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my new old imac and why doesn't it do anything

R

robinduncan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
hi,
I've bought a second hand iMac, one of the old ones, where only the keyboard is seperate. I wanted to use it for a few different things:

1. word processing at home that I could later take to university on a cd or pen and work on with the PCs there.

2. using my digital camera with and viewing my photos on.

3. copying CDs on

So, nothing complicated - but I haven't managed to do any of this yet.

I know that my digital camera isn't compatible with the operating system I've got because Canon has told me it's too old. A newer operating system would, apparently, be too much for my iMac. I can see my photos through Photoshop, but I'd prefer to just open them directly like I can do on windows. I get a message saying that I need a newer version of QuickTime. Do I need to buy that, or could I download it from the internet? (When I eventually get on the internet...) Same question, kind of, for the copying of CDs... actually, could I download something like Nero from the internet on another computer (with windows) then take it home and install it onto my applemac? So many questions...
Any help appreciated vastly 😛

Robin
 
confusing post

robinduncan said:
hi,
I've bought a second hand iMac, one of the old ones, where only the keyboard is seperate. I wanted to use it for a few different things:

1. word processing at home that I could later take to university on a cd or pen and work on with the PCs there.

2. using my digital camera with and viewing my photos on.

3. copying CDs on

So, nothing complicated - but I haven't managed to do any of this yet.

I know that my digital camera isn't compatible with the operating system I've got because Canon has told me it's too old. A newer operating system would, apparently, be too much for my iMac. I can see my photos through Photoshop, but I'd prefer to just open them directly like I can do on windows. I get a message saying that I need a newer version of QuickTime. Do I need to buy that, or could I download it from the internet? (When I eventually get on the internet...) Same question, kind of, for the copying of CDs... actually, could I download something like Nero from the internet on another computer (with windows) then take it home and install it onto my applemac? So many questions...
Any help appreciated vastly 😛

Robin
Click to expand...
would u please edit this so its understandable, i cant decipher what you are asking.
 
The first thing this poster should post is his system specs and level of OS. Otherwise we dont have a clue on what to tell you.
 
We need specific info on what hardware you have. I'm assuming you are talking about a G3 iMac with a CRT. how fast is the CPU? does it have a built-in CD burner? How much RAM does it have? What operating system are you running? Without this data we can't help much.

Most G3 iMacs can run OS X Panther (10.3.x) decently enough if they have enough RAM, and your digital cameral should work with iPhoto (if you decide to buy iLife), although it will be slow. Even without iPhoto you sould be able to mount your digital camera on the desktop and copy photos from it. Word processing can be acccomplished in a variety of ways (Open Office et al., Pages, MS Word/Office etc.).

If the iMac is running OS 8.x or 9.x, functionality will be limited compared to OS X and you may have problems with your digital camera, although it should still work for burning CDs (if you have a burner), surfing the web and word processing.
 
Ditto that life will be easier for you if you can swing Panther instead of using Classic.... 🙁 And I also think RAM is the biggest barrier. Fortunately, a RAM upgrade + Panther should not be very expensive for that computer.... 🙂
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Even without iPhoto you sould be able to mount your digital camera on the desktop and copy photos from it.
Click to expand...

Some (most?) Canon digital cameras won't mount on the desktop, but they still work with iPhoto. My mom has a Canon S40 I think it is, and while iPhoto recognizes it and allows imports from it just fine, it doesn't show up as a mass storage device on the desktop. My Sony DSC-T1 on the other hand shows up with a memory stick icon on the desktop and is just another USB drive. iPhoto also recognizes it.
 
mduser63 said:
Some (most?) Canon digital cameras won't mount on the desktop, but they still work with iPhoto. My mom has a Canon S40 I think it is, and while iPhoto recognizes it and allows imports from it just fine, it doesn't show up as a mass storage device on the desktop.
Click to expand...

