Linux [2]

And so it begins. How to take apart a Mac and put it back together better, stronger, and faster than it was before...and have some fun doing it. I can only classify myself as "semi-technical", which makes me dangerous. But in this particular project, I've been somewhat successful so far and I've had a lot of fun doing it. And so in this part of the project, we lay out what it is you need to begin this project and what you need to upgrade in terms of hardware. This is quite a recipe - perhaps a recipe for disaster. But hey, it's all in the name of fun.

As I mentioned before, I managed to lay hands on an old (circa summer 2000) iMac G3 with a 350 MHz PPC chip in it. I only have passing knowledge of Mac computers being an Intel person most of my life. I have enough knowledge of Mac stuff from years past to be pretty dangerous. I used one in the military a LONG time ago, a Mac Classic and then I did some repair work on a few back when the iMac first came out. Some of this I wish I had remembered when I first began this project, but it was certainly a good refresher. It's not the prettiest computer in the world. She's seen better days, I'm sure. But she boots and runs without issue...













As this first part of this article deals in what you need for ingredients for this little project, here are the things you'll need (see the image below)...







First start with a vintage type iMac (mine particularly was circa summer of 2000 - you can find out what year yours is by looking the serial number up on Apple's site). You'll also need a decent USB keyboard and mouse...probably wired is best. While the keyboard you use later doesn't have to be a Mac native keyboard, it REALLY helps to have a Mac native keyboard during the install. In fact, it's necessary as there is no way to tell the little begger to boot from the CDROM if you DON'T have one that I know of. You'll also need a couple of distributions of Linux. So far I've played around with Yellowdog a bit. I've installed Opensuse, but not with a great deal of success - probably because I chose KDE instead of Gnome. And I recently found that there's a ported version of Ubuntu out there that I'm working with now. And finally, it's always good to have a couple bottles of *ahem* fine wine on hand...note the two bottles of Oakleaf Cab and Merlot...$3.00 a bottle at Walmart.

Alternatively, you can substitute some of this...as shown below.







As seen in the pic, you *can* substitute the cheap wine with four of Uncle Persie's Forever Buffet beer. In many ways, this is a superior addative to the recipe. :)

Be careful how much of either you add, however, as it may taint the final product if you're not careful. Mileage may vary.

The first thing I did when I saw the computer anyway was boot it up just to make sure it worked. There was no keyboard or mouse there when I did it, but that was just as well anyway since I really wasn't interested in playing around with a single button "hockey puck" mouse anyway as the plans I had for this little beast were to convert it into a Linux based little monster (at least comparitively speaking to its own ilk from its own age). Once I saw it booted up to Mac OS9 without issue, I figured the $10.00 was worth it and after a quick consultation with Mrs. Evilbunneh, we were on the way home with my newfound treasure...and here are a few pics of my treasure during the identification process...





















As you can see, she wasn't the most powerful computer in the world. In fact, she wasn't that powerful at all. But hey, for $10.00, whadda ya want? A rubbah biscuit??

But still, I wanted a system that could at least run, not limp. While the prospect of running Windows on it sounded like a lot of fun and might actually even be funny, the logistics of it were more than I wanted to play around with and I was preeeety sure that Microsoft wasn't going to play nice with Mac hardware. So I decided to do a little research on what Linux distros were out there (since that was the way I was going anyway) that would run on the PowerPC chip, and specifically on a Mac.

Oddly enough the number of distros out there is beginning to dwindle. Actually, I guess that's not a big surprise considering even Apple has moved away from the RISC based processor system and has instead migrated to an Intel infrastructure. I'm not necessarily saying that's a GOOD idea. RISC based systems have been inherently better systems as a rule than CISC based systems. But the cost of such systems usually drives the price up pretty significantly. But then Apple was always bent on a couple of things - being a little different than the rest of the world and also providing a superior product, in all actuality. It's unfortunate for them that most people choose cheap over superior. Such is the market, which is why 95% of the personal computer market is IBM and clones and why software writers code to Microsoft, not Apple, as a rule.

Be that as it may, with the hardware currently installed, I knew that any version of Linux was going to be a challenge for the little iMac. Fortunately, most of the "upgradeable" hardware in a Mac isn't much different than that in an x86 based system. A hard drive is still a hard drive and memory is still memory. In this case, the iMac uses an ATA100 hard drive (not sure what the max capacity is) and memory is PC100 memory.

Things that aren't replacable are things like the system board, video card and processor. Oh, I'm sure they COULD be or you could retrofit something in there, but I'm not that ambitious. Hell, I'm even surprised I'm doing THIS much in documenting the project. So my choices in what I could upgrade were limited, but the system DEFINITELY needed a boost.

The specs of the system were as follows:

Processor: PowerPC Processor at 350MHz
Memory: 64MB of PC100 single sided memory
Hard Drive: Quantum Fireball 7 GB hard drive
Video Card: ATi Rage128 Pro with 16 MB of VRAM

As you can see, she's a little on the weak side. With only limited things I could upgrade, the two things that were immediately apparent for any operating system were the memory and hard drive. Any common operating system (at least a distro of Linux) is going to want AT LEAST 256 MB of memory. More if you can get it. And most distros of Linux if you add a GUI are going to suck up a LOT of hard drive space. While the hard drive in it was fast (for its day), it certainly wasn't large enough to be able to accmodate a recent distro of Linux. Well, it would...but there wouldn't be much room left over. And what's the sense in that??

