I've got a 400Mhz B.T.O. Lombard sans DVD decoding hardware. The CD-ROM drive just took a dump and I've ordered a slot loading combo drive to replace it. I was looking at used 400Mhz Lombard Logic boards with the DVD decoding hardware so that I might watch DVDs in OS9, and noticed that many Pismo logic boards are cheaper than the DVD equipped Lombard boards.
I know that some of the internal hardware is different between the two models, but a pretty close inspection shows that a pismo logic board should fit in my lombard case. I know i would need some of the other guts, and a new processor card (was thinking of getting the 900Mhz G3 card for it anyway).
Has anyone ever tried this before? comments and experience/words of wisdom are welcome.
well the firewire port wouldnt line up... dont know if anyone has tried this. hows selling the 900mhz g3 upgrade now?
so you'd end up replacing nearly the entire bottom (including plastics) of the 'Book. The only things you can carry over* are the HD and any EBMs you have, and maybe the RAM, if it's PC100 or better. Better to just buy a complete Pismo bottom half and stitch on your display. Of course that leaves you without an AP antenna (built-in to the Pismo display), but hey . . .
My recommendation is to just live with the 'Book you have until an affordable Pismo comes your way. You can always try overclocking the Lombard CPU, maybe you can coax enough speed out of it to play DVDs with VLC under X. Heh, prob not IIRC.
dan k
* Maybe the modem too, can't recall offhand.
can u even get the 900mhz g3 pismo upgrade anymore?
i did try overclocking it once... after i broke one of the 1mm surface mount resistors and ripped a trace off the daughtercard i managed to solder a small ceramic one in it's place and all is well back at 400mhz.
i'll just keep an eye out for a good deal on a used DVD enabled lombard logic board. If i'm going to spend a couple hundred dollars on a pismo i might as well spend a couple more and get a decent used TiBook or iBook G4.