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Unusual Builds
DasHanselHM
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Are you a big fan of "fuck the norm" when it comes to computers? Have you ever looked at an old Mac and wondered how well it would run linux? Do you look at old microwaves and wonder if you can stuff that old motherboard into it and still have room for all the extra goodies? Then this thread is for you.
I want to see or hear about your unusual builds. I will start with something that isn't too wild, but I'm hoping that you all have more interesting stories to tell.
Here is my PowerBook G3 (Pismo):
It's running Xubuntu 8.04. I picked it up for $40 on ebay and the only thing it needed was a power brick. Whoever had it before me upgraded it to 512 Mb of ram so it runs linux fairly well. It was a bit of a bear to get it to actually take linux and I'm still not done tweaking it.
The only real mod that I've done to it is I opened up the plastic on the display panel and took out the plastic behind the apple so that it now lights up with the display.
I want to see or hear about your unusual builds. I will start with something that isn't too wild, but I'm hoping that you all have more interesting stories to tell.
Here is my PowerBook G3 (Pismo):
It's running Xubuntu 8.04. I picked it up for $40 on ebay and the only thing it needed was a power brick. Whoever had it before me upgraded it to 512 Mb of ram so it runs linux fairly well. It was a bit of a bear to get it to actually take linux and I'm still not done tweaking it.
The only real mod that I've done to it is I opened up the plastic on the display panel and took out the plastic behind the apple so that it now lights up with the display.
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Right now I'm planning out a build which I don't want to spoil, but as a teaser I will acknowledge that the system makes use of PCI-E risers.
edit: forgot to say, I have an old ppc iBook running Linux too. It's great, people don't know if they oughta hate me for having a mac, or for running Linux.
I installed Tiger on it, which runs okay on the 733MHz CPU but will undoubtedly be faster once that new RAM's in there. Snagged an AirPort Extreme-compatible PCI wireless card for $17 on eBay, threw in a USB card, and an extra (160GB) hard drive, and now I have wireless without having to hunt down a Base Station, and two free USB ports for peripherals.
I'm tempted to purchase a Sonnet Tempo HD card so I can attach one of my old laptop drives, and hook up a third (20GB) hard drive that's currently sitting dormant in the case. And to top it all off, I threw in a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive to read all my media.
I'm a sucker for low end Macs. I might throw on a decent PPC distro (just not Ubuntu, because that's the norm now).
EDIT: 1GB is now installed.
Had a Tualatin-core P3 system running with the single fan in the PSU - quite stably as well, and it was a hell of a gaming box for the time.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
I didn't want to put Ubuntu on it at first, but it was the only distro that would install without hanging up. I would have loved to put Slackintosh on it but it wouldn't boot the install disc at all.
And I would love to get an old Alpha server to run as a linux fileserver.
Four CDs (or one DVD) seems kind of a big investment on that part too. The same thing happened to me with the plain x86 build of Slackware 12.
If I remember, I did get Debian to work on the B&W G3 I used to have. Ubuntu gave me problems related to my dead PRAM battery but Debian didn't seem to do that.
How's wireless coming?
Last night I purchased one of these for my Quicksilver. The idea is that I have the two HDDs I mentioned earlier, and I put in a third (20GB) in the bay under the optical drive where a Zip drive would normally go. Then I discovered another Molex power connector (yay!) so I'll use this card to hook up my fourth 20GB drive that's mounted at the bottom of the case.
Then I guess I'll find something to actually do with them.
Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
- Terry Pratchett