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First i'll say thank you to Byrd for sending these across. Couldn't be happier with the outcome, the way they were packed... everything. 
PowerBook G3/266 - I was particularly after this one. It's a very
nice machine, could do with more RAM (which i'll do later) and perhaps a
new hard disk drive. Unfortunately it won't power up due to a problem
with the AC board, so i'll either try and fix this one or source up another
board. Who is the resident PowerBook G3 expert here, because I have a
question or two.
IBM ThinkPad A20m - Dead. I intend to pull the parts off it and put
them into my ThinkPad 600 if they'll fit, otherwise i'll use them for another
project.
PowerBook 520c - Now i've wanted to boot this one up but none of
my AC adapters work, so I can't really power it on. Otherwise it's in great
physical shape and works just fine when it was last tested recently.
PowerBook G3/266 - I was particularly after this one. It's a very
nice machine, could do with more RAM (which i'll do later) and perhaps a
new hard disk drive. Unfortunately it won't power up due to a problem
with the AC board, so i'll either try and fix this one or source up another
board. Who is the resident PowerBook G3 expert here, because I have a
question or two.
IBM ThinkPad A20m - Dead. I intend to pull the parts off it and put
them into my ThinkPad 600 if they'll fit, otherwise i'll use them for another
project.
PowerBook 520c - Now i've wanted to boot this one up but none of
my AC adapters work, so I can't really power it on. Otherwise it's in great
physical shape and works just fine when it was last tested recently.
on the wallstreet you will need to find a replacement sound board. i have replaced more of these than i would care to remember. its quite a process but not overall to hard to do.
That's the problem, there's no AC/Sound boards on eBay Australia and there's no chance in hell i'm ordering it from an overseas store. It's fix this one, find one in Australia or part the machine out.
Apparently the capacitor on the board is broken, so maybe i'll try and recap it.
Apparently the capacitor on the board is broken, so maybe i'll try and recap it.
I've been working on the WallStreets more times than I care to remember, so I know a fair amount about them.
The most common problem with those things is the power jack. They usually didn't use enough solder when they made 'em, so the joints break really easily. If I were you, I'd touch 'em all up and see if that makes a difference. As for the capacitors, I think there are only a few ceramics on that board, maybe one or two small electrolytics. I haven't seen one go bad on there yet, though.
What screen size did you get? The 14.1" displays have a tendency to become washed-out after a while (two out of seven did that to me, no fix for it), the 13.3" displays often have problems with vertical lines (usually correctable by reseating the display's cables, all of my 13" were like that), and the STN 12"ers just look bad.
I've got the Apple Service Source manual for it on a CD somewhere. If you don't have it, I could get it to you somehow...
The most common problem with those things is the power jack. They usually didn't use enough solder when they made 'em, so the joints break really easily. If I were you, I'd touch 'em all up and see if that makes a difference. As for the capacitors, I think there are only a few ceramics on that board, maybe one or two small electrolytics. I haven't seen one go bad on there yet, though.
What screen size did you get? The 14.1" displays have a tendency to become washed-out after a while (two out of seven did that to me, no fix for it), the 13.3" displays often have problems with vertical lines (usually correctable by reseating the display's cables, all of my 13" were like that), and the STN 12"ers just look bad.
I've got the Apple Service Source manual for it on a CD somewhere. If you don't have it, I could get it to you somehow...
Apparently one of the capacitor legs had snapped but was resoldered. It's possible the leg snapped for a reason and it needs a new cap, otherwise i'll take it over to the electronics workshop and have it tested to find the faulty component.
I hope... :/
I hope... :/
What's your objection to purchasing from overseas?
My guess is extremely expensive shipping
that would be it!
PAF?
PAF AND Shipping.
Anyway, good news, I opened the G3 and it has no damage at all, the AC board was just unseated. Fit it in right and it booted right up no problems.
Sadly it's only a 233mhz, which means it has no L2 cache and what not, but hey, it's a PowerBook G3 and it only cost me $25! I'm stoked!
Anyway, good news, I opened the G3 and it has no damage at all, the AC board was just unseated. Fit it in right and it booted right up no problems.
Sadly it's only a 233mhz, which means it has no L2 cache and what not, but hey, it's a PowerBook G3 and it only cost me $25! I'm stoked!
glad to hear you got it running 
Just 'cuz it's a 233 doesn't mean it has no L2; only the initial versions lacked a L2. Later models (WallStreet II/PDQ) included a 512k L2 in the 233 and 266MHz versions, and a 1MB on the 300. A quick check with System Profiler (or a glance at the processor board) would reveal whether or not you have a cache.
