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Beige G3 Tower Hard Drive Specs?
- Thread starter Tempest
- Start date
I suppose it could be either SCSI or IDE. it has both busses on the machine (IDE there are 2 Channels). Also with the later ROMs for the machine, you can use two devices on each IDE bus. SCSI you are limited to 7 (one for the machine, 6 for other devices)
As long as the drive is below 128GB it will report all of it. if it's over 128GB you will see a limit. if you put OS X on the G3, you MUST install within the first 8GB of the disc (aka partition 1 has to be about 7.9GB or less, I suggest partitioning a disc with 7.9GB for the first, then if you have OS 9, partition whatever you want for OS 9 (I would say 4GB unless you have a need for more) then the rest can be data.
You can get around the limitation by using an IDE card, a SATA card or using the internal SCSI and getting a big SCSI Disk (the 8GB paritition limit only applies to IDE).
As for IDE drives, throw on it. I used to have a 120GB ATA/IDE drive on my tower, a SCSI DVD-RAM and a second 40GB HDD for OS X and OS 9 (120GB for data). It will run a heck of a lot faster with a PCI Card.
Also, if you do go with OS X, pick up a cheap Mac PCI video card, as the internal has a habit of cutting out under OS X 10.2.8 or later.
Also use XPostFacto (google) and that will help you get 10.3 on the machine (which will be better than 10.2 and a bit more updated). Max out the ram (256MB Low-Density x3) and if you don't want to spend money, you can overclock the CPU slightly (on the web, there are the jumper settings for that white block you see, you will need mini jumpers for it, radio shack should carry it). Also, throw a DVD/CD-RW and there is a utility that will allow you to burn CDs and watch DVDs (only if you have an upgraded video card). If you don't do any of those, at LEAST get the VRAM expansion card!! it will make the system video more powerful.
if you go with OS X, I suggest these upgrades:
USB/FW400
Video Card
SATA/IDE PCI card, *OR* 10/100 network card (I suggest a D-Link 530TX+ PCI 10/100 card)
or a combo or something. With a PCI mass storage card (IDE/SATA) you don't have to worry about the 8GB partition either. it's the built-in chipset that causes that issue.
As long as the drive is below 128GB it will report all of it. if it's over 128GB you will see a limit. if you put OS X on the G3, you MUST install within the first 8GB of the disc (aka partition 1 has to be about 7.9GB or less, I suggest partitioning a disc with 7.9GB for the first, then if you have OS 9, partition whatever you want for OS 9 (I would say 4GB unless you have a need for more) then the rest can be data.
You can get around the limitation by using an IDE card, a SATA card or using the internal SCSI and getting a big SCSI Disk (the 8GB paritition limit only applies to IDE).
As for IDE drives, throw on it. I used to have a 120GB ATA/IDE drive on my tower, a SCSI DVD-RAM and a second 40GB HDD for OS X and OS 9 (120GB for data). It will run a heck of a lot faster with a PCI Card.
Also, if you do go with OS X, pick up a cheap Mac PCI video card, as the internal has a habit of cutting out under OS X 10.2.8 or later.
Also use XPostFacto (google) and that will help you get 10.3 on the machine (which will be better than 10.2 and a bit more updated). Max out the ram (256MB Low-Density x3) and if you don't want to spend money, you can overclock the CPU slightly (on the web, there are the jumper settings for that white block you see, you will need mini jumpers for it, radio shack should carry it). Also, throw a DVD/CD-RW and there is a utility that will allow you to burn CDs and watch DVDs (only if you have an upgraded video card). If you don't do any of those, at LEAST get the VRAM expansion card!! it will make the system video more powerful.
if you go with OS X, I suggest these upgrades:
USB/FW400
Video Card
SATA/IDE PCI card, *OR* 10/100 network card (I suggest a D-Link 530TX+ PCI 10/100 card)
or a combo or something. With a PCI mass storage card (IDE/SATA) you don't have to worry about the 8GB partition either. it's the built-in chipset that causes that issue.
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