I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

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themike's picture
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I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Hey all. Been away a long time...I got a Macbook Pro and kinda forgot about stuff like hacking and old Macs...but thats another story for another day.

Unfortunately my MBP was taken from me. I was lucky enough to find a free Clamshell iBook (Indigo) on Craigslist and have been busy setting it up to be my main computer. So far I've gotten Panther installed and I'm pretty impressed, its usable and stable. Not too slow either.

So besides the hardware stuff (maxing the RAM, upgrading the HDD), what can I do? I mean as far as optimizing Panther or something like that...maybe someone will have some suggestions.
Also the only browser I've been able to find that really works is Firefox 2...is this really my only option besides Safari?

Well, its good to be back, even under these unfortunate circumstances....hope all my old friends are still posting on here Wink

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Airport card? You don't mention if you've got one. Note that the original airport won't do WPA2 encryption.

From what I remember, the CD drive is standard and can be upgraded to a CD burner or DVD.

Camino is a nice Mac-optimized version of Firefox. Older versions that support Panther are available for download. There's also iCab for a truly alternative lightweight browser.

And unlike your MBP, you've also got access to the whole range of pre-OS X goodies. Marathon on a clamshell would be tres retro cool.

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Ok thanks, I will check out Camino. I didn't mention the Airport however I just recieved mine in the mail this morning. I got three, they were 12 cents apiece on ebay.
I was considering upgrading the CD drive but I rarely use CDs or DVDs anymore so I think I'll just leave it for now.
I am keeping my eye open for a (cheap) HDD and some more RAM.
What is Marathon?

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

What is Marathon?

An amazing piece of Mac gaming history. A first-person shooter from the same company that went on to do the Halo series. And it was Mac-only, though the two sequels made their way to Windows. Before Bungie was purchased by Microsoft, they released the source for all three games, and made the executables free to download.
The game was compared to Doom, since they were out around the same time, but Marathon had so much more depth to it.

Wiki article
Game downloads

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Welcome Back Mike!! Smile

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Thanks!

themike's picture
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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

So who wants to tell me about ubuntu for this little baby?

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

What happened to the MacBook Pro?............................
Anyway, congrats on the clamshell! I still love my tangerine one. Although, getting it to *Work* is sometimes a challenge Smile

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Sorry for the double post! :mac:
Anyway, I saw your question about the browser.
http://mac.oldapps.com/
Go to that site! You'll find a great many browsers for you to try!
I used it a lot on my clamshell when I first got it.
Hope it helps!

:3

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

I don't wanna talk about the MBP...still makes me sad.

How long have you had your clamshell? Which model is it?

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

I feel ya there!

My clamshell is one of the very first tangerines ever made. it's been heavily upgraded, but it had 3gb HD and 33mb ram.

:3

EDIT: Why can't I see how many posts people have made?

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

That's awesome. I always wanted either a Tangerine or a Lime, but after years of waiting I scored an Indigo on craigslist for free. It's in perfect brand new condition, I even get an hour out of the battery. The lady said it wouldn't run any programs...turns out they were windows exes...oops Blum 3

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Free? Wow! That's awesome!!!
My clammy is about dead :(. Is it normal for me to name my computers?
Mine is super beat up. Like, I think a school had it.

:3

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

So I finally realized the Clamshell can run Tiger. I had a heck of a time making an ISO of my Tiger DVD, getting that on my iPod (firewire) and installing that way, took me about 8 hours total... after some permissions headaches I am finally able to get the updates and I feel like I'm on my 9th java update, but it works.

Tiger seems just as responsive as Panther was (read: slow) but the main thing is BROWSERS! I'm so stoked to be running a modern Safari and TenFourFox is just great.

Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks I can score a cheap 512 SODIMM and really let this baby loose (kidding).

I'd also like to upgrade the HDD but I don't have anything lying around except a 15 gigger and a 5 gig upgrade just doesn't seem worth the hassle.

Would love to get the XGA hack going but now we're talking money and I'd really be better off with at least a dual USB 'book or even a G4... well I can dream Wink

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

The Clamshells will not see any hard drive larger that 127GB. If you install a larger HD, you'll see the first 127GB, but the rest will be wasted space.

I wouldn't buy any HD larger than a 160GB for a Clamshell iBook (or any iBook slower than 700MHz). That's about the smallest *new* IDE drive you'll find, with the least amount of wasted space.

Clamshells take up to a 512MB PC133 SODIMM. With that, and the 64MB soldered to the logic board, Tiger should be much more responsive. But remember that it'll only be as fast as a 366-466MHz processor and 133MHz system bus will allow.

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

CW, do you happen to have a suitable HD or RAM module you'd be willing to part with?

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

I don't have at the moment -- everything I've got is 40GB or smaller.

Here's a new 160GB IDE drive at Newegg.com: LINK

And here are a couple on ebay: ONE TWO

You do not need an Apple branded drive. Any IDE drive will do just fine. You just need to repartition it to Apple HFS+ in Disk Utility before installing Mac OS.

Good luck, Sir!

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

512MB PC133 SODIMM on Newegg.com:
[WARNING -- STICKER SHOCK!]

LINK

512MB PC133 SODIMMs on ebay:

ONE TWO THREE

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Thanks CW. Sure is expensive but I need it.
Not looking forward to the hard drive upgrade. For a while I was working on the dual USB ibooks, 14 of them to be exact, and I got real fast at cracking those open, but the clamshell looks to be even more of a PITA...

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

I don't know who made the design decisions that require a tech to remove the Clamshell's *screen* in order to replace a *hard drive.* I'd like to talk with that guy for a few minutes ...

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Welcome back!

Clamshells are awesome. I had a 1st Gen some time back but traded it and some other goodies off to astrorob many moons ago. The one issue that killed mine was the yo-yo power supply got a short and let all the magic smoke out of my mobo. If you have one, check it good or get a new (brick) adapter for your primary.

Prior to parting it out, I had a 120G and a CD-RW/DVD-R installed with a 256MB RAM stick. I never got is above X.2 though, ran 9.2.2 like a dream. They come apart easy enough if you have to get inside to work on stuff...

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Re: I'm baaaaack! (And I finally got my Clamshell)

Welcome back yourself!
This Clamshell came to me in out-of-the-box new condition. I know these yoyo adaptors fail, I have a few of the newer brick style adaptors that I've "repaired" however I won't use any of those til I have to.

This book's only upgrade is a 256 RAM module. I'd like to get more, a bigger HD, cd-rw, and I dream of swapping in an XGA screen....

It runs Tiger pretty well, the only weak spot is lack of application support.

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