Yes, the title is a shameless rip-off @Dronecatcher's YT channel name.
I’ve recently picked up a beautiful Blueberry iBook Clamshell – 300MHz RAM with the tiny 3.2GB hard drive*. It’s the original Clamshell in terms of specs; 32MB soldered ram. I did a quick check on serial-number-decoder.com and found that it was manufactured in the first week of 2000 – nice. (Y2K, anyone?)
My goal was to install OS X 10.4 Tiger onto this iBook and optimise it as much as possible. The end goal is to have a basic laptop for word processing (using the program Bean), which can also do basic web browsing (Links2) and video watching (Dronecatcher’s scripts & PPCMC).
The challenge I’m setting myself, which few others seem interested to bother with, is not replacing the original 3.2GB hard drive. Most people here are using SSDs, and while we may debate about the authenticity of these in such an old device, I actually enjoy being limited by the small hard drive, since I’m not trying to do anything too crazy. Also, I may be one of the only people here who actually LOVES the sound that these hard drives make – for me, without those sounds, the Clamshell has no soul (like modern Macbooks).
This post is partly a journal for myself to describe the steps I took to make this work, and others may find it useful at some point.
So, here was my procedure (go to the very end to see the challenges I faced along the way):
Step 0:
Upgraded the RAM with a 512 MB (PC133), setting it up to 544 MB. Installed an AirPort card.
Step 1:
Installed 10.3 Panther immediately, erasing the previous hard drive. I install Panther first since XPostFacto requires an operating system. I installed mine using the burnt CDs of the cdr. Panther states that it requires 2.9 GB, but once you continue, you customise the install. I removed Printers, Speech Voices, Additional Asian Fonts; later deleted Internet Explorer, iTunes, iPhone, iCal, iSync. Now, only 1.1 GB are required; this all speeds up the installation, and I don’t need those extras anyway. Still have to wait for the OSX Panther trademark: the “Checking your installation disc” procedure...
(Approximate installation time: 40 minutes)
Step 2:
I try to boot from OSX Tiger onto it. XPostFacto doesn’t work with USBs at all, so I finally decided to use XPostFacto with the modded Macintosh Garden Tiger CD iso, which I’d burnt onto a CD. Naturally, again I unticked all Printers, Fonts etc. After the first CD finished, some XPostFacto problem occurred on restart which created a loop. I restarted, ejected the CD and continued. It worked normally now, and I inserted CD 2 as requested.
Note: CD 3 and CD 4 are not required.
I then ran through the Setup Assistant. I’m glad it all seems to work normally, except that the 800x600 resolution almost cuts off the necessary “continue” buttons... phew! I’m not sure why it didn’t open in fullscreen mode; maybe a quirk of XPostFacto.
At this stage, I now have a 300MHz Clamshell running 10.4.0 Tiger. I have 988 MB available, which is great.
Step 3:
Turned on basic optimisations: System Preferences / Dock: Scale Effect, Animate opening Applications off; Displays -> Colors: Thousands; Screen Saver Off.
Connected to Internet using AirPort.
Step 4:
Updated to 10.4.11 using the combo. This takes about 30 minutes.
Step 5:
Now I’m at 10.4.11, I deleted all unnecessary Applications: Address Book, Chess, DVD Player, iCal, iChat, Image Capture (+Image Capture files in Library), iSync, Mail, Sherlock. (Mail still works on these old Macs, but the Clamshell is a little too slow for it to be worth it.) Delete Library/Desktop Picture – just save the ones you want (saves 30MB). Delete Library/Widgets (9MB). Delete Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth (no Bluetooth on Clamshells).
Installed the following Applications: TenFourFoxG3, AquaWeb, Links2, PPCMC (download latest Youtube-dl), OnyX, Bye Bye Dashboard; Bean, SideTrack (very useful for scrolling), anything else. The easiest way to install these is copy the already downloaded and unzipped files from another Mac and transfer them via network File Sharing)
Step 6:
Run Optimisations: Run AquaTrimcelerator (need to restart after this). Run ShadowKiller. Run Monolingual. Run OnyX, do a clean. Run Bye Bye Dashboard. Disable Spotlight.
With all that completed, I still have about 520 MB available. Awesome! Restarted the computer, reset PRAM – this got rid of the ugly verbose mode that had been appearing on startup since using XPostFacto.
Step 7:
Relax! This stuff takes a very long time to completely set up. Each step, whether it’s 10.4.11, AquaTrim, or even just copying over files through USB 1.0, it takes time. Expect to take 4 hours to install everything (not including the preparation time for burning discs etc.)
