Mac Daniel's Advice
Mac Daniel's Advice is a team effort - see our
staff page for the current list of experts ready to offer their
advice. And if you're wondering how to improve your old Mac, or
even what upgrade options you may have, pop on over to the staff page, read the profiles, pick someone,
and send your question.
Columns marked BOMD are the
Best of Mac Daniel and have been among the most
popular archive articles at some point in the history of the Mac
Daniel column.
Dan Knight, publisher, Low End Mac
click here
to read Belorussian translation
WiFi hardware
compatible with desktop Macs running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 2009.03.11.
USB, ethernet, PCI, and other wireless hardware compatible with Mac OS
X.
WiFi CardBus adapters
compatible with PowerBooks, MetaPhyzx, 2009.03.11. CardBus hardware
and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
WiFi PC Cards
compatible with PowerBooks running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 2009.03.11.
PCMCIA/PC Card hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running
Mac OS X.
WiFi PC Cards for
PowerBooks running Mac OS 9, MetaPhyzx, 2009.03.10. PCMCIA cards
and drivers reported to be compatible with the Classic Mac OS.
WiFi adapters for desktop
Macs running Mac OS 9, MetaPhyzx, 2009.02.10. USB, ethernet, PCI,
and other wireless hardware compatible with the Classic Mac OS.
Overclocking a
slot-loading iMac G3, Dan Knight, 2009.02.12. Instructions for
overclocking a slot-loading iMac (350 MHz to 500 MHz). Proceed at your
own risk.
Overclocking a
tray-loading iMac G3, Dan Knight 2009.02.10. Instructions for
overclocking a Rev. A through Rev. D iMac. Proceed at your own
risk.
How to clone Mac OS X
to a new hard drive, Simon Royal, Tech Spectrum, 2008.10.07. Whether
you want to put a bigger, faster drive in your Mac or clone OS X for
use in another Mac, here's the simple process.
Restore
stability to a troubled Mac with a clean system install, Keith
Winston, Linux to Mac, 2008.01.15. If your Mac is misbehaving, the best
fix just might be a fresh reinstallation of Mac OS X - don't forget to
backup first.
Bringing G3 iMacs and other G3
Macs into the Tiger Age, Dan Knight and Bill Brown, 2007.12.07.
Tips on hard drives, memory, WiFi, and getting Mac OS X 10.4 installed
on G3 iMacs and other older G3 Macs.
Multiple users on the same Mac at
work, 2007.11.15. How to set up a Mac so multiple users can log in
and use it - and use the same pool of work files.
1 working eMac from 2 broken
ones, 2007.11.14. A pair of matching eMacs, each with a different
failure, results in one working eMac and lots of leftovers.
Problems running Classic mode in
Tiger, Dan Knight, 2007.11.08. After upgrading to Tiger, the old
Classic installation stopped working. Where to find the pieces to get
everything up to date.
Better and safer surfing with
Internet Explorer and the Classic Mac OS, Max Wallgren, 2007.11.06.
Tips on which browsers work best with different Mac OS versions plus
extra software to clean cookies and caches, detect viruses, handle
downloads, etc.
I can no longer move files using
Mac OS X, Dan Knight, 2007.11.05. Drag and drop stopped working.
Here's how to make things work again.
Hacking Mac OS 7.6.1 so many Mac
OS 8 apps will run, Max Wallgren, 2007.10.30. With a little ResEdit
work and a second copy of your System Folder, you can run a lot of OS 8
apps with Mac OS 7.6.1.
Interchangeabilty and
compatibility of Apple 1.4 MB SuperDrive floppy drives, Sonic
Purity, 2007.09.26. Apple used two kinds of high-density floppy drives
on Macs, auto-inject and manual inject. Can they be swapped?
Maintaining Your Mac: Solving Mac disk and
hardware problems, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.09.07. Dealing with
damaged directories, messed up file permissions, PRAM problems, and
stuck discs.
Maintaining Your Mac: Fixing Mac
glitches and sluggishness, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.08.24.
If you're Mac is acting oddly or
seems slower, here are several steps you can take to fix glitches
and reduce or remove sluggishness.
4 steps for resurrecting old
Macs, Sonic Purity, 2007.07.18. Hardware problems may be solved
with a thorough cleaning, deoxidizing electrical contacts,
replacing failed capacitors, and/or repairing broken solder
joints.
Fixing the hinge on the
'Blackbird' PowerBook 500 series, Mike Huttinger, 2007.07.16.
Simple, step-by-step instructions for repairing a failed hinge on
the PowerBook 520, 540, and 550.
Operation FlashBook: Running
Tiger from flash on a PowerBook G4, John Muir, 2007.05.29. With
the hard drive failing and Compact Flash prices falling, it was
time to consider running the PowerBook G4 from flash. Looking back
at 6 months, was it worth it?
Appearance Manager allows
Internet Explorer 5.1.7 to work with Mac OS 7.6.1, Max
Wallgren, 2007.05.23. Want a fairly modern browser with an old,
fast operating system? Mac OS 7.6.1 plus the Appearance Manager and
Internet Explorer may be just what you want.
Format any drive for older Macs
with patched Apple tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations,
2007.04.25. Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple
branded hard drives - until you apply the patches linked to this
article.
Making floppies and CDs for older
Macs using modern Macs, Windows, and Linux PCs, Tyler Sable,
Classic Restorations, 2007.03.15.
