NEW iMAC G3 !

[BadGoldEagle]

Hey guys !
How ya all doin' out there?

I was on my way to pick up some groceries when I stumbled across an iMac G3 Graphite. Couldn't resist and I brought it home. This is my first PPC Mac! :cc:  
After a good clean, here it is:



Keyboard is the original Graphite one but the mouse is from a Bondi Blue iMac. Both of them work fine!

I saved it from imminent death. There are a lot of smashed up CRTs in my neighbourhood...

I'm trying to install Netscape right now, but it doesn't wanna work... Netscape 7.02 is the latest version that's compatible with 9.0, right?

--- 

Odd fact: The old family computer is a 2007 Packard Bell Desktop PC running Vista. The iMac, albeit being made 8 years before that PC, is about 10 times faster.

 

[tanaquil]

OMG! Why does no one in my neighborhood ever put G3 imacs out by the curb? Congrats on a nice find, and saving another mac from the dumpster.

 

[BadGoldEagle]

It's the first one I ever encountered on the walkway. And it was like 50 yards from my place.

I got Netscape working but it's not that good of a browser for modern web use. I just got Classilla working. And it's a treat!

Just tuned the iMac off now, as it got pretty hot! Some artefacts started appearing on the screen... I hope I haven't cooked it.

But it was the first time it ran in 8 years! 

 

[BadGoldEagle]

I am posting this using Classilla on my newly aquired iMac G3 !

That's neat !

 

[Johnnya101]

^I did that on my G3.

And netscape doesn't work on any of my G3s... So...

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Well Netscape Navigator wouldn't run on that G3 either, but Netscape Communicator would. It's crap anyway. Nothing works. At all.

I tried a couple of web browsers:

First was MS IE 5.5. Wouldn't even load the Google logo...

Then was Netscape, and google search didn't work properly either (some text popped up and I couldn't click on anything). I tried the Mac Garden and it wouldn't load the site altogether.

Classilla works great. I even tried Apple's own website. And it can load some pretty big pictures! 

68kmla and the Mac Garden work as well.

The only thing I dislike about Classilla is the logo. But I can live with that  .

---

BTW, I played around with the iMac for about 2 hours before the graphics card got too hot to display any graphics. 

I couldn't even grab the handle... It was that hot.

While it cooled down in front of the air conditionner for about 10 minutes, I removed the PRAM battery. This one was made by Saft and I think those batteries were really, really well made.

After all of that, it booted up just fine. No artefacts at all. I kinda forgot that this machine was 17 years old. It's an old computer nowadays. 

I think the tray loading iMac might be more robust than the slot loading one. Just because this one is fan-less, it makes it more prone to failure.

Next step is to find a grey hockey puck mouse. I think mine's from a Bondi Blue Mac, or perhaps an Indigo model?

Then I plan on getting a Firewire 400 HD and a Firewire to USB adapter. So I can back up that HD before it dies.

 

[Carboy7]

Nice conquest!

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Trayloaders had cheap fly backs that liked to fail, IIRC.

 

[CC_333]

The slot loaders still have heatsinks, so maybe the thermal pads/compound have dried out? Because unless it's well over 115˚F outside, it shouldn't do that.

I wonder if it's possible to modify a slot loader to include a small fan? It could blow air out the top, perhaps through the handle.

c

 

[rsolberg]

I've seen some fan mods on these back in the days when they were just out of warranty. The 600MHz models in particular seemed to have random freeze-ups and graphical glitches that could be avoided by reducing case temperatures. I suspect the thermal displacement of the CPU/GPU/chipset was fairly close to the convection cooling capability of the case on the 600MHz units, so anything that might push it over the edge would. I also expect that reapplication of thermal compound would go a long way in improving things- probably more than just a fan. If the GPU didn't have a heatsink, I'd be inclined to add one.

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Now that you mention it, I do remember I experienced a couple of freeze-ups even with this 400MHz model... had to reboot it a couple of times.

The fan mod could come in handy, I'll be giving this a thought. Thanks !

 

[Johnnya101]

The browsers that worked OKAY for me were IE 4.5 and 5.5. 

The browsers that worked GREAT for me were Classilla and WaMCOM.

 

[Johnnya101]

Well Netscape Navigator wouldn't run on that G3 either, but Netscape Communicator would. It's crap anyway. Nothing works. At all.

I tried a couple of web browsers:

First was MS IE 5.5. Wouldn't even load the Google logo...

Then was Netscape, and google search didn't work properly either (some text popped up and I couldn't click on anything). I tried the Mac Garden and it wouldn't load the site altogether.

Classilla works great. I even tried Apple's own website. And it can load some pretty big pictures! 

68kmla and the Mac Garden work as well.

The only thing I dislike about Classilla is the logo. But I can live with that  .

---

BTW, I played around with the iMac for about 2 hours before the graphics card got too hot to display any graphics. 

I couldn't even grab the handle... It was that hot.

While it cooled down in front of the air conditionner for about 10 minutes, I removed the PRAM battery. This one was made by Saft and I think those batteries were really, really well made.

After all of that, it booted up just fine. No artefacts at all. I kinda forgot that this machine was 17 years old. It's an old computer nowadays. 

I think the tray loading iMac might be more robust than the slot loading one. Just because this one is fan-less, it makes it more prone to failure.

Next step is to find a grey hockey puck mouse. I think mine's from a Bondi Blue Mac, or perhaps an Indigo model?

Then I plan on getting a Firewire 400 HD and a Firewire to USB adapter. So I can back up that HD before it dies.

Oh, and just letting you know theres no cheap (Below $100) FW to USB adapters I know of, because they both work differently. I have a Firewire HD, although Im not sure if Id want to part with it just yet, UNLESS theres a USB PCI in the deal

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Yeah I think I'm better off with a USB 2.0 drive then. Since USB is backwards compatible I should have no trouble at all using a USB 2.0 disk on a USB 1.1 Hub. It will be painfully slow, that's all.

 

[rsolberg]

Just keep an eye out for a drive (or enclosure) with USB 2.0 and FireWire. They're not super rare and I'd say that a majority of later model FireWire external hard drives also had a USB 2.0 interface. USB 1.1 is painful if you're transferring more than about 10MB at a time. Rough file transfer speeds:

FireWire 400: 45MB/sec

USB 2.0: 35MB/sec

USB 1.1: 1MB/sec

 

[CC_333]

If you have an extra IDE or SATA laptop drive hanging around, you can use something like this, which is one of my favorites. The system requirements say Mac OS X 10.1 is the minimum, but it works on OS 9 just fine, provided the drive within is formatted correctly for that OS.

They're not the cheapest option, but they're quite indispensable and if you're in the market, I suggest you get one (or several!) of them if you can.

c

 

[bibilit]

Hi Lambert, congrats.

I get my own the same way you get yours   i should have an original mouse if required....

 

[Johnnya101]

What I have set up now is two HDs. One new USB for my Macbook and one FW400 for my PMG3. Now I can just switch the drives out if needed.

 

[LazarusNine]

Classilla works great. I even tried Apple's own website. And it can load some pretty big pictures!

68kmla and the Mac Garden work as well.

The only thing I dislike about Classilla is the logo. But I can live with that .

I just swap the icon to one I got off Icon Factory so I don't have to look at the default icon. I'm not about to knock the application icon (though I share your sentiment), because I'm too damn grateful for the program!!