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?