As we all know: whohoo! Great work iMac 600, can anyone tell us does the original Wallstreet 292Mhz CPU work fine in a 233Mhz Wallstreet? From what iMac 600 has been saying it's an original WS, not the WSII/PDQ.
Coz if so I've got something for you
JB
Coz if so I've got something for you
JB
Hehe, i'm still not 100% certain what revision it is. I don't recall seeing any mention of a cache in System Profiler, but nor did I see the firmware revision so it could be either yet.
Installing OS X 10.2 now for kicks... should be nice when it's up and running completely. For now though I face another problem. The installer starts and displays the grey Apple logo, but after it switches to the GUI part of the installer, the LCD cuts out completely, as if it's in "dimmed display" mode.
When I disconnected the power the backlights came on for a brief second displaying the OS X install wizard, but since the power was cut it didn't go any further. So at least it's working, just not 100%.
Installing OS X 10.2 now for kicks... should be nice when it's up and running completely. For now though I face another problem. The installer starts and displays the grey Apple logo, but after it switches to the GUI part of the installer, the LCD cuts out completely, as if it's in "dimmed display" mode.
When I disconnected the power the backlights came on for a brief second displaying the OS X install wizard, but since the power was cut it didn't go any further. So at least it's working, just not 100%.
As long as iMac600's computer is indeed the original WallStreet, there should be no problems. It may not work in the second revision, tho. Also, keep in mind that the 292MHz model runs at 83MHz, and thus requires PC100 RAM (not that PC66 is common anymore, but just so ya know). Plus, the original 12" model lacks SVideo-out and has only 2MB of VRAM, so it probably wouldn't be worth it to upgrade it any. If you've got the 13 or 14" displays, though, or the later 12" TFT types, you would have SVideo out and 4MB of VRAM.
This is another issue with these machines. Whether yours has the RAGE LT (WallStreet) or RAGE LT PRO (WallStreet II), OS X often has problems with the display. Usually just the backlight cuts out and you can get it back by fiddling with the display brightness control or sleeping/waking once or twice. Other times, graphical corruption is also present, and there's really no fixing that without restarting, zapping PRAM 100 times, and/or using some kind of voodoo magic.
However, IIRC, XPostFacto (though technically not required for 10.2) comes with patched kexts for those video chips that should provide a remedy to the situation. You'd have to visit OWC's website for details, though.
Indeed it does, I had 10.2 on there but this machine is now humming along nicely with Mac OS X Panther, no graphical issues.
It has the 4mb VRAM, no L2 Cache and a 14" display I think. It's Active Matrix, I know that for sure because it just redraws so fast. RAM is all PC100.
In the long run, it could use a new PRAM battery, a RAM boost, a HDD boost and maybe a CPU kick-up with cache. Otherwise, i'm very happy with it.
It has the 4mb VRAM, no L2 Cache and a 14" display I think. It's Active Matrix, I know that for sure because it just redraws so fast. RAM is all PC100.
In the long run, it could use a new PRAM battery, a RAM boost, a HDD boost and maybe a CPU kick-up with cache. Otherwise, i'm very happy with it.
I have three of these, a cachless 233, a 233 with 512 cache, and a 266. Actually the 266 has 1 MB cache, and is a much better processor than the 233/ 512 cache for that simple reason (what's 33 MHz?). The 300s are relatively rare and were (as I recall) troublesome due to overheating problems. My 266 hasn't skipped a beat. I'd look for one of those for the Wallstreet.
Mind you, pretty soon the aftermarket G3 and G4 upgrade boards for the Wallstreet will be about as cheap as a stock 266 processor card.
and if you do all thats its not even the same bloody powerbook any more
i love this powerbook but i nearly gutted it
i love this powerbook but i nearly gutted it
Heres the thing about switching processers between the different models
- the 233mhz, 266mhz and the 300mhz processers can be be used and interchanged with each other
-the 250mhz and 292mhz processers can only be interchanged with each other becuase of the system bus speed.
- the 233mhz, 266mhz and the 300mhz processers can be be used and interchanged with each other
-the 250mhz and 292mhz processers can only be interchanged with each other becuase of the system bus speed.
also note that the cachless models did not have s-video out ports on them. yes the 300mhz model wallstreets are not as common as other speeds
Ok guys, this is strange. It DOES have an S-Video Out port, but it DOESN'T have an L2 cache.
