Boot issue - G3 600

[snell.mark]

Hello, I'm a complete newbie to things Mac. I have spent some time playing with Intel things. A friend has asked me to show him the way with an ex-corporate G3 that has been retired. On power up (with only keyb and mouse attached) we get wonderful sound, followed by a command line interface that says "type shut-down or mac-start (if I remember correctly) to continue". Shut-down does the obvious, and subsequent re-starts take us back to the same place. The other option takes us to a screen that alternates between a picture of a face and a folder for a long time (after 15min I turned it off).
HELP!
Mark
p.s. I love my iPod

 

[Eidorian]

It sounds like you're only getting single user mode (command line) and are unable to mount OS X otherwise beyond that point.

You're going to need to reinstall OS X on the machine. It's working otherwise.

 

[snell.mark]

That was quick! Is it possible to get a pointer to OS media. The system was "gifted" without any bits and pieces.
M
p.s. I still love my iPod

 

[Eidorian]

That was quick! Is it possible to get a pointer to OS media. The system was "gifted" without any bits and pieces.
M
p.s. I still love my iPod

eBay is a good start for older Mac OS X discs. If you can find out how much RAM the computer has you might even be able to use OS X 10.4 Tiger.

I suggest starting off with 10.3 Panther. Sadly, you can't make any requests on the MacRumors Marketplace until your post count is higher though.

Make sure you get the CDs as well. You can use an external FireWire DVD drive but it does add to the expense.

 

[snell.mark]

Thanks once more. I know the system has 256MB of RAM. Does that make a difference?
M

 

[Eidorian]

Thanks once more. I know the system has 256MB of RAM. Does that make a difference?
M

If you have 256 MB you can install Tiger but it'll be painfully slow. If you can spend the money on RAM, Tiger is going to be your best bet and it'll save you from having to get Panther and then Tiger later.

Amazon.com does sell it for a little less then Apple.com. You can find it cheaper on eBay though.

Sadly this Mac won't be able to run Leopard.

If you want to know more about the hardware.

http://www.lowendmac.com/macdan/05/0202.html

http://www.lowendmac.com/imac/guide.html

 

[snell.mark]

Thanks for you quick replies and excellent information. Wish me luck!
M
p.s. still the iPod !!

 

[Eidorian]

Just make sure you can get the CD version.

 

[MacsRgr8]

<snip>... followed by a command line interface that says "type shut-down or mac-start (if I remember correctly) to continue".

Seems you are locked into Open Firmware, not Single User Mode.

Open Firmware on a PPC Mac is like a BIOS on a PC, and the EFI on an Intel Mac.

You can try to reset the Open Firmware by typing the following:

reset-nvram <ENTER> (should say "ok")
set-defaults <ENTER> (should say "ok")
reset-all <ENTER> (The Mac should reboot now)

But it still could be possible you need to re-install Mac OS X (10.3 seems best as Eidorian recommended)
Good luck!

 

[eRondeau]

I can't help you much with your command line issues, but I own the identical iMac G3 600MHz "Snow" and I still love it! Mine had OS 9 installed when I got it but I immediately upgraded it to 10.3.9 and it works great. You really should buy more RAM though, get at least another 512MB. I keep mine at my parents' house for internet, email, iTunes, and iPhoto.

 

[Eidorian]

Seems you are locked into Open Firmware, not Single User Mode.

Open Firmware on a PPC Mac is like a BIOS on a PC, and the EFI on an Intel Mac.

You can try to reset the Open Firmware by typing the following:

reset-nvram <ENTER> (should say "ok")
set-defaults <ENTER> (should say "ok")
reset-all <ENTER> (The Mac should reboot now)

But it still could be possible you need to re-install Mac OS X (10.3 seems best as Eidorian recommended)
Good luck!

Ouch, you're right.

You should still be able to boot into the operating system after you get out of Open Firmware.