imac g3 questions?

[comda]

Hello apple fans!
recently i recieved an old apple imac g3 tangerine model. I have installed Mac OSX 10.2 but im thinking of installing 10.3 Whats the min os i can install without upgrading my bios because i want to dual boot with os 9.2 to play classic games on it. my second question is whats the best web browser for these imacs and my last is how can i get the wifi to work. It recognizes my connection but when i enter the password it always says incorrect password even thought its correct. Please assist me in this for i love this mac and want it to work here are the specs:

400Mhz powerpc g3 CPU
320Mb RAm
20GB hdd
Dvd rom
os 10.2

 

[Merzie]

I have run Tiger (10.4) on my 450 DV (with 1GB ram). Safari worked ok for me, but I suppose you could try any of the archived powerpc builds of firefox/opera that best match your system specs

Your connection issue might have to do with limited wifi security compatibility in 10.2. I doubt 10.3 would have wpa support because 10.4 doesn't until after you update to later versions.

Try changing your router to WEP or no password first, or connect it via ethernet and get all updates.

 

[comda]

ok whats the difference between Wpa and WEP less security?

 

[MacHamster68]

ok whats the difference between Wpa and WEP less security?

simple answer : yes
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Computer_Science/2007/WEP_WPA_wireless_security.asp

but there is always ethernet , as wireless on a G3 iMac means only airport /wireless B which is slow too , so with ethernet which i use the browsing experience using TENFOURFOX browser is no worse then with my iMac core duo, on normal non flash websites , ok youtube videos are a bit of a struggle , but possible too up to 240p with no noticeable frame losses , in the window embedded and not full screen of course
thats why i say the iMac G3 is still a great and cheap backup solution if your main computer breaks down ...they just dont build them any more that reliable today, so its good to have a trusted cute old iMac G3 to hand that just works

and upgrade your ram please that helps enormous to run OSX tiger , ok apple says 256mb ram minimum for tiger, but to make it pleasant i say minimum should be 512 mb

 

[comda]

ok thanks for the reply I understand that now. So i have to set my router to WEP. Other people will get on it then. Is it possible to set WEP and then when the imac g3 gets connected set it bacK to WPA2? And another thing will i be able to install osx 10.3 without bios update>

 

[MacHamster68]

some but not all routers accept both wep and wpa connections at the same time so no need to reset things , you need to look into the settings or manual of your specific router , as there are to many manufacturers and models of them to say yes or no

 

[MacHamster68]

and for open firmware (Mac have no bios) http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1395
so if your iMac already has Firmware Update 4.1.9 you dont need to update it to install panther or tiger

you find it in system profiler under boot rom version

 

[comda]

ok then how do i check my fireware version? I want to dual bott os 9.2 with 10.3.

 

[MacHamster68]

you find it in system profiler under boot rom version
you gt to it by clicking the little apple on top left and then
"about this mac "and "more info "
but i think its up to date as you got jaguar installed 10.2

 

[comda]

is it under the hardware overview? it says:
Machine Speed: 400 Mhz
Bus speed 100Mhz
number of processor: 1
l2 cache size: 512k
machine model: imac (version=83.0)
BOOT ROM INFO 2.4f1 is this it?

 

[MacHamster68]

looks like your firmware is not up to date for panther ot tiger , so you need to install the open firmware update while in OS9.1 or later , dont worry its not like flashing the bios and kill a Mac in the process , like i said Mac's dont have a bios so cant be killed that easy

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1283?viewlocale=en_US

 

[comda]

ok if i update the firmware am i still able to install os 9.2 dual boot with panther? and about the wifi. The box says nothing about having both connections WPA and WEP. If i insert the cd and do a setup again without clearing the info will it do both? this is the router i have: linksys cisco model Wrt160n.

 

[MacHamster68]

yes you can install both , and for the router , hmm like i said i prefer ethernet , i only know it because i share my wifi, as i dont need it with others in the house , and some need WEP and others WPA and my router accepts both at the same time its a D-link router , and previously i had a netgear router which worked as well for both ,so i cant tell yours or about other routers as even D-link offers so many different routers ,
but normally if you go in your browser you can setup your router from there , usually its 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 for most routers from netgear and d-link , but in the manual of your router you should find a how to , or online somewhere

edit :
found it its 192.168.1.1 for your linksys
http://www.wikihow.com/Configure-a-Linksys-WRT160N-Router

 

[comda]

ok so os 9.2 will run with the firmware update?

 

[MacHamster68]

ok so os 9.2 will run with the firmware update?

yes it worked for me so i cant see why it should not

 

[BrianBaughn]

Info on all Mac models can be found at everymac.com

 

[comda]

ok then i'll download open firmware from mactracker but before that ill install os 9.2. on a 4gb partition. Then the remaining 16 will be for panther or tiger. ill install the firmware in os 9.2 before installing panther. will that work?

 

[max¥¥]

ok then i'll download open firmware from mactracker but before that ill install os 9.2. on a 4gb partition. Then the remaining 16 will be for panther or tiger. ill install the firmware in os 9.2 before installing panther. will that work?

yep, that will work fine, just always always always rember to update the firmware before you try to install tiger or panther, even booting tiger / panther without updating the firmware could result in a unbootable mac.

But what your planning to do will work just fine

 

[comda]

ok perfect! will the firmware install in os 9?

 

[max¥¥]

ok perfect! will the firmware install in os 9?

yeah it will (and has to be) install in os9

 

[comda]

ok thanks I'll get to that tomorrow then thanks for your help so far. Just one more thing. If i dual boot will the computer act as if its an intel mac meaning it will boot to the os that was installed on the 1st partition and if i hold the option button it will show to hds one for os 9.2 and the other for 10.4?

 

[MacHamster68]

you are right with the option key and os9 has to be on the first partition

as i have tiger installed it's a bit different i have 3 options booting direct in OS9 , direct in OSX and using classic environment within OSX as a third option
btw the best browser for OS9
Clasilla http://www.floodgap.com/software/classilla/
and here a website for all your other questions you might have
http://www.imacworld.110mb.com/

 

[comda]

thanks again. I just wanted to know if i could download the a copy of the firmware i currently have, you know just in case something doe mess up. Im new with fixing macs and to powerpc ones even thought i have been using an intel one for the past 3 years. Is there a site that gives the original firmware the one i currently have?

 

[MacHamster68]

sorry no clue if anybody has such old firmware to download , maybe apple , they have the latest one available , so maybe they got early ones too somewhere
but dont worry there is nothing going wrong several thousand have done it before without any problem

 

[comda]

ok thanks ill keep posting after i get os 9.2 on the machine. thank ypu for your help so far.