From what I can tell. There's a slim chance the cache isn't being detected because the OS was installed via XPostFacto.
Looking into it now.
EDIT: Definitely has no L2 cache. 67mhz bus clock.
From what I can tell. There's a slim chance the cache isn't being detected because the OS was installed via XPostFacto.
Looking into it now.
EDIT: Definitely has no L2 cache. 67mhz bus clock.
everymac.com has all the answers!
Anyways, to clarify:
The original (WallStreet) came with several configurations, for screen and processor.
The 13 and 14" display models always had 4MB of VRAM and SVideo-out, regardless of whether they had the cheapest, cacheless 233MHz processor or the top-end 292MHz version.
The 12" STN was only available with 2MB of VRAM and no SVideo-out as further cost savings.
Also, all of these displays were incapable of resolution scaling (they were always fixed at 1024x768).
The second version (WallStreet II/PDQ) also had three display choices, but only three processor options.
The three displays were still 12, 13, and 14, but now the 12" was TFT and all models had 4MB VRAM and SVideo. The displays could also change resolution between 1024x768, 800x600, and 640x480.
The three processors were 233MHz, 266MHz, and 300MHz. All of them had L2 caches.
Hope I didn't induce any confusion...
BTW, the system bus frequency is determined by the MPC106 contained on the processor card, not anything on the system board. The PCI bus is always at 33.3MHz regardless of system bus speed. Thus, on the original versions anyway, a 292MHz/83MHz processor card can replace a 233/66MHz card with no issues. I've done it myself.
I have a 250/83 that I can swap into a second-version 233/66 to see if it can be done.
Anyways, to clarify:
The original (WallStreet) came with several configurations, for screen and processor.
The 13 and 14" display models always had 4MB of VRAM and SVideo-out, regardless of whether they had the cheapest, cacheless 233MHz processor or the top-end 292MHz version.
The 12" STN was only available with 2MB of VRAM and no SVideo-out as further cost savings.
Also, all of these displays were incapable of resolution scaling (they were always fixed at 1024x768).
The second version (WallStreet II/PDQ) also had three display choices, but only three processor options.
The three displays were still 12, 13, and 14, but now the 12" was TFT and all models had 4MB VRAM and SVideo. The displays could also change resolution between 1024x768, 800x600, and 640x480.
The three processors were 233MHz, 266MHz, and 300MHz. All of them had L2 caches.
Hope I didn't induce any confusion...
BTW, the system bus frequency is determined by the MPC106 contained on the processor card, not anything on the system board. The PCI bus is always at 33.3MHz regardless of system bus speed. Thus, on the original versions anyway, a 292MHz/83MHz processor card can replace a 233/66MHz card with no issues. I've done it myself.
I have a 250/83 that I can swap into a second-version 233/66 to see if it can be done.
I know i'm late to the party, but nice score, mate. And yes, Byrd is a good guy...i'd recommend him to other buyers any time
And yes, Byrd is a good guy...i'd recommend him to other buyers any time Can't help you with the PAF, but the US Post Office has an $11 flat rate envelope, four pounds weight limit, 12.5x9.5", worldwide.
Well, that's good then
And you can always upgrade the CPU module later on
Well, this is possibly it's first venture on to the 68kMLA from Safari 1.3. Even with 128mb RAM and the 2GB hard disk it's still very snappy and responsive, although I think with some extra hardware it should run even better.
I may open up the ThinkPad later and see if I can get that running as well.
I may open up the ThinkPad later and see if I can get that running as well.
hehe, Safari 1.3 Awesome that you were able to get everything running with the PowerBook, and best of luck with the ThinkPad, if you can get that running, I bet you'll love it. 
Awesome that you were able to get everything running with the PowerBook, and best of luck with the ThinkPad, if you can get that running, I bet you'll love it.
Heh, sadly I think the motherboard in the ThinkPad is roasted. I'd swap the working parts into my other ThinkPad, but for example, the converter board on the back of the DVD drive is a full centimetre off alignment despite being pin compatible, etc.
I need to upgrade Safari, but at the moment it's not worth putting in too much effort. It does have Panther installed on a 2GB drive after all, with only 650mb free space remaining. Definitely needs a hard disk upgrade, but I need to source one first, along with some RAM, preferably locally (within Aus).
