Raspberry Pi 3 in PowerBook G4 12"?

[bsamcash]

Hello!

So I have an old 12 inch PowerBook G4 which has just been sitting in storage for years. I also have a Raspberry Pi 3 which I love playing around with. I was hoping it was possible to put the two together.

I have some basic computer experience (pun intended) and I've played around with hardware in the past. But I am unfamiliar with third party controller support for parts in the PowerBook (i.e. Keyboard, display, etc.). I was wondering if anyone had experience gutting a PowerBook and getting a single board computer like the Raspberry Pi to work inside it. Help on where to get controllers is appreciated as well.

Thanks!

 

[amagichnich]

I think you'll need as least one more mini computer/controller board for the keyboard/power button.
The display is your next problem. I don't know if it's connected via VGA or DVI. Either way you'll need a way to connect it to the raspi.
Next would be the left connector board...
The power supply should be easy: the connector is a 2.5 jack so you could build a female 2.5 to male micro usb to power the raspi. Cut of the iBook charger's cable and solder it to the raspi power supply.

Before you start: have a good look at the gpio pins, the are everything you need so they have to be able to do what you want then to

 

[z970]

If it's in good working order, instead of needlessly gutting it, why don't you just let the PowerBook be what it's best at, a PowerBook G4?

They aren't useless, by any means of the term. (Not even for modern work, as long as it's offline.)

Now, if it has a bad logic board or power supply on the other hand...

 

[KawaiiAurora]

Hello!

So I have an old 12 inch PowerBook G4 which has just been sitting in storage for years. I also have a Raspberry Pi 3 which I love playing around with. I was hoping it was possible to put the two together.

I have some basic computer experience (pun intended) and I've played around with hardware in the past. But I am unfamiliar with third party controller support for parts in the PowerBook (i.e. Keyboard, display, etc.). I was wondering if anyone had experience gutting a PowerBook and getting a single board computer like the Raspberry Pi to work inside it. Help on where to get controllers is appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Why an rPi? Performance-wise, I doubt it's much better than a PowerBook G4. My PowerBook G4 17" 1GHz does virtually everything I need such as browsing, watching 720p video, writing stuff in Pages etc. It even runs OS 9 pretty well!

Considering you can run Ubuntu MATE 16.04 really well on PowerBooks, I think you should save your time and just use it as it is. rPi's aren't great performers anyway so you won't get much more out of it than most G4s.

Tl;dr: Get into the PowerPC world and don't mess up your PowerBook

(IIRC, 12" PBG4s are hell to work with inside)

 

[amagichnich]

What if the 'book is dead? Or if he is just curious and wants to do it just for the sake of it?

 

[Dronecatcher]

Why an rPi? Performance-wise, I doubt it's much better than a PowerBook G4.

I don't know...a Quad Core 1.2Ghz ARM plus a GPU that crunches through HD should be a significant leap over the G4. The limitation might be on applications and software but that won't be an issue if it's just browsing and media consumption.
I prefer the idea of a Pi as a helper module - either as a proxy server to cut out java from the web so the Powerbook can cope or as a device the Powerbook can remote desktop to - fabricate a case with a power pack and you have a portable solution.

 

[bsamcash]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies!

So I'm interested in putting the Pi in the 12 inch because in my experience the Pi 3 smokes the G4 in practically every task. Also, I have a 15 inch 1.67 PowerBook I still use too.

As for putting Linux on the 12 inch, I've been trying off and on for years every time a new release comes out. I cannot get a fully successful install. Either something isn't supported, or the machine overheats, or it's even slower than keeping
Leopard on it. Moreover, it appears the days of Linux support for 32 bit PPC has reached its end.

Lastly, I just really enjoy Raspberry Pi projects. I used to have one see up as a laptop with the Motorola Atrix lapdock and it was a fun little device, but I'd like to set something up for permanent. The PowerBook seems to easily have enough space inside for the Pi and whatever controllers or boards I would need to add. Plus it's gorgeous.

 

[amagichnich]

One of the many reasons I use PPC devices is their gorgeous look. Also I love the keyboards of the 'books. If I should get my hands on a dead one I'll try the raspiBook as well

 

[weckart]

I don't know...a Quad Core 1.2Ghz ARM plus a GPU that crunches through HD should be a significant leap over the G4. The limitation might be on applications and software but that won't be an issue if it's just browsing and media consumption.

As a general purpose computer, the RPi is fine as a media player. For browsing, not so much as it is hampered by the 1GB of RAM on the RPi2 and RPi3 B design boards, with even less on earlier models.

Given the PB itself has little more than that, I'd say go for the mod. It is not as if we are dealing with a rare or scarce PB.