Older Macs use HFS floppies and CDs. Here are the free resources
you'll need to write floppies or CDs for vintage Macs using your
modern computer.
Adding an Intel Mac mini can be
cheaper than upgrading a Power Mac G4!, Dan Knight, 2007.02.14.
Looking at the cost of upgrading memory, adding a fast hard drive,
and a GHz-plus CPU upgrade, buying a new Core Duo Mac mini makes a
lot of sense.
Setting up a NetBoot server for
your Macs, Ted Hodges, Vintage Mac Living, 2007.01.18. If you
have an ethernet network and several NewWorld Macs, NetBoot will
let you run several Macs with the same disk image and setup.
Using FireWire Target Disk Mode to
install OS X on Macs without DVD drives, Charles W Moore,
Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2006.09.14. Two methods for using FireWire
Target Disk mode to install OS X on a Mac that can't read
DVDs.
Translucent gray box in OS X,
AFP Connection Problem in Classic stump Mac Daniel, 2006.07.12.
One Mac has been displaying a gray box for months, another started
doing the same thing a week ago. And booting Classic always results
in a problem with AFP Connection Status.
Control 2 or more computers with
one Mac, one mouse, one keyboard, and no KVM switch, Neil
Reicher, 2006.02.23. Freeware and ethernet let you share one mouse
and keyboard among multiple computers without the tangle of a KVM
switch and myriad cables.
Adding a DIP switch and
overclocking Sawtooth's bus speed, Chris Placzek, 2005.11.30.
How to install a DIP switch and overclock Sawtooth's system bus to
120 MHz.
Is Serial ATA a viable
alternative to Ultra ATA and FireWire?, Dan Knight, 2005.10.25.
If you're thinking of adding a FireWire 800 card or Ultra 133
controller to your Power Mac, take a good look at Serial ATA before
you make your decision.
How Big a Hard Drive Can I Put in My
iMac, eMac, Power Mac, PowerBook, or iBook?, Dan Knight,
2005.10.24. A lot of older Macs don't know how to deal with drives over
128 GB in size. We look at three options.
Choose FireWire 800 over USB 2.0
and FireWire 400 for best throughput, Dan Knight, 2005.10.07.
Today's 7200 rpm hard drives are bottlenecked by the most common
data busses - FireWire 400 and USB 2.0.
Creating a new user to solve
display problems, Dan Knight, 2005.08.03. Got a task or program
that just doesn't work at your normal working resolution? Create a
new user account with the resolution you need.
Getting iSync to work with an
unsupported cell phone, Dan Knight, 2005.08.01. Just because
your cell phone isn't plug-and-play with iSync doesn't mean you
can't make it work. Here's what worked for me.
Using one keyboard, mouse, and
monitor with your USB Mac and PS/2 Windows PC, Dan Knight,
2005.03.30. Three KVM solutions that support both USB and PS/2
computers, along with two other suggestions for making things
work.
Mac OS X and the Blue and White G3
firmware update problem, Jeff Adkins, Mac Lab Report,
2005.03.01. "Catch-22. The firmware update requires that you be
running the Classic Mac OS, and the Classic OS won't run until the
firmware update is installed."
Can I install the hard drive and
CPU from my Power Mac G4 in an iMac?, Dan Knight, 2005.02.21.
The iMac uses a standard IDE hard drive, but you can't plug in a G4
pulled from a Power Mac. However, there are other CPU upgrade
options.
What's the fastest browser on
the Mac? Across platforms?, Dan Knight, 2005.02.14. Comparison
of browser speed for many different browsers on Mac OS X, OS 9,
Linux, and Windows XP. What's fastest?
I have a new hard drive, but how
do I move everything from the old one?, Dan Knight, 2005.02.07.
How to use an external drive enclosure and freely available
software to duplicate your old drive on your new one.
Which iMac is it? A quick guide to
differentiating CRT G3 iMacs, Dan Knight, 2005.02.02. Two form
factors, nine CPU speeds, and fifteen different colors. How can
anyone keep this straignt?
Should I buy a used G4 or a new Mac
mini?, Dan Knight, 2005.01.17. Does it make any sense at all to
buy a used Power Mac G4 these days when the Mac mini offers so much
value?
More in the Mac Daniel archive: 1998, 1999, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004-05
Best of Mac Daniel (updated
2003.05.09)
These 15 articles are over six months old and have had the most
readers per month during the past six months (12/02 through 5/03).
These are older articles, so prices and other details may have
changed since they were first written.
- Flash memory improves
PowerBook, 2002.11.14
- Overclocking the blue and
white G3, 2002.07.10
- How to make a bootable restore
CD, 2000.06.21
- Best used PowerBook, PB upgrade
options, 1998.12.30
- Installing memory upgrades,
2001.02.05
- Upgrading an old G3,
2002.03.15
- New type of G3 daughter
card, 1999.05.20
- Picking a PCI video card,
2001.08.20
- Connecting your Mac to your
stereo, 2001.06.25
- Introduction to overclocking
your Mac, 2002.06.24
- Sharing your Internet
connection, 2002.09.05
- Upgrading a Power Mac 7200 or
7500, 1998.10.24
- Partitioning your hard
drive, 2002.01.21
- Desktop pictures, 2001.03.26
- Recording audio on your
Mac, 2002.01.28
Other articles on upgrades