IMac g3 blinking folder with Question Mark

" Unfortunately, I don't think I'm in any position to start uninstalling/installing HD's and even then it could be a potential waste of $ if I'm not sure if either the HD or the CD drive is broken."

Well, I don't know what you paid for your iMac, but at this point, why not treat it as a project/learning experience? Check out the "Slot-Loading iMacs" section of this Macworld article, for directions and photos about a variety of hardware upgrades. You don't want to open the upper portion of the housing, where dangerous voltage can cause electrical shock. The lower portion beneath the logic board doesn't pose a shock hazard to you, but you could potentially cause electrostatic damage to the board, if you touch components without grounding yourself first. Check your area for a Mac User Group, where you might be able to take your iMac and have some of the local gurus troubleshoot it at no charge.

Like Jeff says no need to mess with the top.
If you go here:
http://www.macmanuals.co.uk/index.htm
you'll find complete manuals.
To remove the bottom just 4 screws. Remove the Faraday cage, 8? screws, use a magnetized screw driver. 4 screws to remove the hard drive. Usually you have to pull the RAM to pull it out, move the IDE cable out of the way.
Richard

Richard,

Do you know if the retail/universal OS 9.1 installer disk will boot his Graphite iMac or does it require that iMac's OS 9.1 Restore disk or the retail/universal OS 9.2.1/9.2.2 installer disk?

Hey Jeff,
A universal OS 9.1 installer would work since the last iMac G3's original OS was 9.1.
Actually anything that you mentioned should work.
Richard

That's what I thought until I re-read the chart in this Knowledge Base article. For the 2001 iMacs and OS 9.1, Apple noted that "These computers are supported by the version of Mac OS included with the computer when it was purchased; retail copies of Mac OS with the same (or earlier) version number may not include the system software components necessary to start up these models." That's when I wondered if his optical drive boot problem has to do with the compatibility of the retail/universal OS 9.1 installer disk that he just purchased. The compatibility chart found on this Wikipedia page reinforces what Apple stated. For OS 9.1 and the early 2001 and summer 2001 iMacs, "machine-specific version only" is indicated. I can only assume that their software build was created after the production/release of the retail OS 9.1 installer disk.

Too bad, It's upsetting that It just won't work!! 😟 I wish it would just be easy & let me get it workin'!

Try an old version of Ubuntu. This will sort out whether or not you have a good cd drive or not. & Hd if you install.

Don't worry about all the slight mods to get Ubuntu working. That's to get the display manger working. You don't need that to see if the cd drive will boot an OS. & You don't need to mods to see if the hd works either. You can run from the command line.

No need to take the machine apart.

See my earlier post for details.

Robert