iMac G3 400 DV and OSX

steve666steve666
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I am getting a hand me down iMac 400 G3 and I want to attempt to install OSX on it. It only has 128 Mb Ram and I know I need to increase it. There are 2 64 Mb chips in it because I remember installing the one 64 Mb chip my niece got for free with the purchase. What do you suggest I buy? I was thinking 256 Mb , but is that OK to put a 256 next to a 64? Any idea how much this should cost and where I should buy it?



Also, can I hook up my 17 inch monitor to the imac? I just want to mirror the image. Do I need a special hookup or will it plug right in?



Does anyone have any experience using Panther on an old iMac? I hope it will work OK. Currently I am using a Powermac 8100 with 100 mhz and a 33.6 modem so I assume it will be an improvement....................................... ......
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    what kind of connection does your monitor have? the iMac should have a VGA port you can setup for mirroring (slot-loading drive right?)



    the ram should work as long as you get PC100 DIMMS (or faster) www.ramseeker.com has some good prices should be close to $50 for 256
  • Reply 2 of 30
    bluerabbitbluerabbit Posts: 105member
    There is a VGA port on the back, and the RAM will work as long as it is fast enough (right now I have 128 and 512 chips next to each other, and everything works fine).
  • Reply 3 of 30
    magicfingersmagicfingers Posts: 703member
    My son has a 400DV imac with 384ram, you definately want at least that much. The old imac is pretty slow to respond with OSX, don't get me all wrong, it is usable, but compared to our emac and QS, it is a pooch.

    You will probably enjoy the upgrade from what you are using now though. Have fun, Randy
  • Reply 4 of 30
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    What MagicFingers said.



    I've got Panther installed on my old iMac DV (with 384MB RAM) and it's totally fine for surfing, e-mailing, iTunes jukebox, iCal, iSync, writing, light graphics, DTP. Do it all the time, and did it years ago when it was my sole Mac.



    As I said in another thread, it runs Panther WAY better than the Public Beta or 10.1, that's for sure!



    Panther basically gave it a new lease on life, IMO.



    Look around at The Chip Merchant, also, for RAM. I've always (for 9 years now) bought from them for work AND home needs. Never had a single problem.
  • Reply 5 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Thanks for all the replys. It is the slot loading model so it should have the VGA port. Im glad about that because I never liked the built in monitor on the iMac. I have a Mag Innovision 17 inch monitor so it is VGA. Im not sure where to put the iMac. I have enough room I think on my desk to put oit next to the 17 inch monitor but I would rather not have the radiation from the iMac's screen so close to me-maybe Ill just put it on the floor.



    I will check that place for prices on RAM. I will have to leave the 64 Mb Chip in there so I will end up wih 320 Mb RAM. Hope that will be enough. I really dont want to have to buy 2 new chips (not even sure if the first one is soldered on).



    I definitely want to put panther on it because OS9 is just not compatible with too much right now. I especially want to upgrade to AOL for OSX. Too bad theres no DC burner in the iMac.



    My friend told me that Panther requires 10-13 Gb Hard drive space. Is this true? I thought the G3 400 iMac only has a 10 Gb hard drive? I think he must be mistaken?..........................
  • Reply 6 of 30
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by steve666

    My friend told me that Panther requires 10-13 Gb Hard drive space. Is this true? I thought the G3 400 iMac only has a 10 Gb hard drive? I think he must be mistaken?..........................



    My Panther install is under 2 gigs, dude. Friend is wra-ha-hong.
  • Reply 7 of 30
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    I'm running panther on an iMac 266 ... with 192 MB ram ... it runs just fine !



    You'll love it... adding ram MIGHT make difference web-browsing and emailing, but it will DEFINITELY make a noticeable difference running iPhoto, or iMovie (or Photoshop, etc)
  • Reply 8 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by murbot

    My Panther install is under 2 gigs, dude. Friend is wra-ha-hong.



    Thank you, it sounded odd to me..................................
  • Reply 9 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by KingOfSomewhereHot

    I'm running panther on an iMac 266 ... with 192 MB ram ... it runs just fine !