Step 8 (Optional):
Attempt to Install OS 9 on the remaining 500 MB of space?
I tried using Classic through 10.4.11 with unsatisfactory results. I was able to get a tiny 100MB Classic folder by deleting the unnecessary files after downloading the 284MB file from MacintoshRepository. The files required are listed here: http://etutorials.org/Mac+OS/mac+os...pter+8+Clobbering+Classic/Optimizing+Classic/
I also deleted from the System Folder: some fonts, unwanted Desktop pictures in /Appearance, etc. Also deleted the entire Utilities Folder.
I tested this with a simple game (Monkey Island) and it wasn’t even able to play it without stuttering... I guess Classic isn’t great, this game (from 1990) runs just fine on a native OS 9. Perhaps I deleted something that might’ve helped it run better?? Or maybe I shouldn’t ever expect to run games in Tiger’s version of Classic.
Has anyone played around with this? Is it possible to install a working native OS 9 with only ~300MB of Hard Drive space? And will it run well?
–– – – – – – – – – – – –– – –
With that all said, here’s what my current workflow is like:
I use Dronecatcher’s Choob to find some music compilations on Youtube. Download as M4A through PPCMC, or use Dronecatcher’s scripts. Once I’ve got the music going, I launch Bean and get to work, typing on the great Clamshell keyboard. I use Links2 for any needed internet searches, and Aquaweb if the webpage has important visuals. Nothing is super fast, which is fine, but Bean is responsive, which is the main thing I need. It’s a beautiful Blueberry Clamshell... and the 3.2 hard drive is easily enough! I thought the space problem would be harder. Mission accomplished.
– – – – – – – – –
Future improvements:
I can’t think of much more I’ll ever need. I may want X11 for Links2 at some stage, but I’d prefer to keep the hard drive more empty. If there’s anything else I can delete, let me know! (E.g. do I actually need Automator and Applescript at all?)
P.S. If you wanted to save more space and weren’t going to use this computer for word processing, you could easily delete the Dictionaries from the Library. They take up 144MB.
Addendum (musings on OS X Panther):
I think that Mac OS X 10.3 Panther is rather neglected on this forum. I understand that Panther lacks the Universal Binary bridging that makes Tiger more versatile, and much of the Tiger software is absent (notably TenFourFox), but in my limited testing, OSX Panther is quite sturdy. I couldn’t say that it is better than Tiger, but it’s certainly not much worse. Thanks to @alex_free helping build PPCMC and Links2, both of which work on 10.3.9, Panther at least has a basic but usable internet lifeline. I would probably choose Panther, if I didn’t do the 512MB Ram upgrade and didn’t need 10.4 software, since installing it is much easier (and more “authentic” to the Clamshell’s requirements).
*A pedantic note: the Hard Drive of this Clamshell isn’t really 3.2 GB, but internally is listed as 3.03 GB.
Miscellaneous problems I dealt with along the way:
– During Panther installation, I was asked to insert Disc 3. I said, “HUH?” I didn’t know Panther required 3 discs! The iso files online only had 2! Anyway, I ignored this since I didn’t even need a full Panther install anyway, so just clicked cancel and allowed OS X to finish installation without the extra files.
– The Tiger installation was a pain. No forum seems to be able to explain my problem: I first tried installing from USB in Open Firmware, after changing the iBook details from PowerBook2,1 to PowerBook2,2 – following the guides of course. Those steps would work, but strangely when I got to the “Boot ud:3 ...” step and hit enter, the computer just froze. Only once did it go through (not sure what I did differently), but that time I didn’t get an Apple logo, but the ø icon. Also, some people just recommend turning the computer on with the USB installer and pressing “C” or “Option” – both of these never seem to work for me with USBs. I’m not sure how anyone makes this work on a Clamshell.
– During the 10.4.11 Combo update, the ‘Time Remaining’ was displayed wrongly, e.g. “1130843 hours and 52 minutes”. These numbers rapidly dropped as it went. There was also a major error when restarting from the update, kernel problems, not making any progress, on a loop, so I restarted again. Again, it went into verbose mode, but it seemed to sort itself out, restarted again, verbose mode again, boot. Took a long time to do all these steps, but it finally worked.
– The left shift key didn’t seem to work. That caused me some concern, knowing that I wanted this Clamshell primarily to write on. No need to worry in the end – the key must’ve just been loose, and reinstalling it properly fixed that problem. I wondered how much the previous owner had tinkered around with things, because I also noticed with a chuckle that the F4 Volume up and F3 Volume down keys had been swapped – I swapped those back too.
