Rev. D iMac boots to Open Firmware

[usclaneyj]

Recently acquired a 333Mhz iMac. Bit of a nostalgia buy, really.

Anyway, it won't boot straight up. It boots to Open Firmware with this text on screen:

bootr, unknown word
Failed to boot
Apple iMac Open Firmware 3.0.f10 built on 03/05/99 at 21:14PM
Copyright 1994-1998 Apple Computer, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
ok
0 >


I reset PRAM via apple+option+p+r AND reset NVRAM via reset-nvram, reset-all.. Still boots to Open Firmware screen.

Has 10.2.8 on it.

Any ideas on what's going on here? Thanks in advance.

 

[Sun Baked]

Don't know... but...

Somebody may have deleted a file, or changed the name of a file needed to boot the OS.

 

[iMeowbot]

At the Open Firmware prompt, try

set-defaults
reset-all

... and see if that gets you back to normal.

 

[usclaneyj]

no dice. same thing..

i think my firmware may not be correct. apple page says it should say "3.0.f3". Mine says "3.0.f10"

Interestingly enough, all the firmware updates that I have been able to find for a rev. D iMac are only executable from OS 9, which I don't have.

Does anyone know whether or not I'm headed in the right path?

 

[ReanimationLP]

Try typing boot-mac

It should go then.

If not, I think its boot ide0

 

[iMeowbot]

Yeah, it could very well be a firmware mismatch. Do you have (or can you get) the original CDs that came with that machine so that you can clean things up?

 

[usclaneyj]

boot-mac works. Just hate to think that I'm gonna have to "manually" boot that iMac every time I restart it.

iMeowbot, I can't get the cds. The poor iMac was used and abused and not cared about until I got it. They didn't keep any of their Software Restore or Install discs or anything really.

 

[iMeowbot]

boot-mac and not mac-boot? You can try setenv boot-command boot-mac (or mac-boot if that was a typo) and see if it remembers it, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.