what to do with a stripped icebook?

[iamdigitalman]

I got this in my haul, and I was told it was dead. They said it had a dead mobo. I had a bit of free time, so I pulled it out, plugged in my power adapter, and hit the power button. It not only chimed, but it booted into 9.2.2!! That's why I love macs, they can take a hell of a beating.

It's nothing special, 500mhz, 192mb, 256k L2, 10gb HD, CD-ROM, modem, according to the specs, but it has been stripped, so it has no 128mb RAM stick, just the 64mb logic board (I was hoping it was 128mb so I could swap the lobo in my ibook and have a full 640mb.

It also has no battery, no keyboard (though I was given a couple with missing keys I can use), and the shielding is all bent. It also appears to be missing 90% of it's screws. Someone also spray painted the LCD lid black, and it looks pretty sweet. When the display is online, the backlight shines through the black paint over the apple logo, and is speckled. It looks pretty sweet.

So now I have an extra machine but I have no use for it. Sure, I could use it for parts, and I will as soon as something goes bad on here. But in the mean time, I need to put it to good use. If only I had more spare RAM sticks, I would throw panther on there and use it as a folding machine or something. I do have a spare power adapter, a 3rd party one that came with my ibook, and it only powers if the adapter is plugged in at a certain angle.

Any ideas?

-digital

 

[bluekatt]

yeah part it out so i can pick up a new lcd screen and cd rom for my banged up icebook ;p

i dunno though use it as a fold up server ?

 

[Temetka]

I'd fix it and use it.

 

[iamdigitalman]

I already have one, a 500mhz, 80gb, 576mb machine with airport card. I would just need the logicboard with 128mb of RAM and the combo drive, and it would be maxed out. Runs tiger quite nicely.

I have also ran into another snag. The CD drive is totally dead. It won't eject with the button on the keyboard, not even inserting a paperclip will make it come out. So I am stuck with the OS on the drive unless I decide to take the time to rip it out and install it in another machine.

I also had a crazy thought. I could rip it apart, and turn it in to either a digital picture frame (though I just might want to get an airport card for that so I can update it wirelessly, but using a USB flash drive is no big deal. I just might use a IDE to CF adapter for it). I could also convert it into a desk mac, and make it look like a G5 or intel imac.

-digital

 

[bluekatt]

tiger can boot from usb

why not fix it up and use a ide to cf adapter for it ? i am considering doing that to my icebook

it runs fine ( for its doing ) but the hd is noisey i dont keep my whole life on that book 8 gig would be enough

scrapping it for a digital picture frame seems a bi of a waste to be honest but thats me

 

[iamdigitalman]

Well, I don't have enough RAM to run tiger. I only have a 64mb stick to spare, bringing it to 128mb. So, I am gonna run 9.2.2 on it with the onboard 64mb of RAM.

I just spent time stripping it. I scrapped everything but the motherboard, sleep LED, LCD panel, reset button, and power button. The DC board will be saved too, obviously. For the pictureframe project, I am gonna reroute the DC board to where the modem jack was (it comes out easily after removing the modem). I took the airport connector off, I can add it back in later, but I am gonna only expose one USB port, for a flash drive, and write an applescript to dump the pics in the folder for the slideshow, so I don't have to plug in a mouse and KB to do it.

About the only thing I need to do now is strip out the power button, and strip the display assembly, so I can scrap the display bezel, microphone, and hinges.

So far I have not taken pics, I was gonna, so I could post it on the 'fritter or macmod. I did see a desktop converted iBook on MM, and it looks sweet, using the case plastics and rubbing them clear. I think I will either build a case for it, or I was thinking a cigar box, because some of them have latches, and hinges, which would make it easy to service.

-digital