Hi,
I am new to the Macintosh world and recently picked up a PowerPC 55200 225MHz processor with 32MB RAM. I have a 128MB of ram on the way and I'm looking into getting the Sonnet G3 500 MHz with 1MB cache upgrade processor. I currently have a 40GB Seagate Barracuda IDE drive. What I wanted to know is this....
1. I have OS 8.1 on CD and will be installing it onto the system, but I'd like to know what is the max OS release I can use with a stock 5500/225 system with 128MB RAM? Also, if I get he Sonnet upgrade what is the max OS I can use? Is it OS 9.2?
2. With regards to this hard drive, will OS 8.1 be abel to recognize the full drive and let me format it at 40gb? Do I need any special drivers or such?
I appreciate any info that might help answer the above questions
Thanks
John
1) Max OS on this unit with 128 MB should be 9.2.2. With G3 upgrade card and xPostFacto, you might be able to convince it to run some version of Mac OS X, but I'm not sure I'd try it.
2) You should be able to partition the drive to its full 40 GB. My Power Mac 6500/275 has a 30 GB in it now, and it has no problem seeing the lone 30 GB partition.
If, on the other hand, you're feeling lucky and want to try to install Mac OS X, you will need to jump through some hoops. On the first G3s, Mac OS X had to be installed on the first partition of 8 GB or smaller.
Furthermore, X might not see partitions larger than 20 GB on these machines.
So on my Beige G3 tower, I have another 30 GB drive partitioned into 8 GB + 11 GB + 11 GB to work around these limitations.
In summary:
No processor upgrade, 128 MB RAM, Mac OS 9.2.2, one large 30 GB partition. (recommended)
With processor upgrade, 128 MB RAM, maybe up to Mac OS X, with smaller partitions (not recommended).