Upgrading OS 9.0.4 to Mac OS X 10.3 on iMac G3 350MHz

Although this article was written over 8 years ago, it will give you some good information - especially the recommendations regarding hard drive capacity and installed memory. Unfortunately, the posted links to Apple's tech articles and/or downloads contained within it are outdated/obsolete, much to the frustration of users who come to the Forums looking for these downloads. You can check the BootROM version using the Apple System Profiler. If it indicates anything other than 4.1.9, you should run the update. You can find the iMac 4.1.9 Firmware Update here. To run it, the iMac must be booted from the internal hard drive running OS 9.1 (not 9.2.1 or 9.2.2). It's getting harder to find a download source for the Mac OS 9.1 Update, but it can be found here. Unfortunately, this site has the 15-part segmented download. An alternate, segmented download was made available by Apple years ago, to accommodate users without high-speed internet, who experienced dropped connections with dial-up during large-file downloads. After downloading the 15 segments, copy them to a designated folder on the iMac's hard drive. I assume that you're using a newer computer to access the internet, so if you can burn the downloaded segments to a CD, it would make the transfer to the iMac a lot easier. When you double-click on the 1st file (a self-mounting image), a disk image of the Mac OS 9.1 Update will appear on the desktop. I usually drag it to the hard drive, and then open the folder and follow the directions contained in a SimpleText document.

After you successfully install the version of Panther contained on your installation disks, you should run the OS 10.3.9 Combined Update, to bring it fully up-to-date. High-speed internet configuration can be discussed when you get to that point. Incidentally, a Windows keyboard can be used instead of an Apple keyboard. Just keep in mind that the Windows logo key is the Apple "Command" key and the Windows "Alt" key is the Apple "alt/option" key. In relation to the space bar, these two keys are juxtaposed on a PC keyboard, when compared to an Apple keyboard.

Jeff,

You can't run the firmware updater from 9.2.2?

There,s another OP thread that I advised running the firmware updater( if it hasn't been updated already) for a Bondi Blue iMac and he has installed OS 9.2.2 on this iMac.

It's a later version of OS 9, it shouldn't matter?

The last slot-loading iMacs I ran the 4.1.9 Firmware Update on were running OS 8.6, 9.0.x, or 9.1. Obviously, the two pre-9.1 versions had to be updated to 9.1. In this Topic, the O.P. intends to install Panther, so I wanted to save him the time of updating beyond OS 9.1, just to run the Firmware Update. That's why I wrote "running OS 9.1 (not 9.2.1 or 9.2.2)."

If you're referring to the O.P. in Australia with his 1998 iMac, he would be running an older Firmware Update (Version 1.2) for the tray-loading iMacs 233/266/333 MHz models). In his case, the Firmware Updater may or may not run on version 9.2.x, because the installer program checks for OS 8.0. I seem to remember users who had to downgrade from OS 9.x, just to run the firmware update on those first-generation iMacs.

The mind boggles.

this may sound stupid but why do you want to run 10.3?

i have used an external firewire hard drive to play music files off itunes in os 9. don't remember which version of os 9 i had. itunes 2. will play mp3 and aiff files. will not play aac files.

i looked it up. you need at least 9.2.1 to install itunes 2 in os 9. i have no idea where you would get it from. and a compatible version of itunes WILL play aac tunes with 10.3.

The International-English version of the Mac OS 9.1 Update can be found here. I tested the first download link, and it's good. As far as iTunes goes, one of the earliest versions (1.1) was compatible with OS 9.0.4/9.1. You can check the web for a download link, but finding an English version still available may be next to impossible. Apple doesn't let third-party sites post downloads of their programs (current or past). Years ago, there was a downloadable patch for iTunes 1.1, that enabled it to run on Mac OS 8.6. I used it back then on my pre-OS 9 Macs. On Macs running OS 9.1, 9.2.1, and 9.2.2, iTunes 2.0.4 should run without problems.