got a B&W G3 350 for $10, how can I put OS X on it?

[motulist]

For $10 there's just no reason not to get a Mac like this, there are so many ways I could find it useful. Anyway, it has OS 9 on it and I plan to put OS X on it. However, the OS X install disk that I have which came with my powerbook is on DVD, but the old computer doesn't have a built in DVD drive and the old Mac isn't bootable from an external DVD drive. Plus, while I've used this install disk to put OS X on an almost equally old graphite&white G4 400 mhz, I'm not sure it would work on G3 hardware even if I could get the DVD to boot in order to install on the internal 6 GB drive.

Ideas?


G3 350 Mhz processor
320 MB RAM
6 GB Hard drive
CD-RW drive
OS 9.2
more details at http://lowendmac.com/ppc/g3c.shtml

 

[Reflow]

For $10 there's just no reason not to get a Mac like this, there are so many ways I could find it useful. Anyway, it has OS 9 on it and I plan to put OS X on it. However, the OS X install disk that I have which came with my powerbook is on DVD, but the old computer doesn't have a built in DVD drive and the old Mac isn't bootable from an external DVD drive. Plus, while I've used this install disk to put OS X on an almost equally old graphite&white G4 400 mhz, I'm not sure it would work on G3 hardware even if I could get the DVD to boot in order to install on the internal 6 GB drive.

Ideas?


G3 350 Mhz processor
320 MB RAM
6 GB Hard drive
CD-RW drive
OS 9.2
more details at http://lowendmac.com/ppc/g3c.shtml

First of all you can't use you PB install cd on this machine. You have to buy a Tiger retail dvd and use target mode to install it. I really don't think you can install tiger on it but I could be wrong

Edit: You can install it. As I do remember installing it on a lombard G3 laptop

System Requirements (Hard Drive) 3GB avail HD space (4GB w/Developer Tools)
System Requirements (Other) Built-in FireWire
System Requirements (Processor) PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 Processor
System Requirements (RAM) 256MB

 

[Killyp]

You're in exactly the same position as me (except mine came with a 10 gb drive).

Replace that drive with something new & bigger, the current one will fail any day soon. I put an 80 gb drive in mine, one I just had lying around somewhere. Try and find something which doesn't produce much heat though, as otherwise the iMac will probably begin to overheat (resulting in a random shutdown).

I put 512 mb of RAM in mine, and it's plenty quick enough. You'll want at least 512 though...

I'll PM you regarding OS X.

 

[motulist]

Update:

I now officially have OS X successfully running on my G3 350 mhz Blue & White Powermac! Then I realized that I have a G4 Sawtooth powermac sitting right here that has the exact same physical case as the G3 except it has a DVD drive. So I just swapped out the DVD drive from the G4 and put it into the G3 case, started up from my powerbook's install DVD - and eureka! It installed!

I've since run all the updaters and now have another fully functioning OS X Mac in my house for $10 and a little elbow grease! Its speed doesn't exactly tear the roof off, but it's more than fast enough to do lots of useful stuff. For instance, even though I have a powerbook it's gonna be so convenient to just have this Mac always set up in my bedroom so I can do lots of computer stuff there and not have to worry about dragging my laptop around.

I've already tested it, and these are just some of the things it's capable of doing. In my bedroom it'll run iTunes playing all the MP3s that live on the other computer on my network. It'll allow me to do word processing there, email, web surfing (excluding any flash or java-heavy websites like youtube or most myspace pages), and it'll even play not-too-old mac games and NES era emulator games! It even plays not too heavy video playback like 320x240 divx TV shows!!!

To everyone out there with some Mac know-how, I strongly recommend that you go get yourself one of these puppies for $10, fix it up, and find out how useful it can be to have an extra (or even 2 or 3 extra) OS X Macs in the house.

 

[Nermal]

Technically that copy of OS X is licensed only for use on a PowerBook, so you should look around for a second-hand copy for your G3.

I have one of those systems too (400 MHz, 512 MB, 40 GB, DVD-RAM) and it chugs along quite well under Panther, although it starts to show its age with Tiger. My one complaint is that Toast 7 needs a G4 and Toast 6 won't read DVD-VR

 

[motulist]

Technically that copy of OS X is licensed only for use on a PowerBook, so you should look around for a second-hand copy for your G3.

