Mount a USB Flash Drive

P13808, welcome to Apple Discussions.

Your iMac should have two USB 1.1 ports. Insert the flash drive in to one of the ports.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

Install the Mac OS 8.6 update ( here) and USB Mass Storage Support 1.3.5 ( here).

Jan

The link says it won't work with G3(which is what I have).

Where does it say that? Both the 8.6 update and the USB Mass Storage Support 1.3.5 are OK for a 1998 iMac (with 8.5.1 right now). Since the USB Mass Storage Support 1.3.5 requires 8.6, install that update first.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the only means of transporting data is through a CD(which I can burn).

Yes, you can transfer files on a CD. Use a CD-R (not CD-RW).

If you are using a PC for the downloads, make sure that the files are kept unaltered. Do not try to decode the MacBinary (.bin) on the PC. Once on the iMac, use an appropriate version of StuffIt Expander (which, hopefully, is there already) for the decoding (drag the .bin file onto the StuffIt Expander program icon). Otherwise, special software (such as TransMac) will be needed on the PC in order to correctly handle Mac files.

The iMac is not connected to the internet.

If necessary, that can be resolved within minutes. The iMac has a built-in modem for a dial-up connection, or it can be connected to a broadband router by means of an RJ-45 Ethernet cable.

Jan

I don't have StuffIt Expander.

I do not have my G3 iMac in front of me now, but I thought that StuffIt Expander was installed by the iMac system CD. Have you looked through all folders/subfolders or tried a hard disk search for the utility?

Otherwise, any chance of finding StuffIt Expander on a CD from an Internet Service Provider or a computer magazine? Unfortunately, it is not quite easy to download a suitable version, since even these downloads are encoded and require StuffIt Expander (or a similar application) for the decoding...

Jan

Addendum

A PC utility (such as TransMac) may be able to internally decode MacBinary (.bin) and/or BinHex (.hqx) while properly handling the Mac files. So, if StuffIt Expander is not on the iMac, you may want to try an appropriate program for Mac disks on a PC. You could make an attempt to decode and transfer the aforementioned Apple files or only a StuffIt Expander download.

Older versions of StuffIt Expander for Macintosh can be found at ftp://ftp.allume.com/pub/archive/mac/StuffIt_Expander/.

Jan

Hi, P13808 -

Anyway, so I just get the two bin files, then I burn them to CD-R, put it in the iMac, then drag the files onto the StuffIt icon?

Copy the .bin files onto the Mac's hard drive before opening them via Stuffit Expander. To do the latter, you can drag each onto the icon for Stuffit Expander, or just double-click each .bin file.

Once the .bin file has been opened you should have a disk image file (probably with a suffix .smi), one for each of the downloads. Double-clicking each disk image file should mount its disk image on the right-hand side of the screen. This disk image file will behave as if it were a separate disk. Double-click it to open it, read the associated ReadMe file, then run the installer.

Note - make no attempt to open or to decompress the downloaded file while it is on the PC; doing so can kill it, since PC machines do not understand the Mac file structure.

The i in iMac stands for Internet, and it is a cinch to get it going if you have any Internet gear to connect it to. Do you have a DSL or Cable Internet Router? The iMac also has an internal Modem.

Hi Don,

Hoping that you do not mind two comments.

you can drag each onto the icon for Stuffit Expander, or just double-click each .bin file.

The former is usually better, because a file originating from a PC may not be properly recognised for a double-click operation.

make no attempt to open or to decompress the downloaded file while it is on the PC; doing so can kill it, since PC machines do not understand the Mac file structure.

Unless this is done within a special PC utility for the handling of Mac disks. An old program called HFVExplorer was one example, and the aforementioned TransMac may have similar capabilities. The decoding would in those cases take place in a Mac "environment" in immediate connection with the transfer/conversion. However, this is now merely of academic interest, since P13808 has found a Mac version of StuffIt Expander.

Regards,
Jan

The decoding would in those cases take place in a Mac "environment" in immediate connection with the transfer/conversion.

I should add that this refers to the .bin (or .hqx) decoding, and nothing but the decoding, at the same time as the files are being copied to a Mac disk/disc. Any file decompression and disk image handling is to be carried out on the Mac.

Jan