After installing Mac OS X 10.3 onto my iMac G3 (350MHz, indigo, slotloading), on booting I get the normal boot chime, brief hard disk activity, the Apple logo, a little more hard disk activity, and then... nothing. The Apple logo just stays there as the hard disk whirs away without any audible activity. (chose eMac as the device option here because there's no option for the iMac G3)
eMac
A prohibitory symbol, which looks like a circle with a line or slash through it, means that the selected startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a version or build of macOS that your Mac can use.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210901
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_350_indigo.html
Try to boot the machine using the installation media. Is it works?
A prohibitory symbol, which looks like a circle with a line or slash through it, means that the selected startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a version or build of macOS that your Mac can use.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210901
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_350_indigo.html
Try to boot the machine using the installation media. Is it works?
Hi,
First of all, I guess that it would be correct to assume that the appropriate firmware update had been installed earlier.
https://lowendmac.com/2000/350-mhz-g3-imacs/
iMac Firmware Update 4.1.9: Information and Download
Is it a retail Mac OS X Panther 10.3 disc (not a model-specific version for another Mac)?
How much RAM is installed (the Mac OS X 10.3 minimum requirements were 128 MB)?
Any information about the hard drive size, formatting, and free disk space?
Also, the answers by Allan Jones in an old discussion (albeit for Jaguar) could perhaps be of interest to you:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2672355?answerId=12705183022#12705183022
1. Yes, I made sure to update the firmware before upgrading.
2. Yes, as far as I know.
3. 128MB.
4. 10GB disk, about 5GB free, and I'm fairly sure it's Extended format (I can no longer boot to OS9 to check)
I'll have a look at that discussion to see if it helps me out.
Best approach for this apple logo and bar that does not move is....
Press Command+V when you turn on your mac.
This will enable the Verbose mode during the boot process.
No logo...Just a bunch of messages.
Check what is the last message to have an idea of what is holding your mac to boot
What happens if you try to start up in Safe Mode (press and hold the Shift key immediately after the startup sound; release if/when an Apple and a spinning gear)? A Safe Boot can take several minutes.
In what condition is the logic board battery?
Already tried that. The iMac doesn't get far enough to be able to get into verbose mode. There's no progress bar, not even the little spinner that should appear when it's booting.
um....
What happens when you start your Mac holding "Option"?
It brings me to the boot device selection menu. For some reason, selecting my hard disk through this method just instantly shows the no-entry/prohibitory sign.
iMac G3 350MHz slot-loading hanging on Apple logo after installing OSX 10.3
