Ibook G3

macfreak80 · Feb 25, 2006

Hello guys ,
I'm a newbie here and I hope you can help me .

I just purchased over Ebay an used Ibook clamshell.
Here's the charateristics

Description

iBook Hard Drive Capacity: 6 GB

Processor Type: PowerPC G3
Operating System:Mac OS 10.1, Puma

Processor Speed:300 MHz
Screen Size: 13 inches

Memory (RAM): 64 MB

Its running OSX and its applications. It comes with a cdrom, powercord, integrated modem, wireless card and network, USB and headphones connections. The battery holds very little charge but when plugged in.

The seller told me that the laptop is fast . Is that possibile ?
How is Puma 10.1 ?
I don't know about Macs that much , so I hope you guys can give me some advises.
Do you think I can install Mac Os X Panther on this machine ?? or Tiger ?
It also comes with Office and the bag for 237 $.

Please tell me what you think and if I did a good purchase.

Thanks again for your time

yoda13 · Feb 25, 2006

Umm, Puma needs to be updated. I don't know if you can run more advanced versions of OSX, possibly excuding Jaguar, without upgrading the RAM and hard drive. I also would not characterize it is as fast. It was a good computer in its day. You can also buy a new battery at macsales.com. Glad you got office. Good luck, mate. Welcome to the fold.

Eidorian · Feb 25, 2006

Upgrade the RAM to maximum and at least get 10.2 on it. Don't expect much more out of this laptop than web browsing, iTunes, and Office.

macfreak80 · Feb 25, 2006

Thank you very much guys and thanks for the welcome Yoda .

Yes , I don't expect too much from this laptop ....i just wanted something to browse the net , listen to music and and school usage but in Mac style

Do you think I can upgrade Puma for free from the official mac site ?

how much would you recommend to upgrade the RAM ? and do you know how much it's gonna cost me ?

thanks again , i appreciate your comments

yoda13 · Feb 25, 2006

macsales.com also sells RAM, as does crucial.com. I would just go there and enter your model and then max out the RAM if you can afford it. Sorry that I don't know for sure how much it would cost right off the top of my head. You cannot go update Puma for free, but you could bid for cheap for a copy of 10.2 (Jaguar) off of ebay. It is old enough, shouldn't cost much at all. Good luck!

Eidorian · Feb 25, 2006

http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.Asp?IMODULE=CT64M64S4W75

Apple states that you can only add 256 MB more RAM but you can add an additional 512 MB stick. 64 + 256 MB = 320. That's more than enough to run 10.2 and 10.3.

macfreak80 · Feb 25, 2006

Thank u so much for your answers Eidorian and Yoda.
I check out the site and prices are not bad at all.

Well , i'll wait to see the laptop when it arrives and then i'll decide .

Thanks again , I really appreciate your comments

macfreak80 · Mar 6, 2006

would it cost me more if instead of order the memory upgrade from the net , I bring my ibook to a mac shop where they're gonna upgrade it for me ?
Because I really don't have any clue on how to do it .

many thanks

Eidorian · Mar 6, 2006

macfreak80 said:
would it cost me more if instead of order the memory upgrade from the net , I bring my ibook to a mac shop where they're gonna upgrade it for me ?
Because I really don't have any clue on how to do it .

many thanks

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/49.5.0.html

iFixIt has a good guide on installing memory. If you don't feel up to it then just take it to a store.

macfreak80 · Mar 6, 2006

thanks Eidorian for the link

that guide is very clear and helpful . I may do it bymiself.

I have a question : when I upgrade the memory , do I need to reinstall the entire system ? i mean mac os 10.1.5 (in my case ) ?

thanks

Eidorian · Mar 6, 2006

macfreak80 said:
thanks Eidorian for the link that guide is very clear and helpful . I may do it bymiself.

I have a question : when I upgrade the memory , do I need to reinstall the entire system ? i mean mac os 10.1.5 (in my case ) ?

thanks

No, you'll notice a little longer boot the first time as the system recognizes the memory. No need for reinstallation of any software. I'd say get 10.2 if you can. It's a really good middle of the road OS for older hardware.

deebster · Mar 7, 2006

I'd consider trying to run 10.3 "Panther". It's quite an improvement over 10.2 and is a bit faster too.

My old G3 300 (overclocked to 350) runs it on 256MB RAM and for the basic stuff (web, email, iTunes) it's fine.

Get at least 256MB more RAM (if indeed that's your iBook's maximum) and you'll have a solid little surfing iBook there.

Play Ultimate · Mar 7, 2006

Lime iMac

My daughters are using a Lime iMac, 6GB HD, 333 MHz, 288 RAM with 10.3.9. Runs fine but slow boot up. They use it mostly to play educational games and a little word processing. Works good.

The HD space will be a serious limiting factor for iTunes and iPhoto.

Your iBook should run fine as long as you don't do too much.

ITASOR · Mar 7, 2006

I was running 10.3.9 on a clamshell for a while and it was great. I only had a 3GB HD, BUT, I had 544MB RAM, which really really helps. You may not want to go that high, due to the cost, but you should definitely boost your ram past 300MB. Look on http://datamem.com, they have really good deals and guarantee the RAM to work in a Mac.

You can use a program called XPostFacto to put Tiger on it, but taht involves a lot of knowledge about how OS X and open firmware work, so I wouldn't recommend that.

An advantage to getting a clamshell rather than an older powerbook G3 is that the clamshell has AGP graphics, which are really good for things like Exposé in Panther...

