iMac PPC

Q: iMac G3 developer problem?

Hello. I have an iMac G3 Grape model (OSX 10.3, 333MHz G3) and it has a problem. Whenever I boot it it boots into a screen that is white with black text. It is the same screen you see when you hold down the button on later iMac G3's that makes it boot into a Firmware/Developer screen? I can get it to boot OS X by typing mac-boot into the command line. I believe it may be a problem with my iMac firmware. Does anyone know how to make it boot strait into the OS without having to type in the command to make it boot. Please help

iMac

Posted on Jan 28, 2014 6:24 PM

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Q: iMac G3 developer problem?

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  • by Jeff,

    Jeff Jeff Jan 28, 2014 11:29 PM in response to iMac PPC
    Level 6 (11,559 points)
    Jan 28, 2014 11:29 PM in response to iMac PPC

    Your iMac is booting into Open Firmware.  Try the following sequence: After you type each line, press <Return>:

     

    reset-nvram

     

    set-defaults

     

    reset-all

     

     

    Out of curiosity, which BootROM version does your iMac 333 have?  The final group of 333 MHz models shipped with a ROM code that caused problems with the OS X installation.  You can read about it in this 7½ year-old Forum Topic.

  • by iMac PPC,

    iMac PPC iMac PPC Jan 29, 2014 10:16 AM in response to Jeff
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2014 10:16 AM in response to Jeff

    Typing in those commands makes it boot for that time. But as soon as I reboot it it goes back to Booting into Open Firmware. I don't know where to find the bootROM for the Mac but it says "Apple iMac Open Firmware 3.0.f10 built on 03.05.99 at 21:14:19"

  • by Jeff,

    Jeff Jeff Jan 29, 2014 9:41 PM in response to iMac PPC
    Level 6 (11,559 points)
    Jan 29, 2014 9:41 PM in response to iMac PPC

    If the iMac doesn't keep the correct date & time after being unplugged from electricity, I'd replace the internal 3.6-volt, ½AA lithium battery.  A new battery often eliminates startup issues, because the settings stored in the PRAM (such as the startup disk) can get corrupted with a very weak or dead one.  Your iMac should have and may already have had the iMac Firmware Update 1.2 run, prior to installing OS X.  Unfortunately, the firmware update must be run when the computer is booted from its internal hard drive, running a version of OS 8 (8.1, 8.5, or 8.5.1), so hopefully it was already done.

  • by iMac PPC,

    iMac PPC iMac PPC Jan 30, 2014 2:44 PM in response to Jeff
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 30, 2014 2:44 PM in response to Jeff

    I recently replaced the PRAM battery in the iMac (about 6 months ago) and I noticed that it booted strait into OS X after that but as soon as I turned it off, it booted into Open Firmware. It was originally running Mac OS 8.5. Would downloading and installing iMac Firmware Update 1.2 fix this problem?

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Jan 31, 2014 1:13 PM in response to iMac PPC
    Level 6 (8,486 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jan 31, 2014 1:13 PM in response to iMac PPC

    Go into preferences for the startup disk.  Try changing the bootup OS.  Set it back to what it was.  Prehaps, the setting got confused.

     

    Robert

  • by iMac PPC,

    iMac PPC iMac PPC Feb 11, 2014 4:10 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 4:10 PM in response to rccharles

    That seemed to help at first. As when I turned it off, the very next time I turned it on, it booted strait into OS X. But every boot after that, it goes back to open firmware

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Feb 12, 2014 10:44 AM in response to iMac PPC
    Level 6 (8,486 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Feb 12, 2014 10:44 AM in response to iMac PPC

    I think the partition to boot is getting lost in the open firmware.  I do not know how or why.  You can check on this.

    On of the variables contains what to boot.

    List of variables:

    printenv

     

    Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime.

     

    Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:

     

    reset-nvram

    set-defaults

    reset-all

     

    "The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US

     

    Should the fail...

    Try taking the battery out for 10 minutes.  Put battery back in.  Cross fingers. Power the machine back on.

     

    How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:

    eject cd

     

    List of devices:

    devalias

     

    List of variables:

    printenv

     

    More than you ever wanted to know about open firmware

    http://www.firmworks.com/QuickRef.html

  • by iMac PPC,

    iMac PPC iMac PPC Feb 13, 2014 7:20 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 13, 2014 7:20 PM in response to rccharles

    None of those worked.