iMac G3 internet

[Apostrophe]

Hello everyone,

I am currently preparing to buy a new OS for my iMac G3, to override the passwords. But even through my limited access with the 'student' account, I can tell that this is obviously a superb and efficient machine. I'd like to hook it up to the Internet, but obviously, I can't do much with the limited access that I currently have.

I do have a phone cord, which I have connected from the iMac to the phone jack in the wall. Then I opened Internet Explorer with no results. I tried many combinations using an extra DSL box that plugs into the phone jack. Still nothing. I have looked around in the 'Mac Help' menu, and I gather that the iMac isn't actually connected to the web. And although I tried opening the menu necessary to change this, I didn't have the necessary access privileges.

The OS's that I have my eye on won't be available for a while yet, so I was wondering if there still is a way to connect to the internet until then?

Thanks,

-Apostrophe

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Uh... You connect it the same way you would any computer:

1. Dial-up internet. You said you plugged in a phone line. Good. But the computer doesn't magically know how to dial anywhere. You need to go into the System Preferences or Internet Connect utilities to set it up. Obviously, you need to have a dial-up account with some company for this, and will need to know the phone number, user name, and password, at least.

2. High-speed internet. You also said you "tried many combinations using an extra DSL box..." Well, if it's extra, then it begs the question, WHY was it "extra"? DSL is a service that rides over the phone lines, but requires subscribing to it with an internet provider (often the phone company itself.) If you don't subscribe to DSL service, then having a DSL modem doesn't do you any good. Which brings us to: The phone line goes in the DSL modem, but you connect the DSL modem to the computer via an "Ethernet" cable. USUALLY, if you have an active DSL subscription, it should "just work", but some DSL providers make you go through hoops to set up the DSL modem. Finally, with regard to DSL, there can be only one single DSL modem on the phone line. If you have, say, a computer upstairs, and a computer downstairs, and you want both to be on the internet via DSL, you need a "router" to run one single DSL modem through. Two DSL modems on the same phone line won't work.

 

[equill]

There is a great deal unstated in your post, perhaps because you have already posted it somewhere else, or because you believe that we shall understand the unstated, or because you are not aware of what is needed to get access to the Web.

Have you an account with an ISP? For dial-up, ADSL or something else? What is the DSL 'box'? A telephone modem? An ADSL modem/router, a telephone line filter or something else? What OS is on your iMac? Which iMac is it? Are the passwords at the hardware level (eg on the HDD), in software (as in At Ease) or in the System software?

Some background will help us to help you.

de

Edit: I see that Anonymous Freak has already given you info. about your options.

 

[Apostrophe]

I'm sorry, I know that I didn't give much, and I do understand that I need to actually connect it. Unfortunately, the info I gave you is all I can give you. This iMac barely has any software and has 4 accounts that each have a password. The only one I can get in is the 'student' account, because of its guessable password, 'student.' Needless to say, my access is very limited. It simply won't let me open any sort of control panel, menu, or preferences. That is why I need an OS so that I can override those passwords. From reading your posts, I gather that that is the only way to connect to the web, and I can't without administrative access. So I think I'll just have to wait until I get an OS to make any sort of attempt to connect to the internet.

But thanks anyway,

-Apostrophe

 

[bluekatt]

so what os are you going for ? os 9 or os X ?

 

[Apostrophe]

Well, what my plan is, since OS X still ranges around $50.00 on eBay, I'll go with OS 9.2 for now, until I feel like upgrading. However, 9 is still a good OS, so I might just buy and keep it.

 

[The Macster]

You won't be experiencing the full potential of this Mac until you go over to OS X though, these older macs are amazing machines and while 9 is OK, it is quite old-fashioned now and can't do a lot of what OS X can, and while with 9 you could be using any old PPC, with Tiger you know you're using something "Insanely Great" from the G3+ world when you see what it can do and feel the full force of just how powerful these old Macs still are...

 

[benjgvps]

Did you try putting an Ethernet cable into it from a dsl or cable connection and then trying? Most of the time you don't have to do anything to get online that way.

 

[Apostrophe]

Unfortunately, I don't have many phone/internet cables. Just about all of them are being used on our family's main PC (the one I'm on now) and the phones. I'm pretty sure that the only extra we have is the one that I have already tried. I guess I could take a look at how the PC's connected and try to imitate it with the iMac.

 

[bluekatt]

i would agree that you are better off going with os X yes it might be 50 which is more then the price fo your imac but remember that you are buying an os that can be used on pretty much every mac equipped with a G3 processor

unless its leopard

my ibooks are running panther and jaguar respectivley and they do that just fine

even tiger is running amazingly well on a G3 500 mhz

 

[equill]

Explicitly, from Install CD 1 of either Panther or Tiger you can, as 'root' or super-user after you have set up a password for it, apply new passwords of your own choosing to all existing accounts on the drive. While that may give you access to all of whatever is on the drives, nor should the owners concerned have let the iMac go without wiping its drive beforehand. Your best course is simply to buy and use your own copy of either 10.3 or 10.4, the distinction being only in the amount of RAM present (or augmented by you) and the CPU speed of the iMac. You will need your own install CDs to be legal and able to look after your iMac properly.

You could also, of course, simply erase/reformat the drive and install OS X and/or OS 9, and thereby remove all obstacles. Either way, you need OS CDs.

As bluekatt points out, a G3/500MHz Mac is able to run either above flavour of OS X with distinction, and Jaguar too, but that is a less rewarding OS.

de

 

[bluekatt]

tiger runs but its sluggish your best bet is to go with panther ( 10.3)

its older then tiger but peopel are undoubtedly dumping it giving you a bargain its stil modern enough to be able to run along and it wil run in 128 mb

or you can go to os 9 but then you have the problem of scrounging for modern software ituns supports for 9 stops at 2 the only classic browser that is stil supported is icab and so forth

if you want to go with os 9 go and get it i am sure you will be happy with it

but if you want an easier time of it regarding software security pre emptive multi tasking protected memory and al thos other wonderfull os x features that mena nothing to us but make it a fine os then os X is your best bet

 

[equill]

To my left is an Indigo iMac/500 (March 2002) with 1G of RAM, as my principal machine for work and play. It runs 10.4.11 in sprightly fashion for all things but one: either preparing to print (real) large documents to an hp 930C, or 'printing' the same docs as .pdf, from MS Word 2004. I consider this to be a Word problem rather than a Tiger problem. Next to it is another Indigo iMac/500 (August 2001) with 768MB of RAM and 10.3.9, for my right hand. One is as fast as the other, with minor variations. Apostrophe will be well served by either OS, given enough RAM for the purpose. One distinct advantage of Tiger is that Apple is still supporting it, for the noo if not forever.

de