G3 boot issue

[jamie-tylo]

Hi,

I bought a G3 iMac about a year ago as a spare computer, and had tried to remove a disk partition set by the previous user. Now when it boots after the apple logo the log in screen flashes for a second and then disappears, then the icon changes to the spinning beach ball and stays there forever...

I assume it is trying to boot from the partitionthat i removed and is confused in somway, can I reset this? or will i need to boot from another device?

Maybe i'll need to boot from an ext HD?

Any help appreciated!

Thanks

Jamie

 

[BlueRevolution]

If you can get as far as the login screen, it's definitely running the right partition.

Given that it's a spare computer, is there anything on there that you'd miss if you formatted the drive? What OS is it running?

 

[jamie-tylo]

If you can get as far as the login screen, it's definitely running the right partition.

Given that it's a spare computer, is there anything on there that you'd miss if you formatted the drive? What OS is it running?

NO, would be happy to format, how do i do that before boot? It was (laughably) trying to run osx, but i'd be happy to go back to os9, though i'll have to rummage around to try and find a copy of any os cds!

 

[jamie-tylo]

NO, would be happy to format, how do i do that before boot? It was (laughably) trying to run osx, but i'd be happy to go back to os9, though i'll have to rummage around to try and find a copy of any os cds!

Ok, I've just downloaded and made a bootable cd of puppy linux which i'm going to use on thi machine...

How do I boot from this cd? holding down 'c' on boot isn't working... Also, how do i format the hard disk outside of an operating system?

 

[BlueRevolution]

NO, would be happy to format, how do i do that before boot? It was (laughably) trying to run osx, but i'd be happy to go back to os9, though i'll have to rummage around to try and find a copy of any os cds!

Laughably? That depends how fast your computer is. My iBook G3 500 MHz/576 MB runs Tiger without too much trouble.

Holding C on startup should be all you need. Try holding the option key instead. You should be presented with a boot menu with the CD listed as an option.

 

[jamie-tylo]

Laughably? That depends how fast your computer is. My iBook G3 500 MHz/576 MB runs Tiger without too much trouble.

Holding C on startup should be all you need. Try holding the option key instead. You should be presented with a boot menu with the CD listed as an option.

Brilliant, thanks. I got in using the option key and told it to boot from the correct partition. How do i go about performing a format and installing linux now? Or os9, but I assume os9 still costs money?

btw specs

350mhz/320mbram

 

[ElectroGhandi]

You got Puppy Linux to boot on a PowerPC computer? I have only gotten it to work on x86 machines...

 

[jamie-tylo]

You got Puppy Linux to boot on a PowerPC computer? I have only gotten it to work on x86 machines...

It wouldn't boot.. I thought it may have been a problem with the iso image, but maybe it wasn't that at all!