MacUser124
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Q: iMac G3 will not recognize USB upon startup?

The iMac G3 seems to be fine hardware wise, however, it will not accept any input upon startup and I cannot boot from a CD. I have tried booting whole holding down the C key, tried booting into options, open firmware, etc. All with no luck, it just continues to boot into a very blank OS 9.2 screen which I can do nothing with. Once it has "booted" I can move the mouse around, so the UBS ports do work, they're just not recognized when the machine turns on. I am using a standard Apple USB "Blue" Keyboard from 1999, so I can't imagine that being the problem.

 

 

I believe it is running a very old version of Macintosh Manager, as after a half hour it gives up trying to find a connection and asks me for a Admin Username and Password to quit into the finder, I have none. I am trying to boot using an original retail version of Mac OS X v10.0.3. This should theoretically be fine, as the firmware update was for v10.2 and newer, correct?

 

 

I have no idea, even if the CD drive is dead, shouldn't I at least be able to boot into terminal, open firmware, or startup manager?

 

 

Please help.

iMac, Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Sep 8, 2013 5:13 PM

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MacUser124

Q: iMac G3 will not recognize USB upon startup?

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  • by MacUser124,

    MacUser124 MacUser124 Sep 8, 2013 5:30 PM in response to MacUser124
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 8, 2013 5:30 PM in response to MacUser124

    Update: I have managed to boot into open formware and enter the "Boot from CD" command, however, I get an error message back saying the CD cannot be opened. I believe the CD drive may be dead, is there a way to test this?

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Sep 9, 2013 9:53 AM in response to MacUser124
    Level 6 (8,496 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Sep 9, 2013 9:53 AM in response to MacUser124

    Jjust out of curiousity, what are you using for "boot from cd"?

     

    I'd concur with your assesment of a bad cd drive. Perhaps you could try another drive from ebay.

     

    Is this a try or slot iMac?  Does the slot of firewire?  I'd get a firewire cd drive if your machine supports it.

     

    This site provides more information.  Best for older machines.  Note, serial number is sent in the clear.

    "A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It's used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac's serial number for and more importantly... what is it hiding and what can it do for you ?"

    http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

     

    or

    This site provides more information, but lacks security too.

    "A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It's used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac's serial number for and more importantly... what is it hiding and what can it do for you ?"

    http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

    http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

        ( hint by K Shaffer  )

  • by MacUser124,

    MacUser124 MacUser124 Sep 9, 2013 12:17 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 9, 2013 12:17 PM in response to rccharles

    This is the Open Firmware command I used to attempt to boot from CD: boot cd:,\\tbxi

     

    The CD drive doesn't even spin up when I put a disk in, I assume that means it's dead as a doornail.

     

    This is a Tray Loading iMac, Blueberry. It doesn't have a firwire port, otherwise I would have already installed using Target Disk Mode, or at least verified that the Hard Drive is OK.