Powerbook G3 running Rhapsody 5.6

[Daxziz]

I finally got my hands on a Powerbook G3, "Wallstreet", running at 233 MHz, equipped with 192 MB of RAM and of course a build-in ethernet port able to run 10 mbit.
I was able to get it for around 38 USD and only had to pay for domestic shipping as well, which added around 7 USD to the total.

It's near mint condition, with only the transparent plastic behind the IR missing, and there's a single dead pixel in the screen. Also there's like a small shadow on the other side, but it's barely noticeable. I only saw it once I moved TextEdit over to that side, and my eyes saw something "dirty" on an otherwise clean monitor.

It arrived yesterday with Mac OS 9.1 installed, where I didn't do much else, than verify that it was indeed in a working condition.
After being through my old stuff today, I found my CD with Mac OS X Server 1.2v3, Rhapsody 5.6, which I just finished installing.

The installation was very easy. After initializing the hard drive with the UFS server file system, the installer was able to run. Naturally, after I'd confirmed to install on unsupported hardware.
Fun and easy little project, when compared to some of the others, we've seen with earlier versions of Rhapsody and getting that to run on Intel hardware 😃

The laptop is working really great, fast speed and a snappy GUI. The battery only keeps for around 15 minutes, but it's enough for now. It heavier than I had imagined it, but the quality really is impressive.

Haven't done much with it yet, but there's a lot of old stuff, that I need to have a look at. Like BlueBox, which I've never played around with before.
I've looked through a few things, like the added AppleMenuOptions.app, when compared to the DR2 of Rhapsody for Intel, which is primarily what I've been using every now and then for the past years. But also some of the other added applications which really makes the system feel rather complete.

Anyway... picts or it didn't happen, right? Here's a few 😃

[eagle]

Love love love it!!

[Daxziz]

So the PRAM battery is dead, which sadly corrupts the Open firmware bootloader.

It simply won't boot.

I'll have to get a new battery, or if that's impossible, then see if I can replace the cells inside the original.

If anybody know of a place to get these batteries for a fair price, then do let me know 😃


-Daxziz

[Daxziz]

Even the cells in Denmark are expensive. But right now, it seems like the only option is to get 6 rechargeable cells and repair the small PRAM battery. I haven't found a place yet where these packs can still be bought.

Right now the laptop is connected to power all the time, in a small hope that it'll actually recharge the PRAM battery.

However I did manage to get the laptop to boot into Rhapsody 5.6 again by booting it on a 9.2.2 Live CD, which was able to identify the UFS disk in Start Disk and mark it as bootable.

[Daxziz]

The trick with leasing the laptop without the mail battery to force a charge on the PRAM battery sadly didn't work.

I'll have to look for either a spare part (laptop og single component) og replace the cells.

I'll let you know how it turns out 😃


-Kin

[Daxziz]

I've had weird issues where the laptop either crashes or is just unplugged from main power and it corrupts the Open Firmware.

When I insert a Mac OS 9 bootable live CD and try to set the startup disk to OS X Server it freezes completely.
I figured out, that when I reset the PRAM (Command + Option + P + R), I'm able to select OS X Server as a bootdisk and everything is fine again.

Since the OS 9 Live CD is a bit weird, I need to try the above workaround with the OS X Public Beta CD or something between the DR releases.

I guess this is all due to the CMOS battery not being rechargeable and a permanent fix would be to recreate it.