First Post - iBook G3

[Kirk Boragine]

So, Hello PowerPC Users...
I'm getting an iBook G3 next month. It's the G3/600 14-Inch (Early 2002). Coming with 2 power adapters, 2 batteries, 640 MB RAM, case, original software and Jaguar installed. It's basically all good. Handed down from a relative.

I'm wondering, what's the general consensus here for most efficient OS? I've got OS9, 10.2.2, 10.3.2, 10.3.5 and 10.4 software of my own as well.

Thanks -K

 

[eyoungren]

So, Hello PowerPC Users...
I'm getting an iBook G3 next month. It's the G3/600 14-Inch (Early 2002). Coming with 2 power adapters, 2 batteries, 640 MB RAM, case, original software and Jaguar installed. It's basically all good. Handed down from a relative.

I'm wondering, what's the general consensus here for most efficient OS? I've got OS9, 10.2.2, 10.3.2, 10.3.5 and 10.4 software of my own as well.

Thanks -K

I would go with OS X 10.4.

 

[GetToDaChopa]

Tiger would be the best but defiantly not the most efficient. Panther would be for that laptop. your choice

 

[eyoungren]

Tiger would be the best but defiantly not the most efficient. Panther would be for that laptop. your choice

Panther so far is my favorite version of OS X as far as being stable.

That said, while it may be more efficient for this Mac it's certainly not going to allow the OP to run any current apps.

Cameron Kaiser still makes a G3 version of TenFourFox, but it requires Tiger at minimum. OP is going to be stuck with a version of Safari that's so out of date he probably won't be able to read what the damn thing renders.

So, if OP's intent is to use this Mac for anything requiring internet access or as recent apps as OP can find, Panther is not the system to install.

Not arguing, just explaining my opinion.

 

[Kirk Boragine]

I would go with OS X 10.4.

Does it just run better all-around? Forgot to mention, I'll be using this for general purpose/daily driver stuff and GarageBand -think I have to do a separate app install for that. If I remember, it doesn't come with Tiger.

I understand the browser/app store/iPhone/calendar syncing limitations. If nothing else, I'll use it to record the music I make. Thinkin' my next computer and phone will be Apple next time. So this is also a reuniting with Apple after about 15 years. But hey, if the G3 works and gets me to where I'm going everyday... It'll be all good for a while anyhow.

 

[eyoungren]

Does it just run better all-around? Forgot to mention, I'll be using this for general purpose/daily driver stuff and GarageBand -think I have to do a separate app install for that. If I remember, it doesn't come with Tiger.

I understand the browser/app store/iPhone/calendar syncing limitations. If nothing else, I'll use it to record the music I make. Thinkin' my next computer and phone will be Apple next time. So this is also a reuniting with Apple after about 15 years. But hey, if the G3 works and gets me to where I'm going everyday... It'll be all good for a while anyhow.

As the other poster stated Panther is probably more efficient on resources.

However, if you want to run GarageBand you will need Tiger at least. I would look into maxxing out the ram for this Mac if you can.

Personally, using a G3 iBook for music production is not something I would do. I'd be looking at a 1Ghz G4 Mac at the very least for that. The G3 does not have Altivec support and you're asking a lot from a really old machine to do stuff like that.

That said, good luck to you. There are a few people here who produce music with their Macs so they may be able to help you more in that regard.

 

[Kirk Boragine]

Email, Calendar, a little internet for news and information, iTunes, Photos from my Android and GarageBand are my uses. I understand from the F.A.Q. that Dropbox syncs. That'd be cool enough.

But what about Calendar? No iCloud, so no syncing to my Android phone right? Or will it sync through iCloud online? Or is that the same thing lol

 

[Lil Chillbil]

i'd recommend at least a quicksilver g4 with a decent amount of ram and Tiger for music production at the minimum.
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Email, Calendar, a little internet for news and information, iTunes, Photos from my Android and GarageBand are my uses. I understand from the F.A.Q. that Dropbox syncs. That'd be cool enough.

