How The Hell Can I Get Outdated Software?, ...software if i wanna buy a 7300/200 Options

The points made already should cover what you need to know, other than software.. You probably already know the origional factory specs, but if not, CLICK HERE... The machine seems to be good enough to run some basic multi track software, but as pointed out so many times up there, finding it may be the hardest part of your project. My best advice would be searching ebay or any of the p2p networks. I know how hard it is finding older software first hand because I'm trying to feed a PowerMac 5500 my self.. Cubasis AV is what I'm looking for, and I too am a guitarist looking to turn my Mac into a simple 4 track recorder.. After all the headaches, I sometimes wunder if maybe the old Fostex and Tascam cassettes were really that bad... Then I remember that I can't bring up a good website on the 4 track, and I know why I go through all the troubles....
Best of luck to you and your project.. and what ever you do, post your findings, especially if you find a killer software archive or something us old farts could use.
Take care now ! ...... Tom

[xingu]

Hey Tom, might I inquire what operating system you're running? I did a quick search to familiarize myself with the 5500, and it looks like if you have your RAM maxed out at 128MB and have OS 8.6 or 9.1 installed, then you might be able to use Pro Tools Free. The 5500 isn't specifically listed as compatible, but I think the only other requirement is a 200mhz processor (and yours is 225). The other spec requirements can be found here. If all goes well, you should be able to turn your 5500 into a simple 8-track recorder, for free!

Hi There !
At the present time, My 5500 is 64 megs shy of max, but the chips are on order. I'm running OS-8.1 and considering 8.6.. I won't be takeing it to OS-9 because of all the problems I have read about with that OS on older equipment.. I looked into the free version of Pro Tools, but I have yet to try it. I'll give it a shot soon, and post my findings. One program I know worked on other systems such as these was Cakewalk's Metro 4, but since Cakewalk sold off the Metro line, finding old versions is getting harder every day.
My experience in digital music is 99% PC based.. I use Acid Pro 4, Cubase SX, CoolEdit Pro, Cakewalk Express 8 ( simple is GOOD ) , and an old copy of Cubasis AV ( My Favorite ).. Having something like any of these programs that would work on the 5500+ ( 250Mhz with all the toys.. video board / tv/fm board .. it's the PLUS system.. sorry for not pointing that out before..) would be awesome!
Man, I didn't want to turn this thread into my quest.. sorry about that.. but it is cool that this is being addressed. Thanks !

[dreibel]

here's some thoughts of mine on this subject;

if you're looking at the 7xxx series, consider looking at getting a 7600 model, as this one has RCA audio line level in and out, that will give you another option for audio in.

But why not dream big? Consider looking at a 9600 Tower - these are beginning to show up dirt cheap on eBay. They have the ability to be upgraded to up to 1 gig of memory, and have 6 PCI slots for adding all sorts of cards like USB, Firewire, IDE, and video (plus the big door on the side makes it much easier to get inside and get inside its guts. There's also the earlier 9500, but these are a real bear to open and get inside without spilling blood

Also a budget consideration - Mac clones like the Power Computing PowerTower Pro or the UMAX S900. These are based around the 9500/9600 with the six slots and up to 1 gig of memory capability, and are now going for peanuts. I have a UMAX J700 (an S900 with four slots and a desktop case) with over 500 MB of RAM, a couple of hard drives and a G4 daughtercard, and I get great results running Cubase VST/32 5.1 on it.

Look for as much RAM as possible - thankfully, the 168-pin DIMMs have been dropping steadily in price, you can get 128 MB DIMMs for around $25 US.

A modem/printer port MIDI unit is a great way to go - a few weeks ago I picked up an Opcode Studio 64 X for $50 CDN. And Gibson still maintains an Opcode web site for downloading the 2.3.8 drivers you'll need.

One other thing about PCI Power Macs - a cool aspect about these is that it's possible to stuff a faster processor into these via a duaghtercard upgrade. Sonnet , Powerlogix and XLR8 all make some cool cards for turning older Macs into fire-breathing funny Macs . One to look out for are XLR8's daughtercards that can take ZIF-style upgrades, which make them really good should you find someone selling a ZIF from a beige or B&W G3 or from a Yikes! G4.

And one other research site - Low End Mac is an excellent repository of info for all things old Mac, and even offers newsletters for users of particular models.

[dr. schoft]

Well well. Very nice info
Its been a while im sorry about that, but its very kool you guys have kept this topic alive. ive been out of loop of researching and im still kindof a newbie The fact is that my computer isnt ready yet unfortunately but in the meantime this is how far i am right now.

-its the 7300/200 incl 17" applevision running OS9.1 i bought for 150 euros somewhere in march i believe
-i bought 2 128 MB RAM and have 312 MB now
- i found a AMIII card for 120 euros
- im gonna try and let logicfun do the job, the free software that logic put on the site to download (its ready for like 8 tracks, depending on the memory bien sur :-)
- a midimacman for 40euros.
- an alesis SR16 drummachine (had that before actually)
- the next step now is storage. im stuck now with 2GB SCSI
Ive asked before somewhere else, and i heard G3 upgrade cards cause a lot of frustration and conflicts on old world macs like the 7300.

About the CDWriter. I have an old HP cdwriter in a pc at my parents house, anyone think i can use it? I still better use it externally since the writer is kindof as old as the 7300?

BTW does anyone msn messenger on 9.1? i got the same conflict every time i want to log in. is the version for 9.1 really out of service? I cant upgrade to Mac OS 9.2.2 without an faster processor, right?


allright

schol !

This post has been edited by dr. schoft: Mon 10 Nov 2003, 17:20

[lee_story]

I've seen very few G3 upgrade problems on "old world" Macs...and the 7300 is being used by Other World Computing (OWC) as their benchmark machine for G3 and G4 upgrades up to 800MHz.

I'm using an old PowerMac 8500 for my music machine, upgraded with a Sonnet 450MHz G4 processor card (cost $175 US on ebay), a simple 2-port USB card and M-Audio MIDI interface, Griffin iMic, internal 9G and 2G SCSI disks, and an external 18G SCSI disk (which I may move inboard eventually). I'm running OSX 10.2.4, installed with the Sonnet Technologies helper PCI X Install (tried XPostFacto, and it also works fine), and the PowerLogix Cache Control X to turn on the L2 cache. (Turning it on is essential; OWC's L2CacheControl by R.Rempel also works.)

It's absolutely rock solid. I'm using Metro6, Peak DV, SparkME, and Finale 2003 in Classic mode (have ordered 2004). I plan to upgrade my old and much-loved MOTU Performer 6 to DP4 soon.

As far as I can see, there's very little reason not to use an "Old World" Mac unless you need a greater-than-800MHz processor or greater-than-50M bus speed. --L

[dr. schoft]

Well Lee thats very cool to hear. especially if one, like you did, goes ebay for those upgrades, it should be cheap as hell to get a G4 machine that way. so your upgrading adventure never came with any exaggerated frustration at all?
Im really surprised that youre not having such a hard time with OSX, as many say running OSX on an old world mac is a pain and only for real computer hobbyists (which you might be of course). So then i shouldnt be to afraid to put an USB and of firewire card in my machine either then. which brands of cards do you recommend? does annyone happen to use a firewire pci card on an old mac to hook up a firewire tray with an IDE drive for just some storage? how about a dvd drive?

Kevin