if you're implying that it's unacceptable that root is disable while all others are as well;
A) why would you want root to be enabled whether or not NetInfo is functioning? That would necessitate code in authentication unique to root, and would provide a needlessly vulnerable security hole in the operating system.
B) servers should not have root accounts enabled remotely in the first place.
$190 - OWC MercuryZA G4/450-466MHz Altivec Enhanced ZIF with 1MB@225MHz 2:1 Backside Cache. New with 2yr OWC Warranty here
$96 - 3 256MB SDRAM sticks here
$40 - Dual Head 32MB PCI Radeon 7000, Flashable to Mac ROMS here
$46 - Combo Firewire/USB card here
$72 - 80GB HD here
$450.
For what it's worth, you can take my advice with a grain of salt. I also happily ran OS X on a first generation 9500 with an overclocked 475MHz G4, 1.5GB of RAM and triple displays.
Upgrading a Beige G3 is quite acceptable and will run Jaguar very well. I recently upgraded one, mostly because my main computer had finally given up the ghost and I needed one running ASAP (ie, within 2 days), only had $500 or so available on my credit card, and happened to have a 233 G3 lying around.
You can get an overclockable 450-466MHz rated G4 ZIF from OWC (macsales.com) for $190. 768MB RAM (ie, maxing out the G3's slots) will run about $90.
Assuming you're not running out of hard drive space, that's all you'll need to run Jaguar on the G3, and it'll handle just fine.
You may want to get a different video card, however. If you have a PC available, it's possible to flash the ROM on genuine ATI and some 3rd party ATI Radeon 7000 PCI cards. However, they have to have DDR RAM, not SDRAM. Got a 32MB dual head Mac version Radeon 7000 in this particular machine, and 2 64MB PC version Radeon 7000's in a 7600 running OS X, and they handle exactly the same. It's also possible to hack the system to run Quartz Extreme on non-AGP Macs. Not a huge difference, but there's a little bit. It'll bog down in some cases though, so do that at your own risk.. In any case, the PCI Radeon 7000 cards run around $40-$50, much cheaper than the Mac edition and double the RAM. Watch out for the ones on Ebay though, because nearly all of them are SDRAM cards.
Besides the crappy RealTek generic cards already recommended, DEC 21143 Tulip based Fast Ethernet cards are also supported natively under OS X. Not under 9 though, so remember that if you want to upgrade the net interface. 21143 controllers are much better than the RealTek ones.
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if you're implying that it's unacceptable that root is disable while all others are as well; A) why would you want root to be enabled whether or not NetInfo is functioning? That would necessitate code in authentication unique to root, and would provide a needlessly vulnerable security hole in the operating system. B) servers should not have root accounts enabled remotely in the first place.
I don't consider it flawed that root is locked down for anyone who doesn't have direct, real-life access to the machine.
$190 - OWC MercuryZA G4/450-466MHz Altivec Enhanced ZIF with 1MB@225MHz 2:1 Backside Cache. New with 2yr OWC Warranty here $96 - 3 256MB SDRAM sticks here $40 - Dual Head 32MB PCI Radeon 7000, Flashable to Mac ROMS here $46 - Combo Firewire/USB card here $72 - 80GB HD here $450.
For what it's worth, you can take my advice with a grain of salt. I also happily ran OS X on a first generation 9500 with an overclocked 475MHz G4, 1.5GB of RAM and triple displays.
And if you really want to splurge, PowerLogix has 900MHz G3 ZIFS for these things... $300 for an 800 and $370 for a 900, I think it is.
Upgrading a Beige G3 is quite acceptable and will run Jaguar very well. I recently upgraded one, mostly because my main computer had finally given up the ghost and I needed one running ASAP (ie, within 2 days), only had $500 or so available on my credit card, and happened to have a 233 G3 lying around.
You can get an overclockable 450-466MHz rated G4 ZIF from OWC (macsales.com) for $190. 768MB RAM (ie, maxing out the G3's slots) will run about $90.
Assuming you're not running out of hard drive space, that's all you'll need to run Jaguar on the G3, and it'll handle just fine.
You may want to get a different video card, however. If you have a PC available, it's possible to flash the ROM on genuine ATI and some 3rd party ATI Radeon 7000 PCI cards. However, they have to have DDR RAM, not SDRAM. Got a 32MB dual head Mac version Radeon 7000 in this particular machine, and 2 64MB PC version Radeon 7000's in a 7600 running OS X, and they handle exactly the same. It's also possible to hack the system to run Quartz Extreme on non-AGP Macs. Not a huge difference, but there's a little bit. It'll bog down in some cases though, so do that at your own risk.. In any case, the PCI Radeon 7000 cards run around $40-$50, much cheaper than the Mac edition and double the RAM. Watch out for the ones on Ebay though, because nearly all of them are SDRAM cards.
Besides the crappy RealTek generic cards already recommended, DEC 21143 Tulip based Fast Ethernet cards are also supported natively under OS X. Not under 9 though, so remember that if you want to upgrade the net interface. 21143 controllers are much better than the RealTek ones.