imac G3/333 memory HELP!

[WILLDOGS]

Hey guys quick question. I have a G3/333 here and I have plenty of HP Omnibook memory in my hands. They both appear to use the same spec memory and I was wondering if I can use the HP memory in the imac?

Imac Spec: 128MB, 144-pin SODIMM, SDRAM, PC133 memory module
HP Spec: 256MB, 144-pin SODIMM, SDRAM, PC133 memory module

On the face of it, it would seem YES! But the price difference on Crucial.com is way different. Imac is 2 x the price on their site. Am I missing something?

I want to know before I crack open the imac. Screwdriver in hand awaiting response lol.

Im a PC guy and this is the first time I am even opening up a MAC and am pretty excited about it.

 

[WILLDOGS]

Ok,

So I've got the 512mb (2x256mb)memory in and upgraded this G3 to a 40 HDD.

Now, my question is, how do I get this dame OS-X Panther Installed?

I am booting off the CD, but it just sits there with the apple logo and a spinning circle at the bottom forever.

Trust me I have been researching this for the past few days and am a PC Engineer professionally and have the basic knowledge of Hardware/software but this is my first venture into the Mac world.

I am at my wits end with trying to get OSX on this and wanted someone to lead me in the right direction if possible.

In my research I have seen something about having to Upgrade the firmware and possibly partitioning the HDD and only installing OS X on the first 8GB partition.

How can I go about doing these two items without an OS? Is there a BIOS on these things? To upgrade the firmware? If so how can I get into it?
Also is there is method to "fdisk" (sorry for the lack of a better term 🙂 ) in order to partition?

Thanks ahead of time. I really want to become a MAC convert and I am trying to take the cheaper route for now before buying a MBP 🙂

So far:
G3/333 = Free
OS X 10.3 = $25 from someone on craigslist (5 license pack)
Memory = Free
HDD = Free

I think i'm doing good so far 🙂

 

[WILLDOGS]

Bump?

I know its an old machine and God forbid anyone would even touch one. But I can still use a bit of help.

thanks

 

[ADent]

Is this your only Mac?

I installed the ROM upgrades from OS 9 - since the machine I got (G3/400 slot load) was OS9 only I really doubted it had been done.

Then I hooked up another mac and ran the installer using Firewire Target Disk Mode.

How much memory is in it now?

Panther still came on CDs, huh?

 

[Luigi239]

Yeah, the memory should work. The worst thing that can happen will be the ram doesn't fit. You should be fine there. Be careful opening up the case however, the Tray Loading iMacs are a pain in the ass to open up and fool around with. (Took me an hour to put mine back together the first time, couldn't get the CD drive to sit correctly.)

Second, regarding your OS X issue, it is possible that your firmware is not up to date. You will need to have a copy of OS 8 or 9 that you can install it with. (If you don't have a copy on hand, you could always borrow one from a friend, or ebay.) Once you have the OS 9 installed, go to this website:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60384

And download the new firmware and install it. Before you go through the whole OS 9 process though, I believe there is a way to check the firmware revision using Open Firmware. (The equivalent of a Mac's bios.) Let me go look that up, and if I find anything, I'll post it.

Good luck.

EDIT: Found it. You need to turn on your iMac while holding down command-option-o-f. The first line of the output is the firmware version. Yours should read something like this if it up to date:

Apple iMac Open Firmware 3.0 f2 built on 04/23/99 at 14:31:03

 

[WILLDOGS]

Thanks so much Luigi! As soon as I get home i will try this out. I also need to get my hands on a copy of OS9 somehow. I will check craiglsist or ebay perhaps.

I was able to upgrade the RAM to 512mb and Hard Drive to 40Gig.