Can I run OSX on a 300mhz g3 tower?

etihod · July 20, 2003 7:22PM

I have a 300mhz g3 tower which I replaced with an iMac when my monitor died. I am wondering if I can utilize my near worthless tower as a backup drive or something. Does anyone know if I can run OSX on it? I have 512 mb of ram. Alternatively, can I network it to my iMac using OS9? The hitch is that I don't have a monitor to play around with, I just have the tower. If the general consensus is that I won't get it to work, i;ll throw it up on ebay and get five bucks for it and not spend the money on a monitor. Any thoughts?

luca · July 20, 2003 7:26PM

OS X will run on it... if it's a beige one, then 10.2 is the latest version that'll work, and if it's one of the blue ones it'll work in 10.3 as well.

EDIT: Hmm, maybe I should include some advice as well... networking between OS 9 and OS X is pretty simple, just make sure AppleTalk is on for both of them and so is File Sharing.

If it's a beige, I'd just sell it on eBay. You should be able to get $200. Normally they're not worth that much but since it has so much RAM, and because it's faster than average, it might get $200. If it's blue, though, it's much more useful and you should probably keep it (unless, of course, you have no use for it).

ensign pulver · July 20, 2003 7:34PM

Don't even bother.

delphiki · July 20, 2003 8:15PM

I got OS X 10.2 working on a 350 mhz G3, blue and white. It didn't do anything particularly fast but it worked quite well as a file server for archived jobs and even runs photoshop and illustrator and pagemaker in classic mode when necessary. Your machine isn't too far below that so if you don't need anything especially complicated out of it then you should be ok I would think.

You could also put Linux on it and use it as a file server if you don't mind a little bit of technical work. Or maybe Darwin? I haven't played around with Darwin at all, but if you just want it as a file server it'll work perfectly fine headless (an OS X, Linux, or Darwin file server shouldn't require much maintenance). I'm sure you have a friend who has a monitor you could use to get it set up and once it's set up then you can give the monitor back.

kupan787 · July 20, 2003 9:04PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

OS X will run on it... if it's a beige one, then 10.2 is the latest version that'll work, and if it's one of the blue ones it'll work in 10.3 as well.

Has apple come out and said that 10.3 wont run on the beige machines? I would understand if that were the case (them being old world rom macs, and you had to use the "first 8GB" hack to get OS X to install int eh first place), but I don't recall hearing anything yet.

luca · July 21, 2003 2:24AM

In the 10.3 installation program it says it's supported on Blue & White PowerMac G3s, PowerMac G4s, PowerBook G3s with USB, PowerBook G4s, iBooks, and iMacs. That leaves out the Wallstreet PowerBook (which had ADB, Serial and SCSI, no USB) and the beige G3s. Basically you have to have a Mac with USB on the motherboard. So Lombards and later, iBooks, iMacs, and blue G3s are what you can run it on.

Original iMacs still have to use the 8 GB workaround, but it's not related to old-world vs. new-world ROMs, it just has something to do with the IDE controller used on older computers.

placebo · July 21, 2003 12:41PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ensign Pulver

Don't even bother.

I resent that.

: Jaguar works very well on a G3/300, even one with not more than 256 MB RAM. I use Fireworks, Flash, and Dreamweaver (not to mention Microsoft Office) without a hitch. Get a grip.

highfalutintodd · July 21, 2003 4:20PM

Go for it. I've got Jaguar running on a beige G3 333 and it runs like a champ. I use it mainly as a file server and for Retrospect backup, but has been pushed into service running FileMaker databases and as a backup machine in a pinch without giving me any grief at all. It's also proven to be a remarkably expandable machine. I now have both ATA and SCSI drives in it, the original CD-ROM drive and a new CD-Burner, a FireWire/USB2.0 card, and a 10/100 Base-T Ethernet card in it. This machine is a workhorse, and I can't imagine being without it. Granted, it doesn't provide the fastest experience in the world, but it certainly works, and if you're looking for a file server, you'll get a great, reliable machine out of it.

PS - I'm also running Jaguar on a rev. A 300MHz iBook, so don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. ;-)

dobby · July 21, 2003 4:26PM

4 x 233mhz G3 (beige) all humming away nicely 10.2.

Not exactly fast but at least you get a couple of apps running simulanteonsly (sp?).

Dobby.

drboar · July 22, 2003 4:04AM

I had 10.2 on a B&W G3/300 with only 192 MB RAM and it was quite OK, just a tad slower than my G4/400. BTW BY accident I happened to boot in 9.2 last night and my my, I had all but forgotten how fast my G4/400 is in 9.

Even a 7600 G3/350 can use OS X but then it is slow. I haven have installed 10.1 on a 7600/200. Here it is really slow, think OS 9 on a 7200.... but even that would be a good file server. Go to a second hand computer store or similar and buy a Apple 14" monitor for 10 dollars and there you have your server

hypoluxa · July 23, 2003 1:31PM

Hey now be nice to the B&W G3's I have a 300 with 512 of ram and 10.2.6 run great on it , mind you not super fast but Hey! its super stable and the damn thing never freezes up or crashes PS7 Ill 10 Dreamveaver MX all run fine on it. Ive had it since May of 99. You mac users should now that the macs are built to last , I mean some folks were still using the old beige macs when I was doing tech support for Adobe over a yr ago. It gets the job done, period. But Id like to have G5 eventually. when I sell my left kidney and spleen and maybe try to see how much a lung is worth..to buy one.

placebo · July 23, 2003 2:48PM

In some ways, I think that my G3 runs OS X better than 9. Very stable, and a pleasure to use.

dstranathan · July 23, 2003 8:45PM

yes

Can I run OSX on a 300mhz g3 tower?

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