Ticket Options
Question Profile
| DATE | Dec 4, 2007 |
| TICKET | #335214 |
| STATUS | Closed |
| SUBJECT | Mac OS 10.1.5 |
| CAT | Computers, Operating Systems, Applications or Connected Devices |
| TYPE | Software Applications |
| DESC | Operating Systems |
| DESC | |
| PLATFORM | Apple Macintosh (PowerPC G3,G4,G5) |
| MODEL | Blue Egg Shell |
| PROC | PowerPC G3 |
| RAM | 256 MB |
| DRIVE | 19.07 GB |
| NAME | Alex |
| USERNAME | acomfort |
| TECHNICAL | Lots of Experience |
| ISSUE | Some Troubleshooting |
Question Details
TICKET ARCHIVE -> Mac OS 10.1.5
acomfort - Dec 4, 2007 - 6:37 am
Yes, I'm learning this thing is ancient. It's one of those funky blue bubble iMacs. 256mb, powerpc G3. Now, I've got the install disks, and I inherited this thing, figured I'd learn how iMacs work...
...unfortunately, everyone is claiming there's no software for it. (There was at "one" point in time, I'm sure.) So, can this thing be pushed up to OS 10.5 or whatever that Leapord is? (And why oh why are they refering to it as OS X when they're all soooo far apart?) Last question... if this thing is scrap...
Can Linux get tossed on one of these? 'Cause the funky blue is... *sigh* sooo dreamy. Thank God for Camino... otherwise this letter could not have taken place.
'preciate your time.
~Alex. The Win XP user.
...unfortunately, everyone is claiming there's no software for it. (There was at "one" point in time, I'm sure.) So, can this thing be pushed up to OS 10.5 or whatever that Leapord is? (And why oh why are they refering to it as OS X when they're all soooo far apart?) Last question... if this thing is scrap...
Can Linux get tossed on one of these? 'Cause the funky blue is... *sigh* sooo dreamy. Thank God for Camino... otherwise this letter could not have taken place.
'preciate your time.
~Alex. The Win XP user.
Serenak - Dec 4, 2007 - 4:44 pm
Hello Alex
Thanks for coming to macosx.com and I will try and give you some advice...
Firstly I need to know a bit more about the iMac... firstly what processor speed is it? And what optical drive does it have... CD only or CD/DVD... tray or slot load? Does it have a firewire 400 port?
Secondly unless it is a very early model it is not scrap - old and a bit slow yes but far from useless. If it is one of the very early ones (sub 350MHz) then yes it will be slow - but still ok for basic mail, browsing, WP, etc. Also a 20Gb HD is pretty small... But before you lose heart, I had a Clamshell iBook (366MHz) with 96Mb RAM and a measly 10Gb HD and it ran 10.2 fine, bit slow but usable except on Flash laden sites.
256Mb of RAM is not a lot these days... fitting some more is easy and will improve its performance no end... there is one user accessible slot which may or may not already have a chip in it (hopefully not)... if it does it will be a measly 128Mb, bung it and get at least a 512Mb in there, it really will help.
The G3 is perfectly capable of running 10.2 (Jaguar), 10.3 (Panther) and (probably) with enough RAM 10.4 (Tiger)... as long as it has a FW port. It is not going to make the cut for 10.5 as 10.5 is not G3 enabled (you need a G4 of 866MHz or better). My recommendation would be 10.3 if you can lay hands on it... probably balance of features vs processor load.
No software! ha ha ha ha ha (rotfl)... maybe not if it is stuck back in the Classic OS but get it up to 10.3 and there is a shed load of stuff - free stuff - you can get. Take a look at http://www.opensourcemac.org (there is a sister sitehttp://www.opensourcewindows.org too that you might like) or http://www.freemacsoftware.com/ or http://www.freemacware.com/ also look at http://www.pure-mac.com/ not everything on there is free but it will give you a good idea of what can be had, and if you don't mind using X11 to run Linux based stuff there is a bucket load more
And yes you can get Linux onto it... the PPC options are a slightly limited... but you can get an older PPC Ubuntu take a look here http://penguinppc.org/about/distributions.php
Hope that helps
I like to help new people find out what the Mac is about - and even quite old Macs will be able to give you a taster - feel free to keep in contact and I will happily guide you on the road to exploring what the Mac is really all about.
