Help for FLOWER POWER imac!!!!?!!!!

Still waiting to reach my daughter at college - urgggggh. I just checked my computer that i am using (a five year old, pink imac with dvd/cd slot load). Under system profiler boot rom it says 3.2.4f1 so I guess this one wasn't updated before I put Panther on it. I downloaded it and it is on the desktop of os x but when I follow the instructions I have and click on it and the agreement comes up it then says IMac firmware does not work on OSX. Restart from a local hard disk w OS9 installed and use the firmware updater again. When I restart it in class OS 9.2 mode there is no 4.1.9 updater on the desktop so how can I start it up in os 9. I don't want the same thing to happen to this computer that happened to my daughters. Thanks for all your help. Hope you can hang in there with us.

Franco and Dreed:

I successfully installed the firmware update on my pink imac. Now, hopefully, I won't have my daughter's problem.

I may go and pick her computer up this weekend. She is always either in class or at frizbee practice and I can't seem to get her to work with me. If I bring it home maybe you can talk me through stuff.

If I bring the Panther disk down and it boots from that Apple said that the firmware update is on that disk. But it also says that you can only update from OS 9. So what's the story there? If her computer booted up with the os 9 disk by holding the c key down and will do it again do yu think I can click reboot in OS 9.2 and if it does that go to the internet and download the firmware. If I can update the firmware what do you think the chances are that it will then reboot in os x again normally?

Thanks for posting. In a nutshell. We put os x on her computer a year ago and after changing her account password in order to download something ipod related (not recognizing computer)which actually didn't download (don't know what it was exactly) she shut the computer down. On restarting it the next day it goes as far as the apple and the first grey spinning wheel and then goes to grey screen. Everyone seems to think it is firmware related. I know we didn't physically put on that firmware update before Os x panther, so I'm sure she doesn't have it. I'm surprised the panther disk doesn't automatically do it. She was also having battery indication replacement (but never told me about it), so maybe it could be battery. Wouldn't boot from disk warrior, but did boot from os 9 cd. I read on the apple website that the firmware update is on disk one of the os x cd. If we do get the computer to boot with an os x cd is it possible to put the update on that way (From what I understand though it must be put on from os 9 and cannot do it while being booted from a cd). Kathy P. S. I stupidly have told her to zap the pram when the problem happened and we probably did this twice. Didn't know anything about the firmware problem or not zapping the pram. Is there any hope for an amatuer to fix it. The link went into gorey details about taking everything out of the computer and resetting something which I don't think I would be able to tackle. My first step is to try and get the thing to boot in os 9 and download firmware. Second is to try and get in there with the OS x cd and restore os x and then as soon as I can get to some desktop I will download the firmware. Thanks for listening.

Here's where I am. Picked up daughter's computer and it is at my house so can do things to it while you are helping me on line. Computer booted up with os 9 disk (original apple version). Switched to tell it to start up in os 9.2 from hard drive. It booted and I now have os 9.2 running. I went to check the boot rom and it says: $0004.19f1. On my computer it just says 4.1.9f1. On mine you can clearly see that there is a . before the 9. On the 9.2 it looks like there is no decimal point before the 9. Did I update the firmware somehow thrugh the install disk? Pretty sure I never downloaded it from the internet and went through the programer's button thing.

When I saw it had that boot rom $0004.19f1 I assumed that it has the update so I switched and told it to boot on os x. Apple, spinning wheel and then grey screen. Hit the return button a few times, could hear something happening and then nothing. Tried to boot up rom OS x Panther cd (which was not an original but a burned copy) and it would not start up. Also tried to connect with internet and it says I can't go on via internet explorer unless I'm on os X.

Other info that may be useful to you is about this mac:

Built in Memory 192 Mb
Virtual Memory 193 MB used
Largest unused block 158.3
Mac OS 38.8

Is there no memory left to load os x or boot from the cd

Now I am back and running os 9.2. Any advice? I'll wait for further instructions.

I will send this same e mail to giles and dreed and hope they might also shed some light. You guys have been so helpful.

P.S. - also changed the battery.

Sending this out to have you check the latest post.

Here's where I am. Picked up daughter's computer and it is at my house so can do things to it while you are helping me on line. Computer booted up with os 9 disk (original apple version). Switched to tell it to start up in os 9.2 from hard drive. It booted and I now have os 9.2 running. I went to check the boot rom and it says: $0004.19f1. On my computer it just says 4.1.9f1. On mine you can clearly see that there is a . before the 9. On the 9.2 it looks like there is no decimal point before the 9. Did I update the firmware somehow thrugh the install disk? Pretty sure I never downloaded it from the internet and went through the programer's button thing.

When I saw it had that boot rom $0004.19f1 I assumed that it has the update so I switched and told it to boot on os x. Apple, spinning wheel and then grey screen. Hit the return button a few times, could hear something happening and then nothing. Tried to boot up rom OS x Panther cd (which was not an original but a burned copy) and it would not start up. Also tried to connect with internet and it says I can't go on via internet explorer unless I'm on os X.

Other info that may be useful to you is about this mac:

Built in Memory 192 Mb
Virtual Memory 193 MB used
Largest unused block 158.3
Mac OS 38.8

Is there no memory left to load os x or boot from the cd

Now I am back and running os 9.2. Any advice? I'll wait for further instructions.

I will send this same e mail to giles and dreed and hope they might also shed some light. You guys have been so helpful.

P.S. - also changed the battery.

Please check out my latest post:

Here's where I am. Picked up daughter's computer and it is at my house so can do things to it while you are helping me on line. Computer booted up with os 9 disk (original apple version). Switched to tell it to start up in os 9.2 from hard drive. It booted and I now have os 9.2 running. I went to check the boot rom and it says: $0004.19f1. On my computer it just says 4.1.9f1. On mine you can clearly see that there is a . before the 9. On the 9.2 it looks like there is no decimal point before the 9. Did I update the firmware somehow thrugh the install disk? Pretty sure I never downloaded it from the internet and went through the programer's button thing.

When I saw it had that boot rom $0004.19f1 I assumed that it has the update so I switched and told it to boot on os x. Apple, spinning wheel and then grey screen. Hit the return button a few times, could hear something happening and then nothing. Tried to boot up rom OS x Panther cd (which was not an original but a burned copy) and it would not start up. Also tried to connect with internet and it says I can't go on via internet explorer unless I'm on os X.

Other info that may be useful to you is about this mac:

Built in Memory 192 Mb
Virtual Memory 193 MB used
Largest unused block 158.3
Mac OS 38.8

Is there no memory left to load os x or boot from the cd

Now I am back and running os 9.2. Any advice? I'll wait for further instructions.

I will send this same e mail to giles and dreed and hope they might also shed some light. You guys have been so helpful.

P.S. - also changed the battery.

I know she has lots and lots of movies on there and also music. The info I posted came up on os 9 when I said about this mac.

When I click on the hd icon it says 19 items 6.12 gb available. Is that what's on the whole computer or just in the Os 9.2 partition. Also, it looks like everything I can get into in the system folder is pre os x update. Don't see anything really recent in there. Since it wont boot in os x don't see how I can get into her itune music files or her movies.

Any suggestions.

Can't find users folder. When I go to file find it doesn't go to anything. Where is the user folder.