Got an old G3 iMac - have a few questions :)

[CHAOS STEP]

Ok,

I got a G3 400mhz DVD iMac OS 9.1 for next to nothing on ebay and whilst I await it, I have some questions.

1) It has no keyboard and mouse - Can I just use any old USB Keyboard and optical mouse - I have an old Apple USB KB and wired Might Mouse.
- Will I have to try and find a 'Ball' mouse, as I understand that 9.1 was before optical mouse support?

2) I will need to upgrade the firmware even if i chuck out the old HDD and put a new one and a Tiger Retail disc in?

3) Changing the HDD on a slot G3 - should I be wary of doing so without CRT discharging equipment?

Hope you can help

 

[CRAZYBUBBA]

.

Ok,

I got a G3 400mhz DVD iMac OS 9.1 for next to nothing on ebay and whilst I await it, I have some questions.

1) It has no keyboard and mouse - Can I just use any old USB Keyboard and optical mouse - I have an old Apple USB KB and wired Might Mouse.
- Will I have to try and find a 'Ball' mouse, as I understand that 9.1 was before optical mouse support?

Any USB mouse should work, i'm using an optical logitech myself.

2) I will need to upgrade the firmware even if i chuck out the old HDD and put a new one and a Tiger Retail disc in?
Yes

3) Changing the HDD on a slot G3 - should I be wary of doing so without CRT discharging equipment?
Not at all, they are in two different areas

Hope you can help

 

[CHAOS STEP]

Thanks for the response - I was worrying that there would some silly niggley problems.

I see you have a sooped up old iMac - I'll get mine up to similar spec, but I'll run Tiger not Leopard.

I got this to give to my niece, but I get the feeling that I will have trouble parting with it when I'm done.

 

[CRAZYBUBBA]

Thanks for the response - I was worrying that there would some silly niggley problems.

I see you have a sooped up old iMac - I'll get mine up to similar spec, but I'll run Tiger not Leopard.

I got this to give to my niece, but I get the feeling that I will have trouble parting with it when I'm done.

indeed, i had actually originally suped mine up for my sister but ended up buying her a new pc instead of parting with it.

 

[26139]

Grape

I have the Grape 400mhz DV iMac.

Any USB keyboard will do, as well as any USB mouse.

Tiger runs great with 512 ram.

Switching the hard drive is easy, I've done it multiple times.

Be sure to upgrade the firmware in 9.1 before you upgrade to Mac OS X.

 

[CHAOS STEP]

I have the Grape 400mhz DV iMac.

Any USB keyboard will do, as well as any USB mouse.

Tiger runs great with 512 ram.

Switching the hard drive is easy, I've done it multiple times.

Be sure to upgrade the firmware in 9.1 before you upgrade to Mac OS X.

Ok, got my iMac, it's cute! Running 9.1.

But ... I downloaded 9.21 and I can seem to install this update - it is asking or the instal disc (which I don't have).

I have however managed to install the Firmware update 4.1.9. so can I just go straight to installing Tiger from the Retail disc??

I hope so

 

[shu82]

go ahead youre good to go. Make sure you have at least 256 mb of ram for the installer to work

 

[CHAOS STEP]

go ahead youre good to go. Make sure you have at least 256 mb of ram for the installer to work

Cheers!

My time with OS9 was very uncomfortable, OS9 looked 20 years old and was so disorganised and convoluted and yukky looking.

That said, it was kinda nice getting to see things as they used to be.

I was quite surprised when I put in the Tiger Disc, as all of a sudden the screen was beautiful and it was installed in a breeze.

I took out the existing RAM modules - I think they were 58MB each or something and I just have 1 512 module.

The HDD was replaced with a 40GB model and this is MUCH quieter.

Tiger runs great on this now (I am typing on it now!) That said, I may reinstall it again and not bother with any of the OS updates as it seem to get slower every time I update something new.

One handy App was Disable Tiger Features, which gives you the option of disabling (and also re-enabling) Dashboard (permanent system hog that!) and also Spotlight.


http://d-t-f.sourceforge.net/


I think I'm good to go, to give this to my niece now, although I may get a BT Dongle to use BT Keyboard & Mouse.

I hope she likes it as much as me (I hope she hates it, so I can keep it!)

 

[Dustman]

Haha, I love my old iMac. Still surprisingly functional with the ram maxed and tiger.

 

[shu82]

Thanks for the link.

I just gave my imac to my nephew who is 11. Its a dv 400. I added a 40 gig and put most of my itunes library on it. These things are perfect for kids. Cheap as hell and almost indestructible!!!!