knight, Mac Daniel, 2003.03.17. Once theworld's fastest laptop, has the 'Kanga' PowerBook been left in thedust?
Flash memory improvesPowerBook, Dan Knight, Mac Daniel, 2002.11.14. Using Compact Flashto boot, save files, run silently, extend battery life, and as virtualmemory on a PowerBook.
SCSI and FireWire Disk Modes, PauloRodrigues, Tangerine Fusion, 2000.11.29. How to use SCSI Disk Mode andFireWire Target Disk Mode for ultrafast file transfers.
MacintoshPowerBook G3, Fortune City
Recovering a stolen PowerBook,The 'Book Page. One user's experience.
PowerBook G3 memorypricing, ramseeker
Black Apple ADB mouse, perfect PowerBook G3 companion, $90 fromSun Remarketing | Service Parts |Macintosh TV.
Apple'spress release for the original PowerBook G3, 1997.11.10.
Apple Specs for PowerBookG3
Apple Specs for PowerBookG3
PowerBook G3Computers: How to Identify Different Models, Apple TIL 24604

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