Hey everyone, I am proud to say that I finally got my Molar Mac restored and working! I currently am going to outfit it with three 256mb low profile modules but, that's the only upgrade I will have done minus a full recap of all three circuit boards inside.

My question to all of you is what other upgrades can I do?

I have three PCI slots open and ready for use. I already have the Wings Personality Card to allow audio and video input/output. Would love to upgrade the old 4GB IDE HD, install an internal Zip drive, look for upgrades for the floppy and CD drive (if there are any), and of course fill the PCI slots with some useful cards! I would appreciate everyone's help! Please, if you have recommendations, attach a url so I can buy it!

Thank you!

Plenty of choices. CD drive can be replaced with a DVD drive, SATA card, FireWire/USB card. Lots of stuff to do! You can never have enough upgrades.

>> SadMac said:

Hey everyone, I am proud to say that I finally got my Molar Mac restored and working! I currently am going to outfit it with three 256mb low profile modules but, that's the only upgrade I will have done minus a full recap of all three circuit boards inside. My question to all of you is what other upgrades can I do? I have three PCI slots open and ready for use. I already have the Wings Personality Card to allow audio and video input/output. Would love to upgrade the old 4GB IDE HD, install an internal Zip drive, look for upgrades for the floppy and CD drive (if there are any), and of course fill the PCI slots with some useful cards! I would appreciate everyone's help! Please, if you have recommendations, attach a url so I can buy it! Thank you! Click to expand...

you can also replace the G3 processor with a G4, though it is a very involved process. Dosdude1 actually made a video a few years ago about doing the same to a Powerbook G3

Isn't the Molar Mac's CPU socketed?

>> 3lectr1c said:

Isn't the Molar Mac's CPU socketed? Click to expand...

it's a BGA CPU on a daughtercard, you would need to desolder the G3, reball a G4, and solder the G4 onto the daughtercard

Yeah, that's what I thought. I believe 3rd party upgrade makers released G4 daughtercards for them. Not sure about the molar specifically, but other PM G3s and G4s.

>> 3lectr1c said:

Yeah, that's what I thought. I believe 3rd party upgrade makers released G4 daughtercards for them. Not sure about the molar specifically, but other PM G3s and G4s. Click to expand...

though, if you have the expertise to replace the G3 with a G4, it would make your molar G3 that much more unique

Sure, that's definitely a skill I'd love to learn someday. I wonder if it's possible to solder a G4 into a Kanga.

>> 3lectr1c said:

Sure, that's definitely a skill I'd love to learn someday. I wonder if it's possible to solder a G4 into a Kanga. Click to expand...

It probably is, though cooling might be an issue, just like in the G3 clamshell

I'm sure that someone with the skill to replace the CPU would also be able to fashion a bigger heat sink on, IIRC there is enough space inside the shell for one.

>> 3lectr1c said:

Plenty of choices. CD drive can be replaced with a DVD drive, SATA card, FireWire/USB card. Lots of stuff to do! You can never have enough upgrades. Click to expand...

do you have recommendations for any dvd drives? i just got the tango 2.0 card installed. i plan on getting a 1GHz ZIF upgrade for it. IDE replacements?

Any old IDE DVD drive should work, or a SATA drive if you install a SATA card. As for installing a SATA card, you need one with a certain chipset that's been flashed to work on these old Macs. Not sure exactly what because I haven't done it myself, but I know that's necessary.

>> 3lectr1c said:

Any old IDE DVD drive should work, or a SATA drive if you install a SATA card. As for installing a SATA card, you need one with a certain chipset that's been flashed to work on these old Macs. Not sure exactly what because I haven't done it myself, but I know that's necessary. Click to expand...

What about an IDE to SATA adapter and I get an SSD?

It should theoretically work, although it will still be limited to the speed of the IDE bus. I must warn that the Power Mac G3s are known for having really picky IDE controllers that don't cooperate well with adapters, so it may not work.

>> 3lectr1c said:

It should theoretically work, although it will still be limited to the speed of the IDE bus. I must warn that the Power Mac G3s are known for having really picky IDE controllers that don't cooperate well with adapters, so it may not work. Click to expand...

yeah the first adapter I got did not work at all. I'm just running off the old 4GB one right now but I plan on buffing everything out so I thought I would replace it too. I am lost at what is compatible with these machines.

Action Retro had luck with an industrial "disk on module", although they're ridiculously expensive.

If I were you I'd look into a real SATA card.

>> 3lectr1c said:

Action Retro had luck with an industrial "disk on module", although they're ridiculously expensive. https://www.amazon.com/Kingspec-Industrial-Module-Vertical-Socket/dp/B00ODYF9W8 If I were you I'd look into a real SATA card. Click to expand...

That is super cool. Yes, expensive but if it works. It might be worth it. 16gb is pretty low though.

Ehh, it's up to you but I wouldn't pay that much

>> 3lectr1c said:

Ehh, it's up to you but I wouldn't pay that much Click to expand...

Yeah I am not sure I would like to either. They still make modern IDE's?

Hard disks? Not since around 2011 IIRC and newer hard disks also won't work in the early G3s