iBook G4 933mhz recommendations on upgrades

deefadog said:

I don't have the install disc for leopard, but they are cheap on ebay! Just wondered if it would be worth it?

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No they're not...not unless you consider $100-$125 and higher cheap!

If you see "cheap" Leopard install disks on e-Bay...those are the gray-colored ones...and they won't work (they are model specific). You want a black colored disk with a big "X" on it. These almost always sell for over $100 dollars...and in many cases $125...and sometimes even more.

- Nick

Thanks for the info.

I have the grey colored ones with me know that i have from work, they are 10.4.9 install discs 2 of them. These were the discs that come with the laptop or one of the laptops we have in work, that have been destroyed.

So these will not work on the iBook?

No, they won't work on the iBook unless they came from the EXACT SAME MODEL iBook.

I see, thanks!

I'll have to try and dig out the original discs, which i thought these were after closer reading they are for an early macbookpro

deefadog said:

I see, thanks!

I'll have to try and dig out the original discs, which i thought these were after closer reading they are for an early macbookpro

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If you can dig out the original discs that came with your iBook 933mhz...then those discs will work fine. But (there's always a but )...keep in mind that there's a strong possibility that those disks will have OS 10.3 Panther on them. The G4 iBook 933mhz is a computer that was sold in 2003-2004...and your iBook 933mhz shipped with OS 10.3...so that's the version of the OS that's most likely on your original grey disks.

If you're ok with using OS 10.3 great!...if not...you need to purchase the retail version of OS 10.4 or 10.5...thus a $100 or more expenditure.

HTH,

- Nick

Thanks mate! I'll get digging

Well..... i found the original install disc and feeling quite smug at the moment as it all installed fine - had to use disc utility from the install disks to partition the drive but all is fine!

I can't thank you all enough!

Just have 5 years worth of update to do now LoL....

btw all that debugger text i got was because there was a grey disc in the DVD drive i had forgotten about, which was not for this mac - You Live and learn...

Thanks again - another happy customer - will try and figure out how to leave feedback....

deefadog said:

Well..... i found the original install disc and feeling quite smug at the moment as it all installed fine ...

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Yes..using the original install disk(s) always helps!!!

deefadog said:

btw all that debugger text i got was because there was a grey disc in the DVD drive i had forgotten about, which was not for this mac - You Live and learn...

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I don't know what to say about this...other than it's sort of like leaving a banana stuck in your nose...and not realizing it! Actually I wanted to refer to another bodily "orifice"...but I was tying to keep things clean!

Congrats on getting everything working.

- Nick

Thanks Nick!

Well going well! So far. - running leopard after researching and other with the same spec as mine having to problems.

I do find web browsers slow, i even installed Camino (for G4) but it's still a little laggy!

Also i find the connection slow, it seems to be the airport card, can these be upgraded? as doing a speed.net test i get download of 1.8MB my mac book pro get 4.1MB download speeds.

Any ideas? or is it as far as i can take it?

Thanks and Happy Christmas

deefadog said:

Thanks Nick!

Well going well! So far. - running leopard after researching and other with the same spec as mine having to problems.

I do find web browsers slow, i even installed Camino (for G4) but it's still a little laggy!

Also i find the connection slow, it seems to be the airport card, can these be upgraded? as doing a speed.net test i get download of 1.8MB my mac book pro get 4.1MB download speeds.

Any ideas? or is it as far as i can take it?

Thanks and Happy Christmas

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So you're running OS 10.5 Leopard on your 933mhz iBook. That could be slowing things down a little bit. An 867mhz cpu is the minimum for 10.5...and thus a 933mhz cpu isn't much faster. Plus the iBooks don't really have very good graphics hardware...again this slows things down.

As far as the Airport card....nope...can't upgrade it. If I remember correctly this iBook has an Airport Extreme card (wireless g). If your Macbook Pro has wireless "n" maybe that is having an effect on download speeds. But I'm mostly guessing it's the iBooks slower cpu & graphics hardware.

HTH,

- Nick

Thanks!

Well the iBook seems to be loadng very quick and shuting down super quick, and is speedy with most things, i think the Airport Extreme is slowing the pages loading. I can't even here the new Samsung hard drive

The Airport Extreme can be removed i assumed i could upgrad eto this - MB988ZM/A Apple AIRPORT EXTREME WI-FI CARD - WITH 802.11N MAC PRO 2009 IN.

Or could i purchase an exteral base station airport? But saying that any video streaming site such as youtube or the BBC is so jumpy and unwatchable, so the graphics card is the problem

deefadog said:

The Airport Extreme can be removed i assumed i could upgrad eto this - MB988ZM/A Apple AIRPORT EXTREME WI-FI CARD - WITH 802.11N MAC PRO 2009 IN.

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Yes...the Airport Extreme card is removable...but I've NEVER heard of an Airport Extreme card (like the one pictured in the link) that was wireless "n" capable. So I would be VERY careful regarding that product. I'm thinking either the description in that link is incorrect...or it's the wrong photo.

deefadog said:

Or could i purchase an exteral base station airport?

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This wouldn't help. If your other computer is getting a strong WiFi signal...then the wireless router shouldn't be an issue.

deefadog said:

But saying that any video streaming site such as youtube or the BBC is so jumpy and unwatchable, so the graphics card is the problem

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Yes...unfortunately the 933mhz iBook just doesn't have the cpu or graphics "horsepower" to run internet streaming video well/smoothly.

- Nick

Yes thanks Nick!

One thing though, if the internal Airport etreme is limited to a certaion download speed, then if i got a USB Dongle that was faster, would it not download the content quicker?

I understand streaming video is out now Lol

Merry christmas!!

deefadog said:

One thing though, if the internal Airport etreme is limited to a certaion download speed, then if i got a USB Dongle that was faster, would it not download the content quicker?

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In "theory" what you said could be possible...except that I have heard VERY few positive experiences regarding the USB wireless dongles & Macintosh computers. Some folks have had some success getting them to work...but the majority have trouble getting them to work...if & when they do work...the speed is nothing special...and there are lots of reports of repetitive dropped connections.

Give it a shot if you want...I would certainly love to hear of someone having a positive experience (faster download speeds, stronger signals, no dropped connections).

By the way...how strong of a WiFi signal (number of bars)...is your iBook getting?

- Nick

I am getting full bars! with 60% signal strength according to iStumbler (same as MacBookPro).

So it's working fine, just limited

I'll try the USB a go, cheap to try and i'll report back!

deefadog said:

I am getting full bars! with 60% signal strength according to iStumbler (same as MacBookPro).

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I'm not so sure I trust "iStumbler". On my MacBook Pro...I have full airport bars...but I only get 45% signal strength with iStumbler (my router is in the basement, and I'm on the 1st floor of my home). If I go to my basement...and place my MacBook Pro right next to my wireless router...I still only get a 75% signal strength from iStumbler. So that 60% you're getting (compared to my 45%)...actually may not be that bad.

deefadog said:

I'll try the USB a go, cheap to try and i'll report back!

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Awesome...that would be great! I would love to hear your results!

- Nick