If you read the link, that region only accounted for 1% of the world's tantalum output. That being said, Kemet makes an entire line of conflict-free tantalum caps.
No, it just means that you don't have a ROM symbol table file installed and configured for MacsBug. You don't need it to use MacsBug, it just assigns names to various locations within the system ROM. It's handy for debugging sometimes, but MacsBug doesn't need it.
It might also be that the OS...
Perhaps he does, I didn't see it mentioned though. More telling is that judging from what he himself has said about that chip, you'd think that if he powered the board up, he'd at least have been able to tell OP that there were further issues.
Which all comes back to square one: if OP had to...
Ceramic caps are not polarized (current only flows in one direction), whereas electrolytics are. Audio circuits depend on the behavior differences between the types to work properly. That's why you have distorted sounding audio.
Edit: besides, if you want to have electrolytics that don't leak...
Recapping requires some initial investment in soldering tools and supplies, but it balances out in the long run because once you've made that investment, each board you recap costs you under $10 in materials to do, give or take. Plus you can do it in under an hour and not have to send it off...
Hooboy, where to begin. I took a look at the photos carefully: all of the SMD electrolytics have been replaced with non-polarized ceramic caps. I also see that your SCSI and ADB fuses have been replaced with what look like MOVs (WTF?) instead of the proper fuse type. You need to demand that he...
Wasn't there an entire thread on that where at least five people said they were either currently doing recaps or were willing to do them right after uniserver got banned?
I don't know why he did that hackjob replacing those axial caps with radials that look like... that contraption. It's not only aesthetically ugly, it's poor workmanship. Why couldn't he just get the right kind or at least make the hack look nicer?
This was a commonly-published trick to extend battery life on PowerBooks found in several books, particularly MacWorld Mac Secrets. By running from a RAM disk, you never had to use your PowerBook's HD, thus extending your battery life.