My 5300

[Temetka]

Some of you may have read my other thread detailing the hell my iBook has put me through.

All I wanted was a system to do some writing on and some vintage gaming.

Enter my Powerbook 5300. It's the passive matrix color screen model with a 750MB HD, a Zip Drive and 24MB of RAM. Perfect.

I would like to upgrade it from 7.6.1 to OS 8.1. However LEM states that 32MB is a minimum for 8.1. So I was wondering what you guys think. For some basic writing and some vintage gaming, is 24MB enough or should I stick with System 7?

I used it this evening for about 2 hours just writing some stuff. Man I totally forgot how much I love this laptop and why I fell in love with it when I first got it. It is so cute!

So if you guys have any suggestions for writing programs beyond Simple Text let me know. I would love to be able to open .xls files though so compatibility with Office 97 would be great. I do have a copy of Office 2001 for Macintosh, would that work on my Powerbook?

Also since I missed growing up with Macs, what are some cool vintage games I could play? Loom? Zork? Kyrandia? Let me know.

Thanks.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I'd definitely load ClarisWorks: WP, SS & Simple DB tasks are great if you don't want or need a MONGO SUITE of disparate apps, like MS Office. It's tightly integrated and not a resource hog, at one point they had a Windows version that would make a GREAT cross platform solution for anyone with laptops from that era.

DeskWorks from back in the day was excellent, I "upgraded" to that on my desktops when it was released (pre-Clariworkc, IIRC.

On a laptop, I highly recommend MS Works for DOS running under SoftPC. Dunno about compatibilities w/later O.S. versions, but it was KILLER on my PB100 w/only 8 MB under 7.X. There's a KBD Shortcut for every single menu item, which puts it head and shoulders above ANY Mac User Interface limited program for laptop use, or desktop for that matter. Command Key Shortcuts are the bomb! A friend (also a fellow board member) of mine from NYMUG said that all the Mac kids that worked with him at ILM became KBD Shortcut FANATICS after moving on to UNIX WorkStations. [] ]'>

Check out alk's site for the best info on using your 5300, he loves the 5300 too!

I can't wait to set up my new 5300ce!

BTW, does anybody know if 3400 RAM cards will work in the 5300 series?

 

[J English Smith]

Office 98 works well on both 5300s and 1400s. Also WordPerfect 3.1.

I think you might be able to use 8.0 and 8.1 with that level of RAM. 8.6, no, I think you would want to have 40+ MB hard RAM running.

I have two 5300s, both cs models, that still run fine...I like the keyboards on the 1400 series better, but the 5300 is a nice form factor. Better hinge design than the 1400, that's for sure.

 

[geeko]

i can confirm that the ram in the 3400 and 5300 in not compatable

also, i ran OS9.1 on a PB 3400 (200mhz) w/ 16 mb ram, OS 8.1 should be fine w/ 24mb of ram.

 

[beachycove]

Office 2001 has higher stated requirements but will definitely run on a slow 603e (it runs well enough on my Duo 2300c), but it requires OS 8.1 minimally. I certainly ran it on a 6400 with 8.1 for a time, though it complained on installation that a later version of the OS was recommended. My Duo has 56MB RAM and runs 8.6, so the comparison is a little skewed, but this is something to go on at least.

It is possible that you would be better off with Office 97 and 7.6.1, given the 24 MB of RAM. Word 2001, however, is surprisingly frugal where RAM is concerned. I seem to recall seeing recently that it defaults to run in about 10 MB, so you might just get by, particularly if you turn off all the clutter. I doubt that you will be running Excel at the same time as Word, however.

I have used Word 2001 a lot in recent years, mainly because of duties in my working life, and in order to give some of my older machines a useful job to do. Like all the Word versions, you have to learn to work in its way rather than try to teach it yours (to mix sci-fi metaphors, resistance to the Redmond Borg is futile), but on those terms it is very able, is eminently stable, and is readily compatible with almost anything, which are all massive assets that it has going in its favour.

"Bend Word to Your Will" is a useful document to search for, by the way, as what the search brings up is a guide to taming the beast on the MacOS and making Word much more pleasant to use. The file you get is mammoth but well worth downloading and archiving. Much of the content relates to Word 2001, for which and in which the document was originally written.

It is well known that even people who have used Word for years find it intensely frustrating at times, but one of the main reasons for the frustration is that users do not take the trouble to learn how it actually works, and how the way it works can be harnessed by taking a few simple steps with the program rather than against it. Word allows a user to work in other ways, and that idiot's approach is how even the average university student goes about using the program, in my experience. The trouble is that Word then quickly becomes a PITA.

The solution involves more than turning off grammar checkers and such. You need above all to learn how Word uses Styles, and to learn about it in some detail, so as to figure out how Word's Styles can be used creatively for you. Used right, they are very convenient. And there really is more to this than meets the eye.

Bend Word to Your Will.

 

[Temetka]

You know what I really, really, really need?

The old versions of Iomega software for System 7.6.1 and MacOS 8.1.

I can't begin to tell you how much I need this software.

 

[Temetka]

Well I couldn't leave well enough alone.

I have a 4gb jd that I would like touse in this system, mainly because the stock 750mb is noisy. My question is how do I fornat it in OS X and clone it? I am pretty sure I can make a .dmg then restore using disk utility's restore feature, bit what kind of disk iamge do I make?

 

[Temetka]

Also if someone could tell me where to get Stuffit for OS 7 OR 8. I would truly appreciate it. There is a version on Macintosh Garden, but every time I download it , it is corrupted. I am using my sawtooth to handle all Mac related software downloads.

