PowerMac 8500/120

[MadSkillzMan]

more than likely, it cant read CDRW/R's my laptop WILL NOT read rws and sometimes chokes on Rs

if you get a crossover cable, or if youve got a router or something, plug the 2 together. they should communicate via appletalk

 

[MrFuzzy]

yeah its on my network i was thinkin about apple talk. OS 7 didnt come with a browser did it?

 

[macEfan]

what would you guy recommend sonnet or XLR8?

I like sonnet more. I have a card from them and it really helped the computer. And the more ram you put in the better.

 

[jhelm007]

what would you guy recommend sonnet or XLR8?

Go with the best price. I have an XLR8 mach carrier ccard that lets me use any zif processor in my Power Tower Pro (PM9500 clone). It is great and mad for a cheap upgrade since I had a zif lying around to use with it.

hahaha no way will tiger work on this thing. go with either OS9 or linux if your just usin it as a server for other macs

I have gotten Panther to run on my PTP, but I had 608MB ram, a 4gig HD, a radeon 7000, and a G4 450MHz processor installed. It was rock stable, but it was sssslllloooowwww. sometimes I could type faster than it could display text, and I type slow. I currently have OS 9.2.2 running with a G3 333 MHz card in it and it is usably fast for most day to day stuff.

Your 8500 should make a stable enough server, but it will not be very fast no matter what you do to it. These old macs are still alot of fun to fix up and they are made of quality components. Try to get a dell of the same vintage to run as your server. Ha!

You could install an older version of PPC linux, but the newest versions will not run on 'old world' macs.

 

[MrFuzzy]

yeah i was looking at those socket cards and was wondering if they will take any g4 proc i found a 800mhz.

 

[jhelm007]

yeah i was looking at those socket cards and was wondering if they will take any g4 proc i found a 800mhz.

I wouldn't be surprised if they work. check the database at www.xlr8yourmac.com or maybe even call Daystar/xlr8 maybe they know.

 

[MrFuzzy]

Well i been fooling with this and now i think the NIC isnt working right haha is there any other way to get the software onto the box?

 

[MadSkillzMan]

get a newer cd rom drive in there and see if that will read your CDRs?

i know some older drives cannot read Rs. again most older WILL NOT read RWs

 

[MrFuzzy]

Well it looks like it was my cable not the nic. I managed to get the files to the machine. But now it looks like i need 9.1 and i only have a 9.2.2 cd =(

 

[MrFuzzy]

I got 9.2.2 installed finally, now is just need to get the upgrade card. as far as ram will pc133 ram work or does this use special ram?

 

[jhelm007]

I got 9.2.2 installed finally, now is just need to get the upgrade card. as far as ram will pc133 ram work or does this use special ram?

Sorry, you need 5v 168 pin dimms. PC66, PC100, or PC133 (all 3.3v) will not work.

This is the cheapest source I've seen for 5v 168 pin dimms:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/5MD128MBG/

 

[MadSkillzMan]

nope, u can use whatever you can get...just gotta be the right speed. ive got all kindsa mixed n matched ram in my G3/G5s

EDIT: woah seriously? i didnt know that. must jsut be for the 8500 then

 

[dtravis7]

JHelm007 is very correct. Remember the 8500, 8600, 7600 ETC are very old systems with a PPC CPU. They require 5Volt Dimms. You can NOT put modern 3.3 Volt PC100, 133 Dimms in them!! The URL jHelm provided is a good place for that older 5Volt RAM. I own an 8500, 8600, 7600 with the G3 Sonnet upgrade CPU, and a 9600. All use the same 5 Volt Dimms.

 

[MrFuzzy]

$20 a stick hurts the wallet =*(. I got the box to see the DVD drive but it still wont mount the cds. I also got a sonnet on order =D just need some ram and ill be rollin soon hooray

 

[MrFuzzy]

I finally got my Sonnet Crescendo G3 chip. I followed the instructions and installed it but it wont boot with the Sonnet installed. If i put the pold 120 proc in it works fine any ideas?

 

[lil]

I finally got my Sonnet Crescendo G3 chip. I followed the instructions and installed it but it wont boot with the Sonnet installed. If i put the pold 120 proc in it works fine any ideas?

Make sure it is pushed in very firmly to start with.

Does the Mac chime at all when you switch it on?

Have you tried resetting the 8500's PRAM and/or PMU? (Search Apple's supoort docs)

I had an 8500/120 just like yours originally with the 604e 120MHz and upgrades with an XLR8 300MHz G3 and it worked fine; but had to be pushed in very firmly.

Also, though this is a pain--some of the old memory DIMMs may not be compatible; so remove all the DIMMS (a PITA on the 8500s) and put one it at a time if none of the above works.

Vicky