On 8/16/10 12:07 AM, "Robert Long" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello group, I am trying to add an additional HD to my G3. Here is the info I > copied from my machine. > > My G 3 is a blue and the info on it is; CD rom and ATA hard drive, PCI slot > $J12 display card, > 4 MB disk cache. Virtual memory; 129 MB, Built in Memory 128 MB, backside L2 > cache 512 K cache, Machine speed is 300 MHz, processor info PowerPC G3. It > connects to internet via ethernet cable. It is not wifi capable yet and I > want to up the memory and add a DVD drive and any other recommendations you > wish to make. So if you have any info you don't mind sharing, let it fly. > I observed that the connection from the HD to the MB are female and there is > one spare connection. Can I connect another HD and what type of cable or > connection do I need? I have been given sever HDs, 20 gb and 40 gb. I don't > know at this point if they are any good yet. If I get the right cable or > connection I will try them and use it. > > thanks in advance > > Robert Long > Hello Robert, To learn more about which Power Mac G3 (B+W, nicknamed ³Smurf²) you have, go here: http://lowendmac.com/ppc/blue-white-power-mac-g3.html And here: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3-ZONE/yosemite/newfeatures.html And here: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g3/stats/powermac_g3_300_bl.h tml This will be important when addressing your desire to add a second HD to your system. Rev. 1 G3s cannot address two HDs on the primary ATA bus, Rev. 2 G3s can. Check to see which revision your motherboard is. You say there¹s a ³spare connection² to the motherboard regarding the HD. Do you mean there is a second plug-in connector on the HD data cable? If so, and presuming your cable is OEM, that is a good sign. Look also at the hard drive bracket/sled that the present hard drive is attached to: it should have sides that rise above the hard drive, allowing you to attach a stacked 2nd HD above it. If all is well with the 2nd rev. issue, your original HD will be on the bottom, serving as ³Master² and your top drive will be the ³slave² (as always, master drive is attached to the end of the cable, slave drive is plugged into the middle socket-set jumpers on each drive accordingly). RAM is PC-100. Highest amount per stick is 256Mb (low density, iirc), x4 = maximum total of 1 Gb of memory. Presuming you want some flavor of OS X, max out the RAM, which is cheap enough and worth the performance. (BTW, if you do this, and switch to OS X, then virtual memory will be a moot point. That you mentioned it tells me you¹ve got OS 9 or earlier on this machine). Your CD drive can be easily replaced with any compatible DVD-RW drive with little if any concern for drivers, etc. If you are in OS-X (10.4.11 is as high as you can go, which is good for this germane point), WI-FI is easily obtained via adding a PCI wireless adapter card; as long as it has the Broad COM chipset, Airport will recognize the card as Airport-compatible. The last challenge will be your video card, which will have to be PCI-based; an ATI Radeon 32Mb of various flavors (Mac Ed., Radeon 7000, 7500, et.al.) will be what to look for. Try to get as many of these items at our LEM swap list; here you¹ll find enough savvy sellers who can help you make sure you are getting the right items for your project. Keep costs as low as possible, otherwise what you¹ll spend will easily outpace the worth of the project (short of doing it for the love of a surprisingly still-viable Mac unit). Best wishes, Dana -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
