B&W G3 - Upgrade Advice

[zen.state]

im starting to regret what ive done here coz i spent like.. 80-90 dollars on an 11 year old computer lol..

but.. i havent received the items yet.. i wouldnt have done it if my logical brain didnt say.. hmm i got this computer for 20 bucks.. i could make it usable for under 100$.. creating a compact flash SSD from an 8gb 233x CF Card will add alot of speed for sure, the processor upgrade from g3/350 to g4/500 has got to make a difference.. rage128 to FX5200 nvidia has got to make a difference..
wired 100baseT to wired gigabit Ethernet.. will def make a diff..
lets hope im not regretting this by the time i get all of this stuff in the mail and configured!!

really hope the 5200 fits in the slot! Lol

The upgrade of a B&W G3 350 to a G4 500 is exactly what I did to my former B&W in 2003. It made a huge difference. Although the MHz upgrade itself is only 150MHz (40% more then 350) because it's a G4 it will seem like much more than that. The altivec code in OSX will love the G4 chip. Overall it will feel about twice as fast.

That B&W G3 I mention is now with my Aunt. Along with the G4 500 it now also has 1GB RAM, Radeon 7000 32MB (flashed), USB 2.0 PCI card and new system and power supply fans. Runs 10.4 and apps from the 10.4 era silky smooth.

The logic boards and power supplies on these era macs is the best quality Apple ever put out. I would say tower-wise that the 8600/9600, Beige/B&W G3 and Sawtooth G4 towers are Apple's longest lasting best made hardware. Even though your B&W is 11 years old don't be shocked if it lives another 11 or more.

Edit: Keep in mind also that with a G4 CPU it will make the same memory almost twice as fast. Even on a G3 logic board with an older G3 memory controller I have seem gains as high as 70% or more when a G4 is added to the system.

 

[supernova777]

just got the cpu in the mail but my computer is now making 5 beeps and wont start up with the processor in the socket!!!

 

[skinniezinho]

just got the cpu in the mail but my computer is now making 5 beeps and wont start up with the processor in the socket!!!

Don't you need to run some kind of firmware update first?

 

[zen.state]

Don't you need to run some kind of firmware update first?

Yes you do. It also has to be the specific firmware for the upgrade. If it's a Sonnet like most G4 500MHz then you need their specific patch.

I can't find the firmware on the Sonnet site but here is a link to the install manual that explains the hardware install and firmware upgrades. http://www.sonnettech.com/support/downloads/manuals/encore_zif_1g_manual.pdf

I have the original disk still from my Sonnet G4 500 if you can't find it yourself. Let me know if you need it. I think it's under 1MB.

 

[zen.state]

just got the cpu in the mail but my computer is now making 5 beeps and wont start up with the processor in the socket!!!

I found the sonnet disk I have and made a disk image of it. after I zipped it it's only 1.4MB. Let me know if you want me to email it. Read my above post also.

 

[supernova777]

wow u must be very efficiently organized! id love to get a copy of the disk. but now i cant boot into os9.. this is way more complicated then i thought it was going to be! everytime i try to boot a get diskette with a ? (i used to only ever get a prob (if i had one) with folder with a ? so this is a step in teh wrong direction lol) anyway im trying to boot the cd for os9 and it comes up with an error type 10 and then tells me to try to start up without extensions i do that and the same thing occurs.. :/

416design at gmail dot com

 

[zen.state]

wow u must be very efficiently organized! id love to get a copy of the disk. but now i cant boot into os9.. this is way more complicated then i thought it was going to be! everytime i try to boot a get diskette with a ? (i used to only ever get a prob (if i had one) with folder with a ? so this is a step in teh wrong direction lol) anyway im trying to boot the cd for os9 and it comes up with an error type 10 and then tells me to try to start up without extensions i do that and the same thing occurs.. :/

416design at gmail dot com

The flashing ? on the disk means it cannot find a bootable OS.

I really recommend you follow the pdf manual I linked to above. These upgrades and the patches for them can be a bit tricky if you don't have any experience with it.

Any OS from 8.6 through 9.2.2 will work for the firmware patch. I did my patch in 8.6 when I did this same upgrade in 2003.

I will email the CD image now..

 

[zen.state]

Jumpers

Not sure if you have messed with the jumpers on the logic board right next to the CPU. With Sonnet upgrades they handle all the clock rate setting on their own. So if it is a Sonnet leave the original long 1 piece jumper on which would be blue since it's a 350MHz.

Please confirm that it is a Sonnet or all this help I am giving will be meaningless. It should say on the edge of the zif card somewhere what brand it is. There were also XLR8 and Fastmac G4 500MHz upgrades but I would say 90% of the ones on the market are Sonnet as they were much more readily available. Sonnet are the only brand I have ever seen on Mac dealer shelves.

If it does happen to not be a Sonnet then you will need as many as 5-6 hard drive type jumpers to set the clock rate properly.