Powermac 6500 slow

[woopud]

Okay, i'm ot a mac guy at all, I like it though. OS 9.1 seems kinda slow especialy browsing the internet either Netscape or IE, I know it has only 64 MB of memory and virtual memory is enabled. Will 7.6 or 8.6 run faster or maybe even Linux ?

Bert

 

[MacMan]

7.6 or 8.6 would definitely be faster and adding more RAM would helps speed things up a lot too. OS 9.1 does drag a bit on the pre-G3 machines and with 64MB of RAM you've not got a lot of spare memory to play with, but 8.6 and 7.6 are less memory-hungry.

Another thing to do is try enlarging the amount of memory assigned to the browser applications. Highlight the application icon and select "Get Info" from the File menu. It will reveal a window where you can adjust the memory allowance for the application. Try adjusting it to a suitably large figure, (bearing your RAM constraints in mind), and run the browser.

Also, for browsing under OS 9 may I suggest iCab? I find it generally gives good results and is more comaptible with modern pages than older versions of IE and Netscape.

 

[tomlee59]

For speed, you never want to enable VM. The best speedup strategy is to maximize free RAM, by some combination of more RAM, and lighter OS. Some version of 8 is a good match for the 6500. I ran 8.1, then 8.6, on mine for years. Both were fine (I upgraded to 8.6 only out of necessity, to run some apps that wouldn't work under 8.1).

 

[Unknown_K]

OS 7.6.1 would be a lean OS to run on a 6500 (I have 7.6.1 on my 6400 with a 6500/225 motherboard).

 

[Quadraman]

Starting with 8.5 the overhead requirements for the OS go up dramatically. Without a G3 upgrade or maximum RAM, 7.6.1 or 8.1 would be nice on that machine, but would leave you a little deficient for browsers. The latest iCab requires 8.5 or better, and is the most up to date browser you're going to find for Classic, so that might influence your decision.

 

[Temetka]

I was never impressed with the 6500 series of machines. They just seem gimped.

That being said here are some upgrades that will help.

1. RAM - Max is 128MB. Uses 72pin SIMMS

2. G3 / G4 Upgrade _ Can be pricey

3. Video - Any Rage128 PCI or Radeon PCI will be a dramatic improvement

4. ATA/100 card. Coupled with a new-ish HD this will speed the system up. Lots. Wiring the 8--pin cable can be difficult considering t he complete ass backwards design of the 6500 case.

Good luck.

 

[Cory5412]

The 6500 doesn't use 72pin simms, it uses 144pin dimms, just like the 7300-9600 macs, sometimes they can even use the same sticks. Also, the max on a lot of the machines is 136mb, mainly because of the 8mb that was built onboard.

I'd take that machine all the way to 7.6.1, it'll run IE5 (the best-written browser for classic Mac OS) just fine, and everything will fly, you'll be able to turn VM off, which is also a performance boost when you have enough physical memory.

 

[bluekatt]

go for 8.6 a more modern and stable os then 7.6 wil ever be

and its easier to find then 7.6

 

[Unknown_K]

The 6400 has 8MB on the motherboard, takes 2x64MB EDO DIMMs for a max of 136MB.

The 6500 has 0MB on the motherboard, takes 2x64MB EDO DIMMS for a max of only 128MB.

 

[woopud]

Well, it had 9.2 installed which ran...., but now it won't boot from the hard drive or CD, just get the floppy with the blinking question mark.

Bert

 

[woopud]

Okay, got another hard drive (6 Gb) and got 8.6 installed which is much faster then 9. But now I can't get it connected to the internet (network) it worked before when it had OS 9 on it. What can I try/do ?

Bert

 

[alk]

Is the ethernet card a PCI card or one of the custom Comm Slot II cards? The CSII cards are tiny little stinkers, and should be easy to recognize. They don't look anything at all like PCI cards, so you can't miss it if you are looking at it.

The CSII cards are natively recognized by Mac OS, and they shouldn't need any special drivers. However, PCI cards do require special drivers (if they don't carry an Apple logo on them). Finding the appropriate driver may be problematic, though there is a good chance that the card is either an Asante, Dayna, or other well-known Mac ethernet card.

Peace,

Drew

 

[Mike Richardson]

For CS II it does require an extension like "Apple CS II Ethernet", but the OS always installs it. Check just in case though.

If it's a PCI card you will need the driver. If the card is a RealTek 8139 there is a driver at http://www.zone6400.com/downloads/RTL8139xV310.sit

 

[woopud]

Well, the card worked when i got it and had OS 9 running, I just swapped hard drive and installed OS 8.6 on it.

Bert

 

[alk]

That it worked with OS 9 and doesn't now isn't necessarily a problem. It is most likely because the card is PCI (is it?) and doesn't have the drivers installed.

This is just like it is in Windows. If you install a PCI card while running Windows XP and then decide to install Windows 2000, you need to go back and re-install the card's drivers. The same is true with Mac OS 9 and Mac OS 8.6. You most likely just need to re-install the drivers for the ethernet card.

If you would answer the question about whether or not the card is PCI or CSII, you'll get a more definite response.

Peace,

Drew

 

[woopud]

Yes, it's a PCI card.

Bert

 

[alk]

That is the problem, then. You need to track down drivers for the card and install them on Mac OS 8.6. We might be able to help you with that. Who makes the card?

There should be a company name silkscreened on the card somewhere. If there isn't, you can try going to the Apple menu and picking Apple System Profiler to give you a report of which cards are in which slots. I think that's on the second (Devices) tab.

Peace,

Drew

 

[woopud]

Make and model did not show up in System profiler so I took it out and found: Delta LANF7236G

Bert

 

[alk]

This is just a guess, but I'm thinking your card is actually a Kingston EtheRx card. You might try the driver here: http://www.kingston.com/support/networking/downloads/etherx/kne120/120_10.hqx

No guarantee that is the right driver, though.

Peace,

Drew