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Upgrading my Powerbook :(

eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
1,979
587
Well, I have been saying that my Rev A 867 Powerbook 12" would last me a year while I wait for the new MACS. Doesn't look like it anymore. It's getting REALLY slow. Lots of beachballs. My usage is as follows, email, safari, msn messenger, AIm and dvd player. I typically have about 20 tabs open in safari, a coupl eof MSn chats and a word doc or two. it is taking forever to switch between application to the extent that my work laptop feels faster and thats only a T23.

I thought I would upgrade the memory but I did a search and my machine can only accept 640 megs and it's maxed out allready.

Any ideas? Would upgrading to Tiger help at all? The only thing I'm leery of is that I don't want to delete everything and do a new install. Just want to upgrade it to i don't lose my pics, music, files etc. And I've read that a upgrade causes problems?

I kow if I pick up an ultralight PC laptop right now I probably won't have the cash to buy a new powerbook next year. So I need to squeeze a year out of my current machine but I'm not sure how.

eV
 
CanadaRAM said:
Well for starters, you can go to 1.12 Gb RAM with a 1 Gb module. that should help.

http://www.datamem.com/viewcat.asp_Q_C_E_1106

Next, get some utilities like CacheOutX and DeLocalizer and clean up your machine a bit. www.versiontracker.com

Then, I find Firefox a better browser than Safari.
Click to expand...

I checked crucial.com and it said that the maximum memory that my machine can take is 640 megs. Is that incorrect?
 
Yes, that is incorrect. Apple's published specs say it'll accept up to 640 MB, but that's only because 1 GB chips weren't widely available at the time. Your PowerBook will accept a 1 GB chip, for a total of 1.12 GB RAM. I also agree with CanadaRAM, check out some of the utilities to clean out the excesses that build up over time. I use Cocktail, works great.
 
So how do I do this? Order a 1 gb chip and replace what ever is in it now? Does it have one slot or two? And if I throw in a gig chip how does that give me 1.12 gigs of memory?
 
Your Powerbook is fine.

If you are getting beachballs all the time, you should consider doing a fresh install anyways.

Up the RAM if you want, but something tells me Apple won't sanction that if something goes wrong.

Lastly Tiger will help you out lots. It did for me on my G3 iBook. I even did an Upgrade not a fresh install or archive install. Works just fine.

If you don't want to upgrade but do a clean install, then do the following:

Disk Utility -> Create an Image from Folder -> Target Folder: Home dir -> Compressed Image.

Save it to the desktop.

From there, copy it on CD or if it is too big and external HDD (or another computer on a network).

Do a fresh install of Tiger (or Panther) and then simply copy the contents of your Home directory from your backup to your current one.

I would be a little weary of the Library folder though, as perhaps maybe some of your Beachball issues are from things in the Library folder that shouldn't be there...just a thought, I am no UNIX expert though.

Mike
 
eVolcre said:
So how do I do this? Order a 1 gb chip and replace what ever is in it now? Does it have one slot or two? And if I throw in a gig chip how does that give me 1.12 gigs of memory?
Click to expand...

There will be one slot either under your keyboard or underneath the Poowerbook.

Mike
 
eVolcre said:
So how do I do this? Order a 1 gb chip and replace what ever is in it now? Does it have one slot or two? And if I throw in a gig chip how does that give me 1.12 gigs of memory?
Click to expand...
You have 128 MB soldered to the motherboard. The 1GB chip (replacing the old 512 MB chip) will give 1.12 gigs of memory.

Edit: I would second the advice to switch to firefox, especially if you routinely open 20 tabs.
 
Brother Michael said:
Your Powerbook is fine.

If you are getting beachballs all the time, you should consider doing a fresh install anyways.

Up the RAM if you want, but something tells me Apple won't sanction that if something goes wrong.

Lastly Tiger will help you out lots. It did for me on my G3 iBook. I even did an Upgrade not a fresh install or archive install. Works just fine.

