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Some PowerBook G3 Issues...

Gamer9430

Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
So I've been using my Wallstreet a lot recently, mostly because it's fun to play with, and easy to move. However, there are some issues that I would like some insight on how to over come these issues.

1. The battery cannot even charge. Upon reseating the battery, it says it's charging, about a minute later it turns red on the indicator, and then disconnects. I'm sure it's because the battery is dead, but wouldn't it charge up, even if it were to last for only a few minutes? Which leads me to my second question, where can a get a remotely good battery for it fairly cheaply? I'm not expecting a new one, but one that I can at lease take it somewhere and use it for some time.

2. Above the right edge of the screen hinge gets extremely hot. It does it regardless of the brightness level, and happens fairly quickly. I'm not sure if this happens to every Wallstreet, or if a part is going to pop on me soon.

3. Speaking of portability, where can I get a Wi-Fi card for this laptop? Also, which ones would work with it? It's hard to keep moving Ethernet cables to hard wire it to the Internet and having Wi-Fi would be much easier.

4. What are some good games for this or OS 9 in general? I asked this in someone else's thread and poiihy responded to it, but I'll take a broader range of suggestions as well.

5. After the computer being off and disconnected from power, the laptop gives me a Bus Error upon turning on. I have to boot into safe (no extensions) mode, restart it normally, and then it works fine for as long as it's plugged in. I'm sure the PRAM battery is dead, but that looks impossible to fix. Not sure if there is any other way to fix it, or what could be causing it.

Some of these issues aren't really "issues", but more to fix annoyances with the system.

Also, I noticed there was a rather large abundance of OS 9 posts over the last few hours, so since everyone is in a classic mood, I figured this would be a prime chance to ask about my G3.
 
1. Your battery is dead. Sometimes the indicator shows that it is charging because there is a microsecond or so of power left in it or otherwise you get the X over the battery icon. Either way, it won't start from the battery and will switch off when you pull the power cord. I had one battery that seemed to charge all the way from empty over several hours with the LEDs on the side lighting up one after the other as it slowly charged. It always shows as charged in OS9 and has some funky stats under OSX. It was still dead.

The cheapest way to get a working battery is to buy another Wallstreet and cross your fingers. Seriously.

2. Not sure I have ever noticed this with any of mine. That is where the inverter sits, I think. At least the inverter cable goes there.

3. Lowendmac has a good section or two on this. A couple of dollars on eBay will sort you out.

http://lowendmac.com/2008/wifi-cards-for-powerbooks-with-pc-card-slots/

http://lowendmac.com/2009/wifi-pc-cards-for-powerbooks-running-mac-os-9/

4. This is a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Good is in the eye of the beholder. Check Macintoshgarden and Google for any other 'abandonware' sites. They tend to hoard games and you can see what is and was out there. You can still pick up plenty of those from eBay and Craigslist and a few are still on general sale.

5. The PRAM battery is attached to the top lid under the palmrest and looks like this. You might be able to make your own if you are handy with a soldering iron. Coincidentally, I received a broken Wallstreet yesterday that I was going to part to repair the broken screen on another. It was surprisingly in good nick and of a better spec than the intended patient so I stripped it and got the soldering iron out (loose power connector). It is up an running now. Overall, I found the the Wallstreet easier to open than a Pismo and light years easier to disassemble than an iBook. Still need another screen now.
 
Just keep in mind that many of the cards for wifi in OS 9 will not support WPA. I have to use a wireless ethernet bridge for WPA security in OS 9, but I have a Sonnet Aria card for my Pismo that works great in Tiger and supports WPA.
 
Gamer9430 said:
Also, I noticed there was a rather large abundance of OS 9 posts over the last few hours, so since everyone is in a classic mood, I figured this would be a prime chance to ask about my G3.
Click to expand...

Where? I'm more in a G5/Leopard mood today ;)

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Gamer9430 said:
1. The battery cannot even charge. Upon reseating the battery, it says it's charging, about a minute later it turns red on the indicator, and then disconnects. I'm sure it's because the battery is dead, but wouldn't it charge up, even if it were to last for only a few minutes? Which leads me to my second question, where can a get a remotely good battery for it fairly cheaply? I'm not expecting a new one, but one that I can at lease take it somewhere and use it for some time.
Click to expand...

This is fairly normal for a dead battery. My 12" PowerBook G4 will turn orange periodically even though the battery really only holds a few seconds of charge.

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weckart said:
The cheapest way to get a working battery is to buy another Wallstreet and cross your fingers. Seriously.
Click to expand...

That's how I got a Wallstreet with a working battery :)

At some point it was replaced with a 3rd party battery. I have yet to completely run it down but I'd guess it holds more than an hour of charge.

Edit: Although I had no idea that replacement batteries cost that much :eek:
 
Last edited:
Unlike later Powerbooks and iBooks, where you can pick up cheap replacement batteries(of varying quality), the 3rd party replacements for G3 series Powerbooks are very pricey-in most cases one will cost you more than the computer is worth. Unfortunately, Newertech(my preferred battery vendor) doesn't even make these batteries anymore. If I can get a few dead ones, I'm going to experiment with rebuilding them. Even that route isn't cheap, as the cells alone are $40-50.

My Pismo battery will seem to charge normally and OS X reports a 2+ hour battery life. In use, however, it will drop to 80% after 15-20 minutes, and once it hits 80% it's effectively dead(i.e. I'd better plug it in or it will shut down). Basically, I consider the battery good enough to move the computer from room to room, but nothing beyond that. In all honesty, I think that's probably the best you can realistically hope for with an OEM battery these days, although you do occasionally luck out and get one that still works really well.
 
Thanks everyone for replying! So what I gathered was that WiFi cards will be plentiful, but may not work with modern networks too well, batteries will be few and far between, games depend on my preference, and no one else's inverter gets hot. However, I didn't see any mention of the bus error. Not sure if anyone knows about that anyway so...

I think what I may do to over come the wireless issue, is buy an Airport-compatible card and then get an old airport base station so I don't have to risk my main network.
 
Gamer9430 said:
I think what I may do to over come the wireless issue, is buy an Airport-compatible card and then get an old airport base station so I don't have to risk my main network.
Click to expand...

If you do decide to do this I recommend an original AirPort Extreme Base Station as a minimum. I got one for fairly cheap and occasionally use it with older Macs.
 
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