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furius styles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2004
13
0
hello all,
im new to the forum and to apple all together. i have used pc's all my life but last week i decided to take the "plunge" and get a used g3. when i turn it on all i see is a flashing "?"...after doing a little research here in the forums i learned that it means that i am missing system files. i tried downloading the network access disk 7.5 but when i use it it says that i have to use something more updated. does anyone know where i can find one or what else i can try?
thanks for your help!

---ivan

:)
 

Duff-Man

Contributor
Dec 26, 2002
2,984
17
Albuquerque, NM
Duff-Man says....did the person that sold you the computer not give you the system cd that it came with? If so, you can start from that by holding down the "c" key when booting and install from there. If not you'll have to buy some system software. Which G3 is it - the beige or the blue & white tower? You can't use a system that is older than the hardware, and 7.5 is definitely too old. Give us a little more detail about the jhardware and you'll get lots of responses....oh yeah!
 

furius styles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2004
13
0
Duff-Man said:
Duff-Man says....did the person that sold you the computer not give you the system cd that it came with? If so, you can start from that by holding down the "c" key when booting and install from there. If not you'll have to buy some system software. Which G3 is it - the beige or the blue & white tower? You can't use a system that is older than the hardware, and 7.5 is definitely too old. Give us a little more detail about the jhardware and you'll get lots of responses....oh yeah!


it is a black g3 powerbook made in 1998...i didn't get any software with it but i got the powerbook,floppy drive,cd rom, and 3 extra batteries all for $80.00
the guy i bought it from didn't know much about computers so he couldn't tell me that specs.
 

LeeTom

macrumors 68000
May 31, 2004
1,581
291
furius styles said:
it is a black g3 powerbook made in 1998...i didn't get any software with it but i got the powerbook,floppy drive,cd rom, and 3 extra batteries all for $80.00
the guy i bought it from didn't know much about computers so he couldn't tell me that specs.

If I were you, I would buy a copy of OS 9 and install it. That would be the best OS for that system, in my opinion. You can buy it from OWC for $39.99:

http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=5913&Item=APLOS91CD

Lee Tom
 

furius styles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2004
13
0
it may already have that installed...is there any way i can check witch files are missing so i can get those files? i'd really hate to shell out money for a couple missing files. especially if it is buying an os that it may already have. thanks for the suggestion tho. :)
 

LeeTom

macrumors 68000
May 31, 2004
1,581
291
furius styles said:
it may already have that installed...is there any way i can check witch files are missing so i can get those files? i'd really hate to shell out money for a couple missing files. especially if it is buying an os that it may already have. thanks for the suggestion tho. :)

If you can't get past the question mark, you pretty much have to install the OS. I seriously doubt you will get anywhere without installing it.
Also, you might be able to get a little better deal on eBay as well.

Good luck!
Lee Tom
 

furius styles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2004
13
0
they are all black... i was also trying to figure out if it was a wallstreet or one of the other 3( i think) they made.
 

furius styles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2004
13
0
i downloaded and tried installing 7.0 but it says that i need a newer version in order to continue...does anyone have one that they can email me please? :)
 

5300cs

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2002
1,862
0
japan
7.0 will not run on a Wallstreet and the only "free" version of MacOS is 7.5.3 (with the free update to 7.5.5) but that will not run on either. The minimum OS version the Wallstreet supports is 8.0.

Have you checked eBay? You can probably find old copies of MacOS cheap.

Good luck
 
My best advice is to get a 9.2 disk, this is the best OS for the wallstreet without buying X. Also when u do get a CD boot off the cd holding down the C key, then when it boots select the utility on the CD and erase the HD. Then lay a clean system onto the HD.
By the way u got a great deal, a wallstreet can go for a couple hundred dollars.
 

LeeTom

macrumors 68000
May 31, 2004
1,581
291
Like I said before, OS 9 is the best operating system you can put on this thing, and it'll cost you up to $40. That's pretty much your option.

Lee Tom
 

emc2

macrumors newbie
Jul 12, 2004
21
0
Either Seattle or Kona...
Mr. Furiuous
I gather through your postings that this is an item that you are interested in pursuing through investments of time rather than cost...but I think that the crowd is right on this one....pony up for OS 9 on ebay (or ask friends that work in schools, kinkos, etc. for older sys. software), you will also find that the older photoshop, flash, quark, FCP,...whatever.....the versions that were released in OS 9 era can be found cheap as well, and really do run great on that machine.
good luck.
 

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
Just a last ditch effort here, but boot the computer while you hold down command option P R and keep holding them until you've heard the startup chime 4 times. Sometimes a Mac can get confused about what drive to boot from and this resets it. If that doesn't work, OS 9.2 will work the best for you. You can buy 9.1 and upgrade it for free--not sure about 9.0 but I don't know why not.

That computer will run OS X provided you give it enough memory (as in all it will take) and it will give you decent performance in basic day to day stuff like email, web, and word processing. More processor intensive things are probably best done in OS 9.
 

MacinDoc

macrumors 68020
Mar 22, 2004
2,268
10
The Great White North
Horrortaxi said:
You can buy 9.1 and upgrade it for free--not sure about 9.0 but I don't know why not.
If memory serves me correctly, you have to first do the free upgrade from 9.0 to 9.1 before you do the free upgrade from 9.1 to 9.2 (although I could be mistaken, as it has been a while since I did this upgrade myself).
 

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
MacinDoc said:
If memory serves me correctly, you have to first do the free upgrade from 9.0 to 9.1 before you do the free upgrade from 9.1 to 9.2 (although I could be mistaken as it has been a while since I did this upgrade myself).
I think you're right. When I originally posted I couldn't remember if I'd ever installed 9.0, but now I remember that I did. I think that was the time I did an abnormal amount of Software Update.
 

furius styles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2004
13
0
if somenow gives me the disc, can i make a back up on my pc?
if you have it can you PM or amail me please. :)
 
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