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Migration Issues in Moving from a Beige
G3 to a Blue and White
2004.02.20
What I thought would be a simple upgrade
turned out to be something just a bit more complicated. Sure, the
machine worked all right after I moved the hard drive over -- I was
able to get online and do most basic things.
But what if I wanted to print?
Since the blue & white G3
doesn't have any serial ports, I had a couple of options. I could try
to get a new USB printer, or I could add a gPort
adapter in place of the modem in order to gain a serial port. While I
was thinking of doing this, I noticed that my printer, an Epson Photo
Stylus 1200, actually has USB. (And I advise anyone else in that
position: Check your printer, just in case). This surprised me a
little bit for such an old printer (1998 or so), but all I had to do
was buy a USB cable and change the setting in the Chooser. That was
it. Not hard at all.
Then I wanted to play a CD in my computer, so I pushed the F12
key, which ejects the CD-ROM drawer on most recent Macs. It did
nothing. I knew that I could reach down and push the button to eject
the tray, but I don't like pushing on the tray in order to get it
back in again -- and on the b&w G3, you can't just push the CD
eject button again, since it's actually located on a flap that folds
down when the tray extends.
After
a bit of searching on the Internet, I found a piece of software
called EjectDisk
from Beyond Midnight Software. This allows you to select any key or
key combination on the keyboard to eject any disk in the machine --
or just disks in a specific drive. It was exactly what I needed, and
now my CD-ROM tray ejects like I'd want now with the push of the F12
key.
I was also a bit concerned over how my iPod would work under
OS 9, since I'd updated the firmware in OS X several times.
Thankfully, it connected and showed up just fine under
iTunes 2.
The scanner was a bit of a challenge to set up. First of all, the
SCSI card wasn't recognized. I finally realized that it was because
the Adaptec 2906 needs driver software under OS 9 (OS X has
built in drivers for it). I downloaded and installed the software,
and it appeared in the system profiler with my scanner as SCSI ID 5.
Fine, I thought, and tried to scan something.
"Scanner not found" it told me. Come on, it says that it's
connected in the system profiler!
So I checked the SCSI termination; it wasn't terminated, but that
had never given me a problem on my beige G3. I connected it to
another external hard drive, since I couldn't find a terminator, and
it worked fine.
This whole little episode started getting me thinking that I might
want to look into a more modern scanner at some point. I'd like one
that will scan negatives, as my neighbor's has this capability and I
think it's a nice capability to have. Right now, though, this one
still works fine. Yes, it's SCSI, which no modern Mac includes, but
I'm still able to scan photographs and drawings. That's what really
matters.
The last little minor annoyance is when the machine freezes.
Unlike my beige G3, command-control-power doesn't restart it -- I
have to reach down, find the restart button, and try to poke it with
my fingernail or something else somewhat pointy. It's not the most
convenient thing in the world. Considering that when the machine came
out, OS 8.5 was the current OS, Apple probably should have made it a
bit easier to restart the computer after freezes and crashes.
Still, in the past week I've only had one freeze, and that was in.
-- you guessed it -- Internet Explorer.
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Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19.
Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
Apple gave Psystar enough rope to hang itself, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 07.18.
By not filing suit against Psystar immediately, Apple allowed the company to do enough to give Apple an air-tight case.
Best Power Mac G5 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.18.
Used 1.8 GHz single SuperDrive, $600; dual, $799, 2.0, $979; 2.3, $899; 2.5, $1,100; 2.7, $1,249; 2.5 Quad, $1,500.
Best 17" MacBook Pro deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.18.
Used 2.16 GHz Core Duo, $1,275; 2.33 Core2, $1,888; refurb, 2.4, $1,899; new, $1,949 a/r; 2.5, $2,558 a/r; 2.6 Santa Rosa, $2,449 a/r; more.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.18.
Mac OS X 10.5.1 single user, $99; 5 users, $158; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $450; unlimited, $900.
Mac of the Day: Power Mac G4 Cube, July 2000 - compact, powerful, and attractive with limited expansion and a high initial price doomed the Cube.
List of the Day: MichiMac is our list for Mac users in Michigan.
July 19 in LEM history: 00: To partition or not to partition? - 01: What price rankings? - Owning the market - 02: Free mac.com email becomes fee mail - G4/500 WallStreet and Lombard upgrades - 04: Sometimes you feel like a dolt - 06: Mac OS X 10.5: Which Macs should make the cut? - Why run Linux on a low-end Mac? - Upgrade your Pismo with a dual-layer DVD burner - 07: Apple's first phone never made it to market
Best Mac Pro deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.17.
Refurb 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,888; 2.8 8-core, $2,399; new 4-core, $2,124 after rebate; 8-core, $2,589 a/r; 3.0 $3,399 a/r; 3.2, $4,169 a/r.
Best titanium PowerBook G4 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.17.
Used 400 MHz DVD, $500; 867 MHz Combo, $550; 1 GHz Combo, $678; SuperDrive, $899.
Best iPod nano deals, Low End Mac Deals, 07.17.
Used 2 GB iPod nano, $70; refurb 4 GB, $99; new, $139; refurb 8 GB, $149; new, $180.