I have a burning desire. A *NEED*

[coius]

to do something with this G3 Desktop.

I am not sure what I want to do with it, but I want to do something server-ish, and want to run it under at minimum 8.1. This is the config:

PM Beige G3 DT-formfactor

400Mhz G3 w/ 1MB L2 Cache @ 66Mhz FSB

768MB PC-100 RAM (66Mhz Maxed RAM)

2MB VRAM (not sprung for the upgrade card yet)

Whisper personality card (no video, just audio)

36GB 15K RPM Seagate Cheetah Ultra-160 SCSI / 40GB ATA-33 HDD on 16Mbit/s bus

Adaptec 32-bit/33Mhz SCSI PCI Card, connected to the HDD.

SCSI DVD-RAM drive (slot/cartridge/disc load, weird funky thing)

D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI Ethernet card

While it may be semi-maxed, I was thinking something like a BBS, FTP, or Gopher server. I would like to hear some suggestions as to what kind of project I can put this on. It would rock as a BBS/Forum server, or something. Maybe something like an audio streaming server too (maybe local radio channel?)

 

[Temetka]

Use it as a NAS and Firewall running some form of *NIX.

Move on with your life.

Problem. Solved.

 

[LC_575]

Give it 10.2+ and then use it as an Appletalk to SMB/Windows networking bridge, as well as a file server for Mac software for your AppleTalk network.

 

[avw]

Get a dirt cheap PCI graphic card. Put the mac in your kitchen on the top of the cabinets (so that noone can see it). Than get a cool TFT for wall mount, put it at a cool place near the oven or the sink. Than put a microphone anywhere.

Install pixeltoy, and play around for some real cool shuffle adjustments.

Now you will have a fantastic interactive video monitor - a screen that is reacting to everything you are doing. Doing the dishes, cooking, talking, listening to radio in the mornig, ...

If you want to save power, attach the mac to your kitchen light, and put everything into startobjects folder, ...

 

[John Hokanson Jr.]

G3s make perfectly reasonable music servers. Drop in a large IDE hard drive (up to 128GB *should* work), hook it up to a stereo system, and play all your MP3s through it. Audion and SoundJam will run on OS 8.6, but with 786MB of RAM in there there is little reason why you shouldn't be running 9. It should also be a good machine for backing up stuff to.

 

[John Hokanson Jr.]

I also seem to recall reading somewhere there was a DVD personality card released at some point for the Beige G3 (or it may have been a PCI card). An Apple IDE DVD player can be hard for dirt cheap. Together with the MP3 suggestion, you could hook it up to a TV and satisfy a lot of your A/V needs.

 

[Bunsen]

The ATI Rage 128+ with the optional DVD decoder board will play DVDs. There was also a card/drive set called Wired4DVD around back in the day, though the Rage is a lot more common. Any newer, better ATI card, like a Radeon/R7000, will also play DVDs.

 

[Charlieman]

John Hokanson Jr.: "I also seem to recall reading somewhere there was a DVD personality card released at some point for the Beige G3 (or it may have been a PCI card)."

I pay my own electricity bills so I watch DVDs on kit that uses as little as possible... I occasionally run some pretty power cobbling stuff, but it's special and amusing and a hack. Watching a DVD isn't all that interesting to me.

Sooner or later I will get around to converting my 9600/G4 beast into my primary AppleShare server. That will be a good opportunity for a reorganisation of the content and I'll feel good about it. But I won't run the server unless it is required.

 

[coius]

We already have a DVD player, but it may step in for a while until I get my new server. I need it to become the primary web and ftp server for my friends and I. That's not so much an issue, but it might be stepping in depending on how long my old server lasts.

Other than that, I will try to pull as much off the remaining functioning drive in the server and throw it on an external and possibly hook it up and turn my desktop into a primary server while I wait for my new hardware to get here. I think I can do it in a virtual machine.

Btw, want to see a G3 fly faster than one with a SATA card?

Ultra 160 UW-SCSI with a LVD 36GB 15k RPM Seagate Cheetah and see how it flies

Under OS X, stuff loads almost quicker than my macbook