PowerBook Model: 3500c A.K.A Kanga

Began: November 15, 1997

Terminated: April 15, 1998

Original Price: $5, 700

Specs

• PowerPC G3 @ 250 MHz
• Integrated FPU & PMMU
• Memory: 32 Mb on logic board with a maximum of 160 MB RAM (RAM sizes: 4-128 MB chips - EDO RAM chips supported). Minimum 60 ns RAM

• 32K data 32K instruction L1 Cache; 512K L2 Cache
• Data Path: 64-bit @ 50 Mhz bus
• Gestalt ID: 313
• ROM size: 3072KPorts/inputs/outputs: 2 Type II or 1 Type III PC Card slot, 1 HDI-30 SCSI port, HDI-15 video, 1 serial port, 1 ADB port, 1 opt. 1.44 MB SuperDrive, 20x CD-ROM, 1 built in Plain Talk microphone, 1 microphone port (16-bit mono), 1 16-bit stereo (CD quality) audio in, 1 16-bit (CD Quality) audio out, 1 Geoport, 1 IrDA wireless transfer window (IrDA - infrared port - supports AppleTalk and 1-Megabit per second data transfer rate), 1 internal Ethernet 10baset/modem (33.6 kbps) combo card, & 4 built-in stereo speakers @ 44 Khz
  Shipped with a 5GB HD - ATA interface
• LCD screen 12.1" Active Matrix SVGA screen 16-bit 800 x 600 1000's of colors. Ext. Monitor support: 24-bit millions of colors @ 1024 x 768 <=21" Monitors with 2 MB built in VRAM (mirror only - zoomed video support via PC Card). Capable of displaying millions of colors
• Chips and Technology 65554 PCI video controller support hardware acceleration
• Electrical: 45 watts max. 47 Wh Lithium Ion softpower supported
• 7.7 lbs @ 2.4" H x 11.5" W x 9.5" D
• OS 7.6.1 through to 9.0*

* According to Apple Computers Inc®. Earlier and/or later operating systems may be supported.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can I upgrade the processor?
2. How large of a hard drive will the PowerBook 3400c hold?
3. What other upgrade options do I have?
4. What is the most functional and effiecient OS to run on the PowerBook 3400c?
5. Any defects?
6. Buying advice.

1. Processor Upgrades?

No upgrades that I know of. Jack the processor (overclock it). I do not know how to do this, however.

2. HD Upgrades?

One can easily upgrade the 3500c's (herein referred to as "Kanga") HD to a larger ATA/IDE drive, and a faster one too (5400 rpm or maybe a 7200 rpm drive). Any 2.5" x up to 17 mm drive will work. One nice thing about having a large hard drive is you can use your PowerBook 3400 series as a backup for files or even a server. Check OWC for HD upgrades.

Please note: larger than 3 GB HD's MAY render SCSI disk mode inoperable on the Kanga. Solution: If you have a problem, partition the drive to reserve enough space for file transfers via SCSI disk mode (smaller than 3 GB). Not sure if the latter method will work, however. Send me feedback if you have experience with this.

VST Expansion Bay HD: VST made 1.4 and 1.6 GB DMA (Direct Access Memory) bootable/hot swappable expansion bay drives that work with the 5300/190/3400/Kanga models. These drives are faster than the original 4000 rpm drive that shipped with the Kanga. You could put in a larger drive into the VST expansion bay casing to increase storage (10 GB or more?).

See the PC Card section and Expansion Bay section for more storage options.

3. Other upgrade options?

Max out the physical RAM. Try The PowerBook Guy to find RAM for your PowerBook. The Kanga can house 160 MB of RAM with a 128 MB RAM chip installed (min. 60ns speed RAM cards - single EDO RAM chip).

RAM Charger 8.x: RC uses a technology called Dynamic Memory Allocation.  In short, it enables your trusty PowerBook (or any mac) to allocate whatever amount of ram a program needs “on the fly.”  The result is that you do not have to worry about reserving a specific amount of ram avalaible for programs.  Whatever the program needs, RAM charger will feed it, providing of course, you do not run out of available RAM for use. Please note: The use of OS 8.6 or later, particularly with VM enabled, might preclude the use of RC. Check the RAM Charger link for further details.