But what about Calendar? No iCloud, so no syncing to my Android phone right? Or will it sync through iCloud online? Or is that the same thing lol

I believe your mac came out around the time of .mac syncing, which is long gone.

 

[Kirk Boragine]

I remember Panther being a good OS. Smooth. Really nice upgrade from Jaguar. If it won't run GarageBand, then I'll have to pass it up for Tiger. That's a deal breaker for me. When you say max out the RAM, do you mean more than the official specs of 640 MB? I read somewhere 1 GB is doable. If that's the case, than no matter what I do I will install the added RAM.

I only usually record a couple or three audio tracks. I guess I'll just experiment with the different OS's and see what works best.

Thanks for all the generous replies. Kinda wanted to introduce myself around here as well. Thank you eyoungren and GetToDaChopa.
[doublepost=1481583447][/doublepost]

i'd recommend at least a quicksilver g4 with a decent amount of ram and Tiger for music production at the minimum.
[doublepost=1481582437][/doublepost]
I believe your mac came out around the time of .mac syncing, which is long gone.

Yep. But with all the cloud using today, I think there must be a workaround. Either that or host my own cloud. I dunno. It'll be another puzzle to solve I guess... Greetings Lil Chillbil

This is interesting from the Pro Tools website archives...
Mac OS Requirements — Pro Tools LE Version 5.2-5.2.1 for Mac OS 9

Approved Mac Operating Systems

• Pro Tools LE 5.2 and 5.2.1 have been tested and approved on Mac OS 9.1, 9.2, 9.2.1, and 9.2.2

and so it begins...

 

[eyoungren]

I understand from the F.A.Q. that Dropbox syncs. That'd be cool enough.

That's incorrect. Czo, who is the user who has been patching Dropbox for us, has it working on Leopard only. Leopard requires a G4. So, Dropbox is out on this iBook G3.

But what about Calendar? No iCloud, so no syncing to my Android phone right? Or will it sync through iCloud online? Or is that the same thing lol

As far as this, I think you'd have to login to icloud.com through a browser. You might be able to find an old copy of Eltima SyncMate that runs on Tiger, but I seriously doubt it would work on a G3.

There's a third party solution (forget the name at the moment) that's Universal, but min. requirements for that is Leopard.

 

[Kirk Boragine]

That's incorrect. Czo, who is the user who has been patching Dropbox for us, has it working on Leopard only. Leopard requires a G4. So, Dropbox is out on this iBook G3.


As far as this, I think you'd have to login to icloud.com through a browser. You might be able to find an old copy of Eltima SyncMate that runs on Tiger, but I seriously doubt it would work on a G3.

There's a third party solution (forget the name at the moment) that's Universal, but min. requirements for that is Leopard.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. iCloud.com through a browser. Wow, not a ton of good news for the G3. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what I can do with it when I get it. I'm into old gear. I'd like to squeeze what I can out of it for basic functionality and demo music recordings. I like to think just one machine can do it all for me, but here I sit with two computers on my desk doing different things and a couple in the wings with ideas about building them up for something. Ah well, I'll find a good use for it. Even if it's just for writing music lyrics offline.

 

[pochopsp]

Email, Calendar, a little internet for news and information, iTunes, Photos from my Android and GarageBand are my uses. I understand from the F.A.Q. that Dropbox syncs. That'd be cool enough.

But what about Calendar? No iCloud, so no syncing to my Android phone right? Or will it sync through iCloud online? Or is that the same thing lol

With Tiger, as regards Email you will be fine by using the stock email client. I don't know for Calendar, as I write my notes and things to do on Onenote and then I read them on Onenote online on Tenfourfox. If you browser the Internet for news and information, so only text and images I guess, you will be fine too both on safari and Tenfourfox, but this one will load all modern sites (although it will be slow). iTunes works fine, I don't know for GarageBand. To transfer files from/to your android phone, just open Safari or Tenfourfox and connect to web.airdroid.com, it works fine.