Roght now I only have 2 ways to transfer files to the computer:

1. pull the hd and put it in my usb enclosure, copy files over, then reinstall the hd.

2. the vst zip drive I have in the media bay. I need the software to get this to work. My sawtooth has a zip drive in it, so using zip disks would be the ideal file transfer method.

Sorry about caps and spelling. I am posting from my blackjack 2 at my daughters baseball game.

 

[Temetka]

Okay, so I managed to get 8.1 and stuffit installed on the 5300.

Now if I could just get my Zip drive to work, then I will be be good to.

I have a version of IomegaWare 3.5 but I believe it requires MacOS 8.6.

One thing that makes me go 'hmmm' is how hard it is to locate the older software for this drive. It is almost as if Iomega scrubbed it from the 'Net. I know they haven't done that ('touwld be a waste of time and resources), but I do know that someone out there should have it.

That being said I did some more writing on my laptop this evening and while it is was a very fun experience and I prefer OS 8 to System7, I can feel the system running a tad slower. I still have 16MB free out of the 24 on a fresh boot, so I can only assume that RAM is not my issue.

I think I will load up SpeedDoubler on it and see if that helps any.

I also set the disk cache to be 256K up from the 96K it was set at. Disk access does seem to be much improved. I would still like to get my 6GB HD working as it is a 5400RPM drive and runs far, far quieter than the stock drive. I looked into running a CF module but I don't have the cash for an IDE to CF adapter, not do I trust CF for this sort of thing.

Anyway just thought that I would report in with the status of things so far.

 

[Bunsen]

Woulda gone with 7.6.1 myself on 24MB, but yay. Mac Driver Museum has the Zip and Jaz drivers. NB you'll need SpeedDoubler 8 to go with OS 8. You might instead try turning Virtual Memory on and setting it to the minimum amount possible - that seems to help.

 

[Temetka]

Bunsen!

You rock man!

How many beers do I owe you now?

I spent hours looking for Iomega software for my 5300.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

[Temetka]

Holy God!

The software from MacDriverMuseum does not recognize my Zip Drive.

I have an internal VST ZIP 100 in the expansion bay and apparantly I need their software, but the company is no longer in business. A bit of googling reveals that I might be able to use version 6.0.7 of Iomega driver, but I am not sure about that.

Either way I still can't get my Zip 100 drive to work.

I know other members of this forum have the Zip 100 module in their 3400's or 5300's.

Please, for the love of god someone share their ZIP driver with me.

Pretty please? With a Happy Mac on top?

 

[beachycove]

Are you sure the zip drive itself is working?

 

[Temetka]

It powers on and the light blinks when I insert a disk. Also if I reboot and a disk is left in the drive, it acts like it's being scanned for a valid system folder.

So I am pretty sure the drive works.

I am going to try a long shot and see if FWB can get it to mount a disk for me.

I was successful in cloning the HD from the stock 750MB HD to a 6GB HD. What I did is make a compressed disk image in OS X of the drive and then I put the new drive into my USB enclosure, formatted it with the apple partition map so it can be used as a startup disk in a powerpc computer, then restored the disk image I made of the stock drive to the new drive.

That wasn't enough though. The drive had to be blessed otherwise it wouldn't boot, I know - tried. To do that from a system that is only running OS X (my sawtooth which is not booting into 9.2.2, but that is for a different thread) open up a terminal window then:

1. get super user status (if you haven't configured the root user in OS X.4 or less than fire up netinfo manager and do so). Then type in su

2. Then enter the following command

bless --folder9 "/Volumes/Mac OS 9/System Folder" --bootBlockFile "/usr/share/misc/bootblockdata"

replacing the "Mac OS 9" portion with your volume name.

Install the HD into the system and boot.

So now all I have left to do is get the darned Zip drive working and I am good to go.

For some reason I also misplaced or lost my PB SCSI cable so if anyone has one they don't need let me know please. Then I could have my SCSI CD-ROM working and be totally set up.

 

[Bunsen]

IIRC, if the Zip is formatted and in the drive on boot, you don't need the driver. Just can't hot swap it.

 

[Temetka]

I formatted the Zip Disk in my Sawtooth as Mac OS Standard. There is nothing on it, it is totally blank.

I mentioned that the system scans the Zip Disk on power on as if it were a mounted disk so I know the drive is getting power. It does not have the infamous 'click of death' and all Zip drive sounds that it would make would indicate a drive that is working properly, but for lack of a proper driver.

 

[Bunsen]

I formatted the Zip Disk in my Sawtooth as Mac OS Standard.

Under OS 9, or X? Did ya put the OS 9 drivers on it?

 

[Temetka]

I formatted the disk under OS X. I do not recall an option to install OS 9 drivers on it, but I will check later today.

I am going to bust out the 8600 Tower of Doom and do this right.

 

[Temetka]

Well it's been a long time since I reported back on my 5300.

I got the ZIP Drive working. What I did was to install MacOS 8.6. From there it just worked.

It's funny after using the machine and upgrading the RAM from 24MB to 40MB, it really makes me miss my old Pismo. God I loved that laptop. I used my BeigeG3MT to transfer the 8.6 installer and whatnot over to my hard drive via a USB enclosure. Copying a couple hundred megabytes of data across a USB 1.1 connection is not fun at all. However the machine is now up and running beautifully.

Now to find my Office 98 CD and install that. I am going to use Word mainly for ease of use when editing the documents on my PC or BeigeG3. Although I could use AppleWorks as well. Hmm...