[rescue] Mac "Pismo" Laptop questions...

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Wed, Oct 24, 2007 at 03:36:59PM -0500, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> I've got an Apple "Pismo" laptop (400 MHz, 1 Meg cache, some RAM & HD
> with a CD-ROM drive) that is missing it's battery - is there anyway to
> actually test the laptop without buying a battery?

It runs without the battery. If the PRAM battery has run down, it won't
boot. This happens if the computer is off for a very long time.

You can disconnect it by removing the CD/DVD (do you have a CD or a DVD
drive in it?) and the battery, opening the keyboard and removing the
connector. Boot it with the power unit plugged in and then plug the
battery back in. Let it charge for 48 hours. 

This is documented on the web, complete with pictures.
 
> Also, does anyone know of a PCMCIA WiFi/802.11b (or g) card I could
> use in this laptop (or a "Wallstreet" laptop)?

OS9 will support an original WaveLan aka Orinoco card (11b) using airport
software. There is an Orinco driver for the cards, and cards with the
same chipset (but not the same PCMCIA ID's) for System 7.6, and 8.0-8.6.
There is also a later one for MacOS 9. 

OSX will not support it, but 10.3.9 and up will support a Broadcom chipset
CARDBUS card. You install 10.3 and do a software update with an ethernet
connection, or install 10.4 directly.

These will work on either a Wallstreet (original or PDQ), Lombard,
or Pismo.

OS9 through 10.4 will also support an airport card in the Pismo (there
is a slot for it), but they are expensive. 

The Pismo and OSX 10.4 will support a DLINK DWL-G122 revision B USB dongle,
download the drivers from the Ralink web site and use the extension cord.


> I plan/hope to put more RAM in the Pismo and try installing a version
> of OS X 10.2 (or later, I haven't looked at Xposfacto yet) using the
> "Target Drive" install method...


The Pismo will install all the way up to 10.4 (Tiger) right out of the
box, but I was unable to get the DVD version to boot on mine. The CD
version worked fine.

> Out of curiousity, anyone here interested in a Pismo, Wallstreet or a
> really early PowerPC laptop (the model number eludes me, it is not in
> front of me as I type this)? I have no use for them, I bought them from
> a friend to play with and hopefully pass on to someone that can make
> good use of them...

No thanks, I have plenty. :-)

Geoff.
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Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
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