CHughes98
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iMac G3 Upgrade

I have a iMac G3 350Mhz Indigo, which I got for £15, it was working except it had no operating system so I bought a new Hard Drive off of eBay for about £12, but it had OS 9 installed. Now I want to upgrade the operating system so the highest it will go, which I believe is Panther. The iMac has 192MB of Ram, so would I need to upgrade the Ram for Panther? Also is it possible to partition the Hard Drive on OS 9 to have a partition for Panther and OS 9?

 

Many thanks in advance.

iMac

Posted on Dec 8, 2013 9:41 AM

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CHughes98

Q: iMac G3 Upgrade

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Niel,Helpful

    Niel Niel Dec 8, 2013 9:54 AM in response to CHughes98
    Level 10 (313,375 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 8, 2013 9:54 AM in response to CHughes98

    1. You don't need to upgrade the RAM but should anyway.

    2. Not without erasing the entire drive. Mac OS X and 9 can exist and both be bootable on a single partition.

     

    (94284)

  • by CHughes98,

    CHughes98 CHughes98 Dec 8, 2013 10:10 AM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 8, 2013 10:10 AM in response to Niel

    So do you think Panther would run fast enough on 192MBs?

    Right then I will need the 9 discs, which I don't have but it was only to just to try and keep OS 9 since it could be nice to have, but really it would just be cheaper to not bother getting the OS 9 discs.

     

    Thanks.

  • by K Shaffer,Helpful

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Dec 8, 2013 4:38 PM in response to CHughes98
    Level 6 (14,424 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 8, 2013 4:38 PM in response to CHughes98

    You may consider checking into the Firmware Update version that computer hardware would require for it to run OS X and not have a failure of some sort. That update would be installed in a non-OS X system and before OS X is run, you should discover if the Firmware had been updated.

     

    There are a few places to check to see if someone had already updated the firmware, though I don't remember where they are and no longer use OS 9.x, Classic, or have a dual-boot PPC computer.

     

    Been some years since I last had to check into this, and so I have totally forgotten the process. There should be some information if you search online using terms to include that computer model and Firmware Update. There still may be links toward that end in Apple Support; I've found older things most difficult to locate there, though.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Dec 9, 2013 10:54 AM in response to CHughes98
    Level 9 (66,876 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Dec 9, 2013 10:54 AM in response to CHughes98

    Do you have the original system discs, or a Mac OS 9 installer CD it will boot off of?

  • by CHughes98,

    CHughes98 CHughes98 Dec 9, 2013 10:57 AM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 10:57 AM in response to K Shaffer

    I have tried to update the firmware and everytime it says it is fully up to date, but I will try and look further into it

  • by CHughes98,

    CHughes98 CHughes98 Dec 9, 2013 10:58 AM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 10:58 AM in response to a brody

    Nope I don't have the original system discs, or a OS 9 installer, but once I get the Panther discs, I read somewhere that it sometimes gives you an option of keeping the old OS? But I am not fully sure, but I will soon find out.

  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Dec 9, 2013 11:16 AM in response to CHughes98
    Level 9 (66,876 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Dec 9, 2013 11:16 AM in response to CHughes98

    It does, but unfortunately there is no real good backup medium for that iMac in case you make a mistake.   USB CD burners are slow and cumbersome with them, and Mac OS X is too large to fit on even a CD anymore.    You would have been better off getting an iMac with Firewire, than one without.

  • by CHughes98,

    CHughes98 CHughes98 Dec 9, 2013 12:44 PM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 12:44 PM in response to a brody

    I have now checked the Apple System Profiler and it says it is running 9.0.4, and it says the ROM file version is 5.3.1, and the Boot ROM version is $0004.19f1, I don't know if that helps any? Because I want to make sure the firmware is fully up to date, or will I have to update to 9.1 before 10.3? :/

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Dec 9, 2013 12:46 PM in response to CHughes98
    Level 10 (313,375 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 9, 2013 12:46 PM in response to CHughes98

    The Boot ROM is up to date.

     

    (94362)

  • by CHughes98,

    CHughes98 CHughes98 Dec 9, 2013 12:48 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 12:48 PM in response to Niel

    Thanks, just wasn't sure because it is all quite new to me, so since it is up to date, can I go ahead and upgrade to 10.3? Or is there something I need to do before that?

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Dec 9, 2013 12:50 PM in response to CHughes98
    Level 10 (313,375 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 9, 2013 12:50 PM in response to CHughes98

    You can upgrade as is but will need to install 9.1 if you want to use Classic applications without restarting.

     

    (94363)