My Power Mac G4 operating system

[SHAHZBOT]

Hello to all, hoping someone can answer this for me.
recently a friend gave me a power mac g4 with the mirrored doors on the front, when i turn it on it only shows a folder icon flashing a question mark, does this mean the operating system is messed up and if so, can I use my old imac system cd's in it?
Thanx any help is appreciated

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Probably, and no, you cannot use your old iMac's CDs or DVDs, as they are only working with that specific iMac model.
You either need the original Restore CDs from Apple (15 to 30 USD) or need to find a Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard RETAIL DVD on eBay or CL.

Have you tried any of these steps?

Mac doesn't boot

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac​

 

[Nermal]

You should be able to use 10.3 through 10.5 retail DVDs. You can't use the iMac ones. Depending on the model (there will be a sticker on the back with the specs) you may also be able to run 9.2 or 10.2.

Edit: sim snuck in!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Edit: sim snuck in!

But that idiot forgot to mention the third best Mac OS X version, namely Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.

Let's see, who reports this as insult, if you don't mind.

 

[SHAHZBOT]

Yes and no

OK thank you for the info, i havent done anyprogramming since the early 1980's on a apple IIe plus lol,
my screen is grey with the flashing ? mark, could that be from not having a mac mouse and keyboard? Im using an ibm usb keyboard and microsoft usb mouse, however the mouse laser does'nt light up and neither does the caps lock etc on the keyboard........

 

[simsaladimbamba]

OK thank you for the info, i havent done anyprogramming since the early 1980's on a apple IIe plus lol,
my screen is grey with the flashing ? mark, could that be from not having a mac mouse and keyboard? Im using an ibm usb keyboard and microsoft usb mouse, however the mouse laser does'nt light up and neither does the caps lock etc on the keyboard........

The keyboard should have nothing to do with it, it is more likely, that the OS is corrupt in some way, which can either be repaired via the steps I linked to, or it cannot and you need to reinstall Mac OS X or Mac OS 9.2.2.

 

[Nermal]

OK thank you for the info, i havent done anyprogramming since the early 1980's on a apple IIe plus lol,
my screen is grey with the flashing ? mark, could that be from not having a mac mouse and keyboard? Im using an ibm usb keyboard and microsoft usb mouse, however the mouse laser does'nt light up and neither does the caps lock etc on the keyboard........

Hmm. I would've thought that the keyboard would work at that point. If you hold Alt while turning the computer on then you should get a screen with a working mouse pointer (keep holding it until you either get the new screen or the flashing ?).