Hello, World

Well, I finally found one. Ever since reading that lowendmac.com article about silent computing (regarding a PB100 and its lack of hard drive), the old eBay fever set in once again. I didn't find a 100. I found... a 150. Now, had I actually done research, I would have found out that this particular PB didn't run System 6, but instead had to run 7. I'd consider BSD too, but I don't particularly like BSD, and have a peculiar fascination with old Mac OS's, explaining OS 9 on my clamshell which can run Tiger fairly well, thanks to my modified install cd...

The thing that really got me to buy it, aside from being 9.99, was the fact that it turned on, came with an AC adapter, had a functioning HDD, but when it turned on, all it got was... a blue screen? I thought PB150s had grayscale? WTF? The blue screen, from everything I've seen, is just the fact that a boot device isn't being recognized. That shouldn't be a big deal. All I really want the thing for is for writing, because the older OS's get, the less distractions they have for me. I guess one could say my ideal word processor would be anything that could print in non-system font, and could be formatted at least a little. This rules out C64's, I think, though it would be fun to have one again, but I think I can settle for a computer that runs the same Mac OS that they had in my elementary school library.

I might still try and get my hands on a 100 someday, especially if the 150 proves not to be salvageable. But hey, it's only 10 bucks, and I could probably use the modules, if not the strangely-hard-to-find RAM.

Updates will follow on this... all I have to do right now is figure out how to get some OS on there. Neither of my Macs have floppy drives, but my old Windoze/Linux box does, though it may not even work anymore. Possibly, another trip to eBay is in order...

Comments

themike's picture

You could probably install an OS over an Appletalk or Localtalk network, if you've got lots of patience.

eeun's picture

The blue screen on the pb150 is due to its unique yucky passive-matrix screen. Confused me the first time I saw one, too!

The 150 was the only early powerbook with an IDE drive, so you've got a couple interesting options:

If you can add a second drive to one of your Macs (no floppy...assuming they're newer IDE) you can drop the 150's drive in using a 2.5 to 3.5" drive adapter.

If you do want a silent computer, there's the option of adding a compact flash. The link contains a couple caveats that make the operation a bit more difficult than later PC laptops.

I just got it today... apparently, the OS is actually still on there. It boots into it, but the screen is apparently dead. A couple of pins are missing from the display board, so that may be the culprit, in which case I have a few parts to play with now. Blum 3