68kMLA Classic Interface

This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.

Click here to select a new forum.
Anyone got a spare Beige G3 ROM?
Posted by: imactheknife on 2023-03-26 15:20:24 I’m planning on polymer myself. More authentic looking. Yeah I just picked up another g3 all in one.. this one is not working 100%. Not sure if psu is bad, or flyback. I get no chime with another working board, and get this funky screen with flashing question mark.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-26 15:22:04 Yeah I just picked up another g3 all in one.. this one is not working 100%. Not sure if psu is bad, or flyback. I get no chime with another working board, and get this funky screen with flashing question mark. Another AIO. You’d think they grew on trees, haha.
Posted by: imactheknife on 2023-03-26 19:07:38 We Another AIO. You’d think they grew on trees, haha. lol, after not seeing any for years, i got two in last month.. go figure!
Posted by: AssortedSordid on 2023-03-28 06:46:27 This is probably a stupid question, but is there any difference between the rev B and C logic boards, or is it just the ROM chip? In other words, could I put a Rev B or C ROM in my pessimum Rev A beige minitower?
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-28 06:48:30 This is probably a stupid question, but is there any difference between the rev B and C logic boards, or is it just the ROM chip? In other words, could I put a Rev B or C ROM in my pessimum Rev A beige minitower? Yeah. Back in around 2000 I upgraded my (or should I say my family’s) Rev A G3 minitower with a Rev B ROM so I could get slave IDE support.
Posted by: AssortedSordid on 2023-03-28 07:21:05 Yeah. Back in around 2000 I upgraded my (or should I say my family’s) Rev A G3 minitower with a Rev B ROM so I could get slave IDE support. Niiiiice 😎 thanks for sharing!
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-28 07:52:49 I actually discovered that the Rev B ROM is the best one, because the Rev C is incompatible with the Sonnet Tango Trio (or similar flashed combo cards). I wonder what they changed in Rev C other than breaking something.
Posted by: trag on 2023-03-30 14:26:06 Just to muddy the water, one of my Beige G3s has a 4-chip Rev A ROM. Some of OWC's Rev A variants are just different manufacturing dates?! Or am I missing something. Not that it really matters, I think they're got a bit caught up in board revisions over ROM contents. Although perhaps it helps with identifying. My three G3 ROMs (unfortunately I covered the chip versions without thinking when I made them easy for me to identify :s ): Are you sure that's a Rev. C. From the chip number, I'm thinking it might be a Rev. B instead of Rev. C. The ROM Revision in Apple System Profiler is different. Trails "F2" vs. "F5", IIRC.
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-03-30 14:29:06 Are you sure that's a Rev. C. From the chip number, I'm thinking it might be a Rev. B instead of Rev. C. The ROM Revision in Apple System Profiler is different. Trails "F2" vs. "F5", IIRC. I based my labels on System Profiler. The machine is not set up at the moment.
Posted by: trag on 2023-03-30 14:30:17 I actually discovered that the Rev B ROM is the best one, because the Rev C is incompatible with the Sonnet Tango Trio (or similar flashed combo cards). I wonder what they changed in Rev C other than breaking something. Yes, there were reports way back when that the Rev. C broke compatibility with some obscure brand of Wifi card, or something like that. REallly old memory. I don't recall hearing it caused problems with Tango Trio, but it is not surprising. Apple, of course, never disclosed how a C was better than a B. As long as it was incompatibilty with a card I would never see in the wild, C still seemed good to me. This report of Tango Trio problems is more disturbing.
Posted by: trag on 2023-03-30 14:31:43 This is probably a stupid question, but is there any difference between the rev B and C logic boards, or is it just the ROM chip? In other words, could I put a Rev B or C ROM in my pessimum Rev A beige minitower? AFAIK, all Beige G3 ROMs work in all Beige G3 motherboards. I've never heard of a failing combination.
Posted by: trag on 2023-03-30 14:35:46 I based my labels on System Profiler. The machine is not set up at the moment. Interesting. Thank you. I have a 2-chip Rev. C with Apple part numbers and several 2-chip Rev. As all with the same (as each other) Apple part numbers on the chips, but the only Rev. B I've ever had was actually a Flash module with multiple chips, so I've never gotten teh chip numbers for the Rev. B. Still pretty sure that the 'c' should be 494, 495 and I'm seeing 488 (438?) on your Rev. C module.
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-03-30 14:41:06 Interesting. Thank you. I have a 2-chip Rev. C with Apple part numbers and several 2-chip Rev. As all with the same (as each other) Apple part numbers on the chips, but the only Rev. B I've ever had was actually a Flash module with multiple chips, so I've never gotten teh chip numbers for the Rev. B. Still pretty sure that the 'c' should be 494, 495 and I'm seeing 488 (438?) on your Rev. C module. Please, I'm pretty sure that is a Rev C. It's easy to ask, but I'm not searching through my 5 Beige G3s to find my one Rev C ROM that I have already carefully worked out which Rev it is and labelled so I don't have to check which Rev it is!
Posted by: trag on 2023-03-30 14:44:58 Please, I'm pretty sure that is a Rev C. It's easy to ask, but I'm not searching through my 5 Beige G3s to find my one Rev C ROM that I have already carefully worked out which Rev it is and labelled so I don't have to check which Rev it is! No problem. It' s just new information to add to the pot.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-30 15:43:30 As long as it was incompatibilty with a card I would never see in the wild, C still seemed good to me. This report of Tango Trio problems is more disturbing. This is directly from Sonnet’s tech spec document: “Some Beige Power Macintosh G3 Minitower and Desktop machines (those with a revision 3 logic board) are incompatible with the Tempo Trio. To determine your computer’s logic board revision, open the Apple system profiler utility and find the ROM revision line. If the information listed is $77D.45F2, your computer has a revision 3 logic board and is not compatible with the Tempo Trio.” The statement is not totally accurate. There is no such thing as a revision 3 logic board, they mean the ROM.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-30 15:53:10 Here’s my ROM and its vital stats, just for fun:
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-03-30 15:57:45 Here’s my ROM and its vital stats, just for fun: View attachment 54564 View attachment 54565 View attachment 54566 That's a writable ROM you have there @croissantking
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-30 15:59:50 That's a writable ROM you have there @croissantking That’s useful, potentially, no?
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-03-30 16:02:35 That’s useful, potentially, no? Yes, we could potentially turn it into a Rev B. Don't have the adapter to do it, but we /could/. That would, cough, possibly, cough, make red PCI cards work?
Posted by: mg.man on 2023-07-12 01:51:53 Will see if I can fire up a G3DT or MT to confirm. Well... that took W A Y longer than planned! 🙄 However, I can now confirm that the ROM I posted a pic of is indeed a Rev.A. Bummer. I did, however, pull the ROMs from all my beige G3s and can add the following info to the database... Firstly, a "WRAITH ROM" from one of my G3 MTs : Going by what I could find on the interweb, concensus seems to point to these being Rev.A or Rev.B. Mine, however, is a Rev.C. Go figure. Next I went through my other 4 ROMs... Anyone want to take a chance on calling these?? 🙂 Hint - spot the differences.
< 2 >