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macclink · 03:01 AM

Well, the giant PowerMac 8600 behemoth is finally being kicked to the curb, and I was miraculously able to find its original software disk from 1997, so I could initialize the hard drive. However I have an internal SCSI 9 GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive in it (whoa, nine whole gigs!), and it wouldn't show up as a drive from Drive Setup (either before or after booting from the CD). So I thought maybe I could just copy the contents of the seagate into the trash, empty the trash, then re-initialize the main HD. However I suspect this is not sufficient to get rid of everything 100%. I would like to donate this to charity or to a school and want to make sure I wiped it correctly and completely! Any suggestions would be appreciated. This was running 8.6 but is now getting a new copy of 7.6.1 from that original CD.

Thanks in advance!!

PS. when I initially did a search on this I tried including "wipe" and got some interesting threads...

macclink · Dec 15, 2005, 03:30 AM

PPS...where can I find a listing of current "blue book" values for old Macs?

discotronic · Dec 15, 2005, 09:13 AM

eBay is about the best place to find current value. However, don't trust it completely because people seem to go crazy sometimes.

new newton · Dec 15, 2005, 11:11 AM

Why would any school or charity want a machine that old? I work in an adult education program. I've got two 8600s with G3 upgrade cards in them that are waiting to be disposed of. They've been out of service for four years, and the only reason I keep them around is because I have space. I often get calls from people wanting to "donate" their ancient, useless hardware. Schools have no more use for such things than anyone else does. We're not a dumping ground, and we're not someone's convenient way to dispose of old hardware.

As for value of an 8600... you'll be lucky if you can find someone willing to pay the cost of shipping. Much better machines can be found for next to nothing. B&W G3s can easily be had for under $100, and I've seen original iMacs going for $60.

macclink · Dec 15, 2005, 11:51 AM

I've had success before with donating old hardware to some local schools. What's "dumping" to us of our "useless" hardware isn't always perceived as such by schools and organizations. The 8600 still has a lot of functionality to it and could be used for a number of things. And I did see they're going for $10-50 on eBay which is quite pitiful. (the shipping costs as much!) However I seem to remember a website that listed prices/values of old macs and I just can't find it now.
Thank you for your insights newton, I certainly hadn't thought that some schools would balk at receiving old computer hardware (or consider it like an insult?); I have worked in some schools before that have dinosaurs in their classrooms (the computers, not the teachers..) and never thought twice about giving them slightly better dinosaurs...so I appreciate hearing your perspective.

dark3lf · Dec 15, 2005, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by macclink

PPS...where can I find a listing of current "blue book" values for old Macs?

This place says about $249 with a 2GB drive.

Why don't you try finding a Mac OS 9.1 disk and see if that takes care of formatting your drive.

discotronic · Dec 15, 2005, 12:10 PM

www.everymac.com

I don't know how up to date you can take some of their pricing.

macclink · Dec 15, 2005, 12:18 PM

Thanks so much, I appreciate it! I had the 4 GB model which they are selling for $399. That is unbelievable!

I am still trying to figure out how to wipe the barracuda 9GB drive. Maybe I'll just yank it out and throw it away. Is there something I can do to "kill" it if I go the yanking out route?

macclink · Dec 15, 2005, 12:20 PM

EveryMac was the site I was looking for, thanks! $125 sounds more like it...

I have an OS 9 disk from the G4 I currently use...will that work to upgrade the 8600 (which is now on 7.6.1)? (so I can wipe the SCSI drive?) Thanks!

Lateralus · Dec 15, 2005, 12:29 PM

Good luck getting more than $10 for the 8600. They're venerable machines, but going prices on eBay and at garage sales have more bearing on average value than sites like EveryMac, which inflate their estimated values and almost never update them.

tooki · Dec 15, 2005, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by macclink

I am still trying to figure out how to wipe the barracuda 9GB drive. Maybe I'll just yank it out and throw it away. Is there something I can do to "kill" it if I go the yanking out route?

That's unnecessary. Either use a newer version of Drive Setup (such as that from Mac OS 9), or a third-party utility like SilverLining.

tooki

discotronic · Dec 15, 2005, 12:34 PM

Try this for your SCSI drive. I used to have a version of this patched but I don't know where to begin looking for it.

http://www.euronet.nl/users/ernstoud/patch.html

macclink · 01:10 PM

Thanks, this is great!!

update-I was able to find an old SilverLining CD (6.4.2) and it is formatting the seagate right now! I appreciate everyone's help on this issue! Man, I haven't seen system 7.6.1 in years!! (except in some schools!)

jamil5454 · Dec 16, 2005, 12:47 AM

If you ever wanted to learn Linux you could put Debian on it and run a small personal server.

macclink · Dec 16, 2005, 12:58 AM

That's a great suggestion, thanks!

Person Man · Dec 16, 2005, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by macclink

Man, I haven't seen system 7.6.1 in years!! (except in some schools!)

I keep an old Power Macintosh 7600 with 300 MHz G3 card around for old games I like to play and I run 7.5.5 on it. Fun to remember sometimes.

"Oh! A Type 11 error! I haven't seen one in years!"