If you don't want to upgrade but do a clean install, then do the following:

Disk Utility -> Create an Image from Folder -> Target Folder: Home dir -> Compressed Image.

Save it to the desktop.

From there, copy it on CD or if it is too big and external HDD (or another computer on a network).

Do a fresh install of Tiger (or Panther) and then simply copy the contents of your Home directory from your backup to your current one.

I would be a little weary of the Library folder though, as perhaps maybe some of your Beachball issues are from things in the Library folder that shouldn't be there...just a thought, I am no UNIX expert though.

Mike
Click to expand...


OK - I understand the RAM part. I think I will upgrade it because I'm out of warranty anyway. Not like APPLE is going to cover anything. I also understand the disk utility part where I run some programs to free it up.

Not sure about eh TIGER install. So this HOME directory will have all my documents, pictures and music? But that will be too big for any disk and I don't have access to a a network. Any way I can get by with a upgrade to TIGER - seems like the easiest option - or would I be better off just staying with Jaguar?

The 20 tabs may be an issue. But ehre's times when I have Safari closed and I still see the damn spinning ball.
 
wheezy said:
20 tabs? What the heck are you surfing man? That's a load o tabs open...
Click to expand...


Porn. :p

Just kidding. Well, it really isn't that many. The way I surf is I hit a forum and load up about 15 to 20 threads that i want to read and respond to in the background. And then go from one to the other. See what I mean? And I keep three tabs open - one for my personal webmail, the other for the school webmail and the last for the office webmail when I'm on the road. And I just hit refresh every 10 mins or so.
 
aquajet said:
Yes, that is incorrect. Apple's published specs say it'll accept up to 640 MB, but that's only because 1 GB chips weren't widely available at the time. Your PowerBook will accept a 1 GB chip, for a total of 1.12 GB RAM. I also agree with CanadaRAM, check out some of the utilities to clean out the excesses that build up over time. I use Cocktail, works great.
Click to expand...

OK, so I found cocktail and downloaded it. Now how do I use it? what tests do i run?
 
FIGURED it out. Running the PILOT option right now. It's been going for a good 10 mins allready.

Is firefo that much better than SAFARI? Will it transfer all my bookmarks, autofills, passwords and usernames over from SAFARI? It's too muh trouble if it doesnt
 
OK I ran cocktail and it SEEMS to have made a difference. Things seem a little snappier. Any other utilities I can run. This is fun.
 
I had to post an update. I ran COCKTAIL and then also repaired permissions using DISKCOPY in the utilities folder. The difference is incredible. I mean it just feels so muh snappier. I'm going to go ahead and up the memory and also upgrade to Tiger. I need to run this PB until the new ones get released and that's at least a year away. TIGER would be a good investment.

But, thanks again. This really seems to have worked. I wish cocktail would give you a detailed report on what it did. I would have loved to see the junk that was clogging up my system.

eV
 
CanadaRAM said:
Yeah I'm sure. I've been doing this for a little while.... like about 16 years.. ;)
Here's a supplier in the USA
http://www.datamem.com/viewcat.asp_Q_C_E_1106
Click to expand...


So to recap, I follow the link you sent me and buy the 1 gig chip, right? the one that costs 155? what happens to the chip inside my machine now? Is that a complete waste or can I use it for something else?
 
Cool. Thanks.

i wonder if i could use the 1 gig chip down the road when the new PB's are released. oh well, 155 isn't bad even if i dont recover it.
 
eVolcre said:
Cool. Thanks.

i wonder if i could use the 1 gig chip down the road when the new PB's are released. oh well, 155 isn't bad even if i dont recover it.
Click to expand...

If this is a concern to you, get the PC2700 Samsung module for $169
http://www.datamem.com/viewcat.asp_Q_C_E_1169
This module will fit your machine and all currently made Aluminum Powerbooks.
Whether or not a future Powerbook uses PC2700 or goes to a new memory standard is not known, but it is predictable that Apple will go to DDR-2 or a newer standard at some point as prices fall on the newer technology.
 
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