New (to me) Powerbook G3 Pismo, basic questions

[kkritsilas]

It was sold as working. The seller said he was told that it worked, but he did not test it himself.

Multimeters (one Fluke 87 III and one Uni-T 139C) both say no DC output, aside from a little bit of noise. The AC cable has continuity from the AC plug to the triple circle/mickey mouse head connector that fits onto the back of the Yoyo adapter. It also shows 121.4V when plugged into the wall. It should be good enough, I guess.

I think the power adapter is bad, but it may be one of those adapter types that need a connectrion/load before they will put out voltage like the MagSafe does on later MacBooks (Airs and Pros).

 

[kkritsilas]

One more question, specifically regarding the Yoyo adapter. Does the Yoyo adapter have any built in protection? By protection, I mean short circuit, over-voltage/over-current/overpower, foldback power limiting, etc.? I ask because I have been going back and forth with somebody backchannel, and he suggested that the DC In board (that has the DC In jack) may be bad, and it may have taken out the Yoyo power adapter. Is this known to be true? I would have thought that the Yoyo adapter, having safety approvals, would protect itself, but again, I don't know the Pismo or the Yoyo adapter that well.

P.S. I did get a full refund on the Yoyo adapter, so this is mostly an academic question.

 

[Steve_G]

Using the usual sites, i reccomend getting the universal 9.2.2 installer, it is the best for this system.

 

[kkritsilas]

I have Universal install disks on the way with OSX 10.4.3 and 9.2.2 on the way.

 

[Steve_G]

I have Universal install disks on the way with OSX 10.4.3 and 9.2.2 on the way.

Good, now don't expect perfect performance on 10.4.11, namely due to the GPU being on the lower end of the spectrum but it will be decent.

 

[kkritsilas]

Sort of the same topic, but not really specific to the Pismo. Are the "Bays" in the Powerbook G3s common? As in using the battery interchangeably between the Pismo, Wallstreet/Mainstreet, PDQ, and Lombard? Is the same true for the Media Bay (although I know you can put a second battery in the media bay) for whatever drives were made for that bay (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Floppy (?), somebody said Blu-Ray and Zip drives)? Or are they specific to a series, as in Wallstreet's battery will only work in a Wallstreet, or the DVD-ROM from a Pismo will only work in a Pismo?

 

[tviolation]

Sort of the same topic, but not really specific to the Pismo. Are the "Bays" in the Powerbook G3s common? As in using the battery interchangeably between the Pismo, Wallstreet/Mainstreet, PDQ, and Lombard? Is the same true for the Media Bay (although I know you can put a second battery in the media bay) for whatever drives were made for that bay (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Floppy (?), somebody said Blu-Ray and Zip drives)? Or are they specific to a series, as in Wallstreet's battery will only work in a Wallstreet, or the DVD-ROM from a Pismo will only work in a Pismo?

The Pismo and Lombard are generally compatible with the same modules, though if memory serves there are a few specific ones that are picky about which machine they will work with. These PowerBooks are physically slimmer and use thinner modules than the older G3 models, so the modules designed for the Wallstreet and PDQ won’t physically fit them. Likewise, modules are interchangeable between Wallstreet/Mainstreet and PDQ machines, but ones designed for these won’t work in a Lombard or Pismo.

 

[kkritsilas]

OK, an update is due.

The Pismo is now (mostly) functional. On power up, I get a startup chime, followed by a grayish background with the folder and the flashing question mark. Normal for a machine without a hard drive. I can put either the 9.2.2 Install CD, or the 10.4.3 Install DVD, and they both boot up into their desktop/home screens. I had ordered a pair of 512MB RAM modules (PC133), took the machine apart to install them, along with the IDE cable, the HD bracket, and the EMI shield over the CPU. I noted that the CPU board had a fairly odd memory module, a Samsung module that had 4 horizontally oriented RAM chips, with a possibly non-genuine Samsung label on it. I don't know for sure that the module was preventing power up, or if the CPU board itself wasn't properly sitting in its connector, but the machine is doing much better. The Apple logo on the top lid does indeed light up when the machine is powered on. Also, and I find this hard to believe myself, the battery is charging properly, and has provided over a half hour of power to the machine. The green LEDs operate as they should, going from one blinking LED at the beginning of the power cycle to a full 4 LEDs on after 3-4 hours on the charger.

I want to get a storage drive for this Pismo. I would much prefer to get an PATA SSD of some type, but I can't seem to get a definitive answer with which to go with. Do I get an SSD from Kingspec, which seems over priced for the storage you get? Do I go with an IDE to mSATA adapter and add my own mSATA drive (and if so, which one, as the reports here and in other location make this out to be a pretty iffy proposition)? Barring all of that, do I get a mechanical PATA drive, assuming I can find a working one? The goal is to get a dual boot system that can boot into 9.2.2 directly, or into 10.4.11 with Classic mode enabled.

If I do get a drive, is there a preferred sequence of installation? Do I install 10.4.X first, to partition the drive if I get a "big" drive (>128GB), and then install 9.2.2 after into its own partition? Or do I install 9.2.2 first, and then install 10.4.X? In playing around with the 10.4.3 installer, the installer has a check box that says "Install System 9 driver?" which is checked by default. What is this for?


P.S. I have noticed something odd about the Installer for 10.4.3, in that it doesn't install with memory maxed out on a machine. I had this happen on my iBook G4, and it is happening on this Pismo as well. With both 512MB modules installed, the Pismo doesn't even try to read the Install DVD. I take out one of the modules, and it reads fine and goes all the way to the install screen. Anybody else notice this behaviour?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I’ve seen one of those Samsung 4 chip ram cards before, I think I was also having issues with it? Don’t remember. They probably aren’t fakes though, just low profile designs.