Stack RAM charger with Connectixs’ RAM Doubler 8.x or 9.x in order to get more available RAM out of your machine. RAM Doubler works like VM, only it is faster and more efficient. Furthermore, RAM Charger and RAM Doubler are fully compatible. RAM Doubler can actually increase your RAM by 3x, depending on the users wishes. RAM Doubler requires at least 8 MB physical RAM and a 68030 processor. I suggest using RAM Doubler over Macintoshs’ Virtual memory feature; the latter is extremely slow on older machines. Try downloading the Ram Doubler installer to be found out there somewhere.

Connectix Speed Doubler 8.x: SD 8.x (requires at least a 68030 processor, 12 MB of physical RAM and system 7.5.5 or later) will help make your PowrBook soar by speeding up many common finder operations, such as: scrolling menu’s, opening folders, copying files, etc. Speed Doubler replaces the Mac OS disk cache with its own disk cache system, resulting in an improved (speedier) cache memory system. SD 8.x speeds up the read/write process by storing frequently used HD data in RAM, rather than on the HD. Try downloading the Speed Doubler installer to be found out there somewhere. Please note: The use of OS 8.6 or later precludes the use of SD.
 
RAM Disk: Load the operating system onto a Ram disk (bootable) to increase both the speed and efficiency of your PowerBook Kanga computer.  It also results in longer battery life (25% more), as the hard drive is not constantly spinning.  Check the help section within your Operating System for instructions on setting up a RAM Disk. RAM disks are particularly important to have in case your computer crashes. Upon restart, it will boot from the RAM Disk and you can diagnose problems with the HD from there, provided you included both a system folder and a copy of Norton Disk Doctor on it.

Add a Compact Flash Card: Compact flash cards are used in order for owners of digital camera’s to load their files onto their computers. However, as these cards insert into the pcmcia slot (pc card slot), they can also act as a second hard drive. Flash cards come in sizes of 6 MB to 1 GB and higher. 128 MB card goes for about $50US. Also, Compact flash cards, acting like a hard drive in your computer, can be used to increase the amount of available ram that your computer has (using VM). In addition, store a system folder on it and boot from it. The benefits of the latter are silent operation, longer battery life (no hard drive spinning) and a faster computer. (Please note, with the speed of newer laptop hard drives reaching 5400 rpm’s, a flash card might actually slow the computer down. However, on older laptops, this is not the case, as the original hard drives in these machines are significantly slower than the newer, faster drives). You will need: (1) Compact Flash Card (2) A PC card slot or USB (3) An adapter for the Compact Flash Card if necessary. Flash card speeds peak at about 4.2 Mbps and write at about 2.2 Mbps. Make sure to get one of the faster cards.
 
Battery Information: Replace the battery via BTI. Need more power on the road? Buy that second battery from BTI and install it in the expansion bay, giving you two batteries to work with inside your Kanga. Further, buy more batteries as spares or try an external 7.2 volt NiCad battery pack (approx 5 hours running time under heavy usage).  Try Lind to purchase one. Want even more portable power or don’t want to use a battery?  Try a solar panel called the “Sun Catcher Professional” made by Power Quest. You must have your PB plugged in to boot, however.

If you are having battery troubles (i.e. battery does not hold a charge), try the following method first to remedy the problem:

PowerBook G3 (M3553 - Kanga):
The PowerBook G3 (M3553) has two different ways to reset the Power Manager. The first is to use the reset button to the left of the Serial port.

Resetting the Power Manager

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Restart the computer by holding down the reset button to the left of the Serial port for 10 to 20 seconds.
3. If the computer does not restart, repeat step 2 three or four times.

Resetting the Power Manager and PRAM
Resetting the parameter RAM (PRAM) when the computer is shut down also resets Power Manager. The following process resets both the Power Manager and the Parameter RAM.

