New Lease of Life for Imac Graphite DV?

Question

Hi,
My apologies if this question has been asked a zillion times before....
I have an Imac Graphite - I think it was called "Special Edition" when I bought it about 8 years ago! I have recently got interested in "Apple-Type" things again and want to see if I can get the Imac into best state possible. Ultimately I will give to my sister-in-law who just does a bit of word processing, email and web surfing, so I don't mind spending a bit on it for an HD etc. That's the background, here's the details:
400 MHZ PowerPC G3
256Mb of memory (on 2 128Mb sticks)
Hard Drive is 13 Gb
OS is 10.2.8 - I up graded it in about 2003
The firmware level is not known, but I have a suspicion that when I upgraded to the new operating system a firmware revision will have been done?
When I do the "OPT-APPLE-O-F" startup I get the message: *"Apple PowerMac 2, 1 2.4f1 BootRom built on 2/18/00"*
I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers to both what is possible and what works well in the following areas:
1. I think the maximum memory is 1 GB? but reading various threads on here it looks like you have to be very careful when selecting memory as to what particular type you use. For instance, I have seen references to PC100 and PC133? If it helps I could pull out one of the sticks and tell you what the part number is for one of the existing?
2. I think there is a limit on the size of hard drive that can actually be addressed, but I'm not sure what that limit is. Clearly, there is no point in buying a 250 Megabits Drive is if the computer will only recognize 100 Mb? Are there any particular manufacturers brands of hard drive that people would recommend?
3. What is the highest level of operating system, that can be sensibly used with this machine? I have a feeling it may be 10.4, but I am not sure where I would go to try and obtain a copy. Does it need to be specific to my machine or can I use any upgrade, or is there a generic version that will work with anything? Can this software still be obtained from Apple? (They stopped sending out updates for my 10.2.8 some while ago.)
4. Lastly any good sites or links that I might look at that "talk you through" any of the upgrade processes?
Sorry for the length of the post!
Regards,
Phil.

Answer 1

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions. 
The iMac with the 13GB HDD indeed was the iMac DV SE.
1. The maximum RAM is 1GB (2x 512MB PC100 168pin DIMMs) good quality PC133 will down-speed and work but not all PC133 will. Buy from a Mac-savvy supplier like Crucial:
Crucial UK.
2. The addressing limit is 137GB (which translates into about 128GB of actual capacity). So a 120GB HDD is most appropriate. On the iMac DV no partitioning is required but you may if you wish. The bus is an ATA33 so any ATA/IDE drive will be fine (not SATA though). I put a 7,200rpm 60GB Seagate in my iMac DV about 4 years ago and was impressed at the speed. I was also impressed at the low noise of the Western Digital 320GB drive I put in the iMac G4 we have.
3. With a 7,200 rpm 120Gb drive, and 1GB RAM you shouldn't have any issues running Mac OS 10.4.11 which is the very latest supported. Getting a copy of it however could be problematic. I can't think of anywhere to get one in the UK. You'll need to have a look around Google etc. You should purchase the Retail version only. This came on a black DVD. Machine-specific versions (especially if they say iMac) are likely to be for Intel processors and won't work. You sound like you are aware that you must have the correct Firmware update before installing 10.3 or higher. Hopefully you have OS 9 still installed or have the original orange install discs and can re-install it to confirm the firmware is correct:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75130
4. Try the Macworld guide:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2496/2001/10/howtoimac.html
Since 2001 drives have got cooler so it's fine to use a 7,200rpm HDD.
Hope that helps.
mrtotes