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Can't boot OS X.2 or 3 or YDL on B&W G3

idkew

idkew

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 26, 2001
2,111
1
where the concrete to dirt ratio is better
I picked up a Rev.1 B&W G3 to use as a server. It runs os 9 fine, but will not boot OS X.2 or X.3 and Yellow Dog Linux.

The DVD drive is fine, as it installed OS 9 just fine, and can load the OS X cds while booted in 9. Ram is fine (64mb, took out the extra RAM in case it was causing problems). I have zapped the PRAM. I have cleared and updated the firmware. Same with the ROM.

No extra hardware attached besides keyboard, monitor and mouse.

When I try to tell (in OS 9) the machine to reboot to install X, the OS X installer gives me a -2 error. It will not boot OS X by holding down the C key.

When I try to install YDL 4.01 (or 4.0 or 3.01) I rarely (as in 1 in 50 times) get it to boot. When I do get it to boot from the INSTALL CD, after yaboot loads, it asks for the installer cd. Well, it is on there, and I eject it, put it back in and tell it to try again.

Nothing works.

Any ideas on how to get this going? I just want to run a SSH/FTP server. Nothing special. Don't even need a GUI.
 
Hmm thats odd is there any chance that your cds have a fingerprint splotch or scratch on them? i'm not sure if this applies to computer drives but maybe the lens needs to be cleaned since it might be having a hard time reading the disc and not beable to boot.
 
if its rev a, and the HDs on a the ATA bus that could be a problem if it's not the stock drive. that or the drive is in its last days
 
firmware

I am pretty sure that there was a firmware update released pre-OSX. But this firmware update might be required to boot OSX?
 
Do USB devices work? Mac OS X might be expecting to find USB devices connected, isn't finding any, and throws a -2 error in response. I know very little about YDL, so I can't comment there.
 
Try thus (?)

I also had trouble installing OS X on an older G3 like yours. It turned out to be a weird cause: HD assignements. Main drive had to be set as Master, and the second and the optical as Cable Select. That did it. Changing pins on a HD is easier with the B&W case, so you may want to give that a try.
 
I have the USB Keyboard and Mouse attached.

I will look into the drive assignments, but I see no reason the only drive in not the master, as this is a Rev 1 G3, and does not have the space for the extra drive like the Rev 2, which I used to own back in the day. Not sure what the optical drive is set to, or the zip. My guess is that on that bus, the optical is Master and the Zip is Slave...
 
idkew said:
I have the USB Keyboard and Mouse attached.

I will look into the drive assignments, but I see no reason the only drive in not the master, as this is a Rev 1 G3, and does not have the space for the extra drive like the Rev 2, which I used to own back in the day. Not sure what the optical drive is set to, or the zip. My guess is that on that bus, the optical is Master and the Zip is Slave...
Click to expand...

Rev A; 3 drive spots
Rev B; 4 drive spots
 
the g3 restarted during disc 2 of 3 when i was not in the room. not sure if it was on purpose or not. i do know it will not boot off the linux partition, and still hates booting off the cd.

by now it would have been cheaper (assuming i charge for the time i have spent) to get a newer g4 or something that works normally.
 
re: Can't boot OS X.2 or 3 or YDL on B&W G3

in my beige g3/266mt, i have a 1 ghz sonnet upgrade zif processor and 768 mb of ram running in conjunction with xpostfacto and os x.3.8. after reading through the xpostfacto setup stuff it took a lot of data moving but version 3 xpf allows a "helper disk" to get you started booting to your installer cd- i watched verbose mode of the boot and it was cool to see the script get as far as it needed on the os 9.2.2 disk and then jump to the cd. i was also able to install on an 8 gb disk, then use carbon copy cloner to move the data to a 40gb disk... i can now boot from this one! :)

granted, i'm not using my system as a server but this might work for you.

cheers,
dan
 
idkew said:
yes, with all being used from the factory (if you got a zip). If i rememebr correctly, they are on 2 bus', with the removeable drives on one, the hard drives on the other...
Click to expand...

I think we misunderstood eachother. CD-ROM and Zip on one ATA bus, and then another ATA bus for HD's, and room in the computer for 3 HD's

good luck getting her going.
 
rickvanr said:
I think we misunderstood eachother. CD-ROM and Zip on one ATA bus, and then another ATA bus for HD's, and room in the computer for 3 HD's

good luck getting her going.
Click to expand...

not that it matters, but the Rev. 1 B&W's did not come out of the box ready for a second HD. they have a single drive connector, and a double power connector (if i am seeing it in my mind correctly...)

It was not until rev 2 that they supported multiple out of the box. rev 2+ had a double drive mount and a double drive connector ribbon... i used to own a G3 450 with this setup. It is definitly different than my current g3 300 rev 1.
 
I dont know why your having so much trouble. x.x My Blue and White worked perfectly. Try unplugging the Zip drive and if you have one, using a different CD-ROM drive.
 
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