I’ve recently picked up a beautiful Blueberry iBook Clamshell – 300MHz RAM with the tiny 3.2GB hard drive*. It’s the original Clamshell in terms of specs; 32MB soldered ram. I did a quick check on serial-number-decoder.com and found that it was manufactured in the first week of 2000 – nice. (Y2K, anyone?)
My goal was to install OS X 10.4 Tiger onto this iBook and optimise it as much as possible. The end goal is to have a basic laptop for word processing (using the program Bean), which can also do basic web browsing (Links2) and video watching (Dronecatcher’s scripts & PPCMC).
The challenge I’m setting myself, which few others seem interested to bother with, is not replacing the original 3.2GB hard drive. Most people here are using SSDs, and while we may debate about the authenticity of these in such an old device, I actually enjoy being limited by the small hard drive, since I’m not trying to do anything too crazy. Also, I may be one of the only people here who actually LOVES the sound that these hard drives make – for me, without those sounds, the Clamshell has no soul (like modern Macbooks).
This post is partly a journal for myself to describe the steps I took to make this work, and others may find it useful at some point.
So, here was my procedure (go to the very end to see the challenges I faced along the way):
Step 0:
Upgraded the RAM with a 512 MB (PC133), setting it up to 544 MB. Installed an AirPort card.
Step 1:
Installed 10.3 Panther immediately, erasing the previous hard drive. I install Panther first since XPostFacto requires an operating system. I installed mine using the burnt CDs of the cdr. Panther states that it requires 2.9 GB, but once you continue, you customise the install. I removed Printers, Speech Voices, Additional Asian Fonts; later deleted Internet Explorer, iTunes, iPhone, iCal, iSync. Now, only 1.1 GB are required; this all speeds up the installation, and I don’t need those extras anyway. Still have to wait for the OSX Panther trademark: the “Checking your installation disc” procedure...
(Approximate installation time: 40 minutes)
Step 2:
I try to boot from OSX Tiger onto it. XPostFacto doesn’t work with USBs at all, so I finally decided to use XPostFacto with the modded Macintosh Garden Tiger CD iso, which I’d burnt onto a CD. Naturally, again I unticked all Printers, Fonts etc. After the first CD finished, some XPostFacto problem occurred on restart which created a loop. I restarted, ejected the CD and continued. It worked normally now, and I inserted CD 2 as requested.
Note: CD 3 and CD 4 are not required.
I then ran through the Setup Assistant. I’m glad it all seems to work normally, except that the 800x600 resolution almost cuts off the necessary “continue” buttons... phew! I’m not sure why it didn’t open in fullscreen mode; maybe a quirk of XPostFacto.
At this stage, I now have a 300MHz Clamshell running 10.4.0 Tiger. I have 988 MB available, which is great.
Step 3:
Turned on basic optimisations: System Preferences / Dock: Scale Effect, Animate opening Applications off; Displays -> Colors: Thousands; Screen Saver Off.
Connected to Internet using AirPort.
Step 4:
Updated to 10.4.11 using the combo. This takes about 30 minutes.
Step 5:
Now I’m at 10.4.11, I deleted all unnecessary Applications: Address Book, Chess, DVD Player, iCal, iChat, Image Capture (+Image Capture files in Library), iSync, Mail, Sherlock. (Mail still works on these old Macs, but the Clamshell is a little too slow for it to be worth it.) Delete Library/Desktop Picture – just save the ones you want (saves 30MB). Delete Library/Widgets (9MB). Delete Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth (no Bluetooth on Clamshells).
Installed the following Applications: TenFourFoxG3, AquaWeb, Links2, PPCMC (download latest Youtube-dl), OnyX, Bye Bye Dashboard; Bean, SideTrack (very useful for scrolling), anything else. The easiest way to install these is copy the already downloaded and unzipped files from another Mac and transfer them via network File Sharing)
Step 6:
Run Optimisations: Run AquaTrimcelerator (need to restart after this). Run ShadowKiller. Run Monolingual. Run OnyX, do a clean. Run Bye Bye Dashboard. Disable Spotlight.
With all that completed, I still have about 520 MB available. Awesome! Restarted the computer, reset PRAM – this got rid of the ugly verbose mode that had been appearing on startup since using XPostFacto.
Step 7:
Relax! This stuff takes a very long time to completely set up. Each step, whether it’s 10.4.11, AquaTrim, or even just copying over files through USB 1.0, it takes time. Expect to take 4 hours to install everything (not including the preparation time for burning discs etc.)
