Juliet Elysa Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 I was cleaning my bedroom today, and when I was taking stuff downstairs I saw my iBook. I've had it for a few years, and it works but needs some cleaning, a new battery, and a replacement power adapter (it came with a generic third party adapter that doesn't fit well enough). Apparently there are new clamshell batteries available on Newegg, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them? I have zero soldering skills or equipment, so rebuilding one myself is impractical at the moment. Pictures are here, I didn't realize how big they were until I tried to insert them into this post and I'm too tired to resize and reupload them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sfiera Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 Action Retro did a video here: TL;DW: works, but didn't seem to retain the advertised capacity. He said he was going to try to exchange it, to see if the problem was the one battery or the seller, but I didn't see a follow-up video yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted August 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 I saw that video, and read in the comments that he did exchange it and the replacement worked perfectly. So I'm leaning towards that option, but want to know if anyone more knowledgeable than me has input. I'm also confused on what power adapter is the best option. The white bricks all look like the one I have that doesn't fit, and trying to find an original yoyo adapter (which is what I'd ideally like) is just confusing thanks to the two different designs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Byrd Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 The OEM white Apple adapters have a smaller DC plug to fit later iBook G3 (snow) and above 'Books. You are looking for the yoyo or earlier power brick designed for PowerBook G3s. The yoyo power bricks are not known for their longevity and prone to fail; to be honest I'd look for a replacement new adapter from a reputable source - not the eBay HK ones, but one sold via a local seller that has good reports. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted August 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 9 hours ago, Byrd said: The OEM white Apple adapters have a smaller DC plug to fit later iBook G3 (snow) and above 'Books. You are looking for the yoyo or earlier power brick designed for PowerBook G3s. The yoyo power bricks are not known for their longevity and prone to fail; to be honest I'd look for a replacement new adapter from a reputable source - not the eBay HK ones, but one sold via a local seller that has good reports. That'd explain why I haven't been able to find a good yoyo brick! I honestly don't know if there are any sellers in my area (southeast Wyoming), but I'll take a look. Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AichEss Posted August 31, 2020 Report Share Posted August 31, 2020 I've given up on trying to find a reasonably priced yoyo adapter and don't really trust the Asian generics. Kensington had a replacement at one time. Try model number K33079 on the Bay. AichEss Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted August 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2020 11 hours ago, AichEss said: I've given up on trying to find a reasonably priced yoyo adapter and don't really trust the Asian generics. Kensington had a replacement at one time. Try model number K33079 on the Bay. AichEss Truth! What I have is an Asian generic, and it's just... nope. Is this what I'm looking for? Also, when looking for something else I came across Apple Rescue of Denver. It's a repair shop that also sells computers and parts, and they seem to have a pretty wide selection. I'm considering buying a SuperDisk drive from them, they have the bondi/blue variant in stock! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cheesestraws Posted September 1, 2020 Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 13 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: I came across Apple Rescue of Denver. I’ve bought stuff from them before and they were great, FWIW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AichEss Posted September 1, 2020 Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: Truth! What I have is an Asian generic, and it's just... nope. Is this what I'm looking for? The "this" isn't the right one - the DC end is the smaller one for the G4 'Books. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kensington-Univ-AC-CAR-AIR-Adapter-APPLE-MAC-33079-power-charger-case-F-Ship/254210700745?hash=item3b302375c9:g:OGkAAOSwgspZubzm has the correct DC connector. It seems that most of the eBay listings in this category are by (sorry) yard sale/junk collectors that don't have a clue about what they list. If you have a bit of time and patience new, unopened, complete packages pop up pretty often. That way you will know what you are getting. Don't fall for this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Kensington-Notebook-Power-Universal-AC-Car-Air-Adapter-for-APPLE-33057/392755809348?hash=item5b72120c44:g:itgAAOSwp2xej2UN It has been listed like forever and does NOT have AC capability. Let me try to do this right. These adapters come with the AC-to-DC converter and a whole lot of interchangeable DC tips for the different connections. The listers aren't knowledgeable or particular about