Thanks for coming to macosx.com and I will try and give you some advice...
Firstly I need to know a bit more about the iMac... firstly what processor speed is it? And what optical drive does it have... CD only or CD/DVD... tray or slot load? Does it have a firewire 400 port?
Secondly unless it is a very early model it is not scrap - old and a bit slow yes but far from useless. If it is one of the very early ones (sub 350MHz) then yes it will be slow - but still ok for basic mail, browsing, WP, etc. Also a 20Gb HD is pretty small... But before you lose heart, I had a Clamshell iBook (366MHz) with 96Mb RAM and a measly 10Gb HD and it ran 10.2 fine, bit slow but usable except on Flash laden sites.
256Mb of RAM is not a lot these days... fitting some more is easy and will improve its performance no end... there is one user accessible slot which may or may not already have a chip in it (hopefully not)... if it does it will be a measly 128Mb, bung it and get at least a 512Mb in there, it really will help.
The G3 is perfectly capable of running 10.2 (Jaguar), 10.3 (Panther) and (probably) with enough RAM 10.4 (Tiger)... as long as it has a FW port. It is not going to make the cut for 10.5 as 10.5 is not G3 enabled (you need a G4 of 866MHz or better). My recommendation would be 10.3 if you can lay hands on it... probably balance of features vs processor load.
No software! ha ha ha ha ha (rotfl)... maybe not if it is stuck back in the Classic OS but get it up to 10.3 and there is a shed load of stuff - free stuff - you can get. Take a look at http://www.opensourcemac.org (there is a sister sitehttp://www.opensourcewindows.org too that you might like) or http://www.freemacsoftware.com/ or http://www.freemacware.com/ also look at http://www.pure-mac.com/ not everything on there is free but it will give you a good idea of what can be had, and if you don't mind using X11 to run Linux based stuff there is a bucket load more
And yes you can get Linux onto it... the PPC options are a slightly limited... but you can get an older PPC Ubuntu take a look here http://penguinppc.org/about/distributions.php
Hope that helps
I like to help new people find out what the Mac is about - and even quite old Macs will be able to give you a taster - feel free to keep in contact and I will happily guide you on the road to exploring what the Mac is really all about.
Serenak - Dec 4, 2007 - 4:48 pm
Forgot to mention the fantastic free "everything you need to know about your Mac" tool Mactracker which is available here http://mactracker.dreamhosters.com/... a great database of Mac facts like what RAM it takes, max RAM it can take..., latest OS it can handle without using hacks, etc.
acomfort - Dec 5, 2007 - 1:07 am
Serenak,
That is by far the fastest response time I've "ever" seen. I even ^5ved the cat on that one. I put down "give this response 7 days" because God knows the tech guy is sooo overlooked. If I had the address, you'd have a case of Bawls and a fifty spot Starbucks card, pronto.
So I tipped this iMac over and grabbed the serial number. Then headed on over to a website to decode it. Turns out, it's a Mexican model, assembled in '02, forth week of Jan, (more than likely, late '01) 500MHz, yep to firewire, slot loaded, Indigo? Blueberry? No clue. Let's just call it darkish transparent blue, I'm doubting the DVD drive. It kicks back all DVDs I slip in there. Grabbed the ppc version of ubuntu 6.0.1, couldn't figure out how to do anything except mount the image in OS 10.1.5, it refused to burn... (used disk copy. Mount good. Didn't even see a burnable CD-RW drive. Mounted first, then pushed in blank CD. Tried everything.)
Burned a copy on my Vaio, bootable, and turns out... pressing C during boot is ignored. Tried Command-Alt-F-O, reset-nvpram or whatever it was and reset-all, then C again. (Holding shift and without.) No luck. Tried Command-Alt-P-R, or something like that, kept beeping and restarting... assumed it was flushing out and/or resetting something in the system. Went back to holding down C... (Shift and non) ... nothing.
On a mental side note, I contemplated shoving a copy of Backtrack in this thing, but apparently the home page of remote-exploit is down today, and I have no clue if it's ppc compatiable. (Naturally I can't get this thing to boot a CD.) It recognizes the CDs fine. Once I'm loaded, I see the ubuntu CD that I burned... I can mount it and browse. Figured maybe I'd be able to install and boot from there... No clue how. Found a command along the lines of ymboot... Haven't tried it yet.
