How do I get my PowerBook WallStreet to recognise my Wireless Card?

I tried downloading airport for OS 9.0 by copying it onto a zip disc (I don't have a cd drive), but the computer recognises the installer as a "pc" file and can't read it.

You can not unpack Mac files on a PC. The PC damages the files. They must be transferred, intact, to a Mac and unpacked there.

I have a Orinoco Gold wireless card which should be plug-and-play but OS 9.0 doesn't know what to do with it.

It should work fine with an up-to-date version of Airport software. There is an Open Software driver for Mac OS X 10.2 or later if you decide to upgrade later.

Here it is. I just decided that I love my Powerbook Wallstreet and hate my Titanium. Yeah, I know...a little late seeing as how ones 8 years old and one's 3 +. So, my question follows this topic as I when i read the initial post it made me think of my Wallstreet. Mine currently has OS 9.2.2 Ive had up to 9.6 on it but when it crashed went back to an older version. Here's the questions

1.)What will it take to upgrade to OS 10.3? The processor is 233 MHZ. I have a 256 mb ram card in the top slot and a paltry 64 mb card in the lower. The machine has a 2.0 gb hard drive.

2.) What Wireless Card would be suggested and will I have to find 3 party drivers? I have an Airport Extreme Base station?

3.) Are there good processor upgrades I should be looking for?

The whole and why of this is that I've tried, really tried, to love the titanium but I just cant stand it when it comes to writing. I love the feel and heft of the wallstreet and while it may be psychological, my writing is better when I use it. So, all of you wizards of all things Mac....how do we bring this dinosaur into the 21st century?

lazrslong-

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

1. 10.3 can be installed on a Wallstreet using XPostFacto. It is not supported by Apple, but neither has Apple driven them out of business. Version 4 may be unnecessarily complex. I use version 3.1 for 10.3 Panther, available through a link in the "Big Document" on the XPostFacto site:

http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XPostFacto/

You will need a new hard drive, 6 GB is barely adequate, 10 GB or larger is good. There are tons of used Toshibas and IBM/Hitachis on eBay.

The Wallstreet is subject to the "under 8GB" first_partition limit. No OS can be installed in the second partition, but it can be used for data. You will need 9.1 or better installed to run XPostfacto, which will add some extensions to allow booting and installing from a "full Retail" 10.3 CD. You may have to make some parameter changes to support the Wallstreet display, or maybe not.

2. For OS 9, use Airport software with orinoco or similar from the list at this site:

http://wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net/

For OS X, use the same card, just install their driver.

The initial set-up of the sourceforge driver a little quirky. The detection of the card causes a new en1 port to appear. Use the standard Network Preference to turn that port on and for the first time only. From then on, use the provided Wireless Preference Pane to make any configuration changes. I installed it with a Lucent Orinoco card. Works fine in 10.3, in a WallStreet.

3. There are two series of Wallstreet Macs. You must stay within your series, but can buy a faster processor card. You have a 233 MHz processor card now. How much L2 cache? \[this will tell which series your motherboard belongs to].

Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder

This article show the two series in the Wallstreet line by the two distinct lines in the table on the first page:

24604- PowerBook G3 Computers: How to Identify Different Models

series 1 (May '98) 233/0 cache - 250 - 292
series 2 (Oct '98) 233/512 cache - 266 - 300

You can buy a faster processor, but you have to stay in your same series to stay compatible.

You're a God send. Thanks. I follow you throughout most of the stuff...a little lost on the driver install for the card but I'm sure I'll figure all of that out. I've seen a few new HD's for the wallstreet that look okay one specifically that is 40g.

So, heres the ID stuff. It seems that it is a 4753 with the 512 Backside L2 cache (this from sys profiler info)

I havent had a lot of luck finding a faster processor. There seems to have been a good one from Sonnet (Crescendo WS 500mhz) but alas,everyone seems out of stock and Sonnet no longer makes it. Grrrrr. I havent found much else. 1 used one on ebay from the UK...dont know if I want that hassle.

My questions that remain,

Any suggestions for a faster processor. Im thinking up to $200.00 for that.

Specific wireless card suggestion

I figure it's a given that I should max out the RAM and install a 256 ram card into the top slot.

Any other "soup it up and make it fly" suggestions?

Again thanks for your help

Leo

if you have the 233/512 cache, you are in the second series, which includes the 266 and 300 MHz cards. As long as you stay in the same series, you should be fine.

