‘Books Show-off

Not much about Aviation, 3d or cg graphic… But here is my blog , so i can post about what ever crap i want, isn’t it ? My other big interest are Apple computers and their systems. I like to play with it, test old or new OSs on them, see what they can do, repair it when i can… etc.
I’m by no means an expert, just playing, nice toys.
I started a collection, have 17 now, 14 in working order. But i’m more interested in laptops, Powerbooks, iBooks, MacBook…

So, as any mad collector being proud of his collection, it’s a show-off my ‘Books collection.
here two boot videos of my precioussss :

Let me present them one by one.

First one above is a 100 Mhz PowerBook 5300cs from 1995, 16MB of Ram, with a 10.4″ DualScan color passive matrix 640×480 screen, running Mac OS 8.1. Gift from a friend (Merci Manu !) at the condition that i would retrieve his datas from the HD, and that was not so easy… Even though the machine booted on the first try after several years of sleep; without Ethernet port and no Appletalk cable at hand no way to plug it to a network. It wouldn’t read or even format the few floppies i had too… Finally managed it with a SCSI Zip drive, but the drivers weren’t present in OS 8.1, so had so boot from the Zip drive… Anyway, the thing is in nice shape, only the back ports door is missing, and the screen showing his age.

Next is a PowerBook 1400c/166 Mhz PowerPC 603ev Processor.

From 1996-1997, 32MB of Ram, with an active-matrix 800×600 screen. Running Mac OS 8.0. Got it from the place i work, they got rid of several old-old machines, and i was there ;)
Also booted on the first try after a long sleep. Not played much with it so far, but seems to work ok. Like the previous the PRAM battery is dead of course. Shape is so so, the grey plastic from that period don’t age very well, and there are some cracks near the hinges on the screen cover. Makes that one fragile…

Then here is « Michael Vronsky »… yes, i give it names.

It’s due part to my madness maybe, but also it’s a good way of finding them on the network (note the « naming » starts with the first Ethernet equiped model :).
A PowerBook G3 Serie aka « Wallstreet » from 1998, 233 Mhz PowerPC 750 (G3), 12.1-inch 800 x 600 Active Matrix TFT screen. got it from the same source as the previous. Boots ok, but unfortunately there are three vertical lines showing on the screen :/ Would have to change the screen , but still usable. Also the case is in bad shape, can see the thing moved a lot with not much caring (hey, who cares… that’s the company stuff…) , bumps and scratches here and there… But still hold together. For the moment running Mac OS X Server 1,2v3, aka Rhapsody 5.6, stock install, very interesting system (more on that with the next one).

Fourth is « Walter.E.Kurtz » :

Also a PowerBook G3 Serie from 1998-1999, but a « PDQ » (Pretty Damn Quick), 266 Mhz , 14.1″ Active Matrix TFT 1024 x 768 screen. Gift from a friend (thanks again Olive !). It’s in very good condition, even the battery still charges. It dual boots in Mac OS 8.6 and Rhapsody 5.6. And there also another OS 8.6 system bootable inside the Rhapsody partition through the « BlueBox », that’s a bit like when you could start « classic » (OS9) in OS X 10.4 Tiger, only there it swaps desktop by OS environment. Very cool. Rhapsody 5.6 is the last version of the Apple system based on OPENSTEP with a Mac classic gui look. It as a BSD 4.4 based layer, so you can compile some unix apps. I’ve compiled SSH on it, works perfectly, and i find classy to control my MacMini iTunes server through SSH and iTunes-command  with that Machine (…show-off I said…).

Then there is « Keyser Söze », this PowerBook G3 (Bronze Keyboard) aka « Lombard » from 1999. 400 Mhz, 14.1″ 1024 x 768 Screen.

Bought that one on the Bay , act on impulse, cause it was the first laptop i had, only back then it was a 333Mhz model. Wasn’t a very good deal though… running ok, but a bit too expensive for what it is, the case condition is so so, and i’ve found that the screen is in fact a later model « Pismo » screen ( almost the sames, the way to tell a « Lombard » screen is the white “Macintosh Powerbook G3” words under the display, the Pismo screen has only « Powerbook »), So it makes it kind of an hybrid… Anyway it runs Mac OS 9.2.2 pretty smoothly .

