@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@I'm a school teacher and I've got a donated 8500 with a g3-266. It has no USB PCI card so I bought one from Circuit City. It's an ADS brand USB port (paperwork says it's mac compatible). Now that I've got it home, I'm concerned about tearing into the mac since I've read so many horror stories about getting into the 8500.
My wife and I are school teachers and she's taking a digital camera course. However, what we do right now is download to a toshiba laptop w/usb and then email to the 8500 sitting next to the laptop and use the 8500 and the 20" Apple monitor to look at the pictures.
Since you have it you might as well use it, right ?
So; pull a quarter out of your pocket and turn the four screws in back until they release the metal case shell from the back panel.
Wear a wrist strap from Radio Shack or touch a water pipe to release static electricity. Touch the metal of the inner case structure too.
Look in the bottom of the case. Use canned air ora paint brush to remove the dust bunnies.
If you are ambitious some electronics cleaner also from the store will wash everything in the case. Do it in a well vented place. over old newspaper.
Tilt the case so the dirty fluid will run out.
I recommend a bright light so you can see what's inside. Also online at the LEM site Is a link to an 8500 manual.
This would help familiarize you with the innards.
There is at the bottom a plastic support that snaps in . Pinch it together at the top to swing it out. Use a plier or screwdriver to push the spring on the bottom out of the way so the piece can be pushed sideways so both pins at the bottom can come out. The piece is now out of the way.
Lay the case on its side with the open side up. You can see the PCI slots at the bottom Pick one . Remember that those plastic tabs in the way are brittle and will break easy. There may not even be any left. And the funny thing is once the card has been in place they are darn stubborn. and you
will feel like breaking them off anyway ! But don't they hold the cards firmly in their slots. Carefully push one sideways to release a card.
Do the same while inserting the card. You must push carefully, firmly and slowly to seat the card fully . look down both sides of the card
at the metal contacts and make sure you see an even line of equally distandt metal showing. . Also look at the metal bracket on the end and see that it is engaged properly with the plasticd retainer tab and the bottom tab is hooked correctly. Take your time.
ake sure USB card support 1.4.4 is in the extensions folder. Plug the machine with the case off or just put the shell on but don't fasten it. Fire up the machine and plug in a USB peripheral and see if it works.
The real horror of the 8500 is if you have to change or check RAM in the upper slots. Otherwise don't worry about it.
--
Adrian
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