So I began by rummaging around in my pile o' parts upstairs in my server room upstairs. It's amazing what a geek like me can collect over a few years. In amongst the dusty old parts, I managed to find a couple of sticks of 256 MB PC133 single sided memory...IMPORTANT NOTE!!! This particular breed of iMac doesn't like double sided, or at least the one stick of 512 MB I found. It will accept PC133, so long as it downsteps (and mine does). The other thing I came across was an 80 GB hard drive, which was more than sufficient for my purposes.










Now the real fun began - replacing the two identified shortcomings in the system within my power to replace. I'd forgotten what a joy the iMac is to work on. The only upgrade that's easy to make on these little beggers is the memory. Aside from that, anything that needs to be replaced or worked on is a pain in the ass to get at.

Replacing the memory is the easy bit and if ever you have to do it, here's how...

Turn the system up on its face (be sure to put down a cloth or something so you don't scratch the monitor face). Right in the middle of the back of the hatch there is a little door with a small lock on it that can be locked or unlocked with a straight edge screwdriver. Unlock the door and open it up.







Once you have the door open, it reveals the two memory slots - super easy to get at.







Most other geeks out there like me are familiar with this sight. Just unclip the original stick and pop it out and replace it with the new stick(s).







That being done, it's time to move on to replacing the hard drive. One thing worth mentioning...hindsight being 20/20, if you're going to be replacing both, you mighta wanted to wait to do it all at once, but it's just as easy either way...but it might make it a little more efficient to replace the memory at the same time you replace the hard drive as the process of replacing the hard drive is a touch more involved. Oh, hell, replacing the hard drive in one of these little monsters just plain sucks!!

The first thing you're going to need to do is remove the bottom of the case. Yep, ya gotta crack the egg. First start by turning the computer over on its top. This thing is SO much fun to work on since it rocks around like a freakin' weeble wobble while you try to negotiate the screws in it. You'll see another panel just below the memory panel. It doesn't have a hinge on it. It simply pops in place. You'll need a straight edge screwdriver to pop it out. That's where you begin.







Underneath of it, there are four screws. Remove all four of these and put them in a safe place...like DUH!







Next, on the bottom of the system, right under the litttle arm that can prop it up a bit, there are two more screws you'll need to remove. Remove these and put these in the same safe place. Make sure not to mix these up with the other four when you're putting the system back together again.







Now you're ready to remove the bottom cover. Grab as best you can from the back and gently pull up towards the front. Be careful. There are two tabs that hold the bottom of the case to the top of the case. If you're gentle, these should come off without breaking. Wasn't too difficult.







Now you're in for your NEXT surprise. I'm not sure what sadist designed this little begger, but I wouldn't mind meeting them...so I could insert a screw or two of my own in THEM. The whole thing is covered by a metal shield. The only thing still exposed is the memory bay. In order to get at the motherboard and hard drive tray, you have to remove the shield. BE CAREFUL when doing this. KEEP TRACK OF THE SCREWS!! It's a good idea to have a parts grabber on hand or a pair of tweezers to grab the screws before they're completely out. Note the six screws that need to be replaced in the picture below.







Okay, now that the screen is loose, gently take it up and out. It's a little bit of a trick and a little stubborn, but it should come out without too much issue and bare the motherboard and the hard drive tray.







Now that the hard drive tray and motherboard is exposed, you can remove the four screws holding the hard drive in place, the IDE ribbon and the molex power source. For those of you thinking, "now would be a good time to replace the CDROM with a CD Burner or DVD", forget it. The interface is some strange freakin' thing that I've never seen before. MAYBE there's something out there in Mac world. But I'm betting it's not worth the time and effort (and money) to find it. Also, it might not be such a bad practice while you have the cover off to replace the battery. I'm pretty sure the one in mine is pooched and needs replacement. But I've buttoned it up since and I'll have to go back in again later to replace it. The battery is easy to identify on the motherboard and doesn't look like it's anything that can't be found pretty much anywhere. Just a word of advice if you don't want to have to dig back into this beast again.

Anyway, note the four screw positions, ribbon cable and molex connector that need to be removed. I've highlighted the screws particularly.







Once you've taken out the screws and detatched the cable and molex connector, you can slip the drive out...and here's where it mighta been easier to have WAITED to replace the memory since it kinda gets in the way. In any case, slip the old one out, the new one in and then replace all the parts in reverse...obviously.







And that completes the hardware upgrade part of this project.

Next time we start the operating system install. So far, I've dabbled with Yellowdog, Opensuse using KDE and I've tried Ubuntu. The results I've had so far have been not so good. Yellowdog installed without any trouble, but didn't configure X...guess you gotta do that yourself and I wasn't that ambitious at the time, although I might go back to it for a couple of different reasons, not the least of which is that it uses Enlightenment E17 File manager, which is highly unstable (not unlike myself) but a really pretty GUI. Opensuse using KDE was kind of a bust, but mostly because KDE seems to hog up resources quite a bit. I tend to think that maybe if I'd have gone with the default GUI of Gnome, I might have been better off. And I tried Ubuntu...and it fails the install about halfway through. Not sure what's wrong there, but it won't let me continue. I might revisit that...but maybe not. Might also try Debian, but I haven't decided yet. So stay tuned for Part III when we bring the little beast to life!! :)