Yes, also true for the Canon PowerShot S50 and the 300D.... 🙁 It has to do with support of frameworks, and I think it's more a Canon issue than an Apple issue.
 
mkrishnan said:
Yes, also true for the Canon PowerShot S50 and the 300D.... 🙁 It has to do with support of frameworks, and I think it's more a Canon issue than an Apple issue.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that stinks. I have a Nikon Coolpix 4300 that mounts fine, and my brother has a cheapish Fujifilm digital that works as well. Over the summer I borrowed an expensive Canon DSLR (can't remember the model), and it had issues getting it to work on an iBook. I got around the problem by putting the CF card from the Canon into my Nikon, and it mounted the device that way.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Hmm, that stinks. I have a Nikon Coolpix 4300 that mounts fine, and my brother has a cheapish Fujifilm digital that works as well. Over the summer I borrowed an expensive Canon DSLR (can't remember the model), and it had issues getting it to work on an iBook. I got around the problem by putting the CF card from the Canon into my Nikon, and it mounted the device that way.
Click to expand...

my Canon works with Image Capture, and I know it would work with iPhoto but I prefer Image Capture, so those are potential alternatives to having to put the CF card in another device.....also, Canon bundles software that should allow you to download the pix, cant comment on it because I've never bothered to use it
 
My canon powershot A70 doesn't mount on the desktop either, but it works perfectly well with iPhoto. To be honest, I never knew that cameras were supposed to mount on the desktop. Learned something new today.

I downloaded ImageView (can't remember if that's the right name) for the Mac from the Canon website which gave me a seperate way of downloading photos or uploading stuff back to the camera.

Used it more for downloading movies from the camera, then iPhoto was updated and became able to do that as well, so I don't use Imageview so much now, except for stitching paranormas together.

I think Canon might well have a os 9.x version on their website.

Or buy a USB card reader for 10 bucks.

Or buy panther (OSX 10.3 ) second hand for a few bucks. I run it on my PB 1.5 GHZ and also on my Powermac G3 350MHz, and it runs fine on that. No matter how old your iMac is, it can't be much slower than my G3, which works fine.

Hope that helps.

.. RedTomato ..
 
Followup:

Quicktime - you should be able to download the newest version of QT for free from the net. Not sure what the latest version for OS 9 is. You havent said if you're running that or OSX.

Copying CDs - OSX can do that for you. You can buy a second hand copy of Panther ( 10.3.x) for a few bucks. Will get free updates to 10.3.9.

Making backups of CDs you legally own.. hmm i think Mac the Ripper (free download) will do that, but it's not my area of expertise.

Good luck in finding out what you want to know.

.. RedTomato ..
 
clues...

Wow, plenty of responses....

hmm. I don't have my iMac here, but here's some of info from "about..." I scribbled down yesterday...


MacOS9
Version MacOS Z1-9.0
Built in Memory 128MB
Virtual memory 129MB used on Macintosh HD
Largest unused block: 101.4 MB
MAC OS ROM 3.1.1
TM&CcApple Computer, Inc. 1983-1999
(and there's a long blue bar with 30MB written next to it)

Most of that stuff is quite mysterious to me, but if it does reveal any secrets, I'd love to know. All the other information posted so far is a great help guys.Thank you all! A big relief to finally start getting to grips with this....

So, to continue: I'm guessing my iMac is a G3 233, from it's resemblance to pictures on the web. what interests me now is:

1. How do I know if my iMac has a built in burner? There is software for copying disks on the HD, but maybe the previous owner had a burner connected...

2. Can I really upgrade to Panther? what do I need to know for sure before I decide to upgrade? (the RAM question - how do I know how much RAM I have?) From what I read on the Macrumors software guide, Panther (or OSX of some kind) is pretty much a prerequisite for iLife. (by the way, the Cannon help desk told me that my camera, the ixus5, is not compatible with OS9)

any clues?🙂

RedTomato said:
Followup:

Quicktime - you should be able to download the newest version of QT for free from the net. Not sure what the latest version for OS 9 is. You havent said if you're running that or OSX.

Copying CDs - OSX can do that for you. You can buy a second hand copy of Panther ( 10.3.x) for a few bucks. Will get free updates to 10.3.9.

Making backups of CDs you legally own.. hmm i think Mac the Ripper (free download) will do that, but it's not my area of expertise.

Good luck in finding out what you want to know.

.. RedTomato ..
Click to expand...
 
robinduncan said:
Wow, plenty of responses....

hmm. I don't have my iMac here, but here's some of info from "about..." I scribbled down yesterday...


MacOS9
Version MacOS Z1-9.0
Built in Memory 128MB
Virtual memory 129MB used on Macintosh HD
Largest unused block: 101.4 MB
MAC OS ROM 3.1.1
TM&CcApple Computer, Inc. 1983-1999
(and there's a long blue bar with 30MB written next to it)

Most of that stuff is quite mysterious to me, but if it does reveal any secrets, I'd love to know. All the other information posted so far is a great help guys.Thank you all! A big relief to finally start getting to grips with this....

