Power Macintosh

Power Mac G3/300, G3/333, G3/366

Code Name: Gossamer

A Low End Mac Best Buy

A Road Apple (Rev. 1 only)

Overview

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This faster version of the beige G3 builds on Apple's success with the G3/233 and G3/266.

In addition to a 300 MHz PowerPC 750 (a.k.a. G3) CPU, the G3/300 has the option of a 1 MB backside cache, twice as big as in the older models. Apple also offered a 4 GB ultra wide SCSI drive as an option, which offers better performance than the EIDE drive in the 233 MHz and 266 MHz models.

If you have a hard drive larger than 8 GB, you should partition is so that the first partition is under 8 GB in size (for simplicity, we suggest 7 GB). Failure to do this could eventually result in an unbootable computer, as all System files must be within the first 8 GB of drive space. These Macs can work successfully with larger drives for some time, but once a System files goes outside of the first 8 GB of space, you'll have nothing but problems.

Mac OS X

If you have a hard drive over 8 GB in size, you must partition it or you will not be able to install Mac OS X. If you are creating the partition within OS X, it must be smaller than 7.4 GB as reported by Disk Utility (because sometimes a GB is billion bytes and sometimes it's 1,073,741,824 bytes); we suggest simply setting it at 7 GB to avoid having to redo the whole installation if the partition ends up bigger than specified (it happens). Mac OS X must be completely within the first 8 GB of space on your hard drive or you will not be able to run OS X.

You can only boot OS X from a "master" drive in the beige G3. This applies to hard drives and CD-ROM drives. If the CD-ROM is set to slave, you will not be able to install OS X. If the hard drive is set to slave, you will not be able to boot from it.

Non-Apple upgrades and peripherals (such as unsupported USB devices, replacement drives, and third-party memory) may cause problems when installing or booting into Mac OS X.

Be sure to read and follow Apple's "Read Before You Install" instructions to increase the likelihood of getting OS X installed and running on the first try.

The beige G3 is not officially supported under OS X 10.3 (Panther), but it does work with 10.2.8 and earlier. Panther can be installed using XPostFacto 3, although built-in video is not currently supported.

Cautions

The beige G3 doesn't turn off power to a monitor or other device connected to the power out plug on the back when the computer is shut down. Apple reported this as a cost saving measure.

Data on the RAM Disk is lost during a restart, unlike earlier Macs. Apple also notes that the 100 MHz Pentium PC Compatibility card is incompatible, although this seems to be due to an audio cable problem. There are also reports that the G3 will not stay asleep.

Other compatibility issues:

  • GeoPort Modem not supported
  • QTC and AMC not supported
  • Must disconnect LocalTalk if using ethernet
  • Needs updated drivers for StyleWriter 4100 & 4500
  • Needs new ethernet driver for use on 10/100 autosensing hubs
  • LocalTalk printing slow on busy networks
  • Apple TokenRing card not supported

Some of these issues were addressed by later versions of the Mac OS.

When buying a G4 upgrade for the beige G3, make sure it is compatible with this model's 66 MHz bus. Pulled G4s from Apple's "Yikes!" G4 and some OEM G4s are specifically designed for a 100 MHz bus and will not work properly in the beige G3.

Because of the case design, be sure to specify low profile (1.15" maximum height) DIMMs when purchasing memory for the desktop version.

The beige G3 supports 256 MB DIMMs, but they must be built using 128 Mb chips. DIMMs built with 256 Mb chips will work, but the memory controller will only see the first 128 Mb of each chip. Compatible 256 MB DIMMs will have 16 memory chips, eight on each side.

Details

Accelerators & Upgrades

Online Resources

Cautions

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