iMac G3 with the question mark folder icon on boot

I have an old iMac G3 500MHz and have been trying to install Tiger. I've successfully installed Tiger but after restarting I'm faced with the question mark folder icon. I've tried three different hard drives so they can't all be dead. What should I do?

Posted on Dec 20, 2020 1:06 PM

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Posted on Dec 23, 2020 10:47 AM

Has the computer run a version of OSX in the past? If not, it may need a firmware update before installing any version of OSX, 4.1.9 as I recall. Please review this article to see if it applies to your situation:


https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1283?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US



2 replies

Dec 20, 2020 4:18 PM in response to Mr_G3

Do you have the hard drives jumpered properly? I honestly don't recall if the drive needs to be set for "Master" or "Cable Select". You can check what the jumper on the optical drive is set for. If the optical drive is set as "Cable Select", then set the hard drive to Cable Select as well, otherwise set the hard drive to "Master".

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iMac G3 with the question mark folder icon on boot

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