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What actually prevents an iMac g3 from using 2x1GB RAM modules?
- Thread starter VoidSlaad
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Besides the fact as far as I know they never made chips bugger then 512mb for pc-100 or 133 and the iMac only has two ram slots?
its pure hardware limit to 1GB , but thats far from a "inadequacy"
considering the iMac G3 is at least 9 years old , back then 1 GB ram was a lot of ram and is even today more then sufficient for OSX tiger
considering the iMac G3 is at least 9 years old , back then 1 GB ram was a lot of ram and is even today more then sufficient for OSX tiger
1GB PC100 and PC 133 RAM modules do exist, unfortunately they all seem to be server memory, and that is forbidden. 
Well, as I will be trying out Ubuntu on this little iMac, I suppose I will have to be satisfied with what I have. My thanks for the information.
Well, as I will be trying out Ubuntu on this little iMac, I suppose I will have to be satisfied with what I have. My thanks for the information.
1GB PC100 and PC 133 RAM modules do exist, unfortunately they all seem to be server memory, and that is forbidden.
Well, as I will be trying out Ubuntu on this little iMac, I suppose I will have to be satisfied with what I have. My thanks for the information.
Find a 120gig 7200 rpm hard drive for it and you will be pleased at the speed bump. *It won't read more than 128gbs of hdd, has a limiter on it.* Wonder if anyone ever tried putting an SSD in an old iMac G3? That would be funny.
I had thought of the SSD, since PATA SSDs do exist...I also thought about just having two PATA HDDs, that would require some slight modification to the ribbon cable and probably the power supply plug...of course using two internal PATA SSDs should not be a problem for the amount of current/voltage from the (modified) power supply plug...maybe? Of course there would no longer be an internal optical drive. As far the the 128GB barrier, I have read there are 3rd party updates that can override that, also something about partitioning the HDD such that no single partition exceeds that 128GB limitation.
You are correct, there is some upgrade that overrides the 128gb limitation, I investigated it for my G4 Cube back in the day, but didn't want to pay like thirty bucks for it.
I have installed 200gb HDDs in both Cubes and iMac G3s and from my stand point, it ruins the hard drives when you partition them. Got real wonky. Might have been just the luck of the draw but it was a nightmare every time I tried that. Better to try to find 120 gb drives or buy the upgrade.
you can use bigger harddrives , i have in one of my iMac g3 (700mhz) a 250gb harddrive , but only formated 127 gb the rest of the harddrive is unformated free space , and it works flawless , so maybe use what you got
, i just used the 250gb harddrive because it was the only ATA/ide 7200rpm drive i had lying around that was new and empty
and my one has 768mb ram and realy works well with osx tiger ,
osx panther is a bit snappier and OS9 runs like a dream
i would even go as far as saying the iMac G3 makes a perfect backup computer , as they are so reliable and cute
i had installed linux mint and kubuntu on it but was less impressed with performance , it just did not seem right on a iMac to run linux when you can run OS9 and OSX and dont argue about OS9/OSX cost money, its worth every pence (depending in which part of the world you are alter the currency)
, i just used the 250gb harddrive because it was the only ATA/ide 7200rpm drive i had lying around that was new and empty
and my one has 768mb ram and realy works well with osx tiger ,
osx panther is a bit snappier and OS9 runs like a dream
i would even go as far as saying the iMac G3 makes a perfect backup computer , as they are so reliable and cute
i had installed linux mint and kubuntu on it but was less impressed with performance , it just did not seem right on a iMac to run linux when you can run OS9 and OSX and dont argue about OS9/OSX cost money, its worth every pence (depending in which part of the world you are alter the currency)
I am not going to argue...I find OS and platform/hardware "wars" to be pointless anyway...it always boils down to personal preference, regardless of pros/cons. I have some Linux PPC distros plus a copy of OS9 (pirated...only for testing purposes because I had dissasembled the iMac and then reassembled it). I wanted to make sure it still worked... it would have been a shame if I would have killed the little guy
Hey, California, if you still have your Cube, try this free OF hack: http://nanchatte.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/128gb-large-hdd-lba48-support-on-the-g4-cube-with-leopard/ - it worked with my Cube and few of Sawtooths.
lots around, at Amazon (ssd pata) for example.
since most SATA ssd are 1.8 or 2.5, you could also use an ide/sata adapter if it really mattered as there would be room.
still have a DV400 that i play with on a regular basis, can't believe how well the old thing still runs even today. best of luck.
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Not true, I have some 1 GB sticks of PC133 here on a shelf. They are Registered ECC memory sticks though, so won't work in an iMac.
Well, I stayed up until around 2AM trying to resurrect my iMac after reassembling it...success! Of course, I am currently running MacOS 9.2.1 on it, but I am most pleased, especially after all the "BOMB" prompts I received while trying to install the OS...at least the iMac already had the firmware update. Now all I need is a (working) copy of MacOS 10.3 or better. Reason for that version is so that I can use my USB WiFI stick which has drivers only for MacOS 10.3 or better.
Well yeah someone said earlier in this thread that they didn't make any pc100 or pc133 that weren't for servers. The biggest I know that they made for desktops was 512mb hence the 1gb limit on the iMac.