So I just got this iBook g3 clamshell running os x 10.03 and it has a airport card and it works but when I type in my wifi password it tells me its wrong for some reason and yes I know its right just wondering if anyone knows how to make it connect 
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how do I connect to the internet.
- Thread starter Nichrøbe
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10.0 doesn't support WPA WiFi encryption at all. It is basically guaranteed that your modern WiFi router is using WPA (or even WPA-2) encryption. You will need to remove encryption completely (aka an "open" WiFi, no password needed,) switch to WEP encryption (which is "broken" and trivial for someone with easily-obtainable software to break in to a WEP-encrypted WiFi network,) or upgrade to MacOS X 10.3.9 or higher on the iBook, which will allow it to connect to a WPA-encrypted WiFi network. (It can *NOT* however, connect to a WPA-2 network, you would have to drop to WPA (1) on your WiFi router to get a PowerPC to connect to it at all.)
tysm I unlocked my wifi and I worked! But how would I upgrade it to MacOS X 10.3.9?
Not exactly correct. The iBook G3 will never connect to ANY WPA 1 or 2. Only WEP. Airport extreme (that comes in later PowerBook G4s, and iBook G4s) and mac os x 10.4.11 can and will connect to WPA 1 and 2. However, the original airport cards in the TiBooks and all G3s will NOT support WPA, even with 10.4.11 installed.
Personally, the solution I have come up with is to set up a "guest" network on my router that connects via a web-portal.
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Go to the Macintosh Garden and you can find Mac OS X 10.3, and 10.4. Personally I would install 10.4, as it is way faster and more reliable than 10.3. You also have a modern web browser for 10.4. (tenfourfox) Even if you have a pre-firewire iBook, you can install it with other methods.
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Per Apple, and my own personal experience, WPA 1 works on an original AirPort card, on Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above.
Just re-tested it, connecting a Power Mac G4 MDD (dual 1.25 GHz, with only original AirPort, which I just physically inserted right before booting it,) to my WPA-secured network. It's running Mac OS X 10.4.11 Connected just fine.
I have also connected a TiBook just fine. (It's not readily accessible at the moment, though.)
Thats very interesting. I've NEVER been able to get it to work. I just tried it again on my PowerBook G3 running 10.4.11 and it will not connect to it. I remember back when I was a kid we had an iBook G3, WPA1 was still new and had only recently replaced WEP. My dad was on the phone with apple support and was told the original airport cards wouldn't work with WPA. However the iBook G4 with the extreme card always worked. The store we bought it from told us the same thing. I still have that iBook and have pretty much used it with Ethernet over the years as it would never connect to anyone's network.
When WPA was still new, 10.3.9 probably wasn't out yet to support it on original AirPort. Note that AirPort Extreme came out before WPA, and WPA support was added specifically in AirPort Software 3.3 / AirPort Extreme Base Station firmware 5.3 in January 2004, during which time 10.3.2 was the then-current OS..
Alright, cleared out the mess in front of my laptop storage cabinet, so got my Titanium G4 out. Running 10.5.8 (the only OS X it has loaded,) it connects to WPA just fine. Interestingly, it does *NOT* work if you just pick the network from the AirPort dropdown - you have to manually connect, choosing WPA password. Which is strange, since my Power Mac G4 running Tiger worked by selecting from the drop-down. YouTube of my TiBook and my rMBP side by side connected to the same WPA-protected, 802.11ac WiFi network.
If you really want, I can load 10.3.2 and AirPort Software 3.3 on it to verify if the "absolute minimum" really does work.
I believe there was a stealth firmware update for the original cards. It was installed by an Airport driver installation.
Somebody has more detail on it but the website escapes me.
LATE EDIT - I believe it was "AirPort Card Update for 2004-08-31" for MacOS 10.3.x which was a Driver Update for Airport 3.4.x + 4.0
Somebody has more detail on it but the website escapes me.
LATE EDIT - I believe it was "AirPort Card Update for 2004-08-31" for MacOS 10.3.x which was a Driver Update for Airport 3.4.x + 4.0
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I bet that's it. Trying on the same physical machine, but a different AirPort card, it doesn't work! (Yet the card connects to an open/WEP network just fine.) I bet the first card had the firmware update applied, the second didn't.
This makes sense.. I'll have to give this a try on mine! Probably all on the old firmware.
I have scoured the internet for this update and cannot find it. Do you possibly have it, or know of where it might be hosted? I downloaded the jaguar/panther updates disc from the Macintosh garden and it doesn't have it in there either.
Here is the old download page (the download is not cached on archive.org)
https://web.archive.org/web/2004100...rt/downloads/airportdriverupdate20040831.html
BUT, the download is still live on Apple's update servers:
http://download.info.apple.com/Mac_OS_X/061-1383.20040831.ap343/AirPortDrivers.dmg