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Recycled Computing
Backing Up Your G3 PowerBook Quickly and Easily
- 2008.10.27
Popularity: 
Bookmark in del.icio.us- Tiger, tiger burning bright
- in the forest of the night
- What immortal hand or eye
- has framed thy fearful symmetry?
Who says you don't learn anything in school? I remembered that poem from my elementary school days many, many years ago.
I'm still running Tiger on my G3 "Pismo" PowerBook, and many people ask me how I manage running Tiger in the Age of Leopard.
Well, Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4.11) runs well on the Pismo (although I would like to max out the RAM to 1 GB), and I'm not sure throwing a G4 processor at it would make Leopard that much better an operating system for this old 'Book. The limiting factor is the Pismo's graphics card. In order to utilize Cover Flow with iTunes, I have to turn down the display from "millions of colors" to "thousands of colors". A small price to pay, but Leopard is graphics heavy.
Backing Up without Time Machine
"But what about Time Machine?" you ask. "You have no way to automatically back up your critical files."
Okay, Time Machine is a very useful feature, but I have a backup method which has a unique advantage.
As Pismo fanboys know, the Pismo has two modular bays that can either hold batteries or (on the right side) optical drives, Zip drives, floppy drives, and . . . drum roll please . . . a module containing a 2.5" hard drive. Still manufactured by MCE Technologies, the convenient Xcaret Pro modules (links at end of article), which currently sell for US$69, allow you to install an old laptop drive. It's very easy to do, and you can boot the Pismo from this removable hard drive. (The same goes for the WallStreet and Lombard PowerBooks.)
To back up my drive, I clone my hard drive to the other hard drive in the MCE enclosure mounted in my right expansion bay using Carbon Copy Cloner (freeware, donations accepted). After the first full backup, you can do much faster incremental backups to save only what's been changed (the shareware SuperDuper! program can do the same thing).
If anything goes wrong with my Pismo's hard drive or I suffer a virus or hacking attack, I can boot the Pismo using the backup hard drive in my Pismo's expansion bay. I don't have to do much of anything to get the computer going again in an emergency.
What About Leopard?
Since I started writing this article, Mr. Mike, our beloved computer repair person, accidentally installed Leopard on a G4 PowerBook with a 400 MHz processor. It takes a little while to load, but once it's up, it's not too shabby.
Does this mean I can think about putting Leopard on the old Pismo? First things first: I would have to shell out for a G4 processor for the Pismo. Hmmm. But think about installing Apple's latest operating system on a 9-year-old laptop. It would make a nice commercial.
I'm waiting for Steve Jobs' phone call.
Xcaret Pro for Lombard and Pismo
- MCE Xcaret Pro-99 Do-It-Yourself Expansion Bay Hard Drive Kit
- MCE 80 GB/5400 RPM Xcaret Pro-99 Expansion Bay Hard Drive
Xcaret Pro for WallStreet
Recent Recycled Computing Columns
- Replacing the Hard Drive in a Clamshell iBook, 11.19. Yes, it is one of the most difficult Apple notebooks to disassemble and reassemble, but a 10 GB hard drive just will not do.
- Macintosh Remote Control with Chicken of the VNC, 10.06. Sometimes you want to or need to control another Mac remotely. The free Chicken of the VNC program is a great tool for doing exactly that.
- Upgrading a Pismo PowerBook with a Slot-load Drive Salvaged from an iBook, 10.01. Starting with a spare DVD-ROM module and the SuperDrive from a G4 iBook, the author ended up with a SuperDrive in his Pismo PowerBook.
- Why the 20" iMac Is Perfect for Home or School, 09.29. The aluminum iMac has plenty of power and screen space, yet it's small enough and light enough to tote from place to place.
- More in the Recycled Computing index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Power Mac G5 Quad, Oct. 2005 - With two 2.5 GHz dual-core G5 CPUs, the G5 Quad was the most powerful PowerPC Mac ever and introduced PCI Express.
- Group of the Day: Mac Network deals with all aspects of Mac networking.
- November 21 in LEM history: 00: OS upgrades, downgrades - AltiVec vs. Pentium III - 01: Saved by the clones - Computer of the future - 02: Apple Education: Let's get to it - 03: Panther lets Macs and PCs work together, - Lombard SCSI bug - 05: 3 survivors from the 1970s - Real world battery life inadequate - Windows to Mac file transfer with Zip disks - $99 alternative to Microsoft Office - 06: Parallels 1.0 far more polished than beta
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
- NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More, Ian R Campbell, 11.20. Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
- Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
- i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More, Mac News Review, 11.20. Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
- IBM Model F: A Great Old Keyboard with an Outdated Layout, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 11.19. Although it used a different technology than the revered IBM Model M keyboard, the Model F was a great keyboard in its own right.
- Soft Touch Keyboards, Wireless Mouse Options, Loving SeaMonkey 2, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.18. Also the future of browsing with PowerPC Macs and the multiple mouse input bug introduced with OS X 10.5.8.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
- Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
- Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
- Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
- Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
- More deals in our archive.
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