# So I found a mac...



## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Its hard rubbish collection time in my area, and on my way home I saw this mac lying on the side of the road. So I stopped and picked it up and hurried on home. It works like a charm. It's a G3 350mhz 448MB ram machine. It has Mac os 8.6 installed with aroun 3gb free hdd space (not sure of total disc size).

I need to format in order to remove all the junk on the machine, inlucding the previous owners personal files. So I am thinking of upgrading the OS, so I can use more software.

I was thinking of going all out on Mac OSX, but I nee to find out if this machine has a DVD drive - how do I find out? Apart from that it seems to meet the required specs.

Any other tips for a complete mac novis would be excellent.

Late,


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I even though about instaling nix on it. From what I hear there are distros for PPC - such as Ubuntu which is my current favorite distro. It would be a cheaper option too! But I'd like to try OS X... Hmmz..

Late,


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## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

AvvY said:


> I nee to find out if this machine has a DVD drive - how do I find out?


In the Apple Menu (that's the one on the far left that, coincidentally, has an apple as its icon) you should find an item labelled _Apple System Profiler_. This will tell you what sort of hardware (and software, if memory serves) is installed.

Congrats on a nice find! I wish I could be so lucky. But, then, in the current heat here (116 degrees yesterday and the day before) a computer left on the street would quickly melt into a useless heap of plastic, silicon and metal.


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## emoxley (Jan 6, 2004)

You're gonna need much more than an OS disc, if you're gonna go with OSX.....
May need bigger HD. Depending on size you have. I understand OSX is a space hog on HD. The big thing though, is the processor. A 350 mHz isn't much for OSX. Will probably run VERY slow. Mine is 333 mHz. I had thought one time about upgrading, but people at the apple forums said it would be extremely slow. 350 isn't that much faster than mine. OS 8.6 is a great OS (IMHO). I'd probably buy OS 9.2.2 on eBay, and enjoy it.......... 
Good luck with whatever you decide. Nice find.


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## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

emoxley said:


> I understand OSX is a space hog on HD.


1,652,017,669 bytes on this machine (though I've got some bells and whistles that not everyone will need), compared to 157,114,378 bytes for OS 9.2.2 on the same (dual booting) machine.

Yeah, it's a bit of a hog, I guess. But it's worth it. If it'll run on that slow a machine.


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## HenryVI (May 27, 2005)

Cool find AvvY :up:

Wish I could find something like that.....


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Ok, I did some checking:
It has a 6GB HDD. I have a spare 4GB hdd here which I could add in for extra space. Also, it only has a CD-Rom drive, but I thought I could steal one of my DVD-Rom drives from my PC ad stick it in to install the os. As I mentioned, I could also get Ubuntu onto it.

I am not very familiar with the differences in Mac and PC hardware - my understanding is that it is the same, just different CPU which then = diferent software and so forth.

I'd like to have a go at setting this machine up for a bit of fun. I think it has some potential.

Late,


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

I just checked os X's system requirements:

* PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor
* Built-in FireWire
* At least 256MB of physical RAM
* A built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer
* At least 3.0 GB of available space on your hard drive; 4GB of disk space if you install XCode 2 developer tools
* DVD drive for installation

So, I will end up with only 3GB free space on the drive - but because it wont be high usage, and I will have it networked to my PC via my LAN, plus if I can install that spare hdd i have... It should be ok. As for speed. Well, Im not sure of how osx runs, but I installed WinXP Pro Sp2 on a 333mhz 392MB ram machine, and it doesnt run too badly. I guess i could also disable anything which is prosessor intensive.

My main concern is just finding compadible software. For example I couldnt use IE or Netscape (which were already installed), because they were too slow and didnt render properly, so I found an old copy of Opera which worked, before finding an old build of Mozilla which was compadible. but as you said, there is still software support for os9...

Late,


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## emoxley (Jan 6, 2004)

You need to use mac firmware with the extra HD. Can't just take one out of a pc and stick it in a mac, and it work.
Sounds like you have a job in front of you. Could be fun. Will be a learning experience....


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## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

emoxley said:


> You need to use mac firmware with the extra HD. Can't just take one out of a pc and stick it in a mac, and it work.
> Sounds like you have a job in front of you. Could be fun. Will be a learning experience....




That's _never_ been _my_ experience, but if you say so.

I've always just bought whatever HD fit my needs and my wallet the best, opened up the case and installed it. Then I used HD Toolkit (in the old days), Disk First Aid (in the middle ages), or Disk Utility (in the present days), formatted the disk and, if necessary, partitioned it. I've never had to deal with any kind of firmware for drives. Ever. Not once.

:shrug:


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Well, it is an old HDD. It is a Maxtor 4223MB HDD manufactured in 97. So it pre dates this comp, so I imagine *should* be supported. And if I do go ahead and install OSX (or Ubuntu), it should be fine with it. As I said, I don't know how it all works with mac, but I figure it uses the same parts in essence. In either case, where would one find firmware if needed?

Late,


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## emoxley (Jan 6, 2004)

VegasACF............
Probably different with a brand new drive. But, I'm pretty sure you can't take one out of a pc and put it in a mac, and it work ok.......... Gonna have to do something different. Maybe firmware isn't the right term to use. Something in the formatting with Disk Tools prepared the drive. Maybe just the fact it was mac software............. Been too long ago for me.

AvvY.......
If you do need firmware, whether an upgrade or whatever, you get it at www.apple.com in the downloads area. Will just have to look around. If you go from OS 8.6 to OSX, you will definately have to upgrade your firmware before installation.
Good luck!


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

It sounds like Mac hardware is a pain in the arse when it comes to upgrading. I never have had to upgrade a computers firmware just to upgrade the OS... I'd like confirmation on this before I go ahead. I realise that I'd need to re-partition the drive so the mac os could read it, thats fine. In anycase, I will install Ubuntu or Kubuntu onto the system until I organise getting a copy of OSX.

Late,


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Ok, things looking good. Iwas messing around with the mac, oppend up to see its gooy insides, and while I was at it installed the spare hdd i had. It worked. I initialized it via discksetup or something, and now its there. so i now have a total of about 10gb of space in the machine, which is HEAPS for what ill be using it for. it has 2 spare slots - some weird pci looking ones, and 2 video cards, so ill remove one to free up a slot. i will also upgrade the cd-rom to either a cd-rw which i have lying around, or go pick up a dvd-rom so i can install osx. it has 4 ram bays, 3 are filled with a total of 448Mb, so i can always tinker with that too.

Late,


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## emoxley (Jan 6, 2004)

Glad you got it to work for you.


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## Dave_Snow (Oct 27, 2004)

It's amazing what you can find on the road. On my paper route I found a palmpilot 3 XE on the road, cleaned it out and it works great. I love free stuff.


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## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

Yeah, I got my current pair of sunglasses that way. The wife and I were out riding our bicycles and I rode past a pair of shades in the street. I stopped and went back to look at them. Turns out they were a rather expensive pair of Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban sunglasses, and there wasn't a scratch on the lenses! 

Never found a computer, though.


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## Dave_Snow (Oct 27, 2004)

Sweet!


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## AvvY (Oct 8, 2004)

Nice score. Well, hard rubbish day is on the 27th, so I am keeping my eyes pealed for everything that is getting put out on the nature strip. I could do with an extra monitor now... Lol.

Late,


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