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Make sure the Caps Lock key is not down.
3. Restart the computer. Immediately after hearing the startup sound, simultaneously press and hold Command-Option-P-R. (If you do not hold down the key combination within 5 to 10 seconds after the computer restarts, you must repeat steps 1-3.)
4. Hold down the keys until you hear the startup sound again. Then release the keys.
5. If the computer shuts itself off, press the reset button on the back of the computer to turn it back on.
6. When the computer has finished starting up, restore any custom settings for the desktop pattern, memory, network, AppleTalk, trackpad, power conservation, and so forth.

5.25"/3.5" Expansion Bay Options: (1) VST HD as noted above (faster than original drive). (2) Internal power block made by VST. Eliminates the need for an external power block, something the present writer hates to lug around. (3) Expansion bay floppy 1.44 drive made by Apple. (4) Fijitsu 230 MB HD (magneto optical drive). (5) VST zip drive compatible with Iomega zip disks (100 MB) and all other 3rd party zip disks. One nice thing about these zip disks is that they can be booted off of. Thus, similar action can be taken on these zips as with a RAM disk (see RAM disk section).

Picture of VST 100 MB Zip drive (expansion bay).

(6) Car cigarette lighter power supply made by, once again, VST. Expansion bay modules are both bootable and hot swappable. (7) CD-ROM (8) Extra battery. Expansion bay devices are interchangeable with the 190(cs)/5300 series (with the exception of the CD-ROM) and 3400 series computers.

PC Card Slot (PCMCIA): Ethernet cards and modem cards will work as well as a compact flash card (see above). The 3400c and Kanga PowerBooks PC Card Slots are apparently CardBus compliant (32-bit data path capable). Thus, firewire cards, USB cards, SCSI cards and video cards are compatible and will work with the aforementioned models. Follow the insructions below to get Card-Bus PC Cards working with your Kanga:

(1) Download the USB Card Support 1.3.5. or the new USB Card Support 1.4.1 which has been patched to install on any Mac.
(2) Install the above software.
(3) Restart the Kanga.
(4) Go to the Energy Saver Control Panel and under Advanced, disable processor cycling and you might have to "Turn off power to inactive PC cards" as well.
(5) Plug in the ADS Technologies USB card (recommended card) in the top slot.
(6) The card should appear on your desktop.
(7) You are ready to use your USB card.

Known Condundrum's with the USB PC Card and your Kanga:

• Cannot boot with the card inserted
• Intermittent loss of ethernet connection
• Cards not fitting properly
• Card Bus compliant cage crucial for the use of Firewire cards
• Card Bus software not compatible with OS 9.x
• The actual card cage in the 3400c and Kanga is not the one specified for cardbus. The PCMCIA card cage is missing a ground plane between cards, and it is slightly smaller than the one specified for Cardbus. Two possible issues follow form this:

  High speed cards (for example, video cards like the iXmicro RoadRocket) MAY not work without the grounding plane, because its absence could cause signal skews. In addition, some cards may not fit physically. The recommended ADS Technology USB card should fit fine.

  The following is a list of USB peripherals that work according to user reports:
  
  *Canon BCJ-85.
  *Microtek 3600.
  *SuperDisk Drive.
  *Irez KritterUSB digital video cam.
  *Macally Cardbus USB adapter (fits in BOTTOM slot only).
  *Floppy Disk: A USB floppy drive which was attached to a Sony Vaio Computer (Dos/V) works well without any extension or inits.
  *Scanner: Epson GT-6500 works after installing an extension supplied by Epson.
  *Traveler CD-RW by FreeCom, GmbH is working well. The necessary extensions are provided by manufacturer. Reading at x20 and writing at x4, which are the recommended values by FreeCom work well. Toast by Adaptec, Co. is used for control.
  *Belkin USBPort Mobile.
  *PC Ally pcmcia card.
  *LaCie USB CD-Writer. 2x speed ceiling (the writer is a 4X 2X 20X).
  *RCA Digital camera (CDS1000)
  
  The following peripherals do NOT work, according to reports:
  
  *Macally Cardbus USB adapter doesn't fit in TOP slot.
  *Because the cardbus is not recognized at boot time, WACOM USB tablet
  couldn't be used, because it requires tablet connection when an
  extension loads at boot time.