These Macs were made in 1998. Add-on processor have been discontinued, but working processors from Wallstreets "wounded in action" are readily available for under US$50. DO NOT pay $200!

You may need to find a company that fixes up PowerBooks, and tap into their used parts supply. There are several in the US that have Web Sites, but the shipping (to UK, right?) is expensive.

The real limit for RAM is a 256 module in the top slot AND a short 256 module in the bottom slot. You can run 10.2 Jaguar with 256, and 10.3 Panther also. More is always better.

The original Airport base station had a Lucent/orinoco card in it. Not just the equivalent circuitry -- an actual Lucent/orinoco card. If you buy one of those, the silver is OK, but the gold is better. When Apple decided to build their own, they settled on a different chip maker, so all the Mac OS X Airport stuff is based on Broadcom chips, and the Lucent, Wavelan, Farallon, Proxim, orinoco, and similar stuff no longer gets a free ride. You have to use a different driver, and the one on sourceforge works fine for many cards that resemble the original Airport cards.

I have a relatively new Airport extreme base station. It's about 3 1/2 yrs old now. I assume it's not the older format. That being the case, whats my best plan for a wireless card? As a footnote. I found a 300 mhz processor on line for $59.00. Reasonable I thought. I was planning I buying a 256 MB Sodimm for Powerbook G3 Wallstreet and Lombard. It's from a salvage place called Betamacs. I'm pretty sure thats the correct one but Im not sure what you meant by your description of the short ram.

Thanks again

Leo

The airport Extreme Base Station is backward-compatible with original Airport if you allow it to be (through configuration). You can probably go to an 802.11g card, but you WILL need to buy Mac OS X drivers with it. Unless you have an Broadband link faster than 10 Megabits/sec, it is not needed for most uses. Exceptions would be those contemplating frequent large File Transfers, or School-setup with all User Home Directories on the Server.

The SODIMM slot on the bottom is short in height -- cards designed for the top slot may not fit in the bottom slot due to this height restriction.

Memory for Macs can be complex. There is far too much to learn to develop the needed expertise for a one-off purchase. If you are dealing with someone who touches Macs daily, THEY should tell YOU what will work where, and back it with a "money-back if it don't work in your Mac" guarantee.

Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder

Grant,

Again, thanks a million.I will be getting the 300 mhz processor, an additional 256 mg of ram and a 40 g HD. Chris at Betamacs seems to have done his homework and knew of the size restriction. He did offe a money back gaurantee so Im confiden I'll be okay.

As to the wireless card, are there still any 32 bit 802.11b cards out there? Is the earlier stuff 802.11b or a? I've seen a lot of different choices on ebay. None say that they are Mac friendly and some say very specifically will not work with mac. Im assuming this is a driver thing. Ive seen a couple of companies that have drivers that they claim will make anything mac compatible. Yeah right, thats what they said about PCsoft too. Of the cards, one, "802.11b Wireless Cardbus PCMCIA Card" for $9.00 up to some for as much as $100.00 and everything in between. I'm still a little unsure which one I should be looking at. I work in automobile parts, commercial accounts specifically and I understand not wanting to come right out and endorse a particular product...but...if you were to...which way would you be looking...?

Again, thanks for your time man. You make it possible for idiots to not look quite so idiotic.

Leo

Came across this on ebay and on a LEM google group. Linksys WPC54G card. Most of the posts say it's reliable and works out of the box. Any thoughts here? Given that I'm going up to at least OS 10.3 (thinking about 10.4 but some say theres not much hope on a Wallstreet) I think it'll work.

Leo

Leo,

The Linksys WPC54G does have the Broadcom chipset, so it is compatible with AirPort software.

If you install Jaguar 10.2, update to 10.2.8 plus install AirPort 3.1.1; this is required to support 54Mbps PC cards.

If you install Panther 10.3, make sure you update to 10.3.9, then run Software Update to get the additional AirPort updates. Somewhere in the 10.3.x series, Apple released a 10.3.x Update that no longer supported Wifi PC cards; 10.3.9 plus Software Update corrected this.

The LinkSys 54g card is certainly an option, but is faster than most Internet connections.

If you want a cheap wireless card that works with Airport software (802.11b) in OS 9 and works with a driver in Mac OS X, go to this page and look around. There is a list of about 20 cards that are supported (some better than others) by this driver. That can serve as a shopping list for buying a used card:

http://wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net/