Can you tell what Mac this is?
Hello all,
This is my first post and hope its in the right place.
I just had my first Mac given to me. It is a:
"Power Macintosh 9600/200MP"
Can anyone tell me about it. I haven't ever used a Mac and am curious. How old is it? What OS is prolly on it? Is it fast enough to play around with? Can I put OSX on it? Is it any good?
Anything you can tell me would be great.
TIA for the replies.
-Josh
This is my first post and hope its in the right place.
I just had my first Mac given to me. It is a:
"Power Macintosh 9600/200MP"
Can anyone tell me about it. I haven't ever used a Mac and am curious. How old is it? What OS is prolly on it? Is it fast enough to play around with? Can I put OSX on it? Is it any good?
Anything you can tell me would be great.
TIA for the replies.
-Josh
Comments
First, Your computer was built right before the first G3 series computers about 5-7 years ago. Assuming there are no upgrades, your computer has 2 200Mhz processors. The original OS I believe was OS 8 (Or else 8.5) and can be upgraded to OS 9.1. OS X is not officially compatible with the 9600 series computers, but can be installed with the use of a hack. (Though it is not not recommended for beginners.)
If that's not enough, here are the Tech spec's.
The first computer I owned was an 8600, It's little brother.
The sad part is, I am still paying off the Apple student loan, Yikes.
Anyway, nowadays it's a nice piece of vintage kit but you will be hard pressed to get to keep it running. Look out for the internal battery, it's at the right age to die. Luckily you can pick up a new one at radioshak.
Secondly, I had written my reply when Windows Media Player decided that it wanted this window for its own nefarious purposes.
The Mac:
Introduced in 1997 as the top of the line Mac. Dual 604 CPUs, at 200MHz. The dual CPUs were only actually used in specially coded applications, like Photoshop. It probably has quite a bit of RAM, as it's a Pro Mac. If it doesn't, the Mac's age might make finding more quite expensive. The 9600 can run Mac OS 7.5.5 to 9.1 offically. Mac OS 7.5.5 to 8.1: 32MB plus is recommended; 8.5 to 9.1 64MB+. Mac OS X requires 128MB or more RAM, preferably 256MB.
It has a 4GB hard drive and a 12x CD drive as standard. Six PCI slots (but one of them has the video card in it).
It has an ethernet port, SCSI, uses ADB to connect the mouse and keyboard. A cheap USB PCI card would allow it to use USB devices if you have Mac OS 8.5 or newer (not sure about 8.1). Make sure that you keep the ADB keyboard and mouse, as you might need them if you start from a System CD that doesn't have 3rd party USB card support or with extensions off to troubleshoot.
Uses:
Well suited to small/home office tasks, being a web/media/ftp server, firewall, second computer, etc. Not well suited to playing 3D games newer than Quake 3. What software came with it?
Mac OS X:
Mac OS X is not offically supported on 9600s but can be installed using XPostFacto, which is freeware. 10.1 will run on the machine with its default CPUs (PowerPC 604s). Installing OS X can be fiddly on unsupported machines and you''l need Mac OS 9.0 or newer on it to start with.
If you want to run the current version of Mac OS X, 10.2 (aka Jagaur) you can replace the Dual 604 daughtercard with a G3 one, but I wouldn't recommend it. CPU upgrades are often worth more than the machine (especially one this old) and Mac OS X should be able to use both of the PowerPC 604s, decreasing the performance gained from an upgrade to a single G3.
If you want to run non-Apple OSs, most Mac compatible UNIXs/Linux/etc run on the 7/8/9600 models.
Edit: batteries should cost about $5/£3.
BTW I am not new to computers just Macs as I am a webmaster by trade. Macs always intrigued me though and have been wanting to get a machine to devirginize me
It does have have a Jaz drive, cd rom, floppy.
What are the batteries for? I also noticed that it has two power plugs... 1 male, 1 female.
Thanks all. Also what are some other good Mac forums. I hang out at anantech.com, 2cpu.com, and webmasterworld.com.
-Josh
I have an 8500, and the battery is dead... it's a pain to reset the date and time every time after it gets unplugged, but as long as it remains plugged in it's ok.
I am in a similar situation - I have just been given a 6400/180. I was wondering if it would handle running a mail server on it? If so, can anyone recommend a mail server program for the old OS?
Thanks
OS X can use dual 604s?
I dont know much about macs, but next week i will buy my first 12" powerbook.
Originally posted by isemir
Hi there:
I dont know much about macs, but next week i will buy my first 12" powerbook.
Just a little of topic... But enjoy, their great, especially at the new price.
though i am not sure you will get the desired mac owner satisfaction considering the the mac you were givin was built before steve came back to the company.
everything has changed since then. however i gave my sister an 8500 and it still works fine for her.
BTW, the dual 604s aren't supported for OS X's multiprocessing. OS X only supports dual G4s right now. So that extra processor will be unused unless you run Photoshop or maybe Quake III (I think Q3 is multiprocessor-aware). OS 9 doesn't even have multiprocessing so you'll only see an improvement in those applications which will take advantage of both processors.
Anyway, have fun with it. And if you want it to run faster, you could get a G3 upgrade for not too much money. A G3/350 or G3/400 card is only about $60-$100. It's probably not worth it to get anything faster or more expensive than that.
Originally posted by Matt FT
Just a little of topic... But enjoy, their great, especially at the new price.
The contraction of "They are" is actually, "They're". Little known fact around these parts apparently ;-)
Originally posted by LoCash
The contraction of "They are" is actually, "They're". Little known fact around these parts apparently ;-)
You think that is bad, you should have seen my lectures at uni. They had problems with using the definative article becuse it took up too much room for their important maths! So, I blame them for my appauling grammer and loose grasp of the English language.