I found an iBook G3 clamshell on Craigslist today for $50 which said it was "locked" and needed to be "unlocked". What they meant was they didn't know the admin password. I had no idea what the specs were but for the price $50, which I got down to $40 over the phone, I didn't care. I went and picked it up, talked to the people for a few minutes and was on my way. I saw it had 64MB ram (before the battery died, only lasts about a minute). On the way home I popped off the keyboard and there was an Airport card installed. It's the original, 300 mhz, 64MB RAM, 3GB hard drive. I installed a 30GB and popped in a 256MB stick, so it has 288MB RAM now. It's installing OS9 as we speak. Will post pics tomorrow. What should would be the best to run on it? It'll just be used for light web, old games, SSH into my server and AIM. I want it to be as fast as possible. Once I find my soldering iron it'll be overclocked to 400mhz, which seems commonly possible on these.
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Clamshell iBook G3
- Thread starter bizzle
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Actually, I find OS 9 perfectly fine for doing "real work" provided you use the right applications.
I have a tangerine clamshell (300MHz, 192MB RAM) running 9.1. I run Word 98, Photoshop Elements 2.0, AppleWorks 5, and MacDraw II on it for productivity on the Mac side. However, I also have Virtual PC (running XP) installed for the sole purpose of using Office 2000 (since I only have Word from Office 98 on the Mac and use Office 2000 for Excel and Access--I don't use PowerPoint on there because I'd rather use Keynote on my MacBook).
The Classilla browser isn't bad and IE 5 still works well for web-based e-mail. I can't configure Outlook Express to work with my e-mail address but web-based e-mail works fine. (Alternately I place the documents I'm sending somewhere on a USB drive and move them over to the MacBook to send--Apple's mail client is so easy to use compared to anything else, especially for attachments).
While I can't use the iTunes music store on OS 9 I do use the machine for AIM and playing chess. When I want to listen to music I simply pop in a CD (which delivers audio quality superior to anything purchased on iTunes).
I especially like the ability to remain productive while using an operating system I prefer. OS X may be superior to a few other operating systems, but it just isn't Mac-like in the sense this 20-year veteran of Apple Computers wants it to be. I'd have to say my biggest disappointment about Leopard is that it just looks drab and depressing--an all-grey appearance? Even System 7 had more color contrast!
I have a tangerine clamshell (300MHz, 192MB RAM) running 9.1. I run Word 98, Photoshop Elements 2.0, AppleWorks 5, and MacDraw II on it for productivity on the Mac side. However, I also have Virtual PC (running XP) installed for the sole purpose of using Office 2000 (since I only have Word from Office 98 on the Mac and use Office 2000 for Excel and Access--I don't use PowerPoint on there because I'd rather use Keynote on my MacBook).
The Classilla browser isn't bad and IE 5 still works well for web-based e-mail. I can't configure Outlook Express to work with my e-mail address but web-based e-mail works fine. (Alternately I place the documents I'm sending somewhere on a USB drive and move them over to the MacBook to send--Apple's mail client is so easy to use compared to anything else, especially for attachments).
While I can't use the iTunes music store on OS 9 I do use the machine for AIM and playing chess. When I want to listen to music I simply pop in a CD (which delivers audio quality superior to anything purchased on iTunes).
I especially like the ability to remain productive while using an operating system I prefer. OS X may be superior to a few other operating systems, but it just isn't Mac-like in the sense this 20-year veteran of Apple Computers wants it to be. I'd have to say my biggest disappointment about Leopard is that it just looks drab and depressing--an all-grey appearance? Even System 7 had more color contrast!
Unless you need to run OS X software, go with OS 9. As Scott said, for web browsing, Classilla is available now. For AIM access, AIM 4.3 should work, though I haven't used it in quite a while. it should still be able to connect though. As for old games - you'll definitely want OS 9 for that, Classic mode is crap.
I just checked my AIM version and I'm using 4.6. Granted, it's nowhere near the level of iChat as far as refinement is concerned, but for basic conversations it works fine. It also has a nice stock ticker function built in. The news ticker doesn't seem to function correctly anymore but everything else works without a problem.