  If you are having problems with USB PC Cards, firewire cards, and the like, ge thte $100 Card Bus modification by MCE or take a look at ADS PCMCIA Cardbus cage's as another option.

   

More HD Uprgade options via PC Card slot: One can add a PC card that accepts external HD's. Just obtain an enclosure for a HD or a complete external HD compatible with a PC Card HD acceptor, plug in the HD, and you are ready to go.

Add Zoomed Video: To add Zoomed video, you will need the correct PC Card. Look for them at OWC. The appropriate software is free from Apple.

4 MB VRAM Upgrade - This might work: Tired of sifting through layered windows, minimizing and going to the dock to get the windows you need or playing with window shades (pre-OS X)? The following upgrade MAY enable (?) card-bus capable Kanga's to support a dual desktop, not just a mirrored desktop. ixMircro's ix3D Road Rocket is the solution. The card is a type III card that takes up both PC Card slots (see picture below for how to have another PC Card inserted in your PowerBook while the ix3D Road Rocket is inserted).

Type II - III PC Card Adapter with Road Rocket attached.

Since the Road Rocket card is a type III card, it uses both PC Card slots. If you need firewire or ethernet or USB or whatever at the same time you are using the Road Rocket card, you will need a Type II - Type III adapter, as seen in the above pic. The very end (silver part) inserts into one of your PC Card slots, allowing one to free up the second PC Card slot - as seen in the above picture. It will be damn ugly, however.

Add Wireless: Click here to find out how you can get your Kanga wirelessly connected to a wireless network for web surfing, wireless file transfer, and more.

Goodies to Add on: The PowerBook Kanga is ready to be furnished with all sorts of peripheral devices and will also support external monitors. 
 
The Kanga will support external zip drives, scanners, printers, cd-roms, cd-r's, floppy drives, etc.  Most plug into the SCSI port - an HDI-30 SCSI adapter required. Use an HDI-30 SCSI peripheral cable when connecting your PowerBook to external SCSI devices of the aforementioned sort. Laserwriters may use the serial port for a Localtalk connection. 

Internet/Networking
 
Add an Internal Modem/Ethernet (faster) or External Modem: See the tips section on speeding up browsing to improve the Kanga's Internet performance (or any mac for that matter). External modems can be used via the serial port (try US Robotics 19.2 external modem for reliability).  Note: the serial port on the Kanga has a data transfer rate ceiling of 57.6 kbps. Internal modems can be installed via the PC card slot (try a 56k). I am not sure, but a modem/ethernet PCI with a 56K modem/10/100 base-T ethernet card may be available and compatible with the Kanga (note that the stock ethernet on a Kanga is 10 base-T). If you are in need of an ethernet and or modem but do not want to install an internal one, go for a Global Village combo Ethernet/Modem PC Card. Some even support cell phones in addition to being combo cards.
 
The PowerBook Kanga and Ethernet/Networking:  It is possible to connect a Kanga to an Ethernet network.  To achieve the latter, try one of the following: (1) Simply use the built in Ethernet to connect to an Ethernet network or other Ethernet compatible computer. If your Ethernet/modem is not operational (i.e. broken), you have lots of other options to try. (2) Use a pc ethernet card and insert it into one of your PC card bays. Simply connect the ethernet cord to another ethernet equipped mac or ethernet network. (3) Buy a Local-talk-Ethernet-Bridge adapter made by Asante, Focus or Farallon.  Etherwave by Farallon is a popular one which attaches to the serial port (printer/modem port) on the Kanga. The result of the latter is a serial port converted to a standard RJ-45 Ethernet port.  Furthermore, the driver supplied with the Etherwave boosts the serial port speed by 5x (5x 230.4 kbps). 
 