In case you're wondering... I certainly have too much time on my hands. My second laptop, Compaq Presario 2550US is in pieces on the kitchen table... just for fun. Figured I'd paint it and unclog fans. (Kitty hair. So much fun.) And yes, chances are, this IS why my wife left me.
Good news. I've got some fantastic wallpaper up on the iMac, and God knows, it's all about beautiful half dressed women. You'll find my jokes tasteless, but your assistance and prompt replies are greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time.
~Al
That is by far the fastest response time I've "ever" seen. I even ^5ved the cat on that one. I put down "give this response 7 days" because God knows the tech guy is sooo overlooked. If I had the address, you'd have a case of Bawls and a fifty spot Starbucks card, pronto.
So I tipped this iMac over and grabbed the serial number. Then headed on over to a website to decode it. Turns out, it's a Mexican model, assembled in '02, forth week of Jan, (more than likely, late '01) 500MHz, yep to firewire, slot loaded, Indigo? Blueberry? No clue. Let's just call it darkish transparent blue, I'm doubting the DVD drive. It kicks back all DVDs I slip in there. Grabbed the ppc version of ubuntu 6.0.1, couldn't figure out how to do anything except mount the image in OS 10.1.5, it refused to burn... (used disk copy. Mount good. Didn't even see a burnable CD-RW drive. Mounted first, then pushed in blank CD. Tried everything.)
Burned a copy on my Vaio, bootable, and turns out... pressing C during boot is ignored. Tried Command-Alt-F-O, reset-nvpram or whatever it was and reset-all, then C again. (Holding shift and without.) No luck. Tried Command-Alt-P-R, or something like that, kept beeping and restarting... assumed it was flushing out and/or resetting something in the system. Went back to holding down C... (Shift and non) ... nothing.
On a mental side note, I contemplated shoving a copy of Backtrack in this thing, but apparently the home page of remote-exploit is down today, and I have no clue if it's ppc compatiable. (Naturally I can't get this thing to boot a CD.) It recognizes the CDs fine. Once I'm loaded, I see the ubuntu CD that I burned... I can mount it and browse. Figured maybe I'd be able to install and boot from there... No clue how. Found a command along the lines of ymboot... Haven't tried it yet.
In case you're wondering... I certainly have too much time on my hands. My second laptop, Compaq Presario 2550US is in pieces on the kitchen table... just for fun. Figured I'd paint it and unclog fans. (Kitty hair. So much fun.) And yes, chances are, this IS why my wife left me.
Good news. I've got some fantastic wallpaper up on the iMac, and God knows, it's all about beautiful half dressed women. You'll find my jokes tasteless, but your assistance and prompt replies are greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time.
~Al
acomfort - Dec 5, 2007 - 1:11 am
Oops, forgot to mention I grabbed ubuntu from www.distrowatch.com... Something like that. Great site!
Serenak - Dec 5, 2007 - 6:20 am
Hello Alex...
ha ha, well response times on here are a bit "pot luck" if one pops up that I think I can deal with then I take it - if it happens to be 2 mins from you posting that is just a bonus for you
OK I have looked up your iMac and it is a "Late 2001" Indigo - the small HDD indicates it is the budget model fitted with only CD ROM, other versions with bigger HDDs, clock speeds up to 700MHz and a CD-RW were available - still you can always use an external HDD and or CD/DVD writer. It can take upto 1Gb RAM but won't handle disk partitions bigger than 128Gb.
As for the Ubuntu... the Mac should boot from the CD if you hold down C, just C no shift or Apple or anything, however in my experience to make the Ubuntu CD bootable it is important to make the CD direct from the .iso download, if you open the .iso or mount it in some way that seems to break its ability to boot the Mac, personally I use Firestarter FX for this, but you will need something for your Vaio I guess (oh yes use a standard "one shot" CD-R, some of the older Mac CDs are very iffy reading RWs
Can it boot from any CDs (do you have a 10.1 CD to try it...?) if that doesn't work you might be best replacing the drive, or getting a FW external
ha ha, well response times on here are a bit "pot luck" if one pops up that I think I can deal with then I take it - if it happens to be 2 mins from you posting that is just a bonus for you
OK I have looked up your iMac and it is a "Late 2001" Indigo - the small HDD indicates it is the budget model fitted with only CD ROM, other versions with bigger HDDs, clock speeds up to 700MHz and a CD-RW were available - still you can always use an external HDD and or CD/DVD writer. It can take upto 1Gb RAM but won't handle disk partitions bigger than 128Gb.
