Q: iMac 3 software updates

The update should take less than 1 hour. Information about the install/upgrade is usually shown on the screen while it is taking place.

What was the previous version of OS X that you were using. Was it earlier than 10.3?

You cannot update to 10.3 or later (e.g. 10.4) unless you first install Firmware Update 4.1.9.

Have you previously installed Firmware Update 4.1.9? You would remember doing this because the firmware upgrade process is rather different than a regular software system upgrade. It involves pressing and holding special buttons on the iMac and you hear special beeps and tones. There is a special reboot process. It is very different from just doing an OS install/upgrade.

If you are using Mac OS X,  you must boot from a Mac OS 9.1-9.2.2 writeable partition (not a CD or network disk) prior to doing this Firmware 4.1.9 upgrade. For more info on this, see

http://lowendmac.com/imacs/400-mhz-imac-g3-early-2001.html

If you already have the above Firmware update, then it's not an issue. Still, the 10.4 update should take less than 1 hour. I have done it myself on a G3 iMac. What is the operatng system from which you are updating?

Also: what type of OS install disks (be very specific when describing them) are you using to perform the upgrade?

It sounds like you successfully updated to 10.4.11. Good! You don't need to do any of those things I mentioned in my previous message, because your computer would not have been able to install and run 10.4.11 without the Firmware update, so you already have it. Maybe it took such a long time because you had to download a lot of updates. It's easy to get nervous when these things take so long.

I think you are finished and unless Software Update presents you with any additional updates, you have installed the latest and most advanced system that runs on your computer, namely 10.4.11. Don't worry about the Firmware, you would never have gotten through the 10.4.11 install/update without the correct Firmware. I had the impression that the install had stalled or frozen from your first post. Since it eventually completed, I think you are in good shape.

Which model do you have? Is it the slot loading iMac DV/400 or the iMac DV/400 SE? How much RAM do you have?

I think the SE came with more standard RAM (128MB) versus the other one (64MB). Both can be increased up to 512MB. I have read that up to 1 GB can actually be installed (2 RAM chips, each 512MB), but Apple officially only sanctioned 512MB.

I would get as much RAM as you can put in it, at least up to 512MB. It will make a big difference if you presently have less.

This link explains about installing RAM in these iMacs:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3000

You can install an older wireless card, 802.11b. I suspect the only such cards available would be in a second hand market and might be hard to find and expensive.  This link

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2367

explains how the airport wireless card is installed. Note the warning about needing to have an adaptor, that typically comes with the wireless card.

An alternative to the probably hard to find older airport wireless card would be a USB device that provides wireless for your Mac. This seller offers several including some as cheap as $10, but there are other sellers as well, I am just mentioning this one as an example, not an endorsement:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/wireless/

If you go for a USB adaptor for wireless, make sure that the product is compatible with your OS 10.4.11 and your older Mac. Many of them are. Also, you have only USB 1.1, which I think is limited to 12 Mb/s, which is slow, so the best you can use is probably the old 802.11b type of wireless.

If it's an SE with 256 MB RAM, you can go to 512 MB which should improve performance a lot. (See also my previous comments about going to 1 GB.) And I think everything else I said before is still valid ...

You can check your memory by selecting under the Apple menu (upper left corner of your screen) "About this Mac" and it will indicate how much memory you have installed ...