RETRO TECK - THE MIGHTY PISMO -
RUNNING TORRENT SERVER WITH FIREWIRE IPODS
ANTI-obsolescence SERIES - ARTICLE #1
- running a torrent server with firewire 3rd Gen. Ipods on the Pismo -
Yeah this is how I flow with what I share on my Blog, with the Lossless Torrents LPCD
sharing.
I bought 2 used but working 3rd Generation Firewire Ipods on Ebay for around $20.00 each.
one 15g the other 20 gigs.
I have not noticed lack of speed, no crashing, fast file transfers, great all around solution
for data storage and portability if you own Mac with Firewire capabilities.
The Pismo G3 Powerbook is a wonderful computer with good power and still extremely functional
and much more series to come on ideas on how to use the Pismo productively
10 years after it was made. Steve Jobs even tried to push the Pismo under, but discontinuing that series of Powerbooks, to make way for the Ibook, ect.
Look for future in depth posts on hacks, tricks, configurations, tips, ect focusing on
the Pismo.
As noted the Harddrives I'm hosting the Torrents with are 2 Ipods. Since they are Firewire
the transfer rate is not an issue and they are very reliable. I have them mounted on a custom server stand I made for them with Elastic float mounts and a small fan powered by the USB bus of the Pismo to keep them cool. Very basic but ultra effective. And neat looking.
The stand was made of bamboo sticks.
I chose the Ipods after seeing prices of general use Firewire Drives that were more expensive. And since I love the older Ipods for playback of Lossless files, I bought a few and just thought nothing to lose and tried it and now confirmed it all works flawlessly. I use Vuze 3x on the Pismo for Torrents under os 10.4.11.
I have to test soon older vuze under OS9 and the drives. I'm sure it will work.
Above : PIcture of the bamboo float air cage for the Ipod drives
Below : the connector that glows for fan power - USB connector from broken
cheapy remote control helicopter charger
Below : the Pismo running in CLOSED LID MODE powering
my 19" monitor @ much higher resolution than the built in monitor.
You can see the Torrent Server drives on top of the closed Pismo. COOL!
