Video Issue with OS 9, Round serial "modem port"

The reset key on the front of the case has not solved my issue. It forces a reboot, but still with no video. I know I can hop into RadioShack any day on my way to work and grab a new PRAM battery. How ironic that my Mac Classic II uses the same little 1/2AA as the G3 but my Power Mac 6500 uses some big square thing.
I asked my friend how the PRAM battery was, and he didn't know what I was talking about. I suppose the month the computer was unplugged between his using it and my taking it was enough to kill the battery, although I'm pretty sure the clock remains set even if I turn off OS X's network update.
The PRAM reset does force a reset to 640x480, but at some point during the boot sequence (I think it's between the gray Apple screen and the OS X splash screen, but I really haven't paid THAT much attention) it reads the .plist file and returns to the setting I've selected, 1024x768 at 85Hz.

14" iBook G3 800, B&W PowerMac G3 350, Mac Classic II 16 :-P Mac OS X (10.3.9) System 7 Rocked!

In summary: The Blue & White G3 does not have a round
serial port for a printer or modem.

Well, I'm quite sure that this is a vintage Mac Serial Modem Port. It's round, very unlike the more squarish RJ-11 connector that I'm familiar with on my telephone. The printer in question is an HP Deskwriter 520, which was originally purchased for my 2-round serial port toting Mac Classic II. When we bought a PM 6500 in '97, it had the same serial port scheme, so the printer moved up to the new computer with us. The G3 serves as a dual replacement for the 6500 and my aunt's dying iBook. With her iBook, my aunt used to just plug into the USB printer in my room, but that's pretty inconvenient with the behemoth G3. A USB printer is the perfect (expensive) solution, so I'd much rather print to our still functioning 12 year old DW520. To confirm my suspicion that this round port is a serial port, when I boot the G3 in OS 9 (which will have no video under OS X after :-P ) and go to the chooser, the serial port is there, listed as "modem port" and clicking it allows me to print to my aged printer. Now to get OS X to be so kind....

The ADB port is opposite the modem port, and is indeed marked by the ADB symbol. I know it well. The IIgs that I used it kindergarten had that symbol, and so did all of the Macs I owned last century.

So in conclusion, it's round, not square, I can print through it in OS 9 (my issue is to get X doing the same), and the ADB port is clearly separate from this one. If you still don't believe me that it's a serial port, I can email you a digital photo.

The economy here on Pluto is not so good. I'm putting a lot of money into getting this computer wirelessly netwetworked, so printing off it is something I'm willing to put a little more labor and a little less effort into.
Further investigation has shown me that the device replacing the G3's internal modem is a Griffin G-Port. A well designed product and a well done installation...it had me fooled into thinking it was shipped from Apple this way. I downloaded the Panther drivers and installed them, and they do nothing! There supposedly is a CUPS solution to getting my printer online, and I'm working on that. I'm actually surprised at how many resources are on the 'net for people trying to do what I'm trying to do. If anyone is interested and anyone still believes in my sanity, I'll let you know how it goes.
Hope everyone had a great 4th.

I got it! Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. I found the following page completely necessary:
http://webpages.charter.net/mbroughtn/serial_printing.html

It gives basic and not so basic information about printing through a serial port using OS X. Of course, HP does not support use of my printer in OS X; they provide no driver. The Gimp-Print Driver link on the page solved that problem for me, and the serial printing enabler provided sort of bridged the gap between the driver and OS X understanding that I have a serial port. The PDF "how to add a serial printer" helped guide my way through the web interface CUPS setup (though I probably could have navigated it on my own). I selected "modem" for my port, as my best guess because the serial port is hacked into the logic board where the internal modem goes. Per the PDF instructions, I did not select "serial." I selected a low baud rate, figuring that would give the printer the best chance of working, but it did not. Finally I went with the 56K recommendation at the bottom of the webpage, and it worked. I don't understand why this is. I don't think my Mac Classic II had serial ports that ran at 56K, and it printed just fine.
One problem I have now is that the rollers on my printer are old, and have trouble picking up the paper without help from my finger, even after I've cleaned them according to HP's instructions. Normal feedback from the printer such as "I have no paper, stop sending me data," is not provided from the Gimp-Print Driver, so on occasions that the printer gets stuck picking up a fresh sheet of paper, the computer overloads it with data and the printer stops responding. In fact the whole serial port deal locks up and to get it back I have to reboot the computer.
I remember this deal well from when I got my PowerMac 6500. PCI PowerMacs had accelerated serial ports, faster than 56K and when I tried to use the same driver for the DW 520 that I'd used with my Classic II, the printer stopped responding in exactly this same way. It took a driver update from HP that regulated the data flow to correct the problem.
I also needed to download and install the CUPS authentication patch offered on the page I linked.
If anyone has any bright ideas on fixing the rollers, let me know. I've been thinking about what I can use to "re-tread" them. Using grittier paper helps. I wonder if you can buy little mini Goodyears on Pluto.
I'll look around. Maybe somebody has a better driver out there that provides a bit of feedback from the Printer to come up on the Mac (out of paper messages, paperjams, etc.).

14" iBook G3 800, B&W PowerMac G3 350, Mac Classic II 16 :-P Mac OS X (10.3.9) System 7 Rocked!

14" iBook G3 800, B&W PowerMac G3 350, Mac Classic II 16 :-P Mac OS X (10.3.9) System 7 Rocked!