iBook g4

Hi can anyone help?
I have just bought an old iBook running os 9.2.2 & I cannot connect to the Internet . I have a virgin media wireless hub & although the iBook finds it fine it will not except my password. I know the password is correct because it is written on the back of the unit. Our iPad's & iPhones connect with no problem. I have just bought an airport express to get over the problem but that will only work with os 10.5 or above. I have been told the problem is with the virgin hub is there a way around this problem without getting a different hub?

Thanks paul

Paul graham said:

Hi can anyone help?
I have just bought an old iBook running os 9.2.2 & I cannot connect to the Internet . I have a virgin media wireless hub & although the iBook finds it fine it will not except my password. I know the password is correct because it is written on the back of the unit. Our iPad's & iPhones connect with no problem. I have just bought an airport express to get over the problem but that will only work with os 10.5 or above. I have been told the problem is with the virgin hub is there a way around this problem without getting a different hub?

Thanks paul

Click to expand...

My first thought is...does your iBook have an Airport card installed in it. If it does...it could be defective.

Second thought. OS 9.2.2 is VERY VERY old...and I may be mistaken...but I cannot remember ANY Macintosh computer being able to connect wirelessly to the internet via Apple airport hardware that was running OS 9.2.2. If it is possible...it's VERY VERY rare!

So what I'm saying is...if the iBook has an Airport card in it, and if the Airport card is working properly (meaning not broken)...if you install almost any version of Mac OS X (that this iBook can run)...it will work.

- Nick

You memory is bad, Nick. I used to do that all day long -- but that was more than 10 years ago!

Paul: While the iBook G4 is not quite 10 years old yet (the very last ones were made in 2005), it's QUITE old and very prone to graphics issues. The OS that it's running on is even older than the machine, easily over a decade old.

Is what you want to do POSSIBLE? Yes, particularly if that iBook G4 (btw I loved mine when I had one years ago) has a built-in Airport card.

Possible, but it won't be pretty. Even if it does have an Airport card and you went and updated it as far as it could go (maybe OS X 10.3?), you're still far far behind. Can't use any modern wireless security, can't use anything to do with Flash or video, can't surf any multimedia websites, no modern software and on and on and on.

Replacing the hard drive in that machine (and you'll want a bigger one) is an expensive job that only techs and exceptionally skill mechanical types can pull off, you won't be able to put very much RAM in it by today's standards ... shall I go on?

I would stop short of calling that machine useless -- if you upgrade the OS and put contemporaneous (ie circa 2004-2005) software on it, it can be a fine machine for e-mail, LIGHT surfing and other tasks that don't require a net connection (MS Office 2004, for example, should run great on it).

BUT it's really not capable of being a modern machine and would cost a fair amount to try and make it so (and you'd fail anyway). I don't know what you paid for it, but anything over $50 I'd say you overpaid.

If you want a Mac, get something circa 2008 or later. That iBook is best off in the hands of a collector or someone who has a specific need to run OS 9 software for something (such people are rare but they exist). It's not really a good choice for people who plan to try and get something done, and of course you can forget about it connecting to any modern equipment.

chas_m said:

You memory is bad, Nick. I used to do that all day long -- but that was more than 10 years ago!

Click to expand...

I couldn't remember if OS 9.2.2 was Airport capable (thought maybe it was OS X only). Thanks for clarifying!

- Nick