Macintosh Server G3
 | |
| A beige Power Macintosh G3 minitower, the enclosure of the 1998 Macintosh Server G3. Photo: Klodo6975, Wikimedia Commons, public domain | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Apple Computer, Inc. |
| Type | Server (tower personal computer) |
| Released | 2 March 1998 (beige minitower); 5 January 1999 (blue and white) (EveryMac) |
| Discontinued | 31 August 1999 (EveryMac) |
| CPU | PowerPC 750 (G3) at 233 to 450 MHz |
| Memory | 64 to 256 MB SDRAM as shipped; 1 GB maximum (blue and white) |
| Storage | IDE or Ultra/Wide SCSI (beige); two Wide Ultra2 SCSI drives on a PCI card (blue and white) |
| Display | — |
| Sound | — |
| Connectivity | 10BASE-T built in (beige); 10/100 built in plus a four-port 10/100 Ethernet card (blue and white, Mac OS X Server configuration) |
| Power | 115 or 230 V AC by voltage switch (blue and white) |
| OS / Firmware | AppleShare IP 5.0 (1998); Mac OS X Server (1999) |
| Model no. | M4405 (beige minitower), M5183 (blue and white) |
The Macintosh Server G3 is a Power Macintosh G3 tower sold with Apple's server software and server-oriented drives and network cards. EveryMac describes each model as "architecturally identical to a model in the Power Macintosh G3 series", with different configurations and pre-installed server software.[1] There were two generations: beige minitowers from March 1998, and blue and white towers from January 1999.
Models
[edit | edit source]| Model | Introduced | Discontinued | RAM as shipped | Storage as shipped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 233 MHz minitower | 2 March 1998 | 1 September 1998 | 64 MB | 4 GB |
| 266 MHz minitower | 2 March 1998 | 1 September 1998 | 128 MB | Two 4 GB |
| 300 MHz minitower | 17 March 1998 | 14 December 1998 | 64 or 128 MB | Two 4 GB |
| 333 MHz minitower | 1 September 1998 | 14 December 1998 | 128 MB | Two 9 GB |
| 350 MHz blue and white | 5 January 1999 | 1 June 1999 | 128 MB | 9 GB |
| 400 MHz blue and white | 5 January 1999 | 31 August 1999 | 128 or 256 MB | Two 9 GB |
| 450 MHz blue and white | 1 June 1999 | 31 August 1999 | 256 MB | Two 9 GB |
Source: EveryMac.[1] Wikipedia gives the 1998 launch configurations as 233 MHz with a 6 GB IDE drive, 266 MHz with a 4 GB Ultra/Wide SCSI drive, and 300 MHz with two 4 GB Ultra/Wide SCSI drives and 1 MB of L2 cache, and lists AppleShare IP 5.0, Apple Network Administrator Toolkit and SoftRAID as the bundled software. Its drive figures for the 233 and 266 MHz models differ from EveryMac's.[2]
Blue and white Server G3
[edit | edit source]Apple's setup guide for the blue and white Macintosh Server G3 with Mac OS X Server calls it "Apple's first Mac OS X Server–based computer".[3] As that guide describes it:
- Two Wide Ultra2 SCSI hard drives on a PCI SCSI card, in the lower drive carrier, which takes one more drive. Factory drives use SCSI IDs 0, 1 and 2; the card uses ID 7.
- A four-port 10/100 Ethernet card beside the built-in 10/100 port, giving five network segments.
- Four PCI slots: slot 1 (66 MHz, 3.3 V) holds the graphics card, and with the SCSI and Ethernet cards fitted there is room for one more 33 MHz card drawing up to 25 W.
- Four DIMM slots for PC-100 SDRAM (3.3 V, unbuffered, 64-bit, 168-pin, no taller than 2 inches), to 1 GB; 256 MB DIMMs must use 128 Mbit chips. DIMMs need not be installed in pairs.
- A 3.6 V lithium backup battery on the logic board.
- A voltage switch on the back: "115" for 100–120 V, "230" for 200–240 V. Apple says it must be set correctly to avoid damaging the computer.
- Mac OS X Server of the time did not support FireWire, USB devices other than the keyboard and mouse, DVD-ROM discs, modem connections or most add-on PCI cards.
Source: setup guide.[3]
Beige Server G3
[edit | edit source]The 1998 Server G3 is the beige Power Macintosh G3 minitower.[2] Console5's capacitor list for the beige G3 logic board 820-0991-A and -B (secondary source) adds a note for the server: the switching board it found in a -B revision "G3 Server" has four 680 µF 10 V capacitors at C6–C9, where the -A revision "G3 Desktop" board had four 1500 µF 6.3 V parts.[4] Check the board you have before ordering parts.
Maintenance and repair
[edit | edit source]The Server G3 is serviced as the Power Macintosh G3 tower it is built on. Apple's procedures for the blue and white server's battery, memory, PCI cards and drives are in the setup guide (pp. 33–46).[3] The clock battery is a 3.6 V lithium cell; a leaking lithium cell leaves acidic residue (see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage).
Documentation
[edit | edit source]- Macintosh Server G3 Documentation: Apple's Setting Up Your Macintosh Server G3 (1999)
Related pages
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 EveryMac, "Mac Server G3" index. Each Macintosh Server G3 architecturally identical to a Power Macintosh G3 model; 233 MHz (M6389LL/A) and 266 MHz (M6461LL/A) minitowers introduced 2 March 1998, discontinued 1 September 1998; 300 MHz (M6579LL/A) introduced 17 March 1998, discontinued 14 December 1998; 333 MHz (M6700LL/A) introduced 1 September 1998, discontinued 14 December 1998; all model M4405. Blue and white 350 MHz (M6657LL/A) introduced 5 January 1999, discontinued 1 June 1999; 400 MHz (M6658LL/A) 5 January 1999 to 31 August 1999; 450 MHz (M7559LL/A) 1 June 1999 to 31 August 1999; all model M5183.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wikipedia, "Power Macintosh G3", section "Server". Identical to the Mini Tower model, sold with additional server software (AppleShare IP 5.0, Apple Network Administrator Toolkit, SoftRAID); introduced March 1998; Good/Better/Best configurations at 233, 266 and 300 MHz; 333 MHz model in September 1998.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Apple Computer, Setting Up Your Macintosh Server G3 (1999), File:Setting Up Your Macintosh Server G3 (1999).pdf; see Macintosh Server G3 Documentation. Page numbers are PDF pages: introduction p. 9, limitations p. 11, voltage switch p. 18, Ethernet pp. 25–26, memory p. 33, storage pp. 33–35, PCI p. 36, battery p. 36, opening the server p. 37, SCSI IDs p. 46.
- ↑ Console5 Tech Wiki, "Macintosh G3", section "820-0991" (secondary source): logic board list confirmed for 820-0991-A and -B; "Switch Board (found in -A revision G3 Desktop)" four 1500 µF 6.3 V; "Switch Board (found in -B revision G3 Server)" C6–C9 680 µF 10 V.