 

[Kirk Boragine]

With Tiger, as regards Email you will be fine by using the stock email client. I don't know for Calendar, i write my notes and things to do on Onenote and then i see them on Onenote online on Tenfourfox. Internet for news and information, so only text and images I guess, you will be fine too both on safari and Tenfourfox, but this one will load all modern sites. iTunes works fine, I don't know for GarageBand. To transfer files from/to your android phone, just open Safari or Tenfourfox and connect to web.airdroid, it works fine.

Thanks pochopsp. I'll be checking out web.airdroid. Interesting what MS is doing with it's apps lately. I kinda like OneNote as well -K

 

[eyoungren]

I'm into old gear. I'd like to squeeze what I can out of it for basic functionality and demo music recordings. I like to think just one machine can do it all for me, but here I sit with two computers on my desk doing different things and a couple in the wings with ideas about building them up for something. Ah well, I'll find a good use for it. Even if it's just for writing music lyrics offline.

So am I. That's why I am in this forum. But the longer you deal with the various Mac models the more you understand what they are capable of.

G3's are great. I'm still wanting a B&W G3, but beyond basic light duties it's asking a lot for stuff that taxes even G4 processors.

But if your use is light enough then it should be okay. That's one of those things you'll find out soon enough once you start using the machine.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Although Garageband is very versatile and simple to use, I wouldn't recommend it on a G3 - really needs a top end G4 or G5.
I've only really used Propellerheads Reason on the G3 as I've always had faster machines to use at the same time - however, Reason is for samples, soft synths and MIDI based recording only, direct audio tracking is out.

If you go to the audio section at macintoshgarden:

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/music-sound

you'll find a whole wealth of pro audio software from your iBook's era.

Audacity will serve as a very basic multitrack recorder or you can go for Cubase, Pro Tools or Logic etc - just go for something well within your machine's spec.

Also, if you choose to go with OS9, this is a very helpful site for vintage music software:

http://www.macos9lives.com/smforum/

Never forget, that pro musicians made and sold music in the 90s/00s made on Macs with a lower spec than your iBook

 

[Lastic]

That's incorrect. Czo, who is the user who has been patching Dropbox for us, has it working on Leopard only. Leopard requires a G4. So, Dropbox is out on this iBook G3.


As far as this, I think you'd have to login to icloud.com through a browser. You might be able to find an old copy of Eltima SyncMate that runs on Tiger, but I seriously doubt it would work on a G3.

There's a third party solution (forget the name at the moment) that's Universal, but min. requirements for that is Leopard.

There's Busycal (which I use ) and now I can't remember the other or was that SyncMate

 

[bobesch]

... So this is also a reuniting with Apple after about 15 years. But hey, if the G3 works and gets me to where I'm going everyday... It'll be all good for a while anyhow.

New start after 15 years ... Well, with the iBookG3 you really start at the point where you left - good timing!
As others stated before: I'd go with Tiger too because of TFF support and because it's the latest OS X that will run on that machine.

I don't know much about music-related software but I think Dronecatcher is the one who can tell you most about it and going back to os9 with dual-boot-option into os9 and Tiger is the way I'd go too.
As Dronecatcher mentioned macos9lives.com is a very nice community and everything there is about os9 and music.
For my part I was pretty amazed about os9, when I tried out to get the max out of my Clamshell G3 with dual-boot option of os9 and Tiger.
You may also get access to the os9 partition by using Classic-mode of Tiger.

When it comes to the Cloud or Contact and Calendar-Sync etc the iBookG3 really falls a bit short:
- forget about Dropbox, iCloud, GoogleDrive, OneDrive or Apple-Calendar/Contact-sync with your Android-phone. It doesn't work or will drive you nuts! The only reasonable way using the cloud is via webdav e.g. with box.com. You can access webDAV with Tiger via Goto/ConnectToServer without any additional means. For os9 use 'Goliath'. Last thing I found out, that Office2008 offers a nice OneDrive-Client with it's 'DocumentConnection' but no Sync like Dropbox offers
- FileSharing: it's possible to connect os9 to Tiger/Leopard and vice versa
- email: native MailApp of Tiger or mail-client of Classilla (os9)
- iTunes 9.1.1 is the latest version and may connect to local iTunes libraries and may play internet-radio but nothing more.
- iPhoto: you may not succeed to sync fotos of your smartphone. At least the latest iOS-versions do not support Tiger/Leopard/PPC anymore.
- WLAN: you'll need e.g. an EDIMAX USB WLAN-stick for the latest security-standards. It does only work with Tiger/Leopard but not with os9. WLAN-workarounds for os9 are a bit clumsy if you don't want to downgrade your WLAN-security ('"ASUS 3G MOBILE Wireless Router (WL-330N3G)"). Another drawback: any USB-WLAN-stick will run through the bottleneck of USB1.1 (so that clumsy workaround, that connects to the ethernet-port is a much faster option!)
Here's some more info about my os9-clamshell-experience and all the advise I've got from the people here!: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/email-client-and-applications-for-mac-os9.1960993/
Cheers and have fun!
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There's Busycal (which I use ) and now I can't remember the other or was that SyncMate

