Replace HDD on iMac G3

Here is the spec on my internal iMac g3 600 harddrive.

Seagate U Series 9 ST380012A (hard drive, 80 GB, ATA-100)

Interfaces 1 x ATA-100 - 40 pin IDC

http://reviews.cnet.com/internal-hard-drives/seagate-u-series-9/4507-9998_7-3189 6759.html?tag=mncol;subnav

I've read that the newer 7200 drives do not give off as much heat the original ones. The original ones were a problem but the newer one are OK.

Maxing out the memory would be the most important thing. Mac OS X keeps the programs around even afer you quit the program.

Slot loading iMac

You need to get the 3 and a 1/2 inch ATA harddrive. They are also known as parallel ATA or PATA. The iMac was designed to take a maximum drive size of 128gig. The 120gig drives are the largest readily available. People have put larger drives in the machine, but only 128gig is usable.

For drives greater than 128, I suggest you create a 127gig partition and leave the rest of the drive as free space. That way you will not have to worry about the boundary conditions.

Did you set the harddrive to master? Master is a must. Cable select doesn't work. You need to set the hard drive to master mode. There is usually a label on the hard drive that tells you what jumpers you need to set. If you are not sure, give us the name and model number of the hard drive and usually someone will be able to tell you how to set that drive.

Robert

I wouldn't put too much money into this. To surf the web, you need a modern web browser. That requires Tiger. That requires a memory upgrade. I have 1gig in my iMac g3 600. It's really too slow, but I make due.

fyi:

How to upgrade slot loading iMacs

There are two assemblies with the iMac G3. The crt and the computer. The crt is fully enclosed. The computer is a tray that slides off. Working with the computer tray should be safe.

You need to get the 3 and a 1/2 inch ATA harddrive. They are also known as parallel ATA or PATA. The iMac was designed to take a maximum drive size of 128gig. The 120gig drives are the largest readily available. Odd ball sizes do not work like 7gig and 13gig. Pick a size that appeared on the iMac G3 or is a common size greater than 20gig like 40, 60, 80, or 120. Sizes larger than 128 will work but you can access only the first 128gig without buying additional third party software.

Check out this site

iMac HDD Upgrade Guide (Slot-Loading) Visual Installation Guide - slot loading iMac Hard Drive "http://wn.com/How_to_Disassemble_an_Apple_iMac_G3" Visual Installation Guide

You could try to locate the service and repair manual for your iMac on the Internet.

iMac G3 600 is imac_summer01.pdf

other names iMac_slotload_CD.pdf or iMac_early2001.pdf.

Robert

I think the drive will be OK with your machine. You can always put a fan on the bottom or type of your iMac.

You must have the DVD model. I cannot do DVD's on mine.

I'd give Tiger a try.

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I think if you disable the tiger "goodies" you can get the same performance as Panther. I'd be sure to have a backup of panther is case you don't like tiger.

outoforderorder explains how...

By the way, here it is how you find the terminal application.

Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

From: san francisco,ca

Registered: Apr 27, 2007

Re: Do the widgets drain system resources and power?

Posted: Apr 28, 2007 2:51 PM

I tend to think dashboard is neat, but not neccesary for my everyday workflow.

it is possible to enable and disable it as needed,

by entering the following commands into the terminal:

-- To turn Dashboard off:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

-- To turn Dashboard on:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO

-- You have to restart the Dock after making either change for it to take effect:

killall Dock

Bye Bye Dashbaord

http://www.kainjow.com/kermitsoft/downloads.html

Disable Spotlight, Bonjour and Dashboard:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8749558#8749558

Robert