On 1 July 2016 at 03:09, Terry Stewart <te...@webweavers.co.nz> wrote: > My classic/vintage computer activity has taken a back seat lately but I did > find a machine I had on the "classic" list for some time. It's now part of > the collection. > http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/collection/imac.htm
Totally an interesting, valid machine. The first-gen iMacs are very limited. However, with major surgery, you can put quite a lot of RAM in them -- 384MB I think -- and a random big EIDE hard disk. In that config, they will run MacOS X up to 10.3, I think. I find it useful to have G3-era Macs dual-boot, because OS X can talk to a modern network, read USB mass storage etc., without significant problems, whereas MacOS 9 struggles. But -- very important note! It's *ESSENTIAL* to upgrade their firmware before ever attempting to boot OS X on them even once. Not install, _boot_. If you don't, OS X resets the screen brightness to minimum -- 1% or so -- and it's very hard to get out of that state. You then need to boot MacOS 9 "blind" and install the firmware update without being able to see what you're doing. I've done it. It's tricky but it is possible. I suspect a lot of iMacs got trashed as "dead" in that condition, though. But upgrade the firmware first and they run old editions of OS X fine, and are rather more useful running it and TenFourFox or something, than they are with Classic only. -- Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk • GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lpro...@hotmail.com • Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Cell/Mobiles: +44 7939-087884 (UK) • +420 702 829 053 (ČR)
