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TAM (20th Anniversary Mac) and USB ?
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Macpilot
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Dec 5, 2003, 09:55 AM
 
Hello all.

I am getting a TAM and had the following question:

AFAIK, every version of OS X requires USB. At least that is what the boxes say.

Why is this? If you have a G3-upgraded Mac and 128 megs of Ram ((fullfilling two OS X requirement), what is the USB requirement for?

If you try to intstall OS X on a machine without USB what will happen? I would think (obviously) that you could just be prevented from using USB peripherals.

In other words, will I HAVE to upgrade the TAM to USB to install and use any version of OS X?

Thanks!
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bradoesch
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Dec 5, 2003, 04:36 PM
 
Apple just lists the system requirements in a non-standard way. Most software requirements are very technical, but Apple's way is much simpler. As you noticed, since you don't have USB, you're not supported.
To answer one of your questions, having USB ports doesn't matter, what it does mean is that you computer is recent enough to handle OS X. So adding a USB PCI card won't matter.
There's a nifty little utility that let's some unsupported Macs run OS X, but it doesn't support the TAM. Maybe it will be supported in a future version, I don't know. I've been waiting for a while for them to support my 'Max, no rush, but it would be a much more useful computer with X.
     
Macpilot  (op)
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Dec 5, 2003, 05:18 PM
 
Thanks for that info.

So I guess the only real requirements to get OS X to actually work on a pre-G3 Mac are a G3 upgrade card and 128 megs of Ram.
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bradoesch
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Dec 6, 2003, 10:54 AM
 
Originally posted by Macpilot:
Thanks for that info.

So I guess the only real requirements to get OS X to actually work on a pre-G3 Mac are a G3 upgrade card and 128 megs of Ram.
Yup, and as long as the computer is supported by a helper utility like XPostFacto. I think there is another utility as well, but it's not free like this one.
     
Macpilot  (op)
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Dec 16, 2003, 02:25 PM
 
Well, I got some new Ram and it won't work on the TAM.

Bought from Ramjet. Customer service there is great. I called them, a human answered, and they are sending out new Ram.

I tried various configurations of Ram and nothing worked. The TAM has the stock 32 chip and anothe 8 chip in it now. But the two new 64 chips don't work. The machine starts up, I get the chime, and the green LED, and the fans start up, but no screen. Just a black screen. Wierd.

So before I try to install OS X I will have to get this Ram issue fixed.

Still wondering what version of OS X to try to install, 10.1, 10.2, or 10.3.

OS 9.1 installed just fine on it. This TAM is a really cool machine. The sound is awesome. Enough to fill a small room.

Got it networked (plugged into via ethernet) to my Airport Base Station with ease.
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