500Mhz Pismo Struggles.

[macuserman]

I've got a real nice Pismo I've been fixing up but I'm having a couple odd issues with it. I'm looking for some advice, there are two main issues I'm struggling with.

1. The bottom ram slot refuses to work with a 512mb memory stick. I get boot errors everytime. The 128mb stick works great, but if I put in a 512mb stick it causes boot issues. I'm using brand new OWC memory sticks and they work great in the top slot, I bought 4 in total and all work in the top slot but put one in the bottom and you immediately have issues. So that's issue number one.

2. The second issue is that I can't for the life of me get a fresh copy of OSX installed onto an SSD. The mechanical drive in it is failing, and boots incredibly slow but does work. However, I've tried a few different ssd setups that I have and I can boot into the installer, format the drive start the install and about 3/4 of the way in, it goes to a screen that says there were errors during the installation please restart and install again or whatever. I've tried two different internal drives that I have for it, I've also tried doing Target Disk mode from my Quicksilver, but it is having some reliability problems and so that didn't work either. I've also tried an OEM Tiger Disk, and a tried and true burned disk that I've used many times. Neither works. Getting kinda fed up with it, I just ordered another set of adapters for the ssd to try and add to my collection I have so many.

A couple people recommended this setup so going to try it:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017VQT5YW with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GMD5R7M
and also
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QNB6QLC with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X7C7NCZ just for kicks I thought I already had one of these, but it must be in something right now.

Anyhow these two issues are killing me, and I'd love to find a way to get past them, any thoughts on this? I'm considering picking up a firewire optical drive to try if I can find one that is likely going to be compatible with something this vintage early firewire for boot.

 

[jeremywork]

Not sure about your RAM issue, but I recall a similar SSD symptom when using an OWC Mercury Legacy Pro, which [still] works fine in a TiBook. At the time I concluded it was a thermal issue since I would also experience lockup >30 minutes into a CCC clone. I switched to an IDE-CF adapter with a SanDisk Extreme CF card and have not had any issues since.