Tray iMac Firmware vs. Jaguar

[Makosuke]

The Question: On a Rev B iMac (266Mhz, tray-loader), after installing 10.2 it would boot directly into Open Firmware any time it was started up. Resetting the PRAM would allow it to reboot into 10.2, and it would run fine (albeit slowly). Reformatting the drive and installing the 8.6 it came with caused it to start up as it should.

There is a firmware update 1.2 that, despite Apple only identifying it as fixing NetBoot issues, people say improves compatiblity with Jaguar. Has anybody tried this, and will it fix the issue if 10.2 is reinstalled after the firmware update?

(By the way, I know that the slot-loading iMacs have MAJOR problems under 10.2 if they're not updated to the latest 4.x.x firmware; this problem isn't as severe, and I couldn't find any specific mention of it with Google or Apple's help.)

I'm asking this question instead of testing it myself because the computer with the issue is in another country and I'm having to mail the updater discs to people who are largely computer illiterate and have no broadband access. I'd like to verify that the firmware update is going to fix the problem before I have them install 10.2 on it.

(And I'm going with 10.2 because I have a spare licence and the computer only has 160MB RAM. 10.2 will run slowly, but 10.3 just isn't going to happen.)

 

[Bear]

Are you sure the slowness isn't being caused by the machine only have 160MB of RAM and on top of that being a 233MHz G3?

As for the latest firmware speeding things up, if you saw somewhere that it helped, then that's the best answer you're probably going to get. Also, it sounds like you might not have the proper firmware for 10.2 anyway since it stops during booting.

 

[Makosuke]

Oh, I'm sure that a lot of the slowness is coming from the tiny amount of RAM (boy, 160MB seemed like overkill when it was new, though). That's why I'm sticking to Jaguar instead of Panther--it is slightly more comfortable with that little RAM (will Panther even install with less than 256MB?).

Anyway, I was just hoping that somebody here had seen the same thing happen so I could feel more confident that the install will go smoothly.

 

[Macky-Mac]

this chart from Apple's support site seems to indicate that you should install that firmware update;

firmware updates

also, did you update the iMac to at least OS 9.1? Apple says it should be installed before you install OS X.....if you're still using OS 8.6 on it, that could be the source of some of your problems

 

[Mechcozmo]

Without that firmware update, you could end up hosing your Mac. Also, remember to install OS X in the first 7.4 GB (8 GiB) of your hard drive.

(Black screen can appear w/o the firmware update... and won't go away...)
Firmware must be done from OS 9.1 or 9.2

 

[Makosuke]

Thanks for the additional suggestions. The tips you both mentioned, however, apply only to the later iMacs that use firmware 4.1.9--the slot loaders are the ones that must be started in 9.x to update and will fry in 10.2 if you don't.

The older ones, at least according to the kbase docs, can update from 8.x, and I haven't read about nearly as severe problems with them. That said, the only reason I asked to begin with was in the hopes that somebody at some point had actually done this and could confirm that the symptom of no firmware update is booting into Open Firmware, and it is fixed with the update.

Guess I'll just send the CDs and hope that's what the issue is--sounds likely.