Powerbook G3 Kanga Hard drive/Airport Upgrade

Question

Powerbook G3 Kanga Hard drive/Airport Upgrade

Good Afternoon Apple Forums,

I have a Powerbook G3 Kanga and wanted to know if there is a way I could upgrade the 5GB hard drive to a bigger one? Would the Powerbook G3 be able to use a SSD and would os 8.6 or 9.x be able to utilize it correctly? Any advise to the best hard drive option would be great.

Also, if I plan on taking the powerbook G3 with me as a companion could I get a wireless card for it? DVD would be nice on the go with the Kanga, no?

Thanks all for helping me on my aging Powerbook G3. I love it and would not give it up for anything.

Powerbook G3 (Kanga), Mac OS 9.1.x, G3 250Mhz, 160MB, 12.1" 800x600, 5GB, 100 Zip, 2x Batteries, and 2.5 Floppy

Posted on Jan 27, 2009 2:02 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 27, 2009 4:00 PM in response to Sabrina Mancini

A nice upgrade would be a 30 or 40Gb HD instead depending on how much you wanted to spend.
Here is a link suggesting you may run into a few problems with some ATA-6 drives.
http://lowendmac.com/pb2/kanga-powerbook-g3.html
and here for a guide
www.powerbookmedic.com/xcart1/files/3400kangag3.pdf
I am unsure which wireless cards would work with it.
I also doubt you would be able to get a DVD drive for that machine.
jpl points out the rerasons why here...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=230283
Good luck. They are a great little machine.
I have a Wallstreet which is similar.

Stewie

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Answer 2

Jan 27, 2009 5:12 PM in response to stewiesno1

Thanks Stewie for your response,

30 or 40 would be a nice upgrade, but I really want to put a SSD (Solid State Drive) into my Powerbook G3 and would like to know if that would work. the SSDs are a excellent choice since they take up less battery life than traditional hard drives, plus I'll see a good performance gain. I'm sure it would work, but with that one resource of the Kanga may not work with certain ATA-6 drives is the reason why I'm asking here. The Million dollar question would be if the Powerbook G3 would be able to use it (I saw old powerbooks booting off of SSD PCIMA cards)

I've already read that exact apple forums article on the DVD rom drive and it seems to be a no go, especially since there are no resources of DVD rom drives for the 3400s/Kanga, so that gives me a clue that it would not work.

Finally, you know of a wifi card for the Powerbook G3? it would be excellent to bring the laptop throughout the house without any wires.

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Answer 3

Jan 29, 2009 3:11 PM in response to Sabrina Mancini

The SSD may work but the DVD no and maybe no to the Airport card. I think you need OS10.2 or later for that although I may be wrong.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6169180
Also have a look at some of the LEM pages such as this
http://lowendmac.com/ed/royal/08sr/powerbook-wifi-pc-cards.html
and this may do what you want after all
http://www.powerbookwireless.net/

Stewie

Edit: here you go, just another link for the SSD - seems you are set to go !
http://lowendmac.com/reviews/07/flash.html

Message was edited by: stewiesno1

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