Hi Tiffany! Your 6500 should run OS 9 just fine. The requirements for OS 9 are a PowerPC processor, about 40MB of RAM, and about 200MB of hard drive space. If the disk you purchased is 9.0, I would upgrade to 9.1, which is available for free from Apple's support site. OS 9.1 is the highest your computer will run with the stock configuration. I have a feeling though that what you have is at least a 9.2 disk (the version number is printed on the face of the disk, usually in very small print). If that is the case, then yes, you will need a G3 processor upgrade to run it.
Now, if you want to upgrade your computer to a G3 processor, the procedure is fairly simple. I'll give a few highlights here, but ultimately, you'll most likely want to check out the 6400 Zone (http://www.zone6400.com/) for detailed instructions. Most computers are upgraded by removing the processor card and replacing it with a new, more powerful processor card. The processor on the 6400/6500/5400/5500 systems are permanently attached to the motherboard. So, some engineers figured out how to create a processor upgrade that would fit in the cache slot on the motherboard, which would cause the main processor to just go to sleep. The upgrades work pretty well (I have a NewerTechnology 300mhz upgrade in mine). You won't be able to run OS X, and even if through some hack you could, it would be too slow to be usable. In addition to the processor upgrade, if possible, I would recommend maximizing the RAM. Your system will run much better if it has lots of RAM to play in. Interesting you mention "Frankensteining" your PC... I've always called my 6400 FrankenMac... I've upgraded the processor, video card, added a network card, replaced the hard drive, added a CD-RW, and maxxed out the RAM. Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions. Bryan C. Forrest Macintosh Specialist LifeNet http://www.lifenet.org On Tuesday, April 15, 2003, at 12:08 AM, Tiffany Cox wrote: > Hi, > > I'm a fairly new mac user. I am a student at a Midway College in > the > heart of the bluegrass, so all my money goes towards tuition and books. > ;) Therefore, I bought a second hand 6500/250 and am trying to figure > out the cheapest way around buying a whole new computer. When I began > running my machine, it had OS 8.6 installed and so I went ahead and > installed Appleworks and other programs requiring at least 8.6. It ran > fine for a long while until it started freezing up on me. I then made > the mistake of doing a clean install. I did not consider that I only > had > the Mac OS 8 CD and not the OS 8.5 CD. I went ahead and na?vely ebayed > a > OS 9 CD and OS X CD with many (I suppose) cool accessories. I didn't > expect the OS X CD to really work, but I was really hoping the OS 9 > would. Suffice to say, it does not! > > Now for my question. Can anyone give me any hints as to how to > cheaply upgrade/replace my CPU as to get it to run at least OS 9 if not > OS X? I was sifting through eBay and xlr8yourmac.com, but my brain is > not working right or something and I don't want to pump any more money > than I have to into a machine that will not perform to my needs. > Someone > on the xlr8yourmac site said that they upgraded to a G3/L2/400 CPU and > their 6500/250 would run OS 9 just fine. This all sounded like greek to > me. Specifically it was the details of "upgrade" and G3/L2/400 that > caught me off guard. All I know is the big box where you put the disk > needs to work better. I have some experience with taking apart > computers > and making various components work on them, but I'm just not hip to the > lingo. > > I have really fallen in love with Macs and don't want to switch > back > to the evil Microsoft systems. I think I've finally frankensteined my > old pentium to death, anyway. Any pity taken on a poor struggling > student would be greatly appreciated! > > Thanks, > > Tiffany > > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be April 22. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be April 22. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>.
