I purchased a used old eMac G3 and am a PC guy only. I bought it from someone who told me that there is 512mb of RAM in it, but I want to confirm this. Is there a way to get into the BIOS for eMacs? I just want to find out how to check how much RAM is inside.
eMac G3-OTHER
You would need to startup the computer in order to find that information or disassemble it to find what's installed.
I booted the system, but there is no hard drive in it, so I cannot go to the usual "About this mac" shortcut in the finder. I just get the question mark at boot-up. Is there another way without having to take the system apart?
Yes, if you have an installer disc with which to boot it. Any retail version of Panther or Tiger should be able to boot it.
Without a hard drive you cannot start it in single-user mode because there's no functional OS.
I see. Can I use a PC keyboard to eject the DVD drive so I can place the disc inside? If so, which key or key sequence is used to open it?
The used USB keyboards, I believe, so a PC keyboard won't likely be usable. But you can try:
Five ways to eject a stuck CD or DVD from the optical drive
Ejecting the stuck disc can usually be done in one of the following ways:
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the left mouse button until the disc ejects.
2. Press the Eject button on your keyboard.
3. Click on the Eject button in the menubar.
4. Press COMMAND-E.
I purchased a used old eMac G3
Conflicting info here. Is this an eMac G4 or an iMac G3?
With either you can open the RAM door on the case bottom and physically look at the RAM modules. They are easy to access of either model.
If you need specs to find workable startup disks, you can manually open the optical drive door on an eMac to find a sticker with the specs:
In the third line are the specs. in this example, the computer has a 1.25G processor, shipped with 256MB RAM and and 80G hard drive, and has a DVD RW drive and an internal modem.
Daaaang I messed that up real bad haha. Just checked and it's a G4 1.25 GHz eMac. Can the drives on them read DVD-RWs? What about dual layer DVDs?
Can the drives on them read DVD-RWs? What about dual layer DVDs?
Depends on what that sticker says, assuming the drive has not been replaced. It's hard to say with eMAcs; becasue they were an edu-model, they probably have more optical drive posibilities than any other Mac. Some even shipped with NO optical drive, presumably to prevent students from bring software from home.
The MacTracker database (free from http://mactracker.ca/) lists the following possibilities for optical drives in a 1.25G eMac:
None, CD-ROM, DVD/CD-RW Combo, or 8x SuperDrive
Also more tech info here:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/emac/stats/emac_1.25.html
The combo drive reads DVDs. Reading DVD=RW may depend on where they were burned and the media brand. The next model, the 1.42Ghz, shows the SuperDrive as dual layer; no such entry for the 1.25G.
If you are thinking about burning a system disk from another computer, be aware that almost never works on Macs.
Another to open a Mac's drive door and eject the CD/DVD and works with both Mac and PC keyboards, hit the F12 key;)
MichelPM wrote:
Another to open a Mac's drive door and eject the CD/DVD and works with both Mac and PC keyboards, hit the F12 key
Indeed, but on older Macs the instructions can be "hit and hold" the F12 key. Sometimes takes up to a half-second to respond, so a quick lick may not work.
This link provides the instructions for accessing the RAM. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1319
The eMac could have as little as 256MB or 1GB if there are two RAM modules installed. Most RAM modules have a sticker identifying the RAM type & size. If a RAM module has chips on only one side, it is probably 256MB. If on both sides, 512MB.
For information on your Mac (model, date of production, etc) then enter your serial number at this site. Information, based on the serial number, will be shown. http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html or last 3 characters of S/N at this site http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/ This will tell you the eMac configuration when it was new.
Cheers, Tom 😉
How do I find out how much memory is in an eMac with no hard drive?
