Best browser for 10.3.9 Lombard install?

[krye]

I just picked up my first Lombard on eBay. 6 days until delivery! Can't wait to tinker with it. I'm already thinking of all I'm going to do with it. I plan to upgrade the OS to the max 10.3.9. The machine is coming with a paulty 64M of RAM, which I'm going to promptly max. I also want to tackle WiFi. I do have a WiFi card in my blueberry iBook that isn't being used. I assume I can use that without an issue.

As far as a browser goes. What's the most "modern" browser for a 10.3.9 era machine? I don't see a lot of people talking about what browsers they use. Are you guys using old versions of Firfox or Safari or something? Looking at Wikipedia it says the last version for Sarari for 10.3 is version 1.3.2. Is that it or is there something better?

What about Camino or iCab? What are your thoughts?

 

[bibilit]

I do use Opera, mainly because it was, and still is available for all my operating systems (Linux, Win and Mac Os)

Another reason is that Mac Os 9 is also comfortable with it.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

I'd go with Camino 1.6, but it's 1.8.1.x-era Gecko, so I wouldn't try to do anything secure or high-level with it.

I'm slowly grinding through the Classilla security audit, but that just makes it safe, not necessarily more functional. Still, it's an option for Classic.

Or, get 512MB RAM in it (or more) and run 10.4, and then you have more choices.

 

[theos911]

Hmmmm, I haven't used 10.3 in a while, but for 10.2 I use Opera 9.64. Massive swapping aside, Tiger ran ok on my 300MHz/512 WallStreet, so don't knock it until you try it. I think the last version of Firefox for 10.3 is 2.x.x and somewhere there are some nice CPU optimized builds of it.

EDIT- I couldn't find the nice page, but here is a link to the archive (pre FF3) http://firefoxmac.furbism.com/builds/archive/G3/

I think this is that last one that is 10.2 compatible: http://firefoxmac.furbism.com/builds/archive/G3/FX2-G3-2.0.0.14.dmg

 

[spiceyokooko]

I also want to tackle WiFi. I do have a WiFi card in my blueberry iBook that isn't being used. I assume I can use that without an issue.

Unfortunately you assume wrong! The G3 Lombard (both 333 and 400Mhz versions) have no internal airport slot, therefore cannot use the airport card from your ibook.

They do however have a PC Card type I/II slot which you may be able to use with a wireless card of some form.

With regards to browsers, I've never had OSX on my G3 Lombard 333, keeping it as one of the few machines I have left that can boot natively into OS9. I do run 10.4 on my G4 laptops and I use Camino 2.1.2, Safari 3.2.1 and Firefox 3.5.19. I find Safari has java issues with some sites where Camino is more successful, but I find Camino to be generally slower than Safari. Firefox I don't use that much as I generally use either Safari or Camino - neither of which are ideal to be honest.

 

[J English Smith]

I tried using classic 9.2.2 and OS 10.3 for awhile with my Lombards, but eventually got frustrated and swapped in drives with 10.4.11 from Pismos, then put new drives in the Pismos.

10.4 runs pretty well with the RAM maxed to 512MB - be sure you get the right kind so the machine sees the full RAM amount on the card...

The Lombards seem to run a lot hotter than the Pismos, so a thermal paste refresh may be in order. See how yours does.

With 10.4 installed, you can still use the current version of Camino, my favorite browser for the G3 Powerbooks.

The only site that drives me crazy re load time is Hotmail. It loads like wet tar sand. I have Eudora loaded on the Lombards and if I'm in a hurry, I use that to download from MSN rather than using their silly interface that pulls from 20 different data sources to assemble the page. Sheesh.

Happy Lombarding!

 

[krye]

I received the PowerBook in the mail. It's a beauty:

It even came with 2 power adapters

I was surprised to find a fresh install of OS X 10.3.9 Server on it. Sweet.

Yeah, I forgot that the Lombard didn't have an internal airport slot. I have an old Belkin PCMCIA card, but it's the wrong revision. Although OS X recognizes the card as an Atheros card, it doesn’t work. A search online revealed that this version of the card isn’t compatible with Apple’s Airport drivers.

I'm stuck with Ethernet for now. I tried Safari on it just for kicks, but it was a joke.

Camino was a little better, but trying to do something simple like play a movie trailer on Apple's site was impossible.

It has 192MB of RAM, I managed to swap out one of the sticks and bump is to 256MBs, but I'll have to get the proper sticks for it. The RAM in it is actually PC133. They're not low profile either, so they're only detected at half the capacity.

Overall, sweet deal for $30 bucks.

 

[spiceyokooko]

Congratulations on your new acquisition.

Those aren't the original power adapters by the way. At least they're not the same as the one I have for my Bronze Keyboard 333, which I've owned pretty much since 6 months old and purchased it from the original owner. The correct power adapter is a long slim rectangular brick in the same dark grey colour as the laptop and has the part number M4402, rated at 45w.

Those power adapters come from something else.

Incidentally, what would you use to clean the external casing? I've been meaning to clean mine up but can't decide on what to use to clean it with.

 

[J English Smith]

Those adapters work fine on Lombards and Pismos...I have other types but mostly use those. The tip is sensitive to fraying, be sure not to bend the cord at the point it meets the connector. But I have not had any problems with mine.

Even with maxed out everything, the Lombards and Pismos only have small video RAM (8MB), so playing any video is going to be very jerky.

I like Novus #2 plastic polish to clean up the cases, if any scratches etc.

Yeah, good price, and she looks very clean! Both of mine have a contained crack right below the cpu, from excessive heat I imagine.

 

[J English Smith]

If you have trouble finding the wireless card, let me know. I have two of the same kind for each of mine and I can give you the exact spec. Both were obtained from eBay for around $10 and OS X sees them as a native Airport card.

 

[spiceyokooko]

Thanks for the heads up on the Novus polish. I've just purchased some of that and will give my Lombard a good going over!

Cheers!

 

[J English Smith]

Cheers to you!

I use just a moistened paper towel with a small amount of the polish. Press down lightly but work it in for ~5 minutes at a time, keeping the towel just slightly damp. Then clean off and see where you are. Sometimes takes a couple of cycles to get it looking its best. This also works pretty well on the rubbery insert material if there are scratches there too. You have to use a q-tip or equivalent to get the polish out of the "seam." I've been quite happy with the results on mine.

 

[spiceyokooko]

Going back on topic, regarding browsers.

I've got a Safari extension called ClickToFlash which blocks flash content with a plain white box. If you want to load the flash content you just click the box.

I've found it to be an absolute godsend in speeding up Safari browsing and the difference is quite noticeable. It was eBay's annoying ads ironically enough that forced me to look for a flash blocker as the whole site and pages can slow to a crawl whilst waiting for those darned flash ads to load. That little extension is a double whammy - it not only blocks those annoying and stupid ads it speeds everything up as well.

Flash was never implemented particularly well on Apples and if you can do without it completely, switching it off altogether is the way to go. You'll be surprised at how much faster everything loads.

 

[krye]

@spiceyokooko

Ah, I'll have to try that extension. Sounds good.

As far as cleaning, I just used a soft cloth and some isopropyl alcohol.

 

[bibilit]

Concerning Wireless cards i found some information, was posted here:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17597

The Orinoco card is working fine also.