Next is « George Smiley »  , a PowerBook (FireWire) aka « Pismo » from 2000, a 400 Mhz model with 256 MB of Ram.

First Apple laptop to have fireWire ports, the Pismo was really the best laptop at the time, sturdy, and stayed a good and usable machine for a long time (and can still be).Got that one from the same give away at the place i work. It’s in perfect shape, not a scratch on the plastic, just only one of the rubber feet is missing, and the screen as a pinkish tint for a few seconds at boot up then change to normal colors (display inverter start to show age maybe…). For the moment it’s a test machine. I’ve installed a 32GB KingSpec 2.5-inch PATA/IDE SSD Solid State Disk , partitioned in two, one booting Mac OS 9.0.4, and one Mac OS X 10.0 « Kodiak » Developer Preview 4. Installing OS 9 on the SSD involved starting from a 10.4 Tiger DVD, then formatting the SSD with « OS classic » drivers , then booting from the OS 9 CD and installing. It runs… fast. But it’s not without some glitches, sometime it freezes for 5 to 10 seconds when you double click on the HD icon… dunno why. Also , no TRIM support on OS 9 of course . Installing OS X 10.0 « Kodiak » DP4 was really just for testing, pretty useless system. Can see it’s just a Rhapsody with an Aqua interface and Apple starting to close the system to users, buggy also, couldn’t find a way to change the desktop image…

The Seventh is « Tyler Durden », also PowerBook « Pismo », same 400Mhz model, with 512 MB of Ram.

Bought on the Bay, with the intention of getting pieces for the Lombard, for very cheap cause it would’t start, seller saying it was a power unit problem… then back at home found out it was in perfect shape, but indeed would not boot. Was reluctant about dismantling that nice Pismo just for the pieces, so googled about « Pismo not booting »… Well Pismo models just don’t boot with a dead PRAM battery, just unplug it and « DOONNNGggg »…boot… Have another working one for the price of a dead one. Yes I know… it’s bad.
Now it dual boots Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger, and Debian Wheezy. Works fine. bought a Belkin PCMCIA Wifi card , but have not found a way to connect to my network so far, maybe it’s because of the WPA encryption settings… work in progress.

Eighth , « Harry Tuttle » , is a iBook G3 14.1 LCD 900 Mhz 32 Vram from 2003, gift from my brother (Merci!).

Really a nice machine. Would boot but with a black screen, has the famous ATI video chip problem, good explanations on This Video. So i dismantled it and cooked the video chip with a red hot coin, and also added a shim between the video chip and the case ( a coin folded in some aluminium foil). It works … for some time. Generally it last 4-5 days, then the screen freezes. So reboot, and press on the left side of the case during boot, then runs ok for another 4-5 days… I suppose at one time or another the trick will not work at all. It’s a pity, cause other than that the machine is very nice. It dual boots Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger, and Debian Wheezy with LXDE.

Then is « Ezekiel25-17″, a MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody from 2009, 2.8 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 4 GB of Ram.

Superb design. It Dual boots Mac OS X 10.9.1 Maverick and Ubuntu 12.04 (though i usually use Cinnamon WM with that). It’s my « next main » machine, i use it for watching films, rendering stuff in Blender when my main machine is occupied at something else, archiving… etc. Love it. Never had a problem with it.

And the last, « Jack Torrance », a MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody from Late 2011, 2.4 Ghz Intel Core i7, with 8 Go of Ram.

My main working computer. Running Mac OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion, Yes I still have to get use to maverick… Not much to say on that one. Just the perfect working machine for me at moment, can do 9000×3000 pixels blender renders in Cycles without problem…

Too bad it’s the last 17″ apple laptop model. I got use to the big screen, very comfortable. Now the biggest apple laptop screen are the retinas 15″.

For the moment, i don’t feel the need to get a newer model, this last 17″ really fills my needs for working stuffs. Maybe when the time to change will come, the retina screen prices would have drop enough for Apple to make a 17″ retina MacBook ?… dream.

So this is my collection. Note I’ve had some other models at one time or another in past. some being sold, some died, or being stolen. I had a PowerBook G3 Lombard 333Mhz (My first, mentioned earlier) , a PowerBook G4 Titanium 867Mhz, a Aluminium 17″ PowerBook G4, and a Aluminium 17″ MacBook Pro.