As for the Ubuntu... the Mac should boot from the CD if you hold down C, just C no shift or Apple or anything, however in my experience to make the Ubuntu CD bootable it is important to make the CD direct from the .iso download, if you open the .iso or mount it in some way that seems to break its ability to boot the Mac, personally I use Firestarter FX for this, but you will need something for your Vaio I guess (oh yes use a standard "one shot" CD-R, some of the older Mac CDs are very iffy reading RWs
Can it boot from any CDs (do you have a 10.1 CD to try it...?) if that doesn't work you might be best replacing the drive, or getting a FW external
acomfort - Dec 6, 2007 - 3:05 pm
Serenak,
Okay, finally got the iMac to boot from CD. Turns out, it's a UE. Yup, user error. *sigh* Took your advice on upgrading this thing... (That's been my delay on the response to your last email.)
RAM:
There was a 128 PC-133 and a 128 PC-100 in the bottom. Pulled both and replaced with a 512 PC-133 and a 256 PC-133. Only 512 was recognized. Pulled the 256 out, replaced with the 128 PC-100, rebooted to find 640 is now recognized. That seems to be the most I can push in this thing.
HDD:
Found a Maxtor HDD 20GB inside, yanked to put in a Seagate 120GB. (This was when I discovered it was a UE on the booting problem.) I used the System Restore disks for OSX 10.1 and it reset the HDD flawlessly. (Had to format using the OS 9 install disk first.)
CD DRIVE:
No clue where to begin on this one. Perhaps I can buy a CD-RW or DVD drive upgrade/replacement off eBay?
OS:
Currently for OS, I'm hoping I can get my options atleast up to OSX 10.4. I'm not sure if I have to install all of these in order, (i.e. 10.1, 10.2, 10.3... etc.) but I did purchase a copy of OSX 10.3. Waiting on it's arrival and checking out Ubuntu 6.0 and Ubuntu 7.0. Neither seem to be working... Both boot and hang after a splash screen and about 4 mins of loading. Both are PPC versions... Basically crusing the ubuntu forums while waiting for OSX 10.3 to arrive.
CPU:
Can this thing be upgraded also? I didn't see it when I pulled the bottom panel off...
WIRELESS:
I'll be searching for an Airport card soon. I noticed the empty slot directly next to the RAM. Any ideas? Suggestions? I tried using a little Linksys USB54G card via USB on keyboard... nothing. Powered on, that's about it. Hoping to find maybe some drivers or have it be an option to use it...
Anyhow, that's the progress. Thanks for all your time!
~Al
Okay, finally got the iMac to boot from CD. Turns out, it's a UE. Yup, user error. *sigh* Took your advice on upgrading this thing... (That's been my delay on the response to your last email.)
RAM:
There was a 128 PC-133 and a 128 PC-100 in the bottom. Pulled both and replaced with a 512 PC-133 and a 256 PC-133. Only 512 was recognized. Pulled the 256 out, replaced with the 128 PC-100, rebooted to find 640 is now recognized. That seems to be the most I can push in this thing.
HDD:
Found a Maxtor HDD 20GB inside, yanked to put in a Seagate 120GB. (This was when I discovered it was a UE on the booting problem.) I used the System Restore disks for OSX 10.1 and it reset the HDD flawlessly. (Had to format using the OS 9 install disk first.)
CD DRIVE:
No clue where to begin on this one. Perhaps I can buy a CD-RW or DVD drive upgrade/replacement off eBay?
OS:
Currently for OS, I'm hoping I can get my options atleast up to OSX 10.4. I'm not sure if I have to install all of these in order, (i.e. 10.1, 10.2, 10.3... etc.) but I did purchase a copy of OSX 10.3. Waiting on it's arrival and checking out Ubuntu 6.0 and Ubuntu 7.0. Neither seem to be working... Both boot and hang after a splash screen and about 4 mins of loading. Both are PPC versions... Basically crusing the ubuntu forums while waiting for OSX 10.3 to arrive.