 

[kkritsilas]

That is what probably created the startup problems on this machine, I think. I can take a picture of the module, but essentially, with the label that is on there now, I have no idea what size, speed, or type it is. It did fit the memiry slot, but it could be a PC-66 speed, or some thype other than an FPM type.

 

[kkritsilas]

This is what the suspect memory module looks like, front (I guess) with the label, and back, just in case somebody in the future has the same type of issue.

 

[MacUp72]

..
I want to get a storage drive for this Pismo. I would much prefer to get an PATA SSD of some type, but I can't seem to get a definitive answer with which to go with. Do I get an SSD from Kingspec, which seems over priced for the storage you get? Do I go with an IDE to mSATA adapter and add my own mSATA drive (and if so, which one, as the reports here and in other location make this out to be a pretty iffy proposition)? Barring all of that, do I get a mechanical PATA drive, assuming I can find a working one? The goal is to get a dual boot system that can boot into 9.2.2 directly, or into 10.4.11 with Classic mode enabled.
..

I have not yet installed a SSD into a Pismo, I guess it's IDE implementation is somewhat more modern than the 1400 or older models..
on those I prefer using CF/IDE adapters to be on the sure side. But I guess it would work because they have firewire and USB etc.
I had no problem installing mSata/IDE adapters into the G4 aluminium powerbooks.

 

[kkritsilas]

Sorry about the thread resurrection, but I think I have hit a brick wall, and wouid like to hear ideas of what way to go forward.

This is the same Pismo that I am working with. It has one 512MB PC133 SODIMM in the lower CPU slot. I am able to boot the System 9.2.1 Install CD, but not the OSX 10.4.3 Install DVD. This is after I bought an IDE to mSata drive for the machine from another member here. Neither Install CD/DVD see the SSD.

I talked to the seller, and he said that the drive needs to be initialized. By that, I take it he meant formatted and/or partitioned. I tried to do that with the System 9.2.1 Drive Setup utility, and it hangs the machine. I tried to do it with the OSX 10.4.3 Install DVD, and it is dropping me into the Firmware prompt that says to enter "mac-boot" to continue, and then the machine hangs.

I took the drive out, and attached it to my iBook G4 (running 10.4.11 with Classic Mode) through the USB port. It was seen as a 119.X GB USB drive. I formatted the drive with 10.4.11's Disk Utility, creating 3 partitions, one of 2GB (called System9.2.2), one 17GB partition called OSX10.4.11, and a third called DATA. All were formatted as HFS Extended Journaled, with System 9 drivers. The system took a bit of time to create that APM (Apple Partition Map), and then it completed.

I put the formated and partitioned SSD back into the Pismo, no change. It still doesn't show any partitions that can be used to install System 9.2.2 into, and booting the OSX 10.4.3 DVD still drops me into the firmware. System profiler says that the drive is present as drive 0.

Questions:
1. Is this caused by my formatting the drive incorrectly? Is HFS Extended Journaled incorrect? Is there a preferred format that I should be using? I would like to be able to dual boot into System 9.2.2 or 10.4.3(with Classic mode).
2. Is there a possible problem with the motherboard on the Pismo? It seems to be acting quite normally after I boot the System 9.2.1 CD. Is there a possible problem with the 512MB SODIMM (system is chiming on bootup, and it does work under system 9.2.2)?
3. I don't think this is a problem with SSD, because it formatted properly with the Drive Utility on my iBook G4 though the USB port. Are there known issues with SSDs that pass formatting?

I'd appreciate any ideas that anybody may have.

 

[MacUp72]

to eliminate/identify technical problems I always recommend starting from stock/basic configuration, eg putting in the original IDE hdd and install the stock OS 7/8. When this works, install 8.6 und 9.1, this because there already are different CD/DVD distributions. Here you already know if the combination hdd/DVD works. Then try different RAM modules. When this all works, swap the hdd with an IDE/mSata/ IDE/CF or IDE/SD card.

 

[kkritsilas]

When I got the Pismo, it had no HD, and therfore no OS. I can try putting in the original RAM module (a 64MB + 256MB) configuration. I only have 9.2.1 and OSX 10.4.3 installers.

 

[treellama]

I know mSATA to IDE adapters do not work in my slightly-older-than-a-Pismo B&W G3. I would try a different SSD.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

They should work fine in a Pismo. Sounds to me like something else is at play.

 

[kkritsilas]

The member who sold me the SSD says he tested it in a Pismo before sending it to me. If this was an eBay or Amazon pirchase, I too would be questioning the SSD’s compatibility. I have bought items from him before, and have no reason to doubt his word.

 

[treellama]

If it works in his Pismo, and not in yours, that means something is wrong with the motherboard

I'd still try a different IDE device to be sure.

 

[kkritsilas]

This is why I want to eliminate all other possibilities before I conclude the motherboard is at fault. I just don't want to buy/replace the motherboard just to find out that I had done something wrong in the formatting of the SSD, or that there is something else at fault that is pointing me towards a bad motherboard.

Is it possible to boot the Pismo from an external hard drive through the FW400 interface? I do have an external hard drive with a FW400 interface on it that I can try booting from if this is possible. It is a 1TB drive right now that is partitioned 50-50 with HFS+ and NTFS. It is essentially an empty drive, so I could reformat it to be just a HFS/HFS+ drive using my iBook G4, and put a 100GB partition on it so that the Pismo could boot from that, just to verify that it is the motherboard at fault and not the SSD.