iBook G3 + SSD

[crammedberry]

Hey guys... I looked around and it doesn't seem like many people have attempted this...

I had an iBook G3, that was excruciatingly slow... as expected for a computer that is 10 years old. Just a couple of weeks back the HD inside the laptop died, so I decided to try and see what difference an Solid State Drive would make on a computer this old, and if it was worth it.

I ran into some problems, which forced me to open up the computer more times than I'd like... at least I'm iBook proficient now.. haha...


My thoughts... the SSD was definitely worth it... it used to be that the HD was the bottleneck, even though the computer's processing capabilities weren't exactly enterprise class, there was considerable amount of waste, in having the the rest of the system wait for the HD to catch up...

Now it seems that the bottleneck is the processor, since it is maxed most of the time with the HD easily breezing through....

The computer boots very fast... programs run very fast... all the 'fast' is a given, seeing as it's an SSD... a HUGE improvement, processing wise it's still the same, but at least I don't have to wait around since loading things is almost instant.

iBook G3 600MHz 640MB 32GB SSD

 

[tom vilsack]

very cool......

tiger?

i had thought about same thing with my mini ppc,but went with samsung 160 gig 8mb mainly because of $

how is browsing web? did you notice a big difference or does cpu still slow things down?

 

[Naavanka]

Great man!

Im getting a powerbook g4 15" 1.67GHz really soon and i´ve been thinking about the ssd change.
Is it possible to buy a sata ssd and fit it in with a pata to sata cable?
Mainly because the sata ssds are cheaper

 

[tom vilsack]

nav looks like it might work with adaptor

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-PowerBook-G4-Aluminum-15-Inch-1-67-GHz-Hard-Drive/638/4

 

[adreamer12]

SSD details?

Can you give more info on which SSD you used, price, etc.

 

[ftored]

This is very interesting. I am using my 12'' 1ghz Powerbook, but i find it really slow when opening programs or using spotlight.

OK i am using 10.5.8 and i guess tiger would be better. But i was looking of ways to boost its performance as it's the only laptop that i got right now.

I don't need any processing power because i only use it for simple coding and word/spreadsheet processing.

Really need some more info about it. And that Ide to Sata adapter thing

 

[crammedberry]

It's sped up a bit in almost everything... including a little bit in web browsing... I'm assuming since the spotlight/paging processes are faster with the SSD, it doesn't have to spend much time/resources on them. I'm running tiger... which runs quite well given a 10 year machine.

I used a KingSpec 32GB SSD which I got for $85 shipped on ebay
It's a native PATA, so I didn't have to use any adaptors... when I was looking for a replacement HD I considered trying to mess with an SATA drive, but there really isn't any room inside the machine, an adaptor wouldn't fit. It is possible inside a bigger machine, like an iMac G4 but not a laptop.

I'm pretty happy with it... and considering PATA drives are so hard to find these days and most of them go for the price of the SSD anyway, it was a nice experiment. When I was testing it it didn't seem to show much improvement (benchmark wise... I used xBench)... but practically it was pretty obvious... everything is so snappy, so maybe I'm just bad at testing.

 

[jchase2057]

very nice

i was going to do the same with my g4 but decided i needed more space more than more speed.

love to see people using ibooks

 

[dinobot]

I can't partition my Kinspec 32gb pata SSD with ibook... I'm trying install Tiger 10.4.6 and disk utility says "operation timed out" after 40 minutes formatting... But recognizes it properly!

 

[dinobot]

I get

ioatacontroller device blocking bus

 

[Intell]

Your SSD may have failed. I suggest making a new thread about your problem.

 

[onecut]

It's sped up a bit in almost everything... including a little bit in web browsing... I'm assuming since the spotlight/paging processes are faster with the SSD, it doesn't have to spend much time/resources on them. I'm running tiger... which runs quite well given a 10 year machine.

....

Hi, i just did the same for my iBook g3 clamshell but I get some strange wake up issues. Like black screen and have to reboot. Did you noticed that?

Thanks

 

[crammedberry]

Hi, i just did the same for my iBook g3 clamshell but I get some strange wake up issues. Like black screen and have to reboot. Did you noticed that?

Thanks

Hey, I never experienced any issues with mine... No black screen and no wake up issues. That seems like a separate underlying problem. In fact I still have the iBook, I've put Debian on it before and was thinking of doing the same thing again for old times' sake.

 

[Jayratch]

How has your SSD-equipped iBook held up? I know it's nearly five years since you posted here, and it's the top search result for iBook G3 SSD. I've got a G3 that's kinda fun to play with and has useful battery life that I'm considering putting an SSD and an upgraded wifi card into, but I don't know whether it's worth the investment of time, money, and effort. Is yours by any chance still in use?

 

[val1984]

Im getting a powerbook g4 15" 1.67GHz really soon and i´ve been thinking about the ssd change.
Is it possible to buy a sata ssd and fit it in with a pata to sata cable?
Mainly because the sata ssds are cheaper

From what I've read, there is not enough room to fit the adapter with a full size SATA SSD, hence the IDE-mSATA route.

 

[MacCubed]

From what I've read, there is not enough room to fit the adapter with a full size SATA SSD, hence the IDE-mSATA route.

Yes that is true, but that response is from 2011 and the poster hasn't been online in nearly 5 years!

 

[val1984]

Yes that is true, but that response is from 2011 and the poster hasn't been online in nearly 5 years!

Sorry I didn't notice it was posted in 2011

 

[MacCubed]

Sorry I didn't notice it was posted in 2011

It's fine, that's one of the issues with people reviving old threads!

 

[crammedberry]

Hi, I do check back from time to time and if you're still around I can answer your questions.

Yes I still have the iBook, it's the only one I kept of all the G3s I have had. The SSD is still working surprisingly after all this time, but then again it doesn't get nearly as much use as my regular drivers. When I get bored I wipe it and put Debian on it just to mess around and eventually I just clone OSX back on it. It's essentially just a little nostalgia machine I keep around and bring back to life from time to time.

When I bought the SSD over 5 years back, the price of SSDs are extremely high, and at the time when I was looking for a PATA replacement and they were actually more expensive than that SSD so I just decided it would be a nice little upgrade.

I am not sure about what you mean when you say an upgraded airport card as the iBook G3s only take the original airport cards. This is one area that gets a bit tedious since the original airport cards won't support modern encryption standards like WPA2 etc. As far as whether it is worth the cost someone already mentioned the mSATA alternative, and I would highly recommend that route since it seems way more affordable. With mSATA you should have enough room to fit an adapter in and the tiny drive. I haven't done it myself but I've seen it be done so you might look into that. It wasn't an option when I was doing the upgrade.

Overall my iBook has held up incredibly well, it's a 600mhz model and seeing as it's 16 years old it's amazing it's been around this long and still working. I truly believe PPC macs to be nearly indestructible, and their quality unparalleled when compared to all the other computers I've owned over the years. Their longevity is truly remarkable.