Version 4.7 is compatible with OS 9 but is not recommended. There's an article on Low End Mac from 2004 that explains its shortcomings. It can be found here: http://lowendmac.com/archive/04/0402.html. The window size issue specifically pertains to clamshells as the resolution of the screens is relatively low.
Stick with 4.6 and you're in good shape as long as you have OS 9. I believe 4.3 is the last version that runs on OS 8.
Version 4.7 is compatible with OS 9 but is not recommended. There's an article on Low End Mac from 2004 that explains its shortcomings. It can be found here: http://lowendmac.com/archive/04/0402.html. The window size issue specifically pertains to clamshells as the resolution of the screens is relatively low.
Stick with 4.6 and you're in good shape as long as you have OS 9. I believe 4.3 is the last version that runs on OS 8.
I've rebuilt many Clamshells over the years, and have found OS X 10.3.9 to be more than passable due to the 4X AGP graphics card - it makes things like Expose smooth, once you have upped the RAM and HD to a decent speed. Turn off the dock, make the icons small, and 800 x 600 isn't that bad at all for browsing and Office apps.
Overclocking: Try for 400Mhz first (33% chance), but 366Mhz will be more likely (66% chance); cut a small window out of the perforated RF shield above these resistors so you don't have to do an entire strip-down when testing.
You could also shoehorn a DVD tray (or slot!) loading drive in there too, although I'm not 100% if the 300Mhz model has any MPEG4 acceleration for DVD playback. Either way, the stock 24X CD-ROM is a complete dog and deserves to go, I've spent hours troubleshooting a few Clamshells only to find the reason I can't install OS X is because the CD-ROM was flaky.
Good luck! And hope you haven't cracked the plastic much during the process
JB
Overclocking: Try for 400Mhz first (33% chance), but 366Mhz will be more likely (66% chance); cut a small window out of the perforated RF shield above these resistors so you don't have to do an entire strip-down when testing.
You could also shoehorn a DVD tray (or slot!) loading drive in there too, although I'm not 100% if the 300Mhz model has any MPEG4 acceleration for DVD playback. Either way, the stock 24X CD-ROM is a complete dog and deserves to go, I've spent hours troubleshooting a few Clamshells only to find the reason I can't install OS X is because the CD-ROM was flaky.
Good luck! And hope you haven't cracked the plastic much during the process
JB
I concur - from memory tray loading iMacs use the same unit, a Matsushita/Panasonic, and for some reason I could never get mine to boot off the Panther CD, and it would only boot Jaguar when it wanted - I ended up running a longer IDE cable and using a desktop 5.25" unit from a PC to get OS X installed on the iMac. Said iMac now has an LG/Hitachi Combo drive, which is much, much better.
Incase you have not seen it
http://forums.macnn.com/73/mac-modification/305763/clamshell-ibook-questions-lcd-cd-logic/
http://forums.macnn.com/73/mac-modification/305763/clamshell-ibook-questions-lcd-cd-logic/
I ended up overclocking it to 400 mhz, I didn't try 433 because I didn't want to risk messing up soldering twice if it didn't work.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7540/400k.jpg
It's considerably faster now.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7540/400k.jpg
It's considerably faster now.
Thats pretty cool, I got 2 Free clamshells from my school, and may even get some more. 1 Graphite 466 and 1 Blueberry 300, I'd like Tangerine and Lime though. My school does not have those. They have like 10 Blueberries and 2 Graphites (1 now that I took one ;D ) They are awesome macs, and I think they were the pinnacle of apples design, along with the G4 iMac.
When overclocking Macs - by resistor removal - I too try to rebuild the bridges using the existing resistors, as not all of them are zero K shorts. If I lose the resistors, I find conductive ink to be better to work with, to avoid damaging the fragile solder pads with too much heat.
With a ~ 25 - 30W fine-tipped soldering iron, to remove the resistor I place the point in the corner of the resistor and "flick" it upwards. The resistors should be sitting up where it can be removed with some tweezers with little effort.
I'm currently overclocking my Indigo iMac 500 @ 600Mhz - I reckon it could go more as it's the 750CXE processor-based board. My flower power iMac 500 (with ceramic G3) only got to 550Mhz.
JB