CPU:
Can this thing be upgraded also? I didn't see it when I pulled the bottom panel off...
WIRELESS:
I'll be searching for an Airport card soon. I noticed the empty slot directly next to the RAM. Any ideas? Suggestions? I tried using a little Linksys USB54G card via USB on keyboard... nothing. Powered on, that's about it. Hoping to find maybe some drivers or have it be an option to use it...
Anyhow, that's the progress. Thanks for all your time!
~Al
acomfort - Dec 6, 2007 - 3:35 pm
Oh, and you mentioned booting from an eternal CD/DVD drive... I have an LG DVD writer, external, USB... any ideas on how to begin the booting from this? (Because I've got tons of DVDs to try and boot with...)
Serenak - Dec 6, 2007 - 6:36 pm
Hello again Al
What was the UE if you don't mind me asking? I don't see any obvious ones from your post (unless the HDD was just plain too small/full...)
RAM - in theory this Mac should be able to take 1Gb RAM as 2x 512Mb - but if you got 640Mb in there that should be OK for now... I know you can run X on as little as 128Mb - but more is better - maybe the 256Mb is bad... are you sure you got is securely home? I have had RAM appear to be in but not actually seat right before now.
CD - I am sure you can get a slot drive Optical Drive from e-bay: look for the Mac breakers...
OS - yes you can get up to 10.4... but 10.3 is less strain and has most of the features you will need - Dashboard is mostly visual candy and Spotlight isn't that great really (better in 10.5 but even so). No you don't need to install incrementally you can go from 10.1 straight to whatever you get your hands on...
CPU - not sure on this as I have never tried it. Google and LowEndMac.com are your friends here. Even if it is possible it will involve some serious disassembly (and be careful of the CRT if you do)
Wireless - don't waste time or money on an Airport card... they cost a packet and the iMac only supports the crappy .b internally. Get a Mac compatible usb G one... I have a useful Belkin one - but only some models work on Mac/Linux (mine does and I hang on to it for that reason) but cheap Mac ones can be found if you look. Again google can help.
Booting from external drives - I doubt this will work unless you get a FireWire interfaced drive... X is not able to boot from USB as far as I know. External USB burners will however work fine for burning/reading disks.
Ubuntu should be able to boot the Mac... but if the CD is borked then you have a problem... then again it did boot from the 10.1 CD, try the FirestarterFX here - whether it works on 10.1 I can't say but if it does get the iso and then burn the disk straight from the downloaded iso. It worked for me.
What was the UE if you don't mind me asking? I don't see any obvious ones from your post (unless the HDD was just plain too small/full...)
RAM - in theory this Mac should be able to take 1Gb RAM as 2x 512Mb - but if you got 640Mb in there that should be OK for now... I know you can run X on as little as 128Mb - but more is better - maybe the 256Mb is bad... are you sure you got is securely home? I have had RAM appear to be in but not actually seat right before now.
CD - I am sure you can get a slot drive Optical Drive from e-bay: look for the Mac breakers...
OS - yes you can get up to 10.4... but 10.3 is less strain and has most of the features you will need - Dashboard is mostly visual candy and Spotlight isn't that great really (better in 10.5 but even so). No you don't need to install incrementally you can go from 10.1 straight to whatever you get your hands on...
CPU - not sure on this as I have never tried it. Google and LowEndMac.com are your friends here. Even if it is possible it will involve some serious disassembly (and be careful of the CRT if you do)
Wireless - don't waste time or money on an Airport card... they cost a packet and the iMac only supports the crappy .b internally. Get a Mac compatible usb G one... I have a useful Belkin one - but only some models work on Mac/Linux (mine does and I hang on to it for that reason) but cheap Mac ones can be found if you look. Again google can help.
Booting from external drives - I doubt this will work unless you get a FireWire interfaced drive... X is not able to boot from USB as far as I know. External USB burners will however work fine for burning/reading disks.
Ubuntu should be able to boot the Mac... but if the CD is borked then you have a problem... then again it did boot from the 10.1 CD, try the FirestarterFX here - whether it works on 10.1 I can't say but if it does get the iso and then burn the disk straight from the downloaded iso. It worked for me.
IF THIS IS YOUR QUESTION AND YOU WISH TO RESPOND, LOGIN HERE FIRST.
