Rescuing a dumped Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One ("Molar Mac") - who else has one?

[LimeiBook86]

Hello everyone!

This past weekend I had quite an adventure in a rescue attempt to secure a rare Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One machine. I made a video about it which I think you would enjoy.

But this trip got me thinking... who else still has one of these sitting around? What do you use it for still, have you upgraded it?

Since this model shares a lot of similarities with the G3 desktop systems, I'm wondering how many people have converted these into powerhouse G4 systems.

-Steve

 

[MacTech68]

Not originally available in all countries.

Sadly, I'm in one of those countries.

Always wanted one.

 

[philgxxd]

I think it would help to post it over at the PowerPC section also. You will probably gather more attention.

 

[bunnspecial]

I have had one for several years, albeit I never did a whole lot with it. Mine has a 500mhz Sonnet G4 plus a USB/FW card. IIRC, mine came with a Whisper card, and I updgraded it to a Wings card. When I finally got my hands on a Bordeaux, I though that it would be a perfect home for it(along with a DVD drive) as a nice little DVD player, but unfortunately the Bordeaux card can't work in these. It lacks the GPU pass-through connector that the display ribbon cable connects to.

They actually weren't super uncommon back in the day, they were just primarily an EDU market system. I remember a couple kicking around my high school, although I didn't totally appreciate what they were then.

To me, it's fascinating to have an AIO system that is actually a true desktop/workstation grade LoBo. Not sure if you realize it or not, but the LoBo is exactly the same between all three PowerMacintosh G3 cases. It's also uncommon on an AIO to have 3 full blown full height PCI slots, plus all the other little goodies like on-board SCSI and other odds and ends.

The only real weakness is the GPU. Most of my G3 desktops/towers have Radeon 9200s, and the ones that don't at least have Rage 128s(or one of the other compatible Radeon cards) so I can use VGA or DVI monitors without annoying dongles. People HAVE put better GPUs in the AIOs, but obviously it's not as straight forward as in a desktop/minitower.

You'll like 768gb RAM, although it can be fun to find LD 256mb PC66/100/133. I bought something like 20 new sticks from China at one point, got HD sticks, and it took me a lot of wrangling to finally get my LD sticks.

Don't be tempted to slap a Yikes! CPU in as a cheap G4 upgrade. They don't really play nice, and can cause weird issues. I often can't get one to boot with more than a single RAM stick installed with a Yikes! CPU in place. If you want a G4, get a Sonnet(preferably) or at least one of the other aftermarket upgrades.

 

[Ih8reno]

I’ve had multiple but only one currently. Th machine has plenty of problems though. Mine doesn’t always power on the optical and hard drives (sometimes yes sometimes no) which I assume is a psu problem. Also, the screen now boots to a weird inverted smudgy way that yours did in your video, I’ve tried reseating the connector but nothing doing. It was one of my holy grail pieces so it’s staying with me.

 

[muttt1]

Hello everyone!

This past weekend I had quite an adventure in a rescue attempt to secure a rare Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One machine. I made a video about it which I think you would enjoy.

But this trip got me thinking... who else still has one of these sitting around? What do you use it for still, have you upgraded it?

Since this model shares a lot of similarities with the G3 desktop systems, I'm wondering how many people have converted these into powerhouse G4 systems.

-Steve

I found one at a yard sale and when I asked how much the lady grunted and said "free..just take it!" So I did..all 60 lbs of it to the car, plugged it in when I got home and nothing. no fan no sound...dead as a doornail. So now I either have a techy boat anchor or parts but have no clue what to do with it. If anyone could use pieces I got em. I can't promise anything is good although its complete..decent shape physically, if a little nicotene soaked. I tore it down and nothing looks burnt or broken. It's dumpster bound if no one is interested fairly soon.

Jim

 

[bunnspecial]

I found one at a yard sale and when I asked how much the lady grunted and said "free..just take it!" So I did..all 60 lbs of it to the car, plugged it in when I got home and nothing. no fan no sound...dead as a doornail. So now I either have a techy boat anchor or parts but have no clue what to do with it. If anyone could use pieces I got em. I can't promise anything is good although its complete..decent shape physically, if a little nicotene soaked. I tore it down and nothing looks burnt or broken. It's dumpster bound if no one is interested fairly soon.

Jim

Where are you located?

 

[muttt1]

Where are you located?

I'm in Titusville Florida

 

[m1maverick]

I'm in Titusville Florida

I would recommend posting this to the PowerPC forum. There's bound to be someone there who is interested.

 

[bunnspecial]

BTW, are you using an ADB keyboard on it?

These computers don't actually have a power button on them. Rather, the on/off switch on the back is basically a master "power to the unit" on and off. To boot up the computer, you use the power button on the keyboard.

If you don't have an ADB keyboard, you can make do by shorting the "power" pin in the ADB port to one of the grounds...

 

[ColdCase]

Wow, I bought one for my daughter via her college store when she was a freshman. I recall driving over to the UNH store to pick it up and grimacing with the weight. She used to complain about moving that heavy thing from apartment to apartment... I think its fully optioned with the video editing stuff. I wasn't aware that there was collector interest. Its been sitting on a basement shelf for years. I'll have to check if it still works, and hopefully remember my back brace if I need to move it .