I tried to use ChronoSync for Syncing a local folder with webDAV but it proofed to be not reliable and really really slow.
Any substitutes for that purpose?

 

[eyoungren]

There's Busycal (which I use ) and now I can't remember the other or was that SyncMate

SOHO Organizer

 

[bobesch]

SOHO Organizer

SOHO Organizer requires Leopard.
It's really slow on a maxed-out 1.67 DLSD PB.
So unfortunately no chance to use it on a G3-Book.
Support for SOHO stuff seems to be also at a halt and I fear any changes of iCloud-certificates etc. will make SOHO Organizer EOL...

 

[eyoungren]

SOHO Organizer requires Leopard.
It's really slow on a maxed-out 1.67 DLSD PB.
So unfortunately no chance to use it on a G3-Book.
Support for SOHO stuff seems to be also at a halt and I fear any changes of iCloud-certificates etc. will make SOHO Organizer EOL...

Yes, it does require Leopard. Which means a G4 minimum.

I did note as much in my first post about it.

There's a third party solution (forget the name at the moment) that's Universal, but min. requirements for that is Leopard.

I was simply replying to @Lastic as to the name of the app.

 

[mzs.112000]

The good thing is, you have 640MB RAM, which is the max for the iBook G3.
You should look into a KingSpec SSD, which will increase your speed no matter what OS you use.

Tiger would be the best OS for it, as it is the last one that will work on a G3, And you have the most up to date software, unless you use Linux.

 

[bobesch]

Yes, it does require Leopard. Which means a G4 minimum.
I did note as much in my first post about it.
I was simply replying to @Lastic as to the name of the app.

Ah, it's late after a long day - just didn't go into details when reading this post.

BTW I'm really grateful - I guess it was you telling me about SOHO Organizer and iCloud.
It has been really good fun since learning so much about PPCs
[doublepost=1481663927][/doublepost]

The good thing is, you have 640MB RAM, which is the max for the iBook G3. You should look into a KingSpec SSD, which will increase your speed no matter what OS you use.

Best option: mSATA with mSATA-IDE-Connector. Will make the iBook "unkaputtbar"/unbreakable, even if you fix it onto your bikes carrier rack and drive miles and miles over cobblestone roads

 

[Kirk Boragine]

Good info here. Thank you all for replies so far. The Wi-Fi was something I suspected with the newer security routers these days.

I've been to those websites on OS9 as well. Downloads were seriously slow and sketchy. I'll figure it out. I'll have more fun once I get the iBook in my hands.

 

[eyoungren]

Good info here. Thank you all for replies so far. The Wi-Fi was something I suspected with the newer security routers these days.

I've been to those websites on OS9 as well. Downloads were seriously slow and sketchy. I'll figure it out. I'll have more fun once I get the iBook in my hands.

You will be limited to WEP if you run anything other than Tiger. Tiger was the first OS that allowed connections to WPA (with an update).

Even then, WPA must be TKIP and not AES or you'll never connect. There is no WPA2 for Tiger, period.

 

[MysticCow]

Install OS 9 to get the OS 9 drivers at the very least. TRUST ME when I say that you'll thank me for this later.

Once you install OS 9, you then install 10.4. This way, you get access to Classic if you must and OS 9 if you need.