    You'll love it... adding ram MIGHT make difference web-browsing and emailing, but it will DEFINITELY make a noticeable difference running iPhoto, or iMovie (or Photoshop, etc)



    Thanks, Im actually getting psyched about getting a hand me down computer from my niece! OS9 is just starting to get annoying because of incompatibilities and my 100mhz 8100 is starting to drag on the net. I will buy a 256 Mb chip for the imac. Just have to find the best price. Ramseeker has it for $76.



    Now, do I bother getting an external CD burner? I have about 10 zip disks full of stuff, so I will need a zip drive at least temporarily. Decisions, decisions...........................
  • Reply 10 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Well, I just received the iMac and one problem-no power cord! The hole where it plugs into looks too small for a standard power cord, am I correct? My sister is looking for it but I have a feeling its gone.

    I am going to check the Apple Store but I dont know if they would sell it. maybe Powermax? Any ideas would be welcome.



    I also found a 256 Mb chip from PNY for $70 with a $20 mail in rebate. This is the cheapest I could find. They recommend using PC100 RAM.



    I also was under the impression that I could plug in an external VGA monitor and mirror the image but I dont see any VGA port on the side. This is dissapointing to me because I was looking forward to using my 17 inch monitor instead of the small built in 15 inch. Darn it!..........................
  • Reply 11 of 30
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by steve666

    My friend told me that Panther requires 10-13 Gb Hard drive space. Is this true? I thought the G3 400 iMac only has a 10 Gb hard drive? I think he must be mistaken?..........................



    i know murbot already answered this, but i think he may be referring to a basic install for a new mac, in other words, when you buy an imac or powermac, you also get a lot of other software (and os 9) along with it, optionally of course (like idvd and imovie, microsoft test drive edition, appleworks, a couple games, that sort of thing). plus, putting the devtools will also take up space. all of that combined would probably run 10-13 gb.
  • Reply 12 of 30
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by steve666

    Well, I just received the iMac and one problem-no power cord! The hole where it plugs into looks too small for a standard power cord, am I correct? My sister is looking for it but I have a feeling its gone.

    I am going to check the Apple Store but I dont know if they would sell it. maybe Powermax? Any ideas would be welcome.



    I also found a 256 Mb chip from PNY for $70 with a $20 mail in rebate. This is the cheapest I could find. They recommend using PC100 RAM.



    I also was under the impression that I could plug in an external VGA monitor and mirror the image but I dont see any VGA port on the side. This is dissapointing to me because I was looking forward to using my 17 inch monitor instead of the small built in 15 inch. Darn it!..........................



    i used to own the exact same imac... the vga port is on the underside in the very back. they have a cosmetic door with lots of little holes covering it by default, but it's there. you can either remove it outright, or there's also a spare "beauty door" they shipped with that imac that closes most fo the opening, but still allows the vga cord to pass through. but you might not have received that in the deal either.



    as far as the powercord goes, i wish you had talked to me six months ago... i had like ten. i;m sure you'd find 'em on ebay all over the place (they're the translucent graphite ones).



    also, if you're interested, that imac can be upgraded to both a g4 AND superdrive. only problem is the video (and the fact that you'll spend a lot of time replacing components, because they're not that easy to remove... still ten times easier than the original tray-loading imacs, but still no walk in the park, either).
  • Reply 13 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Thank you so much, I never would have thought to look in the back. Is this the same place where the door for the RAM is? Doesnt matter, I will take a look later.

    So I guess a standard size power cord wouldnt fit? I'll give it a shot also, but I dont want to mess up the machine by using a cord with the wrong specs. I have a cord to my PM 8100 that I was going to try.



    As for the other post about the 10-13 Gb space, thanks also. I told my friend he was a bonehead, now I'll have to apologize to him!.



    By the way, ny recommendations for an external CD burner? I would suppose firewire would be the way to go, unless its much more than usb, about $99.........................









    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    i used to own the exact same imac... the vga port is on the underside in the very back. they have a cosmetic door with lots of little holes covering it by default, but it's there. you can either remove it outright, or there's also a spare "beauty door" they shipped with that imac that closes most fo the opening, but still allows the vga cord to pass through. but you might not have received that in the deal either.



    as far as the powercord goes, i wish you had talked to me six months ago... i had like ten. i;m sure you'd find 'em on ebay all over the place (they're the translucent graphite ones).



    also, if you're interested, that imac can be upgraded to both a g4 AND superdrive. only problem is the video (and the fact that you'll spend a lot of time replacing components, because they're not that easy to remove... still ten times easier than the original tray-loading imacs, but still no walk in the park, either).