So, to continue: I'm guessing my iMac is a G3 233, from it's resemblance to pictures on the web. what interests me now is:

1. How do I know if my iMac has a built in burner? There is software for copying disks on the HD, but maybe the previous owner had a burner connected...

2. Can I really upgrade to Panther? what do I need to know for sure before I decide to upgrade? (the RAM question - how do I know how much RAM I have?) From what I read on the Macrumors software guide, Panther (or OSX of some kind) is pretty much a prerequisite for iLife. (by the way, the Cannon help desk told me that my camera, the ixus5, is not compatible with OS9)

any clues?🙂
Click to expand...

According to what you wrote above you have 128MB of RAM
 
To find out which iMac you have, look at this:


Which iMac Is It? A Quick Guide to Differentiating CRT G3 iMacs

Let us know please 🙂

www.lowendmac.com has a lot of useful info once you've worked out which model you have.

Run System Info and tell us what it says - speed, HD size etc, as it seems your iMac has had various upgrades done to it.

Once you connect it to the internet, run System Update or something like that, as you might be able to get a free upgrade to OS 9.2.2. Sorry I can't remember the exact procedure.

cheers

.. RedTomato ..
 
With 128mb, I'm betting you have an iMac 400 or better. Does it have a firewire port on the side?

The reason I say that is that the original iMacs only came with 32mbs. The later ones came with a little more memory, though you certainly can upgrade them.

My parents run an iMac G3 500 with 1gig of memory, upgraded 80gig 7200rpm hard drive and Panther. It was an academic version, so it only came with a cdrom drive, and I am about to drop in a dvd drive and Tiger.

It is a great machine, and I have run Panther on the old 233mhz, 266mhz, and 333mhz. Just find the memory and if it is an older machine have someone put in the memory and drop a new hard drive in while they are at it. You can always swap out the hard drive if the thing dies, meanwhile you've got a smooth running Mac.
 
system info

Hi, so I finally ran system info...
if there's still anyone out there...
Machine Type - Power Macintosh
Processor Type - PPC 750
Coprocessor Type - No Coprocessor
Rom Version 1917
Current Keyboard - Macintosh Extended Keyboard
System Version - 9.0.0 (Multifinder active)
Physical Memory - 128.0 MB
Logical Memory - 133.4 MB
Logical Page Size - 4.0 KB
Low Memory Size - 10.0KB
Virtual Memory - On
32 bit capable - Yes
32-bit addressing - On
system Heap - 19468KB total; 97% full
Quickdraw GX - Not installed
Selected Printer - Unknown
Appletalk - Version 60
[...]
Video Device 1:
*Main Graphics device
*size: 800 wide by 600 high
*millions of colors
[...]
System Enabler info:
No System Enabler Found
Finder Info:
*Finder
No
RedTomato said:
To find out which iMac you have, look at this:


Which iMac Is It? A Quick Guide to Differentiating CRT G3 iMacs

Let us know please 🙂

www.lowendmac.com has a lot of useful info once you've worked out which model you have.

Run System Info and tell us what it says - speed, HD size etc, as it seems your iMac has had various upgrades done to it.

Once you connect it to the internet, run System Update or something like that, as you might be able to get a free upgrade to OS 9.2.2. Sorry I can't remember the exact procedure.

cheers

.. RedTomato ..
Click to expand...
 
sorry, didn't mean to send that off yet...

anyway, it goes on... but I'm thinking the important stuff is already there.
Oh - yes, my mac does have a fire wire port, and by the way, it seems to be "bondai" in color.
cheers,
Robin
 
so what I'm wondering is:

what model do I have?

what would I still need (more hard disk?) to upgrade to Panther?

is there an internal burning drive?
(if my mac is such an old model [hence: "bondai" color], why would it be slot, rather than tray loading? there must have been an upgrade, I guess. I can play DVDs, so maybe that was the point of upgrading...)
 
robinduncan said:
so what I'm wondering is:

what model do I have?

what would I still need (more hard disk?) to upgrade to Panther?

is there an internal burning drive?
(if my mac is such an old model [hence: "bondai" color], why would it be slot, rather than tray loading? there must have been an upgrade, I guess. I can play DVDs, so maybe that was the point of upgrading...)
Click to expand...

