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Well a Google search answered that question, and apparently these things do pretty well at 400mhz, and sometimes, albeit rarely, at 433.

I'll give 400 a try later this week. It requires more modification than a desktop, and I don't have time tonight.

I'll try to get some photos up, as well.

The Graphite SE models are pretty damn hot.
All these older models have is USB, a modem, and 10/100 Base-T ethernet...
and I'm taking full advantage of the ethernet.

Right now, the G4 is what I'm using to post this message ( because I'm home and it's much faster ), by way of the iBook's Airport, sharing it's internet connection, simply by connecting them by their ethernet ports. It's simple, but I've never had the opportunity to try it and find how useful it can be. All I have to do when I head out the door is disconnect the laptop and take it with me.
It's like my new internet server.

Anyhow, new-found toy excitement aside, I removed the pressed aluminum sheets which line the plastics along the inside, with the exception of what is in the iBook's underside ( 'didn't feel like removing the logic board again ), so you can now see the iBook's innards, through both the clear and the blue portions, in the upper half of the laptop, as well as through the palmrest. You can also see the glow of the display's backlight, in addition to its various parts and pieces, through the top of the 'Book. I may place some portion of the lining directly over the back of the LCD though, to assure that I am not losing any light which would otherwise be shining through the LCD.
There is an Apple logo shaped section, taped over, in the shield from the top, so I may yet leave that open, to let light through the blue Apple logo on the case.

Yeah, it looks pretty cool, and I think I'll overclock it tonight

Last edited by ironhawk (2005-05-17 4:14 pm)

I hope to get some up soon.

I went ahead and cut a piece of the aluminum shielding and placed it right behind the LCD, to keep all that light from escaping... with the exception of one thing:

Apple did cut a logo from the shielding in the lid, but they covered it so the iBook wouldn't have the same glowing Apple as the PowerrBooks.
So, that's the bit of shielding I cut down for the LCD backlight. And, I made the logo larger, so now, not only do I have a glowing blue Apple, but a glowing white halo around it

The shiled is just behind the screen, between the screen and its support. I wanted to avoid undoing what I had done earlier, with making the guts visible and all.

Anyhow, I'm off to Radio Shack... I hope they're still open.

I removed the modem, which is the same size as the AGP G4's... have you seen this thing!? It's HUGE, and right on top of the CPU.
I think, with it gone, I may have created enough additional cooling to push this thing to 433mhz.

We shall see

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a Graphite 466.

I'd perform the same case mods.

Okay, I got back from Radio Shack, fresh solder in hand, and what did I do?

I accidentally set my resistors to the 400mhz setting, instead of 433, and completely reassembled the machine!
D'OH!
I suppose I shouldn't complain though, the 100mhz boost is very noticeable, and puts this little 'Book on par with, and in some cases, ahead of the 400mhz Lombard.
Things are very smooth.

The machine doesn't feel any warmer than before, likely because the modem is gone, leaving a nice, wide space for the CPU/logic board heatsink to dissipate excess heat.
I'd say there's now about half an inch between the heatsink and the plastics. That's a big difference, considering the modem was sitting right on top of it.

Hey Alien, you mind if I upload a few more photos ?
And what do you plan to do about the GPU? Replace, or try to get a Radeon in there? If the solder pads are the same, and the GPU pinouts are close enough, maybe a Radeon would work. That would be one hell of a mod!

Last edited by ironhawk (2005-05-18 3:39 am)

AND, I'm up to 433mhz, with the L2 cache at 217mhz!

Everything seems reliable, so far.
I'll need about a week to really put the machine through its paces. I'm very surprised the cache is handling 217mhz. Just before the upclock, I reduced the speed, from a 2:1 ratio to a 5:2 ratio ( 173mhz @ 433CPU ), just to be safe. I tehn opened up CPU Director and set it back to 2:1, just to see what it would do, and was pleasantly surprised.

Here are the bencmarks ( via Xbench ):

@300mhz

Results    19.32   
    System Info       
        Xbench Version        1.1.3
        System Version        10.3.9 (7W98)
        Physical RAM        160 MB
        Model        PowerBook2,1
        Processor        PowerPC 750 @ 300 MHz
            L1 Cache        32K (instruction), 32K (data)
            L2 Cache        512K @ 150 MHz
            Bus Frequency        67 MHz
        Video Card        ATY,RageMobilityL
        Drive Type        TOSHIBA MK3211MAT

       CPU Test    15.74   
       

@433mhz

Results    23.89   
    System Info       
        Xbench Version        1.1.3
        System Version        10.3.9 (7W98)
        Physical RAM        160 MB
        Model        PowerBook2,1
        Processor        PowerPC 750 @ 434 MHz
            L1 Cache        32K (instruction), 32K (data)
            L2 Cache        512K @ 217 MHz
            Bus Frequency        67 MHz
        Video Card        ATY,RageMobilityL
        Drive Type        TOSHIBA MK3211MAT

    CPU Test    22.86   
       


The CPU scores show a pretty big increase, while overall numbers don't differ too much. The real world experience is night and day.
Applications open much more quickly, and the finder is much more responsive.

