Help with iMac G3 strawberry running OS 9?

[rabidz7]

That sounds like a good idea. I'm just not keen on pulling it apart... It looks like it is my only option at this point. I do have a manual on how to take it apart though. How though would I go about installing a mac os on an "external" hard drive? I have done this with linux mint on hdd I took out of an old laptop but I don't want to risk accidentally installing panther or something on my macbook running mountain lion. Forgive me if this sounds dumb.

Panther wouldn't even boot!

 

[RedCroissant]

I found a dumped imac g3 strawberry in our neighbourhood. With a new cord, it works however I would like to install a faster operating system on it and am coming up with a few problems.

First of all, obviously I have no admin rights. This imac looks like it used to belong to a school and then someone must have bought/was given it and has their own account also. (Shouldn't the school have wiped all the data off of it before handing it to someone else???) I have no idea how to get admin rights and so far everything I have googled has not worked (eg: will not boot into single user mode... Don't know if I am using the wrong keys considering I am using a pc's keyboard with it) How do I gain admin rights?

Do I need admin rights to install a new operating system? -panther or jaguar. I haven't chosen yet. If anyone could help me out I would be grateful thank you.

Ok. when you say G3 strawberry which model of the imac do you have? Is it the actual fruit color release or the ruby release in the summer of 2000?

 

[ashuriiusagi]

Ok. when you say G3 strawberry which model of the imac do you have? Is it the actual fruit color release or the ruby release in the summer of 2000?

It's the fruit colour release with the tray loading disk drive.

As we speak, I am pulling apart the mac to try something similar to what Tampasteve suggested, however I have come across a new problem: no computer in my house will read the disk from inside the imac in order to wipe it. I am lost at this point. My only hope is that taking out the ram works in re-setting the firmware password but I have no extra ram to replace it with and I doubt just pulling it out and putting it back in is going to work.

This is ridiculous!

Are g3 imac's hdd's formatted in something other than hfs+ (or whatever it is). What do I need to read this thing? Various linux boot disk distros with gparted won't even recognise the thing!

 

[ashuriiusagi]

-Also, taking the stick of ram may have not worked at all. The computer booted but the screen did not come on... Either I have not plugged the screen back in properly or it really, really needed that second stick of ram to boot.

 

[Intell]

You don't need a computer to recognize the drive's filesystem. You only need a computer to detect the drive and wipe it. Did you perhaps remove the required VRAM stick instead of a RAM stick? The RAM sticks are on the CPU module, not the logicboard.

 

[SkyBell]

It is, trust me tiger is dead for my uses


Omniweb won't load facebook

Yes, it will.

tenfourfox won't load facebook

Yes, it will.

safari is just a trainwreck at this point

A bit unpolished in its final Tiger release forms, yes, but by no means unusable

Camino is unsupported Garbage

Camino is rock solid, fast and simple. "Unsupported" means very little to users in this particular sub-forum, if you haven't noticed.

And thats why tiger as a main os will never work

Tiger has been my main OS for over six years, and counting. One day, that will change as it becomes even older and less able to handle the ever-changing computer world; but at the moment, it tends to hold its own extremely well considering its age.

 

[ihuman:D]

Yes, it will.


Yes, it will.


A bit unpolished in its final Tiger release forms, yes, but by no means unusable


Camino is rock solid, fast and simple. "Unsupported" means very little to users in this particular sub-forum, if you haven't noticed.


Tiger has been my main OS for over six years, and counting. One day, that will change as it becomes even older and less able to handle the ever-changing computer world; but at the moment, it tends to hold its own extremely well considering its age.

Don't mind him, some people are just extremely ignorant.

 

[ashuriiusagi]

You don't need a computer to recognize the drive's filesystem. You only need a computer to detect the drive and wipe it. Did you perhaps remove the required VRAM stick instead of a RAM stick? The RAM sticks are on the CPU module, not the logicboard.

I was following instructions from here:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Replacing+iMac+G3+Model+M4984+RAM/1500/2

There were two sticks of ram (according to the above instructions) encased where the cpu is.
Since my last post, I have put the imac together and it works again, still with the firmware password in place by the looks.

No computer in this household will even detect the drive to wipe it. It was if the drive didn't exist. The cables I used work on another HD with no problems and the cables adjust to suit older Hd's such as the one inside my imac, this is why I figured that the hd is in some format none of the computers will recognise but maybe I am wrong.

----------

-Can I also put this out there that this thread is not about wether tiger is dead or not. Could you guys please not continue bringing up the subject? It has nothing to do with fixing this mac, especially considering I have decided to install lubuntu or another linux ppc distro on it instead of another mac distro.

I would really like this issue solved so that not only will it help me but others looking to fix the same problem.

 

[havokalien]

Best thing to do

Get an OS 8.5, OS 9 or OS X (any version) disk boot while holding the C key, or option key if that doesn't work. Then it will boot from disc, or allow you to boot from disc. You can use disc utility to wipe and / or format the drive. That will also allow you to install OS at that point.

 

[SkyBell]

Get an OS 8.5, OS 9 or OS X (any version) disk boot while holding the C key, or option key if that doesn't work. Then it will boot from disc, or allow you to boot from disc. You can use disc utility to wipe and / or format the drive. That will also allow you to install OS at that point.

Well, actually:

...however it will not load any mac operating system on it, I have tried holding down "c", Heck, I have tried all kinds of commands with various osx install disks but the same thing keeps coming up: folder with a question mark, which then turns into a finder face, which then boots up back into the os 9 operating system.

...Two more dilemmas! I have tried holding down alt as well as the c key. I even tried using the other keys to see if I was holding down the wrong key (being a pc keyboard it confused me. derp.) but with no luck...

Maybe read the thread a little more thoroughly next time?

 

[havokalien]

Didn't read it all

I didn't look over the whole thread. It happens.

 

[Caramac]

With a new cord, it works however I would like to install a faster operating system on it

Just stay in OS9 and straighten things out

For one thing, it is possible it needs a Firmware Update, which requires OS9 or earlier installed.

OS9 Applications Utilites folder.
Try the Drive Setup
Disk First Aid

Control Panel
Try Extensions Manager and a utility within that.
Try Startup Disk

Exactly which version of OS9 do you have?
OS 9.2.2 should be installed, updated for a reason.

After all that, the tray drive is just horrible.
USB 1.1 is faster, in fact the Imation SuperDisk USB Drive For MacIntosh with 120MB floppy disks is faster.

If it is in the trash heap I can't blame you for that.