  • Reply 14 of 30
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by steve666

    Thank you so much, I never would have thought to look in the back. Is this the same place where the door for the RAM is? Doesnt matter, I will take a look later.

    So I guess a standard size power cord wouldnt fit? I'll give it a shot also, but I dont want to mess up the machine by using a cord with the wrong specs. I have a cord to my PM 8100 that I was going to try.



    As for the other post about the 10-13 Gb space, thanks also. I told my friend he was a bonehead, now I'll have to apologize to him!.



    By the way, ny recommendations for an external CD burner? I would suppose firewire would be the way to go, unless its much more than usb, about $99.........................



    just keep an eye on dealmac.com... they just keep an eye on every mac and computer reseller out there and report on the lowest costs and rebates. but be warned, they are addictive. i nearly went bankrupt this summer buying off their recommendations and rebates up to my armpits.



  • Reply 15 of 30
    scottibscottib Posts: 381member
    IIRC, the VGA door is above the RAM door.



    Quickly searching eBay, I saw iMac cables (genuine Apple) for $5. There are some FireWire CD-RWs on there, too. And a USB Zip drive for $5.



    Check out Apple's compatibility list:



    http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/storage.html
  • Reply 16 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    just keep an eye on dealmac.com... they just keep an eye on every mac and computer reseller out there and report on the lowest costs and rebates. but be warned, they are addictive. i nearly went bankrupt this summer buying off their recommendations and rebates up to my armpits.







    Thanks, I will definitely check them out...................................
  • Reply 17 of 30
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by scottiB

    IIRC, the VGA door is above the RAM door.



    Quickly searching eBay, I saw iMac cables (genuine Apple) for $5. There are some FireWire CD-RWs on there, too. And a USB Zip drive for $5.



    Check out Apple's compatibility list:



    http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/storage.html



    Yep, I just found the VGA port! Very excited about that. I will go to ebay for the cable if my sis doesnt find it. Thanks-I'll also check for CDRW's and the zip.............................
  • Reply 18 of 30
    mattjohndrowmattjohndrow Posts: 1,618member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by murbot

    My Panther install is under 2 gigs, dude. Friend is wra-ha-hong.



    the panther install is under 2 Gigs if you don't install the extra localized files or the dev tools, if u install all of them, then it's about 2.7 GBs
  • Reply 19 of 30
    mattjohndrowmattjohndrow Posts: 1,618member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by steve666

    I am getting a hand me down iMac 400 G3 and I want to attempt to install OSX on it. It only has 128 Mb Ram and I know I need to increase it. There are 2 64 Mb chips in it because I remember installing the one 64 Mb chip my niece got for free with the purchase. What do you suggest I buy? I was thinking 256 Mb , but is that OK to put a 256 next to a 64? Any idea how much this should cost and where I should buy it?



    Also, can I hook up my 17 inch monitor to the imac? I just want to mirror the image. Do I need a special hookup or will it plug right in?



    Does anyone have any experience using Panther on an old iMac? I hope it will work OK. Currently I am using a Powermac 8100 with 100 mhz and a 33.6 modem so I assume it will be an improvement....................................... ......



    i have a 400 Mhz G3 iMac as well, and i have 768 MB of RAM in it, and it runs panther just fine...i did get a good deal on the RAM, though...512 for $60.

    i would recommend at least 512 MB though.



    u might wanna check out dealram.com, and datamem.com for prices though
  • Reply 20 of 30
    graphicumpgraphicump Posts: 82member
    Any old Mac power cord will work just fine. I did that for an iMac SL 350 I fixed and gave to my bro & sis-in-law for Christmas.



    Second, here's the Apple Service Manual for that model - it shows how to replace and repair everything on the machine:



    http://z1.micro.umn.edu/ucs/imac_sl.pdf



    Third, here's 256 MB RAM for $52.95:



    http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_It...OWC100SD256328
Sign In or Register to comment.