Overall scores will increase with more RAM ( which I'm maxing to 544mb, thanks to NightCougar )
and a faster and larger hard drive.

I wish I had run the test while at 400mhz...
433 made the usual tasks speed up just a bit more, though the increase will be better noticed while saving large files, converting file formats ( mp3 encoding, etc ) and during audio and video playback.

The only thing left now is to try to resurrect the battery.
I'm going to use the same Open Firmware trick discussed previously for the PowerBook Pismo's battery.

Last edited by ironhawk (2005-05-19 3:43 am)

Well, after some issues, I've returned to 400mhz.
At 433, the machine would hang at the blank screen upon restart, unless I removed the AC and battery for 30 seconds, and even then, I would sometimes boot to a kernel panic.

Here are the benchmark scores at 400CPU/ 200L2:

Results    22.58   
    System Info       
        Xbench Version        1.1.3
        System Version        10.3.9 (7W98)
        Physical RAM        160 MB
        Model        PowerBook2,1
        Processor        PowerPC 750 @ 400 MHz
            L1 Cache        32K (instruction), 32K (data)
            L2 Cache        512K @ 200 MHz
            Bus Frequency        67 MHz
        Video Card        ATY,RageMobilityL
        Drive Type        TOSHIBA MK3211MAT

    CPU Test    22.51   

How interesting is that?
The CPU scored just .35 shy of the 433mhz setting.
Maybe I had reached a point of diminishing returns? I guess the CPU just couldn't perform at 433mhz.
Also worthy of note is that the overall system score is higher then at the 433mhz setting. Maybe this is connected to the machine's inability to boot properly when the CPU is cranked that high. Maybe the processor can't communicate correctly with the rest of the hardware at that speed.

I noticed something the last time my Clamshell was open...

There's a pad on the logic board for a Firewire socket ( near the USB ).

Anyone have a dead logic board with a socket they'd donate?

How 'bout a dead B&W Firewre port?

Alien wrote:

IIRC, you'll need some glue logic and a FireWire transceiver, too.

How's those pictures coming?

,xtG
.tsooJ

Yeah, I don't think there's a controller on board, I just happened to notice room for the port and got to thinking about it.

I don't think installing the transceiver and glue logic is a task I'd want to undertake. I do know a person or two who is insane enough, but not me.

Hopefully, I can get pictures up tonight. I still haven't purchased a new digital camera...

ironhawk wrote:

Anyhow, someone's offered to sell me a 5400rpm 60Gb laptop drive with a 2mb buffer for $50.
It's an IBM Travelstar.
Should I bite on this deal?

Yes!!

Anywho, I wish I could somehow upclock my iBook G4's (1.2GHz) bus speed.

Well, it's made by IBM, which is a reputable name, and it's not too unusual to find something like that on the cheap whilst surfing over Craigslist.

I'm picking it up tomorrow, and I imagine it will give a nice performance increase over the 4200rpm 3.2 Gb drive currently installed.

I may also give 433mhz another shot.

Oh boy... y'know, I've become so accustomed to it, that I just open the laptop pull everything out!

Well, someone mentioned this site the other day. I think it was Alien.
The only advice I can give is to make sure you keep the screws organised.
BTW, you'll need a torx 9 bit, a 0 phillips, and a 00 phillips.
Some folks like to place the screws on the sticky side of masking tape, using a sharpie to take notes on the same tape, others like to use an old egg carton.
Honestly, there aren't very many screw sizes in the Clamshell, so I think you'll be fine if you just pay attention and keep things tidy and organised.

As for reconfiguring the CPU to bus ratio ( for overclocking ), iirc I moved just three resistors, and the positions each shared a common mounting pad, so it was just a matter of moving each  either up by one, or down by one, then resoldering. Just be careful, because those little resistores can be a real pain in the ass
I took about five minutes just to examine the positions and compare them to the chart.

Sorry if that's not the best explanation; I'll try again after I've had some sleep

Last edited by ironhawk (2005-05-26 6:01 am)

I guess I'm pretty good

Anyhow, I went to Sunnyvale to pick up the 5400 rpm, 60Gb Travelstar drive yesterday, and will be posting new benchmarks in a few minutes.

I had to perform MAJOR internal modifications for it to fit in the iBook.

I had to dremel off the tabs on the hard drive cage, after which I bolted the cage to the hard drive, using the screws supplied with the drive.
I then removed a section of the metal shield which covers the logic board and innards, slightly wider and longer than the drive and, finally, a small portion of the plastics, just above the left palmrest and under the keyboard, also had to be cut back.

In true form, I kept it well-crafted and aesthetic, so the only evidence of the operation is the hard drive itself, part of which can now be seen through the clear plastic of the palmrest ( which looks REALLY cool ).

Just as an aside, the self-adhesive spacer, which was on the underside of the portion of guard which I removed, is now on the underside of the keyboard, to prevent it from resting directly atop the drive, and allow some space for heat dissipation.

Last edited by ironhawk (2005-05-27 3:16 pm)