I need to upgrade Safari, but at the moment it's not worth putting in too much effort. It does have Panther installed on a 2GB drive after all, with only 650mb free space remaining. Definitely needs a hard disk upgrade, but I need to source one first, along with some RAM, preferably locally (within Aus).
Before you upgrade your hard disk, some food for thought:
When Apple designed the WallStreet, they used a magnetically-actuated sleep system. While nothing is wrong with this per se, there IS often a problem with the switch's location: directly over the hard disk in the upper area of the case.
Older, slower hard disks, such as those made pre-2000, had armature magnets that were relatively weak and therefore had no effect on the sleep switch. Newer drives (particularly faster models), however, utilized magnets with fields strong enough that they clearly manifested well beyond the confines of the disk's casing (hold a ferrous screw up to one and you'll see). This would interact with the little reed switch used to trigger sleep, and, when one of these strong-magnet drives are installed, the machine would be forced immediately into a permanent, irrecoverable sleep mode directly after booting. Not every modern drive will do this, but many of them will. For example, I had a 20GB IBM/Hitachi and a 16GB Toshiba do this to me. The machine only returned to working status when the new hard drive was removed.
The only recourse: Stick with an old hard drive, and you'll be safe.
Actually, you can also choose a hard disk with a particular HDA/PCB arrangement. These drives locate the armature magnets directly next to the drive's interface connector, which keeps the offending magnetic field well away from the sleep switch.
It's kind of hard to describe without another paragraph or two, so here are some pictures:
Good:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2003/879/drive-underside.jpg
Bad:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2003/693/drive-back.jpg
I personally recommend Fujitsu (which, incidentally, the "Good" drive is). I wholeheartedly recommend Fujitsu regardless, but in these WallStreets is another application where they work better than many other drives. They're the only brand I use in these machines (if I replace the original drive, that is).
When Apple designed the WallStreet, they used a magnetically-actuated sleep system. While nothing is wrong with this per se, there IS often a problem with the switch's location: directly over the hard disk in the upper area of the case.
Older, slower hard disks, such as those made pre-2000, had armature magnets that were relatively weak and therefore had no effect on the sleep switch. Newer drives (particularly faster models), however, utilized magnets with fields strong enough that they clearly manifested well beyond the confines of the disk's casing (hold a ferrous screw up to one and you'll see). This would interact with the little reed switch used to trigger sleep, and, when one of these strong-magnet drives are installed, the machine would be forced immediately into a permanent, irrecoverable sleep mode directly after booting. Not every modern drive will do this, but many of them will. For example, I had a 20GB IBM/Hitachi and a 16GB Toshiba do this to me. The machine only returned to working status when the new hard drive was removed.
The only recourse: Stick with an old hard drive, and you'll be safe.
Actually, you can also choose a hard disk with a particular HDA/PCB arrangement. These drives locate the armature magnets directly next to the drive's interface connector, which keeps the offending magnetic field well away from the sleep switch.
It's kind of hard to describe without another paragraph or two, so here are some pictures:
Good:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2003/879/drive-underside.jpg
Bad:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2003/693/drive-back.jpg
I personally recommend Fujitsu (which, incidentally, the "Good" drive is). I wholeheartedly recommend Fujitsu regardless, but in these WallStreets is another application where they work better than many other drives. They're the only brand I use in these machines (if I replace the original drive, that is).
I'll have a look into this, but that really is a major inconvenience. Realistically i'll try and find the right drive, but i'll have to go for any drive I can get. I can't exactly find them just lying around here so good or bad, it'll probably be the last chance I get for a while.
I'll just have to risk it.
Otherwise i'm looking for something about 10gb, 20gb tops. I don't need major amounts of storage, just something to give me a few gigs to play with outside of booting the operating system.
EDIT: Just found out you can sometimes buy shielding foil, often used to overcome this issue. May look into this.
I'll just have to risk it.
Otherwise i'm looking for something about 10gb, 20gb tops. I don't need major amounts of storage, just something to give me a few gigs to play with outside of booting the operating system.
EDIT: Just found out you can sometimes buy shielding foil, often used to overcome this issue. May look into this.
Just an update, I swapped in the 292mhz CPU card and it booted successfully. 1MB L2 cache is detected and used by the system, and it's running on an 83mhz frontside bus.
Previously it said the FSB was 66... strange.
Previously it said the FSB was 66... strange.