whether or not the tip you need is in the package. Edited September 1, 2020 by AichEss More complete explanation Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 21 hours ago, AichEss said: Let me try to do this right. These adapters come with the AC-to-DC converter and a whole lot of interchangeable DC tips for the different connections. The listers aren't knowledgeable or particular about whether or not the tip you need is in the package. Yeah, I noticed that. It's all very confusing for a power adapter noob! What should I watch for in a listing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AichEss Posted September 2, 2020 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 (edited) 23 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: What should I watch for in a listing? The pic on the right top has the two PowerBook tips. The pic on the left bottom is from eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kensington-Univ-AC-CAR-AIR-Adapter-APPLE-MAC-33079-power-charger-case-F-Ship/254210700745?hash=item3b302375c9:g:OGkAAOSwgspZubzm . I don't know anything about the seller Edited September 2, 2020 by AichEss Clarification Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 Thank you! That's extremely helpful! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 Thank you! That's extremely helpful! Alright, it's apparently making me edit this post instead of making a new one. Just to double check, does this have the right tip? I'm hoping to have at least a charger by the week after next, my crazy dream is to use the iBook as a writing machine for school (and maybe a few light games as well) and my English class starts on the eighth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AichEss Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 Just right. That has BOTH tips. It would be good for the G3 & G4 'Books. Good luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Papichulo Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 (edited) i use the black square 45w adapter for the powerbook g3 series made in 1998. works on my clamshell and duo and powerbook g3 Edited September 5, 2020 by Papichulo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 Awesome! Thank you for your help! I'm still on the fence about trying that battery given the $60 price tag, and I'm also wondering if there's any shot of getting a G3 on wifi in 2020 or if I'm stuck with sneakernet (which, realistically, I'll probably use most of the time anyways, but being able to say I could get online if I wanted would be cool ). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
davidg5678 Posted September 5, 2020 Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: I'm also wondering if there's any shot of getting a G3 on wifi in 2020 or if I'm stuck with sneakernet (which, realistically, I'll probably use most of the time anyways, but being able to say I could get online if I wanted would be cool ). This is more a matter of whether you should do it, not if you can do it. If you configure your router to not use any encryption (or an outdated standard of encryption), it will definitely work, but this is usually an all around bad idea as it exposes all of your network to neighbors, hackers, etc. You might be better off using Ethernet and some kind of wireless repeater for it. The iBook doesn't really have the ability to make use of high speed internet, so pretty much any kind of Ethernet system would work. In terms of battery packs, I can confirm that the $60 pack is a pretty good deal. I decided to rebuild my own battery pack, and so far it has cost much more money, while proving to be incredibly difficult. (I definitely have not recently melted my battery pack ;)) Edited September 5, 2020 by davidg5678 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2020 On 9/5/2020 at 7:49 AM, davidg5678 said: You might be better off using Ethernet and some kind of wireless repeater for it. The iBook doesn't really have the ability to make use of high speed internet, so pretty much any kind of Ethernet system would work. That or one of those USB adapters is what I was hoping to do, since I'd rather not take a laptop apart more than I need to! Though the USB adapters do require drivers, and I'm pretty sure they don't support OS 9 anymore so that probably wouldn't be an option... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
davidg5678 Posted September 8, 2020 Report Share Posted September 8, 2020 13 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: That or one of those USB adapters is what I was hoping to do, since I'd rather not take a laptop apart more than I need to! Though the USB adapters do require drivers, and I'm pretty sure they don't support OS 9 anymore so that probably wouldn't be an option... There is no need to take the laptop apart for ethernet, nor a need for a USB dongle. There is already an ethernet port you can use on the side of the computer. If you plug an ethernet cable between this port and your router, you will be online. I mentioned a wireless ethernet repeater, as you may wish to use your laptop somewhere other than connected directly to your router. This is a device that does the work of connecting to your modern network for the iBook and simply provides an ethernet link for you to connect to the older computer. I think something like this product would work. Before doing anything fancy though, you should probably try connecting the laptop directly to your router with an ethernet cable, just to make sure everything works. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2020 Would a repeater work on public connections too? And if so, is there a security reason to not do that? My (probably unrealistic ) dream is to use the laptop both at home and at my college. Not that there would be many situations at school that would absolutely require using a personal computer with an internet connection, but I have this annoying habit of anticipating and trying to prepare for all possible scenarios. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cheesestraws Posted September 8, 2020 Report Share Posted September 8, 2020 8 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: Would a repeater work on public connections too? And if so, is there a security reason to not do that? Yup and not really. All the bridge/repeater is doing is pretty much what a wireless card in the computer would do, it's just that it's passing the packets on via a network cable rather than straight into the OS. If you were repeating onto wifi with older security, then it would be as bad as connecting to an insecure wireless point anyway; but if you're doing it over a wire, it's fine. Finding a bridge that runs on a battery is challenging, but I believe they exist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cheesestraws Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 The base unit that @sutekh used in this thread might be applicable: For the iBook you wouldn't need to do the ADB hack, it would probably power itself happily off the USB port on the laptop and talk via the ethernet port. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Juliet Elysa Posted September 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 The charger arrived a few days ago in perfect condition, packaged extremely well. Definitely happy with this eBay experience! With the adapter the iBook is in perfect working condition when plugged in. Now, next question! Gotta love setup whack a mole, as my fiancee always called it. My 256GB flash drive takes a solid 2-3 minutes to mount, and inserting it makes the OS rebuild the desktop about 50% of the time. Is that normal for original iBooks? My (admittedly newer) indigo iMac has this drive mounted within a minute max, usually less. And no desktop rebuilds. They both run 9.2. The boot chime is loud and clear in person, my phone just has a potato for a microphone. And I have shaky hands, so don't mind that... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
davidg5678 Posted September 15, 2020 Report Share Posted September 15, 2020 17 hours ago, Juliet Elysa said: My 256GB flash drive takes a solid 2-3 minutes to mount, and inserting it makes the OS rebuild the desktop about 50% of the time. Is that normal for original iBooks? This is a really large flash drive to use with such an old iBook! The clamshells only have USB 1 which is really slow, but I still don't think this is normal behavior. Maybe it would help to reformat the drive using disk utility on the iBook? I think with a drive of this capacity, things get a little weird because older computers don't really handle drives over 128GB very well at all. I would also try a slightly smaller drive, and see if anything changes. Luckily, there is probably nothing > 64GB that you would ever need to use with this computer, so it (in theory) it should be easy enough to work with a smaller drive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cory5412 Posted September 15, 2020 Report Share Posted September 15, 2020 Hey, congratulations! These are great machines! The iBook G3 is among the first totally fresh NewWorld designs after that switchover. (The Blue-And-White G3 being a faster beige platform with the new ROM on it.) It gets some neat stuff like USB booting (volumes under 200GB) of Classic Mac OS and, well, they're nice machines in general. 19 hours ago, davidg5678 said: I think with a drive of this capacity, things get a little weird because older computers don't really handle drives over 128GB very well at all. I'm using a 2TB pocket hard disk on a PowerMac G4's onboard USB 1.1 port and it behaves what you'd expect of as "correctly", so this will definitely work. Mac OS 9 has a maximum volume size of 2TB, I have yet to test larger maximum disk sizes, however, on controllers that might support it (USB in particular because the real controller is going to be whatever the USB/SATA Bridge is). 120/128-ish gig limits as often cited for this era are going to be related to IDE on certain older systems. I've seen various reports of ways to skirt this but for an internal boot volume, 120GB is probably enough for a system like this. There's a separate "around 200 gigs" limit for boot volumes for Classic Mac OS, which does also apply to USB/Firewire devices. I second the idea of reformatting or repartitioning the USB device on the iBook, if you intend to use it for backup or as swing space or for transfers. (unless you did that on the iMac, which you also mentioned and I missed on my first read-through, which definitely makes this a bit more of a stumper.) The other thing, of course, is to make sure you're correctly dismounting the drive before disconnecting it, and stuff like that. You probably are, esp. since it works fine on your iMac. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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