Will a G3 Powerbook work for recording? Has anybody had any luck?

People used them for years quite happily. Don't expect miracles or excessive multitracking, but you should be able to get at least something done. Most soft synths will probably kill it, though.

Make sure its a G3 Pizmo, these ran at 500mhz and had 2 x firewire and 2 x USB ports. Mine had 780mb ram and ran ok.

I was using Protools LE, Reason and Live in OS9. worked well, but
I wouldnt recommend using it for recording software in OSX. The newer operating systems will slow it down.

They are a great looking machine. I wish i still had mine.

let us know how you go.

Hey,

Thanks so much for your responses. It's hard to find feedback here sometimes, so I appreciate it. My G3 is 400mhz running OSX. I'd almost rather have OS9, but don't know how to find it. Can I get it free anywhere? Would installing it erase my other programs? Which OS9 works well for recording? How does one install it? If you're able to answer even one of these questions, I'd be greatly appreciative. Thanks,

tross

You should be able to find OS 9 in classifieds or ebay for dirt cheap.

I would recommend you to go the full road to 9.2.2 if possible (beware some software don't like and need 9.1 at most which is less stable). If you find an OS 9.0x install CD it's great, you can make the full road to 9.2.2 from it and you're not blocked at 9.1 and up, or 9.2x.

Install a new OS WILL erase in your case. OS X and OS 9 handle hard drives quite differently and it'd be a good idea to keep things as clean as possible for your tranquility. To install insert the CD, restart while keeping the key "C" on. then follow the talk and don' t panic. If you have something bothering you then, ask us. First save your docs elsewhere, make a clone of the current OS X system in case (use the drive utility or CCC).

CCC = Carbon Copy Cloner, a free download from Mike Bombich. Very neat tool. Copies your entire hard drive, as is.

(Sorry, LPM, don't mean to tread on your toes - I just thought tross might need a hint!)

If your PB has FireWire, recording to an external hard drive would speed things up, as the drive would be doing all the hard audio file playback work, letting the Mac get on with running the program. Under £100, easy.

If you stick with OS 9 I think you can still get Pro Tools Free from Digideisgn, if you haven't already got it. That would let you get into the world of recording and see how your PB works out. There is no free OS X version yet, AFAIK.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86209

Macintosh: Some Computers Only Start Up in Mac OS X
In September 2002, Apple announced that starting in January 2003, new Macintosh computers would only start up into Mac OS X, while retaining the ability to use most Mac OS 9 applications in Mac OS X's "Classic" environment.

These Macintosh computers only start up in Mac OS X:

* PowerBook G4 (12-inch) and later models of 12-inch PowerBook G4
* PowerBook G4 (15-inch FW 800) and later models of 15-inch PowerBook G4
* PowerBook G4 (17-inch) and later models of 17-inch PowerBook G4
* Power Mac G4 (FW 800)
* Power Mac G5 and later models of Power Mac G5
* iBook G4 and iBook G4 (14-inch) and later models of iBook
* iMac (Flat Panel) with serial numbers of xx303xxxxxx or later
* iMac (17-inch 1 GHz) and later models of iMac
* eMac (ATI Graphics) most models (see Note)
* eMac (USB 2.0) and later models of eMac
* Mac mini


Note: eMac (ATI Graphics) models with CD-ROM or Combo drives can boot into Mac OS 9.


Tip: These computers include a Mac OS 9 System Folder on the Mac OS X volume. This System Folder contains the necessary files to run the Classic environment. If the System Folder is deleted or otherwise unavailable, it can be restored using the Restore discs that came with the computer. For more information, see "Mac OS X: How to Reinstall Mac OS 9 or Recover From a Software Restore".

Dangt wrote:
"I was using Protools LE, Reason and Live in OS 9. worked well, but
I wouldnt recommend using it for recording software in OSX. The newer operating systems will slow it down."

I strongly agree with dangt. I've been using Pismo few years ago (Reason 2.5). Under OS 9.2 worked fine; under any X went a bit slow. Remeber, that X systems needs a lot of hard disk space to keep scratch disc. So get used to view of spinning beachball of death. System 9.2 is very stable and fast for older Macs.
Maybe You will find interesting that page:
http://os9forever.com/

But there is other problem with Pismo and Reason. You will be not able to work out huge songs. In my case, few instruments plus correction tracks overloaded CPU quite fast (note, that Reason has CPU load indictaor).

"My G3 is 400mhz running OSX."

Doesn't Your machine have a Os 9.2 in Classic mode?
Try to use system preferences to switch to 9.2 ( System Preferences/ Startup Disc/ select Mac OS 9.2.2 ), then restart.Then Your Pismo will start up in Os 9.2. And then do not change Startup Disk back to System X.
Maybe it will do.

let us know how did You handle that
cheers