Step 8 (Optional):
Attempt to Install OS 9 on the remaining 500 MB of space?
I tried using Classic through 10.4.11 with unsatisfactory results. I was able to get a tiny 100MB Classic folder by deleting the unnecessary files after downloading the 284MB file from MacintoshRepository. The files required are listed here: http://etutorials.org/Mac+OS/mac+os...pter+8+Clobbering+Classic/Optimizing+Classic/
I also deleted from the System Folder: some fonts, unwanted Desktop pictures in /Appearance, etc. Also deleted the entire Utilities Folder.
I tested this with a simple game (Monkey Island) and it wasn’t even able to play it without stuttering... I guess Classic isn’t great, this game (from 1990) runs just fine on a native OS 9. Perhaps I deleted something that might’ve helped it run better?? Or maybe I shouldn’t ever expect to run games in Tiger’s version of Classic.
Has anyone played around with this? Is it possible to install a working native OS 9 with only ~300MB of Hard Drive space? And will it run well?
–– – – – – – – – – – – –– – –
With that all said, here’s what my current workflow is like:
I use Dronecatcher’s Choob to find some music compilations on Youtube. Download as M4A through PPCMC, or use Dronecatcher’s scripts. Once I’ve got the music going, I launch Bean and get to work, typing on the great Clamshell keyboard. I use Links2 for any needed internet searches, and Aquaweb if the webpage has important visuals. Nothing is super fast, which is fine, but Bean is responsive, which is the main thing I need. It’s a beautiful Blueberry Clamshell... and the 3.2 hard drive is easily enough! I thought the space problem would be harder. Mission accomplished.
– – – – – – – – –
Future improvements:
I can’t think of much more I’ll ever need. I may want X11 for Links2 at some stage, but I’d prefer to keep the hard drive more empty. If there’s anything else I can delete, let me know! (E.g. do I actually need Automator and Applescript at all?)
P.S. If you wanted to save more space and weren’t going to use this computer for word processing, you could easily delete the Dictionaries from the Library. They take up 144MB.
Addendum (musings on OS X Panther):
I think that Mac OS X 10.3 Panther is rather neglected on this forum. I understand that Panther lacks the Universal Binary bridging that makes Tiger more versatile, and much of the Tiger software is absent (notably TenFourFox), but in my limited testing, OSX Panther is quite sturdy. I couldn’t say that it is better than Tiger, but it’s certainly not much worse. Thanks to @alex_free helping build PPCMC and Links2, both of which work on 10.3.9, Panther at least has a basic but usable internet lifeline. I would probably choose Panther, if I didn’t do the 512MB Ram upgrade and didn’t need 10.4 software, since installing it is much easier (and more “authentic” to the Clamshell’s requirements).
*A pedantic note: the Hard Drive of this Clamshell isn’t really 3.2 GB, but internally is listed as 3.03 GB.
Miscellaneous problems I dealt with along the way:
– During Panther installation, I was asked to insert Disc 3. I said, “HUH?” I didn’t know Panther required 3 discs! The iso files online only had 2! Anyway, I ignored this since I didn’t even need a full Panther install anyway, so just clicked cancel and allowed OS X to finish installation without the extra files.
– The Tiger installation was a pain. No forum seems to be able to explain my problem: I first tried installing from USB in Open Firmware, after changing the iBook details from PowerBook2,1 to PowerBook2,2 – following the guides of course. Those steps would work, but strangely when I got to the “Boot ud:3 ...” step and hit enter, the computer just froze. Only once did it go through (not sure what I did differently), but that time I didn’t get an Apple logo, but the ø icon. Also, some people just recommend turning the computer on with the USB installer and pressing “C” or “Option” – both of these never seem to work for me with USBs. I’m not sure how anyone makes this work on a Clamshell.
– During the 10.4.11 Combo update, the ‘Time Remaining’ was displayed wrongly, e.g. “1130843 hours and 52 minutes”. These numbers rapidly dropped as it went. There was also a major error when restarting from the update, kernel problems, not making any progress, on a loop, so I restarted again. Again, it went into verbose mode, but it seemed to sort itself out, restarted again, verbose mode again, boot. Took a long time to do all these steps, but it finally worked.
– The left shift key didn’t seem to work. That caused me some concern, knowing that I wanted this Clamshell primarily to write on. No need to worry in the end – the key must’ve just been loose, and reinstalling it properly fixed that problem. I wondered how much the previous owner had tinkered around with things, because I also noticed with a chuckle that the F4 Volume up and F3 Volume down keys had been swapped – I swapped those back too.