I would definitely install Panther on there...when you do it, do a custom install and uncheck everything. I think it takes around 1.3GB if you uncheck everything except that bare system. That leaves you with plenty of room for your apps.

macfreak80 · Mar 7, 2006

thank you so much for all the info guys

I'm planning to upgrade it this week , I don't really like order stuff from the web because I hate to wait for the delivery , so I'll took it to a mac shop ....hopefully they will not charge me that much , i'm thinking about 512 mb if that' s possible , otherwise 256 + my 64 it's gonna be more than enough .....do you think i can get the job done the same day ?
I saw the installation guide that Eidorian suggested me and it looks pretty quick and easy ....
I really hate to wait

let me know what you think .....
do u guys think I pay too much this laptop anyways ? it's 237$ plus airport card , office , 2 adapters and the bag ..
again thanks and let me know

I appreciate every comment.

iQuit · Mar 7, 2006

320MB of RAM is the maximum RAM as far as my knowledge goes. OSX 10.3 runs pretty well on it, be sure to download the program "Shadow Killer". If you are looking for a simple web browsing laptop then it will be fine, but don't expect much out of the 8-16MB Rage graphics card...as far as editing videos etc. If it has an airport card, you will be able to receive 802.11x wireless signals from hotspots or via a wireless router. One downside about the clamshells is the G3 processor which can't handle most current apps, and the fact it has no CD burner or floppy disk, so getting files off of it are a hassle. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

P.S. I'd recommend an external USB or firewire Hard Drive if you want more apps, as well as a USB floppy drive.

macfreak80 · Mar 8, 2006

hello again ....
guys I read somewhere that to upgrade the RAM of my Ibook I need to have the firmware upgraded ...How do i found out if I have it and if it's the right version ? (i'm sorry , i'm new to mac )

2 question :

What is a FIREWIRE ? how do i know if i have it ?

I just found out that my ibook is 366mhz and not 300 as I thought.

please help

Eidorian · Mar 8, 2006

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88039

FireWire is a high speed connector that Apple supports. If you have it then you can do a lot more than with the original USB only models.

Your firmware should be listed in System Profiler.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60351

macfreak80 · Mar 8, 2006

Thanks Eidorian

very helpful :

this is what I found on my system profile :

ROM revision :
Boot Rom version : 3.24f1
Serial number :xxxxxxxx ("x" stays for numbers and letters)
software bundle : not applicable
sales order number : M77xxxx ("x" satys for numbers and lettes )

The info look kinda different from the link you gave me .....does that mean that my firmware is okay and i can install my ram ?

Thanks so much

I appreciate your patience

Eidorian · Mar 8, 2006

It's supposed to be different. I linked you an example.

Do you know if you have that FireWire connector or not? There are two firmware updates I found for the iBook you have.

One update is version 2.4 and one it 4.17. You have 3.24f1.

You're right about the firmware though. You need to update it to at least to 2.4 to read more than 256 MB on RAM stick.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75128

You'll need at least OS 9.1.

macfreak80 · Mar 8, 2006

Eidorian unfortunately I don't have mac OS 9.1 but only 10.1.5

I don't know what to do , does that means that I cannot upgrade my memory without upgrading my firmware ???
please help me ...

no , i checked and i don't have the firewire port , i guess my laptop is the previous version .

Thanks for all your help , now I'm kinda worried for this firmware problem..

Eidorian · Mar 8, 2006

macfreak80 said:
Eidorian unfortunately I don't have mac OS 9.1 but only 10.1.5
I don't know what to do , does that means that I cannot upgrade my memory without upgrading my firmware ???
please help me ...

no , i checked and i don't have the firewire port , i guess my laptop is the previous version .

Thanks for all your help , now I'm kinda worried for this firmware problem..

From what I can tell you only need the firmware update if you want to run 10.2 or higher. Since you have 3.24f1 you should already have the update that gave you that improved memory support. I really wish someone else could help me some more with it though.

macfreak80 · Mar 9, 2006

yes please , can someone help ? I'm going to buy my ram today and I really need to know if it's okay my firmware ( 3.24f1) for 256 memory . Unfortunately i cannot upgrade it because I don't have OS 9.1. please , thank you so much

Eidorian · Mar 9, 2006

macfreak80 said:
yes please , can someone help ? I'm going to buy my ram today and I really need to know if it's okay my firmware ( 3.24f1) for 256 memory . Unfortunately i cannot upgrade it because I don't have OS 9.1. please , thank you so much

If you're only going to get a 256 MB stick you're just fine. The firmware updates are for installing 10.2 and for 512 MB sticks of RAM.

2.4 takes cares of 256 MB sticks, you have version 3.24f1.

Some more strangeness as well. You apparently already have the 2.4 update it might just be reporting itself as 3.24f1.

Strangely I just tried the open firmware trick, as well as my idea to
use Apple system profiler, and neither one shows the firmware version #
as I would expect it.

They both show a Boot ROM 3.24f1 on my g3/400 imac DV...

I'm thought the firmware update(which is listed as 4.1.9) I did was:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75130

When I boot back to OS9 and run the firmware update utility from my OS9
CD which came with OSX 10.03 It shows Firmware version 2.4f1 which is
up to date!

All in all quite a confusing set of information

http://newtontalk.net/archive/newtontalk.2004-06/1119.html

Note: The firmware update for the iBook and iMac are the same.

macfreak80 · Mar 9, 2006

Thanks Eidorian

well, after the memory upgrade I'd love to purchase the cds of Jaguar or panther in Ebay and install one of these ....so I guess to avaoid problems , I'm gonna spend a little bit more and I'll bring it to a technician that will take care of everything ...
I really REALLY appreciate your help

hopefully i'm all set allready .

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