Try Etherwaves “Multi Printer Adapter” which allows multiple devices to be connected to the Kanga series at any given time (i.e. printer, scanner, Ethernet, etc.) (4) Dayna and Asante make SCSI-Ethernet adapters (RJ-45 connectors).  (5) Use another macintosh to connect to an Ethernet network and then connect the Kanga to the latter computer. To connect to another computer via Asante's SCSI-Ethernet method, make sure you have the required Asante driver. You will also need the following files on your system 7.x folder:

*Asante EN/SC - driver for the EN/SC
*AppleShare
*AppleSharePrep
*AppleTalk Control Panel
*EtherTalk Phase 2
*Network
*Responder

Get the above files here

(6) One can also connect to another SCSI equipped mac by using a SCSI HDI-30 docking cable. (7) Newer macs, like an imac for example, can be connected to older PowerBooks as well. To acheive the latter, try Asante's USB-to-local talk adapter (will not talk to printers) or an ethernet-to-local talk adapter. (8) Furthermore, use a printer cable to connect to another compatible macintosh computer or, (9) Connect to another modem equipped computer via the modem cable. (10) Use the built in wireless data transfer window to share files with another wireless equipped device. Connecting to another Mac is also useful if you want to install software from a CD but your PowerBook lacks a CD-ROM. Simply connect to another CD-ROM equipped Mac by trying one of the aforementioned ways , mount the disc image on your PowerBooks desktop, and install the software.

4. Best OS?

Run OS 8.5.x to get the benefits of the full HOD ROD STACK (Ram Charger and Speed Doubler). However, OS 9.0 runs very well on this machine and I highly recommend it for the Kanga. OS 8.6 is rock solid and fast, which should also be a consideration. Can't decide? Partition your HD if it is large enough and throw on multiple OS' (i.e. One partition with OS 8.5 - Full HOD ROD STACK benefits, and the other with OS 9 and all its features).

What About OS X: While OS X does not officially support the Kanga, you can get the Kanga to run OS X. Follow the instructions below to acheive the latter: First, how to get OS X installed on your Kanga. (1) If you have a HD larger than 8 GB, partition it so that the first partition is 8 GB or less, where OS X while soon reside on. The other space on the other partition can be reserved for an older OS, like 9.x or 8.x. (2) Install older OS on 2nd partition. (3) Download XPF, which is a utility that will enable non-supported X machines to both install X and run X. (4) Run XPF from your older operating system, insert OS X CD, and then reboot. The installer screen should appear, enabling you to install OS X on your Knaga. Viola! Welcome to OS X. If your CD-ROM drive is connected to the SCSI port, you will need to install OS X from another CD-ROM enabled Mac. OS X does not support SCSI very well and thus using SCSI CD-ROM drives will not usually work properly in X. Insert the OS X disc into the latter computer, after connecting the Kanga to this computer via one of the methods described in the network section, mount the OS X CD on the Kanga's desktop, and click install. It should work.

Recommended List of Compatible Software (not an exhaustive list)

Any low resource demanding PPC software will work with the Kanga. Here are some examples:

*MS Office 98
*QuarkXpress
*Pagemaker
*Eudora Pro
*Toast Cd burning software
*Internet: Try Opera or IE 5.x
*Netscape 4.0 or 4.5

Click here for a list of more useful software/utilities for older macs.

5. Any Defects?

None to report.

6. Buying Advice.

From personal experience, the Kanga is an able performer, even by todays standards. It is an excellent web machine and useful for graphics programs and word processing. With its 50 MHz bus, PPC 750 G3 processor, 512K of L2 cache, faster cache (2.5:1 processor-to-cache ratio - 100Mhz), 74% faster screen upgrades compared to the 3400c due to hardware acceleration technology, faster EDO (Extended Data Output) RAM, 2 MB VRAM and 64-bit data path; it is significantly faster than the 5300, 1400 and 3400 series PowerBooks. However, I do not like the Kanga that much because, compared to its predecessors, it is rather bulky, ugly, the keyboard and trackpad are clunky and the sound of the speakers really sucks (not that important, however). The one attraction to older PowerBooks is their compactness, something the Kanga is not. Now, compared to the TiBook and the like, it is tiny.