G4 Cube won't boot of HD or go into Target Disk mode... bricked?

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

So I have two G4 Cubes and got the first up and running. My second one used to run fine, but then I put a Tiger disc into the messed up drive and it got stuck in there. I wasn't able to boot from the hard disk or the Tiger disc. I tried to use Target Disk mode with another Mac so I could install the OS that way, but the computer wouldn't enter TD-mode. It remains unresponsive and ends up just showing the flashing question mark. I tested the freshly-formatted hard drive in it to be working fully. I thought that the disc drive may have been interfering, so I removed the drive altogether... still no response from the machine to go into Target Disk mode. I force-ejected my other Tiger disc that was stuck in the drive, and haven't put the drive back into the Cube. Could the fact that the drive is now disc-free help? Because I have yet to test it again with the now-empty drive. I don't know, but this machine feels bricked to me. I don't understand what is going wrong with it. The keyboard turns on at start-up but the computer doesn't respond to my command. I have a strange idea of maybe just installing Tiger on the hard drive itself then sticking it into the computer and booting from it. I guess that may be the only way to fix it. I assume that the hard drive will adapt to the new-to-it computer's specs? I guess I will try that and then update my forum post as to whether it worked or it didn't.

 

[Intell]

Cubes can be touchy with Target Disc Mode. Did you update to the 4.1.9 firmware? That update fixed many Target Disc Mode problems. If there isn't a hard drive in the Cube, it won't properly go in to Target Disc Mode.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Cubes can be touchy with Target Disc Mode. Did you update to the 4.1.9 firmware? That update fixed many Target Disc Mode problems. If there isn't a hard drive in the Cube, it won't properly go in to Target Disc Mode.

How do I upgrade the firmware? (keep in mind that I cannot even use the computer, and there is NO OS on the hard drive--I just put in this tested-and-working hard drive). Do I have to boot into safe mode or whatever it is? Assuming it will respond to that...

 

[Altemose]

How do I upgrade the firmware? (keep in mind that I cannot even use the computer, and there is NO OS on the hard drive--I just put in this tested-and-working hard drive). Do I have to boot into safe mode or whatever it is? Assuming it will respond to that...

You could try putting a pre-loaded hard drive in it and then updating the firmware.

 

[Intell]

How do I upgrade the firmware? (keep in mind that I cannot even use the computer, and there is NO OS on the hard drive--I just put in this tested-and-working hard drive). Do I have to boot into safe mode or whatever it is? Assuming it will respond to that...

You can only update the firmware, if it isn't already at 4.1.9, by booting from an OS 9 installation on the hard drive. An OS 9 CD will not work, it must be from a hard drive.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

You could try putting a pre-loaded hard drive in it and then updating the firmware.

Yeah, I think I may just put a pre-loaded HD into it. I am guessing it comes to terms after a bit and recognizes that it's in another computer.

 

[Altemose]

Yeah, I think I may just put a pre-loaded HD into it. I am guessing it comes to terms after a bit and recognizes that it's in another computer.

What do you mean? You can swap hard drives with OS X on them with no issues as long as it is a supported version for both machines.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

What do you mean? You can swap hard drives with OS X on them with no issues as long as it is a supported version for both machines.

Well, I don't quite remember, but I recall a situation where I put a hard drive into a Mac that had a clone from another Mac on it, and it showed the original computer's specs... maybe it takes some calculating or a restart. Whatever, forget what I said. I will put a pre-loaded HD in there.