iMac G3 OS X Panther

[Yaris]

I've spent almost all day trying to get Panther on my iMac G3 (tray loading, 266MHz) and I got all the firmware updated and got it to os 9.2.2. I put in the Panther disk and rebooted. I partitioned the drive so that one was less than 8 GB and started the installation. A couple minutes in, I decided to open the installer log. It froze up for a while and then put up a blue scree with a spinning loading indicator for about 5 minutes until the cd stopped spinning. I couldn't turn it off with the power button so I had to pull out the power. Now when I boot up it works for a while and then the blue screen comes back. After about 10 minutes the screen goes black and the power button turns amber. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

EDIT: Okay I just reset the PRAM and the same happened. I'm SOOOOO pissed. I've had this iMac for almost two years now and I've been trying to install OS 8 or 9 so I could get to 10 but it just HAS to stop working now.

 

[youssefm]

Try using disc utility off the cd to format the disk, and try to reinstall the operating system

 

[Yaris]

Yeah that's what I have been doing but I don't get any luck that way.

 

[Yaris]

Alright I reinstalled OS 9 and tried again but the same thing happens. The cd boots up and it puts up the progress bar and I get a beach ball and then the screen goes blue with spinning lines at the bottom. Then it freezes.

EDIT: ARGHH so I got it to boot up fine and I got to disk utility to partition but the thing froze up again a couple minutes into the install.

EDIT: Okay this time I got it to start installing. I was so excited but then I got a kernel panic in the middle of installation. *sigh*

 

[chrismacguy]

RAM issue or Drive issue probably...

This sounds like either bad RAM or a broken CD. Judging by the fact it starts to install etc, bad RAM seems more likely, how much RAM does it have??

 

[Yaris]

Okay well I FINALLY got OS X 10.1 "Puma" installed. It runs kinda slow so I wonder whether I should even try Panther again.

This sounds like either bad RAM or a broken CD. Judging by the fact it starts to install etc, bad RAM seems more likely, how much RAM does it have??

Thanks for the reply. I've got 256 MB ram in there. I think it's maxed out. I don't know if it accepts 512 MB modules. I burned another backup of the cd again and the same thing happened. I'm not really sure though because I also burned a backup of Puma and the second time it worked. I might burn another really slowly and verify the cd first.

 

[flopticalcube]

It'll take 2 X 256MB for a total of 512MB.

 

[Yaris]

It'll take 2 X 256MB for a total of 512MB.

I was almost certain that I saw only one slot for ram whenever I opened it up. I took out the module to look closer and I believe there is only one slot.

 

[flopticalcube]

There should be two slots on that model. Be aware though:

http://lowendmac.com/macdan/03/0307ek.html

Editor's note: Users have reported mixed results upgrading memory in the Rev. A, Rev. B, Rev. C (266 MHz), and Rev. D (333 MHz) iMacs. Some manage to get two 256 MB modules working; others can't get their computer to recognize anything larger than 128 MB. We have two seemingly identical Rev. Ds at Low End Mac headquarters - one takes a 256 MB upgrade, but the other won't. Same computer. Same firmware revision. Same brand of memory. We have not been able to determine why there is so little consistency among tray-loading iMacs.

BTW: One slot is (relatively) easily accessible, the other is not, which is probably why you can only see one slot.

 

[Yaris]

I think I might wait to install the RAM. I really don't want to spend any more money on this.

Oddly, it seems that this iMac isn't as slow on OS X as I first thought. Now the window movement and dock animations aren't choppy anymore and it actually seems quite snappy. The only problem is how loud the fan is. Anyone know if it's possible to replace the iMac fan?