My iMac G3 won't boot from my Mac OS X disk!

[dandeco]

I am having a lot of trouble with an old iMac G3. It is the summer 2000 Indigo model with a 350MHz G3 processor, and it has Mac OS 9 on it (I recently updated it to Mac OS 9.1), and I am trying to upgrade it to Mac OS X Panther. I also installed the recent firmware thingy for it. But I am coming across problems...

First I tried loading the Mac OS X disc 1 into the CD-ROM drive, and it detected the CD, but when I tried beginning the installation process, when I clicked the button for it to restart to begin installation, I got an error message reading...

"An error occurred. 'Startup disk was unable to select the install CD as the startup disk. (-2).'"

I also tried rebooting the PC holding the "C" key on the keyboard, but doesn't work, and I also holding the "Option" key down among rebooting, but the OS X disc doesn't show up in the Startup Manager. It DOES show up in the Startup Disk Utility in OS 9 but won't let me select it as the startup disk.

I REALLY need help here. I got this without the original OS 9 install disk, either. I am tight on money and I don't want to do any hardware upgrades right now. The Mac already has enough memory (578 MB of RAM, to be precise) and has a 7 GB hard drive. I don't really like Mac OS 9 and would much prefer Mac OS X on it.

Please reply with answers/suggestions!

 

[Consultant]

What color is the disk? Gray?

 

[GSMiller]

Is the OS X disc you are using an upgrade disc (that maybe came with another machine) or an original retail disc (like you would purchase on its own)?

If it's the former then there lies your issue. Upgrade discs will only work on Macs with which they are shipped with. Purchase a full retail copy on eBay and it'll work for you.

This guy was having the same issue and as it ended up he was trying to use an upgrade disc from a different model Mac.

 

[dandeco]

Is the OS X disc you are using an upgrade disc (that maybe came with another machine) or an original retail disc (like you would purchase on its own)?

If it's the former then there lies your issue. Upgrade discs will only work on Macs with which they are shipped with. Purchase a full retail copy on eBay and it'll work for you.

This guy was having the same issue and as it ended up he was trying to use an upgrade disc from a different model Mac.

I think it could be the former. Thanks! I'll try and find a full copy of Panther or Tiger

 

[Macky-Mac]

your Imac only has a CD drive in it? So it can't read a OSX DVD.

 

[dandeco]

your Imac only has a CD drive in it? So it can't read a OSX DVD.

Well actually it was a CD.

But then a friend of mine gave me her old copy of Mac OS X Panther she bought for her iBook, a full retail copy. The iMac was able to detect/boot from THAT! I'll bring up more details on how the installation goes.

 

[Macky-Mac]

make sure you've done the required firmware updates before you install Panther!!!

I had Panther on my G3 iMac 400 and it ran great

 

[dandeco]

make sure you've done the required firmware updates before you install Panther!!!

I had Panther on my G3 iMac 400 and it ran great

Yep, I did the required firmware updates!

 

[dandeco]

Well thanks for all your help, guys! I managed to get Mac OS X installed and working like a charm on my iMac!