iMac G3 can't boot from DVD/USB

[Derek5272]

A few weeks ago, I finally found a good local (ish) deal on a G3. I'm not sure if it's an Early 2001 or Summer 2001 model, it is a 600 Mhz model with ATI Rage 128 Ultra and 512 MB of RAM, DVD-R drive and a 40GB hard drive. I replaced the HDD with an SSD, but had to resort to cloning the OSX partition to the SSD, as I can't seem to get anything to boot from removable media.

I've tried various images I've found of OSX 10.4, and Lubuntu 16.04 PPC, on DVD and USB. Lubuntu from DVD is the only thing I have managed to get farther than a 🚫 screen. As it boots, I get the following error messages:

It will repeat the I/O error line a few times, then it stops. Is this indicative of an error with the DVD drive? I've tried booting the same image from a USB thumb drive, and from a USB DVD drive, but it doesn't even get this far.

I'd really like to get a fresh OSX install on here, and a Linux install so I can hopefully get a bit more use out of the system. Is there something simple that I'm missing to get through the 🚫 screen?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[TheShortTimer]

I've tried various images I've found of OSX 10.4, and Lubuntu 16.04 PPC, on DVD and USB. Lubuntu from DVD is the only thing I have managed to get farther than a 🚫 screen.

Where did you download the 10.4 images from and are you certain that they're actually PPC versions? Also, how did you create the USB and DVD installers? Are you doing this from a PC with Windows or another Mac?

It will repeat the I/O error line a few times, then it stops. Is this indicative of an error with the DVD drive? I've tried booting the same image from a USB thumb drive, and from a USB DVD drive, but it doesn't even get this far.

From what I've read in this Ubuntu Forums thread that error looks like the sign of an incorrectly burned DVD.

I'd really like to get a fresh OSX install on here, and a Linux install so I can hopefully get a bit more use out of the system. Is there something simple that I'm missing to get through the 🚫 screen?

Getting OS X up and running on your iMac ought to be a cakewalk. For starters, let's make sure that you have a reliable image source. If you haven't already, please download the Tiger 10.4.6 PPC ISO from here. I set up Tiger on my iMac G3 with a USB installer using this method and it went without a hitch.

 

[Derek5272]

I downloaded the 10.4 image from a few sources, all said it was the PPC version, and the last one I tried is the one you've linked from Mac Garden. I've been doing all of this from Windows PCs, as this is the only Mac I have... Not a fan of Apple but I've loved the look of these G3's since one showed up in my 6th grade computer lab.

I'm thinking my trouble shooting with the Lubuntu PPC image will be a bit limited since I don't have other PPC machines to test it in, but I'll read through that thread and see if I can get it figured out. Thanks.

I'll try out your method for OS X and report back. Thanks!

 

[TheShortTimer]

I've been doing all of this from Windows PCs, as this is the only Mac I have...

Ah, that could be the root cause of your difficulties.

I'll try out your method for OS X and report back. Thanks!

That method won't work with Windows as it requires a Mac. Unless you're able to get access to one where you can carry out the procedure, I'd recommend that on the Windows side you use the freeware CDBurnerXP program to burn your Tiger ISO to a DVD as it's guaranteed (from my experience) to burn discs correctly.

 

[Derek5272]

My plan is to attempt this from within the existing OSX install I have. It was made from an image of the previous owner's HDD, so I want to replace it with a 100% fresh install. File transfers are just painfully slow on it, so I've been doing all of the setup on my modern PCs.

 

[Derek5272]

Success! Thanks TheShortTimer, your method worked for getting OSX installed. Now I just need to figure out how to get a Linux distro on the other partition.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Success! Thanks TheShortTimer, your method worked for getting OSX installed.

Excellent news! Thanks for letting us know.

Now I just need to figure out how to get a Linux distro on the other partition.

I've not had much luck in that arena but perhaps @wicknix might have some suggestions as they're the resident PPC Mac Linux expert.

 

[wicknix]

G3's with the rage128 aren't the best choice for linux. That graphics card has little to no support with newer kernels. There have been some success stories though. I just don't own a G3 and really have nothing useful to input on this.

Cheers

 

[Derek5272]

Well I've tried a few distros from the PPC OS list on this forum, with no success. Just got done using my Steam Deck (only Linux system I currently have) to follow the Mint PPC Live USB instructions but got a 🚫. I'll try to figure out how to do the things I want from within OSX.

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[wicknix]

I'd suggest https://www.macports.org/ . It will let you install quite a bit of open source software. Mind you, it will take days to compile on a G3 however.

 

[Derek5272]

UPDATE: I stumbled across another distro yesterday, Adélie Linux, which has official support for 32-bit PPC. I used Rufus to make a bootable USB, and it works! I haven't gotten it installed yet, but this is definitely farther than I've gotten with any other distro.

Adélie Linux Download Page