iBook G3 Snow, complete upgrade to PowerPC G4, superdrive, 512 MB RAM upgrade.

[bunnspecial]

Tiger gray disks do not exist for iMac G3s. I'd have to look at what my 600mhz gray disks are, but pretty sure they're 10.2 at the newest.

My 400mhz iMac DV has a DVD drive also in addition to FW.

 

[christiann]

Tiger gray disks do not exist for iMac G3s. I'd have to look at what my 600mhz gray disks are, but pretty sure they're 10.2 at the newest.

My 400mhz iMac DV has a DVD drive also in addition to FW.

Er. I didn’t mean Tiger grey discs. I meant I thought that you needed special grey discs for an iMac G3 to boot up on OS 9.0.4. I was thinking I would need those discs, but I wanted to use my Retail Tiger disc.

 

[christiann]

Flyback transformer is failing. Common issue on these.

Post has photo*

I have no idea how to fix that, is there a way to get her to quiet down? A way that doesn’t involve getting CRT electrocution? It’s so noisy that it kind of hurts my ears!

Looks good on my desk though.

 

[dosdude1]

Post has photo*

I have no idea how to fix that, is there a way to get her to quiet down? A way that doesn’t involve getting CRT electrocution? It’s so noisy that it kind of hurts my ears!
View attachment 924886

Looks good on my desk though.

Unfortunately not, insulation on the coil inside the flyback is starting to break down, and causing arcing. It's only going to get worse until it is replaced.

 

[christiann]

Open it and check CPU type; if it's a PPC750L, you can install a 7410 G4.

It is. Look at my other post mentioning you.

 

[ichii]

@christiann Don't buy a spinner, get an mSata SSD w/ an IDE adapter. They are much faster, last longer, are much more power efficient, and are far more durable than any IDE spinner disk available. It may or may not run cooler as well.

Most of us here can speak highly of their effectiveness when revitalizing old notebooks, Mac or "PC".

One of these, inside one of these, and you're all set.

I recently got a used iBook G3 snow and I want to upgrade the HDD to a SSD. The issue I'm having right now is it boots, but it seems like it doesn't load into the OS, I can hear the HDD spin but just a blue screen with the beach ball. I left it on for an hour and no luck booting into anything. Also going to upgrade the ram from 128 to 640MB.

I found these on Amazon and was wondering if it would also work.

Zheino mSATA SSD 128GB M3 Internal Mini SATA SSD Drive 3D Nand Flash Solid State Drive for Mini PC Notebooks Tablets PC

Zheino mSATA SSD 128GB M3 Internal Mini SATA SSD Drive 3D Nand Flash Solid State Drive for Mini PC Notebooks Tablets PC

www.amazon.com

ChenYang mSATA Mini SATA SSD to IDE 44Pin 2.5 inch Hard Disk Case Enclosure Box White for Notebook Laptop

This adapter using JM20330 Serial ATA Bridge Chip. Case Size:70mm x 100mm X 9.5mm. This adapter is only compatible with 50mm size mSATA Mini SATA SSD. Not compatible with 50mm Mini PCI-e SATA and Mini PCI-e PATA. Not compatible with M.2 NGFF SSD(B-key or M-key).

www.amazon.com

The IDE Adapter looks the same, but the SSD is a different brand.

 

[z970]

@ichii Should be fine.

 

[christiann]

I recently got a used iBook G3 snow and I want to upgrade the HDD to a SSD. The issue I'm having right now is it boots, but it seems like it doesn't load into the OS, I can hear the HDD spin but just a blue screen with the beach ball. I left it on for an hour and no luck booting into anything. Also going to upgrade the ram from 128 to 640MB.

I found these on Amazon and was wondering if it would also work.

