What's the equivalent to the BIOS in an iBook G4?

[Benny7440]

This question aroused for the second time to me today when I received a 1 GB RAM card sold through Amazon and with it came a piece of paper that, among other things, said that "some memory cards won't work well if the BIOS is not updated".

The thing is that I inserted the card and it's working fine, but when see a Youtube video is (more or less) the same as before, speech doesn't go along with the action and the action itself is too jumpy. I thought at the beginning that having just 394 MB of RAM in total was the culprit but it seems that it was not the case here.

Now that I have enough RAM capacity, what else can be done? Might it be just the specific memory allocated to video handling? The software I'm using (for ex., the browser = Safari) or my internet connection speed?

I haven't changed my ISP contract but from my home with other laptops running linux I haven't had this issue???

Thanks in advance for any light spread over the issues presented above!

 

[pigoo3]

The thing is that I inserted the card and it's working fine, but when see a Youtube video is (more or less) the same as before, speech doesn't go along with the action and the action itself is too jumpy. I thought at the beginning that having just 394 MB of RAM in total was the culprit but it seems that it was not the case here.

Now that I have enough RAM capacity, what else can be done?

The problem isn't necessarily the ram…but the fact that you're using a VERY old iBook G4 to view You Tube video's with (much less powerful CPU, much less powerful GPU). Internet videos are probably one of the higher demand tasks for a computer…especially an old computer.

Heck…back when an iBook G4 was relatively new…You Tube videos would be choppy, stuttering, etc. The computer is just too old for this sort of thing.

- Nick

 

[dtravis7]

When I first bought my 1.33Ghz iBook G4, every video was smooth. Most of the issue is Flash over the years has gotten more CPU hungry and also the typical video on You Tube is at a much higher Bitrate. The poor old G4 in your machine is pegging at 100% and still not enough for most of todays videos leave alone todays Adobe Flash.

Which OSX version is your iBook running? If its 10.5.8 you might try switching You Tube to HTML5 instead of Flash and see if that helps. Either that or set every video to the lowest nitrate like say 240p.

Otherwise it will jerk, pause.

Also you have an even older iBook G4 than the one I own with even slower G4 CPU.

 

[harryb2448]

There are no BIOS in any Mac, only Windows PCs. BIOS are updated from time to time and are available for download from manufacturers web sites. Macs use Firmware and there have been a number of updates for most models. Check the list and note only very late model iBooks have an update:-


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1395

 

[Benny7440]

Thanks for replying pigoo3, dtravis7 & harryb2448!

Intuitively, I thought this was going to be the case: too old for modern expected performance. But, could it make a diference if the video is already in the HD?

It is also stated that the video format could play a role in the performance (Flash vs. HTML5); hum, since I'm using Safari I'm at this moment not sure if it handles that.

At the site suggested there're a couple of iBook entries but not sure if any of those are for me... Hope to re-read this tomorrow to check if I understood everything correctly.

 

[Benny7440]

I noticed the following at the webpage harryb2448 suggested me seeing:

"Important: These firmware updates cannot be installed when the computer is started up from Mac OS X. In order to install them, you must start up the computer from a Mac OS 8 or Mac OS 9 System Folder on the computer's hard disk (not from a CD). See the hardware and software requirements listed for each installer for details."

The above is in relation to the following, found at a later point on that page:

iBook ---------------------------------------------------- Firmware Update ----------------- Download Document No.
"iBook (Dual USB) --------------------------------------- no update needed
iBook Special Edition (FireWire) -------------------- iBook Firmware Update 4.1.7 --- 75128
iBook (FireWire) --------------------------------------- iBook Firmware Update 4.1.7 --- 75128
iBook ---------------------------------------------------- iBook Firmware Update 4.1.7 --- 75128

It seems that I need to intervene in the normal booting process to have access to those Mac OS 'x' folders for booting with the right configuration for this to happen. The problem is that I don't remember if those folders are present somewhere within this HD and how to get there.

Some info on the above issues could clarify my mind before proceeding.

 

[harryb2448]

Well Benny we do not know exactly what machine you have so can't recommend. The file will not be on the hard drive. You download the file, IF NECESSARY, from the link I supplied earlier. Then to update you need to be running Classic, which shows how old the computer actually is. Those operating systems finished last century!

If it is working suggest leaving well enough alone. On such an old machine with no more security updates, be careful where you go on the 'web. And a G4 is just not going to handle video screening at all well.

 

[Benny7440]

Thanks for showing me some useful light upon this, harryb2448!

From what I've read on the link you provided I understand that there's a 'volume' within the HD of the iBook from which I can, selectively, boot up by pressing a certain key combination to a somehow different (older) OS in order to perform certain 'special' tasks not allowed within OS X 10.5.8. Am I correct in my interpretation?

Note: I now recognize that, for some irrational and strange reason, most of the time I was considering that my OS was X 10.2.*, which it appears now that I've seen it with my own eyes from About This Mac window that I was wrong. And something extra around this, somewhere I've read that certain things are possible if I'm under 10.5 and I discarded while reading due to my misconception on the OS version. So, I need to go way back through a lot of pages that I've read and inspect everything again with a clearer light. But it comes worst than this because I've used extensively a sisters' tablet for reading most of the cited pages; the last clause means that the Browser History with the needed information isn't within the iBook and, at the moment, the tablet isn't with me: it will take a few days for me to get back on tracks.

 

[harryb2448]

My plesure Benny. I would not worry about going to the trouble of buying Mac OS 8 or 9, the Classic operating systems. Just stay with Leopard OS X.5 and enjoy. I would suggest you go to this Amazon link where theya re selling 'The Missing Manual' for Leopard, and check the used ones starting from a dollar or two.

OS X.5.8 will have Safari and I supplied the link for TenFourFox, the older Firefox browser for PowerPC models.


http://www.amazon.com/Mac-OS-Leopard-Missing-Manual/dp/059652952X?tag=macforums0e4-20

 

[Benny7440]

I'm not sure if for going often to the apple pages or looking at the information pages within the ibook something got updated but I copied the info that appears within the apple menu and saved on the desktop for having it handy. Last night I was reviewing my posts and found an inconsistency in relation to my OS. A correct statement follows:

"Model Name: iBook G4
Model Identifier: PowerBook6,3
Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (3.3)
Processor Speed: 800 MHz
Number Of CPUs: 1
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 1.12 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.7.7f0"

I'm sorry for introducing such a huge mistake within the discussion. If there's something that you may/can correct in relation to your posts it will be appreciated greatly.

 

[harryb2448]

It is up to date Benny and that is as good as it is going to get and no problem at all with your questions ~ how you going to learn otherwise? Appreciate the fact the G4 is only 133MHz system bus speed, and that will limit severely what you can watch on YouTube etc. Course it will be jerky as the bus speed and slow old CPU try to keep up.

 

[Benny7440]

Thanks for replying so comprehensively, harryb2448!

I was even thinking of grabbing an app for overclocking to see if it would make a significant difference but if the bottleneck is at another level then is of no use. Patience would be...

 

[harryb2448]

Patience my lad. The problem is the system bus speed and you cannot overclock that.