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Typing This on a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

T

tayloralmond

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 26, 2009
446
9
Michigan, USA
Hello All,

I just got my Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh in the mail today. It's got a Sonnet G3 500MHz upgrade and the RAM is maxed to 128MB, running OS 9.1. I've managed to get it online using the network card and downloaded Classilla. I had some problems with it having the "buzzing" speaker issue, but after some searching, I found out how to clean the connectors in the sub-woofer and it stopped. I've also got it hooked up into my cable and can watch TV on it. This computer (released in '97) was definitely WAY ahead of its time.

EDIT: I uploaded photos using my Mac Pro.
 

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Wow thats really cool, had no idea that the TAM could take G3 upgrades. Is 9.1 the farthest it can go with or without doing a bit of hacking?
 
InuNacho said:
Wow thats really cool, had no idea that the TAM could take G3 upgrades. Is 9.1 the farthest it can go with or without doing a bit of hacking?
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Supposedly, you can install OS X by using XPostFacto4. I'm still waiting on a 10.1 install disk I ordered to come in and I'm going to try. I also need to upgrade the hard drive because the factory hard drive is only 2GB.
 
iAppleseed said:
Why did you buy an outdated Macintosh? What would you use it for?
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As collector items. It's a limited run computer and rare to find (It was 7,499 USD, and to be honest it was a crap pile, from Apple's dark ages during the absense of Steve in the 90s). It's espically rare in AUS where only 10 were shipped to.
 
I've got a few updates everyone. I was in the process of installing OS 10.1 and ran into an issue. I successfully used XPostFacto 3 to trick the TAM into booting from the disk, but apparently the 10.1 Puma install disk I bought is an "upgrade only" disk, so when I tried to click the hard drive to install, it was "greyed out" because there wasn't a previous 10.0 Cheetah installation. I've already purchased a 10.2 Jaguar retail install disk and I'm waiting on it to arrive. In the mean time, I've installed a 40GB HDD to help accommodate for 10.2. I'll keep the updates coming.
 
I've got some more updates. I received my 10.2 Jaguar disk in the mail today. I purchased a brand new copy to ensure I received the retail disks and not model-specific disks. Also, I've installed a Sonnet Tango 2.0 PCI card. This card is OS9 compatible and provides the TAM with 2xFW400 ports as well as 2xUSB 1.1 ports (USB 2.0 in OS X). The only thing that's keeping me from installing OS X is my lack of an OS 9 disk (I'm still waiting for it to show up in the mail). I should receive that early next week. Once I have the OS 9 retail disk, I'll install OS 9, then use XPostFacto 4 to enable the 10.2 Jaguar install. I'll be sure to keep the updates coming.
 

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I'm currently in the process of installing 10.2 Jaguar on the TAM. I'll check back in when it completes.
 

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iAppleseed said:
Why did you buy an outdated Macintosh? What would you use it for?
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As other people said, it's a collectors item. But seriously, there can even be a use for those things, especially with the upgrade. If a 500 MHz G3 can't do anything, than wouldn't that apply to about half of this forum?
tayloralmond said:
Thanks, I got a really good deal on it...well, it was a good deal as far as TAM's go. I see them on eBay for around $1000 on a regular basis...no way I'd have ever paid that much lol.
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I think I saw that one on eBay for pretty cheap, congratulations on it!

I've heard that the sound systems on the TAM's are amazing... have you considered making it an iTunes jukebox? Coincidentally, I have this one CD player that actually looks like a flattened-out version of the TAM.
 
Here's another update. I've been having issues getting 10.2 Jaguar to install, but I've managed to install Mac OS 9.2.2 with help of the program OS 9 Helper (the TAM is only supposed to boot Mac OS 9.1 or earlier). I've currently got my 40GB HDD organized into 2 partitions: the first is a 7GB partition for OS X, and the remaining is available for OS 9. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the OS X installer to work in the next few hours. If I manage to get 10.2 to install, I'll be sure post another update with the specifics.
 
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