Zheino mSATA SSD 128GB M3 Internal Mini SATA SSD Drive 3D Nand Flash Solid State Drive for Mini PC Notebooks Tablets PC

Zheino mSATA SSD 128GB M3 Internal Mini SATA SSD Drive 3D Nand Flash Solid State Drive for Mini PC Notebooks Tablets PC

www.amazon.com

ChenYang mSATA Mini SATA SSD to IDE 44Pin 2.5 inch Hard Disk Case Enclosure Box White for Notebook Laptop

This adapter using JM20330 Serial ATA Bridge Chip. Case Size:70mm x 100mm X 9.5mm. This adapter is only compatible with 50mm size mSATA Mini SATA SSD. Not compatible with 50mm Mini PCI-e SATA and Mini PCI-e PATA. Not compatible with M.2 NGFF SSD(B-key or M-key).

www.amazon.com

The IDE Adapter looks the same, but the SSD is a different brand.

Btw, be really careful when opening the iBook as I broke one of them opening it. The other one is damaged lol.. Should work fine.. good luck!

 

[christiann]

Btw following up this old thread, the iMac seemed to fix itself. Doesn’t crackle but doesn’t turn on every once in a while so I let it sit for a couple days unplugged and that fixes the issue.. it’s a really fun machine to play the Sims 1 on OS9 when it does work

Still trying to find someone that can solder the new G4 lol..
Runs great, RIP TFF so no more web browsing on it,

But if you know anyone in Southern California that can solder CPUs for Macs… let me know..

 

[ichii]

Btw, be really careful when opening the iBook as I broke one of them opening it. The other one is damaged lol.. Should work fine.. good luck!

Thanks, the laptop came with all the original install disc. I might try that before I build up the nerves to open it up.

 

[ichii]

I did it, took me a lot longer than what iFixit estimated. Now I just need my 512MB stick of ram to get here. I had to cut part of the enclosure and board for it to fit with the IDE socket.

 

[ichii]

View attachment 1753462
I did it, took me a lot longer than what iFixit estimated. Now I just need my 512MB stick of ram to get here. I had to cut part of the enclosure and board for it to fit with the IDE socket.

My 512MB doesn't recognized as 512MB only as 256MB. It also crash (Kernel Panic) when I try to install OS X Tiger too. I'm thinking it's a bad stick of ram. Any ideas or tip?

 

[weckart]

My 512MB doesn't recognized as 512MB only as 256MB. It also crash (Kernel Panic) when I try to install OS X Tiger too. I'm thinking it's a bad stick of ram. Any ideas or tip?

I did not think the Snow iBooks were particularly affected by this but it looks like it is having trouble with the density of the RAM chips.


Low density sodimms tend to have a large number of small chips per side.




High density sodimms have fewer, larger-sized chips per side.

Many older PowerBooks tend to prefer low density chips. While high density sodimms may work, typically only half of the RAM will be recognised. I also had this issue on a PC graphics card, which I flashed for Mac. Only half of the VRAM was detected. However, that doesn't in itself lead to instability. It might be a bad stick of RAM. You could try running the ASD or AHT disc for your iBook and seeing whether the RAM tests complete.

 

[ichii]

I did not think the Snow iBooks were particularly affected by this but it looks like it is having trouble with the density of the RAM chips.

View attachment 1754364
Low density sodimms tend to have a large number of small chips per side.

View attachment 1754366


High density sodimms have fewer, larger-sized chips per side.

Many older PowerBooks tend to prefer low density chips. While high density sodimms may work, typically only half of the RAM will be recognised. I also had this issue on a PC graphics card, which I flashed for Mac. Only half of the VRAM was detected. However, that doesn't in itself lead to instability. It might be a bad stick of RAM. You could try running the ASD or AHT disc for your iBook and seeing whether the RAM tests complete.

Thanks, I ordered another one from eBay and was told its low density. Hopefully it works with the iBook.

 

[weckart]

Thanks, I ordered another one from eBay and was told its low density. Hopefully it works with the iBook.

Did you run a ram test first? If it turns out that your Logic Board is at fault, then the new RAM won't be of any use.

 

[ichii]

Did you run a ram test first? If it turns out that your Logic Board is at fault, then the new RAM won't be of any use.

I got a new stick of ram and it works fine so far. PC133 instead of PC100 that I got before. It detects it fine showing the full 512mb and not only 256mb like the last one. Installed OS X Tiger with no issues, the other stick it would crash/kernel panic halfway through the installation.