Donzieja

Q: iMac G3 Boot problems?

Hello, everyone. Sorry if the amount of detail incorporated into this post turns out to be rather dull, I just woke up. Anyways, I recently bought an iMac G3 (specs below)off craigslist. It works fine, but I made a mistake recently.

700 MHz
1gb ram
80 gb hdd
slot loading cd drive (burns / reads cds)

It came with 10.4.11, and it also had a mac os 9 system folder. The last time I had a mac, and I put os 9 on it with a system folder, I recall booting into os 9 without problems. However, I set the boot disk to the system folder, and now I am stuck at a floppy disk with a blinking question mark. I have not been able to find a way to get back into os x, and any attempts to boot from a cd from open firmware have returned the following error:
---------------------------------------------------------------
boot cd method <load> not found; ihandle=0 phandle=0 adler32=1

LOAD-SIZE is too small
ok
---------------------------------------------------------------
If I boot from either xubuntu 6.06, or the first disc in the Tiger installation series, it will do this. Same with the OS9 cd.

Any help?

If you'd like more detail, please ask.

iMac G3, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jan 27, 2011 3:43 AM

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Q: iMac G3 Boot problems?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by littleshoulders,

    littleshoulders littleshoulders Jan 27, 2011 7:42 AM in response to Donzieja
    Level 6 (9,525 points)
    Jan 27, 2011 7:42 AM in response to Donzieja
    Hello Donzieja,

    See if How to switch between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier helps.

    littleshoulders
  • by Donzieja,

    Donzieja Donzieja Jan 27, 2011 2:07 PM in response to littleshoulders
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 27, 2011 2:07 PM in response to littleshoulders
    You see, I cannot even boot into os9.
  • by Donzieja,

    Donzieja Donzieja Jan 27, 2011 4:46 PM in response to Donzieja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 27, 2011 4:46 PM in response to Donzieja
    Well, I've managed to get past the question mark, but despite me turning off extensions, an "unimplemented trap" error occurs. o.O?!
  • by Donzieja,

    Donzieja Donzieja Jan 28, 2011 11:52 AM in response to Donzieja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 11:52 AM in response to Donzieja
    Sigh... Well, looks like I'll have to install from scratch! I mean... holding "x" at boot doesn't boot into tiger, and holding "c" at boot doesn't boot from cd... Which causes me to wonder how I'm to boot from anything.

    Help!?!?! Please? I just bought this thing....
  • by littleshoulders,

    littleshoulders littleshoulders Jan 28, 2011 12:08 PM in response to Donzieja
    Level 6 (9,525 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 12:08 PM in response to Donzieja
    What happens if you boot the computer while holding down the option key? Do you get to select the startup disk?
  • by Donzieja,

    Donzieja Donzieja Jan 28, 2011 1:50 PM in response to littleshoulders
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 1:50 PM in response to littleshoulders
    It only gives me the option to boot from main hdd, which is set to the os 9 folder. I made this setting in osx. I'm currently using the xubuntu installation cd to see if I can get some information on the hard disk, none yet. It actually just started to recognize cd's - well at least this one.
  • by Donzieja,

    Donzieja Donzieja Jan 28, 2011 8:30 PM in response to Donzieja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2011 8:30 PM in response to Donzieja
    Still nothing. Trying to install ubuntu 8.04 will not boot from cd... ??

    D=

    I need help! xD
  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Jan 29, 2011 12:57 PM in response to Donzieja
    Level 6 (8,464 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jan 29, 2011 12:57 PM in response to Donzieja
    Seems like you are going to have to find an external firewire 400 cd/dvd reader. It needs to be bootable. You can disassemble an external hd enclosure and attache a cd/dvd reader.

    boot by the option key.

    Your iMac g3 came out near the end of 9.x updates. Your mac may not be able to boot from the standard 9.2.2 disc. You might only be able to boot from the original iMac 9.x disc that shipped with your machine.

    BTW: Where did you find the syntax for boot from open firmware?

    Robert
  • by Donzieja,

    Donzieja Donzieja Jan 29, 2011 2:04 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2011 2:04 PM in response to rccharles
    I found the syntax somewhere online...

    And it doesn't need a new cd drive, it boots off xubuntu 6.06 just fine.

    The hdd still has os x on it, but I can't boot into it. Is there a way (besides holding "x") to force it to boot into os x, like some command in open firmware... or some other key combination?

    -Don
  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Jan 30, 2011 1:14 PM in response to Donzieja
    Level 6 (8,464 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jan 30, 2011 1:14 PM in response to Donzieja
    Perhaps you could boot Tiger directly off the hd.

