Apple Macintosh PowerBook G3
How-to
| • | Partition your hard disk |
| • | Configure X windows |
| • | Configure AfterStep |
| • | Make the PowerBook sleep |
| • | Set up the modem for PPP |
| • | HotSync a Palm Pilot via IrDA |
| • | Go wireless! |
Links
| • | AfterStep Applets |
| • | PowerBook and iBook: Resetting Power Manager |
| • | PowerBook G3 Series: Battery FAQ |
Making it Sleep
One of the things a laptop computer should do is be able to "sleep" (go into a low-power mode) from which it's much faster to wake up than it would have been to shut it down and reboot.- Having kernel support
- Having the Power Management Unit daemon
- Custom configuration
- Using asapm, a nicer battery monitor
Having kernel support
In order to make the PowerBook sleep, you need a kernel version 2.2.12 or later (these support the Power Management Unit (PMU) of the PowerBook) and have CONFIG_PMAC_PBOOK set to Y. (It's found under "General support" in kernel configuration.)
Note: for the PowerBook 2000 and Titanium models, you need to have a 2.4.8 or later kernel.
Having the Power Management Unit daemon
In addition to kernel support, you also need the Power Management Unit daemon pmud installed. The pmud RPM also comes with a snooze excutable that, when executed, puts the PowerBook to sleep immediately, and Batmon, an X Windows battery monitor.
Custom configuration
The behavior of pmud can be controlled via the /etc/power/pwrctl-local script. I made mine such that:
- The screen brightness level is automatically adjusted using fblevel to 2, 2, and 1 for maximum, medium, and minimum brightness, respectively, when on battery power; and 15 (maximum) when on AC power.
- The hard drive spin down times are automatically adjusted using hdparm to 5, 5, and 2 minutes for maximum, medium, and minimum power, respectively, when on battery power; and never when on AC power.
- My trackpad preference is restored. (When the PowerBook wakes up, the trackpad behavior reverts to the default which drives me nuts.)
Using asapm, a nicer battery monitor
asapm is the AfterStep Advanced Power Management applet. It nicely resides in the AfterStep Wharf. Unfortunately, PowerBooks don't support APM. However, pmud can fake APM support by doing the following:
-
Create the following named pipe:
mknod /etc/power/apm p
-
In a .asapmrc in your home directory, put:
device /etc/power/apm
- Start pmud with the (currently undocumented) -a option.