I know that, and in almost any other scenario I'd agree with your sentiment. But for an 8 year old machine that's worth a total of $10 and was headed for the landfill if I didn't buy it, I don't see anything wrong with loading it up with a newer but still not-current and in fact quite old OS. If I couldn't have loaded OS X on this machine for free, then I would've basically just thrown the whole machine in the garbage. I really didn't even need the machine, but I hate to see a good Mac wind up in the garbage, and for $10 it was worth salvaging. Any more money than that and it woulda just become landfill.

 

[steamboat26]

Nice Deal!
Even though you already figured it out- unless you are really set on using Tiger, which won't run great even with 512 MB of RAM, Panther came on CDs, and would run great on your machine as is. Although you might consider upgrading the RAM and HD.
BTW, where did you get it?

 

[motulist]

Nice Deal!
Even though you already figured it out- unless you are really set on using Tiger, which won't run great even with 512 MB of RAM, Panther came on CDs, and would run great on your machine as is. Although you might consider upgrading the RAM and HD.
BTW, where did you get it?

So you advise sticking with 10.3 and not going up to 10.4? I thought most people say that 10.4 actually runs faster than 10.3, is that not true?

And as far as the upgrades you suggested, this is a machine that I consider a no-investment machine. Meaning it's not worth putting any money into. So more ram and a new hard drive is out. However, I don't really need more hard drive space because I'm gonna put it on my home network, giving it access to my 500 gig.

I got it from a place near me which does computer repair and sells used computers and parts. So I got a good deal, but you find lots of these computers going for around $25 all over the place on the net. Don't pay any more than around $25 though, because this machine really does show its age in many respects. If you're looking to spend more than $25 on an old Mac then I'd advise you to save up just a little bit more and get a much better machine.

 

[steamboat26]

I wish i had deals like that in my area, some guy on craigslist is trying to sell a nearly stock B&W for $200

So you advise sticking with 10.3 and not going up to 10.4? I thought most people say that 10.4 actually runs faster than 10.3, is that not true?

I don't think so, my iMac couldn't run Tiger with only 384 MB of RAM, but it runs Panther quite well. To run Tiger on your B&W, you would probably need to max out the RAM for it to run decently.
I have heard different things, but it all depends on what you are used to. Some people on MR say that their B&W runs tiger really well, others say it is a pain, it's all relative, and depends on the level of performance you are used to.

 

[motulist]

I wish i had deals like that in my area, some guy on craigslist is trying to sell a nearly stock B&W for $200

Well craigslist is how I found this deal in my area (new york), so just keep looking! I saw him post his ad 3 times over the course of a few days for his G3 350 asking $25. So I mailed him and said 'I saw you posted that mac 3 times asking $25 for it, how about I come take it off you hands for $10' and he agreed. Craigslist has a lot of very visible idiots who keep reposting their computer at way too high a price (like a G3 for $200, ****) thinking if they just keep spamming their overpriced garbage enough that eventually they'll find a sucker. You can even email them and tell them that their price is insane, I do that sometimes. But if you just ignore them then you'll find a G3 powermac for around $25 within a few days, I can almost guarantee it.

 

[tartsquid]

I'm currently using my iMac G3 as my primary computer and even with just 400Mhz it runs Tiger just fine. I did disable the Dock so it wouldn't hog memory, though. It can even run Photoshop, albeit a bit slow.

 

[steamboat26]

Well craigslist is how I found this deal in my area (new york), so just keep looking! I saw him post his ad 3 times over the course of a few days for his G3 350 asking $25. So I mailed him and said 'I saw you posted that mac 3 times asking $25 for it, how about I come take it off you hands for $10' and he agreed. Craigslist has a lot of very visible idiots who keep reposting their computer at way too high a price (like a G3 for $200, ****) thinking if they just keep spamming their overpriced garbage enough that eventually they'll find a sucker. You can even email them and tell them that their price is insane, I do that sometimes. But if you just ignore them then you'll find a G3 powermac for around $25 within a few days, I can almost guarantee it.

Thanks for the tip, i'll keep my eyes peeled