You gotta find out how fast the computer is... find the Apple System Profiler under the Apple menu item. It should say, in MHz. That would help a lot. If you truly have a Firewire port, then you are probably in good shape to get it to do what you want it to do. You will need more Memory though. You won't know what kind of memory to get until you know which iMac you have.
 
robinduncan said:
so what I'm wondering is:

what model do I have?

what would I still need (more hard disk?) to upgrade to Panther?

is there an internal burning drive?
(if my mac is such an old model [hence: "bondai" color], why would it be slot, rather than tray loading? there must have been an upgrade, I guess. I can play DVDs, so maybe that was the point of upgrading...)
Click to expand...

Ahh! OK, here we go! It's a slot-loading drive, so it's not Bondi blue. It's likely 333Mhz or faster. The Bondi blues were 233 and came with a tray load CD-Drive. In the Apple System Profiler, hunt around for specifics on the CD drive. Look for CD-RW, as that would indicate a CD burner.
 
Hard drive size

to find out the hard drive size clsoe all windows that are open until you see the desktop.

click on the icon for the hard drive one time. now on the keyboard hold down the Apple key and type "i".

A window will pop up with the size of the hard drive and some other info.

If it has Firewire you can go up to OSX but you will need more RAM for it to run smoothly. You will most likely need a ROM update. You can find that on Apple's support pages. It must be installed before OSX.

As for a CD burner, the early slot load machines did not have CD/DVD burner. An external can be added via Firewire or USB. (On that model Firewire would be faster.)

I have 2 of the iMac Special Edition DVs (Smoke grey case). Both are 400Mhz and run OSX with no problems.
 
Old imac

I had an even older imac (266 Mhz tray loading model 256mb RAM) That ran Jaguar just fine. Before you load Panther or try Tiger I would suggest you see if this is a sufficient upgrade, because Panther can be a real chore to install on older machines. (If you have a OSX compatabe DVD drive in your imac you could try Tiger- Otherwise it requires a network install or a bootable Firewire drive install... and it wants a lot of RAM -at least 512mb) After you install do a software update, and you will get the most recent updates for quicktime, Java, Safari etc. You should also be abe to download the Canon driver you need.

Occasionally you can find Jaguar online for like 20 bucks, or you might be able to find some kind soul with their install disc who will hook you up for free.
 
system profiler

Hey, hope you guys aren't getting bored on me!😀

here's what the system profiler thing told me🙂

Processor info: PowerPCG3
MAchine speed: 400 MHz
Macine id: 406
Model name: iMac

Devices and volumes
Macintosh HD
Volume format: MacOS Extended (HFS+)
size 9.55GB
space available 7.87 GB

...so it seems it's a bit faster than I might have thought, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of "CD-RW" anywhere, so no internal burner.😡 Oh well...

with the model, processor, speed etc that I've got, what do you guys reckon I need to get myself before installing one of the "big cats"?

Do I really need more than 128MB of RAM?
...more than 9.55GB of Hard disk??

What would I be wise to go for (cheapish options... bearing in mind I'm a student, and also living in the north of Scotland!)

...and one last question: the programmes that are on my HD now (Photoshop, Microsoft office etc - would they all be incompatible with the X operating systems? Would I have to buy them again?

RobinD 😀
 
robinduncan said:
...and one last question: the programmes that are on my HD now (Photoshop, Microsoft office etc - would they all be incompatible with the X operating systems? Would I have to buy them again?
Click to expand...

If you have the original disk for those programs you can upgrade to the OSX versions.

(Edit) you can however run them via the classic mode or simply boot into OS9.

If not, they are not yours legally anyway, so yes, you would need to buy them...don't forget though, you can get a student discount.

There are also some other alternatives too. iWorks ($79?) from what I hear is pretty good and iPhoto can do most of the photo tweaking that most people need.
 
RAM and OS

I still say Jaguar is probably the way to go, as it is cheaper to get and easier to install. It also is less of a RAM hog than Panther and Tiger. Before you install OSX check out this link:
http://www.lowendmac.com/imacs/dv.shtml
You can add more RAM and even get kits to add a slot loading CD/RW drive fairly inexpensively now, but taking the case apart is somewhat of an ordeal requiring keeping track of many screws.
 
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