    Later Seems when you have 9 & x on the same partition, there is a switch on the disk that says what to boot. Don't know what this might be.

    mac $ nvram boot-device
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:12,\\:tbxi
    mac $ 




    Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime. Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:

    reset-nvram
    set-defaults
    reset-all

    "The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US

    How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:
    eject cd

    List of devices:
    devalias

    List of variables:
    printenv

    ---------------------
    Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

    ---------------------
    reset the PMU
    http://mrjcd.com/junk/PMU.jpg
    --------------------

    Why set nvram variable? I've had open-firmware based Pegasos PPC and it simply had boot command, so instead of:

    setenv boot-device ud:3,\:tbxi

    should be enough to write:

    boot ud:3,\:tbxi

    I hadn't been able to fathom the syntax... until I listed a bunch of os's.
    Used startup of system perferences to select disk/media then click on lock then
    Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
    nvram boot-device


    Now, we can guess meaning:
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:12,\\:tbxi
                                        | | Partition/location
                                        |      on device 
                                        |
                                        0 = master
                                        1 = slave
                                        
                                        for ata internal device
                                        


    Why set nvram variable? I've had open-firmware based Pegasos PPC and it simply had boot command, so instead of:

    setenv boot-device ud:3,\:tbxi
     
    should be enough to write:
     
    boot ud:3,\:tbxi
     
    my setup,boot my internal harddrive Tiger partition:
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:12,\\:tbxi

    my setup, boot my internal harddrive classic 9.2.2 partition
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:10,\\:tbxi
     
    boot from Mac OS 9 cd???
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@1:9,\\:tbxi
     
    boot 10.2 install cd
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@1:9,\\:tbxi
     
    boot hardware test cd
    boot-device     mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@1:9,\\:tbxi
     
    boot from external firewire hd with Tiger installed
    boot-device     fw/node@1d202009c115c/sbp-2@c000/@0:10,\\:tbxi
     
    boot from external firewire  cd/dvd drive Tiger DVD
    boot-device     fw/node@50770500071002/sbp-2@4000/@0:3,\\:tbxi
     
    boot from external firewire  cd/dvd drive 9.2.2 install cd
    boot-device     fw/node@50770500071002/sbp-2@4000/@0:9,\\:tbxi
     
    boot from external firewire  cd/dvd drive Hardware test
    boot-device     fw/node@50770500071002/sbp-2@4000/@0:9,\\:tbxi
     
    network startup
    boot-device     enet:bootp
     


    mac $ sudo pdisk -l
    Password:
     
    Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/rdisk0'
     #:                type name                    length   base      ( size )
     1: Apple_partition_map Apple                       63 @ 1        
     2:      Apple_Driver43*Macintosh                   56 @ 64       
     3:      Apple_Driver43*Macintosh                   56 @ 120      
     4:    Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh                   56 @ 176      
     5:    Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh                   56 @ 232      
     6:      Apple_FWDriver Macintosh                  512 @ 288      
     7:  Apple_Driver_IOKit Macintosh                  512 @ 800      
     8:       Apple_Patches Patch Partition            512 @ 1312     
     9:          Apple_Free                         262144 @ 1824      (128.0M)
    10:           Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_1   2254440 @ 263968    (  1.1G)
    11:          Apple_Free                         262144 @ 2518408   (128.0M)
    12:           Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_2 146538496 @ 2780552   ( 69.9G)
    13:          Apple_Free                        6982440 @ 149319048 (  3.3G)
     
    Device block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488 (74.5G)
    DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
    Drivers-
    1:  23 @ 64, type=0x1
    2:  36 @ 120, type=0xffff
    3:  21 @ 176, type=0x701
    4:  34 @ 232, type=0xf8ff
     
    pdisk: No valid block 1 on '/dev/rdisk2'
     
    Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/rdisk3'
     #:                type name       length   base    ( size )
     1: Apple_partition_map Apple          63 @ 1      
     2:  Apple_Driver_ATAPI*Macintosh       8 @ 64     
     3:           Apple_HFS Mac_OS_X  5531656 @ 72      (  2.6G)
     4:          Apple_Free                10 @ 5531728
     
    Device block size=512, Number of Blocks=5531738 (2.6G)
    DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
    Drivers-
    1:   4 @ 64, type=0x701
     
    mac $



    Robert
  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Jan 31, 2011 9:10 AM in response to rccharles
    Level 6 (8,464 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jan 31, 2011 9:10 AM in response to rccharles
    Don't know if it would make a difference with your machine, but...

    Boot up with start up manager ( hold down the option key ).

    Start up disk shows classic & gray meaning selected.

    hold down x key

    click on right arrow key.

    My machine then booted into X.

    Robert
  • by Imac t100,

    Imac t100 Imac t100 Dec 12, 2013 4:46 PM in response to Donzieja
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 4:46 PM in response to Donzieja

    u probably screwed up the system my imac came with os 9, u could hav just gone to boot disks in menu folder and selected os 9

  • by Imac t100,

    Imac t100 Imac t100 Dec 12, 2013 4:46 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 4:46 PM in response to rccharles

    haha my name is robert also