I came across a blueberry clamshell for a very good price and in externally neat condition, so I couldn't pass on the chance to get a native OS9 machine.
Making a dedicated post because over time, ageing machines grow very unique in terms of what they need. I've also heard of this machine being particularly difficult to work with, I'd prefer to open it up for upgrades/fixes only once!
To make sure that I don't damage it by not carrying out some crucial maintenance job, and to make the best out of it in my own use, I'd now like to map out what could and should be done to the weak points I've discovered while setting it up.
I have already looked what iFixit and Everymac have on this, but 1) they don't sell most of the parts anymore so if any aftermarket replacements that you just "have to know" exist, this is community knowledge, and 2) iFixit doesn't have repair guides on every aspect that I'm interested in, so once again, it's community knowledge if anything!
Battery is obviously very dead: Clock reverts to year 1904 every time it's booted after unplugging, and it has to be unplugged after switching off because otherwise the charger keeps generating heat.
If you're suggesting vendors, note that I'm in Europe. I might be ready to order especially smaller parts from outside of Europe if desperate, but quite often things like batteries don't ship overseas at all.
I have basic soldering skills and a decent Hakko, but any soldering projects I've done have been sporadic and simple.
The concerns are as follows:
Making a dedicated post because over time, ageing machines grow very unique in terms of what they need. I've also heard of this machine being particularly difficult to work with, I'd prefer to open it up for upgrades/fixes only once!
To make sure that I don't damage it by not carrying out some crucial maintenance job, and to make the best out of it in my own use, I'd now like to map out what could and should be done to the weak points I've discovered while setting it up.
I have already looked what iFixit and Everymac have on this, but 1) they don't sell most of the parts anymore so if any aftermarket replacements that you just "have to know" exist, this is community knowledge, and 2) iFixit doesn't have repair guides on every aspect that I'm interested in, so once again, it's community knowledge if anything!
Battery is obviously very dead: Clock reverts to year 1904 every time it's booted after unplugging, and it has to be unplugged after switching off because otherwise the charger keeps generating heat.
If you're suggesting vendors, note that I'm in Europe. I might be ready to order especially smaller parts from outside of Europe if desperate, but quite often things like batteries don't ship overseas at all.
I have basic soldering skills and a decent Hakko, but any soldering projects I've done have been sporadic and simple.
The concerns are as follows:
- RAM. It has the maximum official RAM installed. Mac OS 9 is very responsive and fast and I don't intend to install OS X as I already have a nice PPC G4 that runs early OS X better than this iBook ever could. Technically I don't need more RAM, but since it's one of the easier things to swap and so far you still can purchase it, it's worth exploring now that the supplies last. Can I upgrade the memory to 500-something? It seems to be the unofficially supported maximum but it's hard to find exact info.
- Hard drive. It has a 6GB hard drive which seems to work alright but taken its age, I think it should be replaced as soon as possible, for peace of mind. The hard drive doesn't make the most awful noise that a hard drive can make, but when it spins down, I appreciate the silence and would love to have it run that silently all the time. So, SSD or flash card? Any known issues with one or the other, that makes the other option better? Any adapter + medium combinations already shown to work well, that you can recommend?
- Battery. Should I remove the battery completely, and use it without?
- PRAM capacitor. Is replacing the PRAM capacitor possible, and basically something you should do before even thinking about buying a new battery? Reading some posts here and there, I got the impression that if you just buy a new battery, it might not charge at all or it might stop charging surprisingly soon.
- Ethernet port. It has a metallic bezel around it, not sure whether it's inessential design or essential grounding. When I received the iBook, the bezel had partially come out. I sort of pushed it back in but it's hard to align perfectly, which makes an ethernet cable hard to insert; It doesn't make a click. The port works, but it's a nuisance to use. This is probably the least necessary aspect to fix, but I'd like to research the possibilities.
- Audio port. There's something wrong with the audio port, because the left channel is very silent. Is replacing the only way to go, and has anyone done it? The port is unusable with headphones which is kind of shame because now I'm limited to the mono speaker.
