SSM0770
Level 1 (8 points)
Desktops

Q: iMac G3 startup issue

Hello there!

 

I got an indigo iMac G3 years ago.

 

Here's some info for important purposes:

 

I was with my dad, who is a carpenter. I was about 8,9 (don't remember) when I had went with him to a woman's house that needed cabinet work. When I went there, there were two blueberry iMacs sitting on a counter, not plugged in. I had asked her one time about them and she said they belonged to her son, who had passed away (Which is really sad because he couldn't have been that old based on her age), and that the iMacs were broken. The last day of the job she gave me a thank you gift, which was an indigo G3, which was odd because I never saw it. It turned out that all 3 of them were broken and she had refurbished the indigo one using all 3 iMacs' parts.

 

I'm 15 now and there is a few issues with this iMac now.

 

When I was 11, I had finally decided to use the printer she also gave me. My mom had helped me set it up, but when I went to print something I made in an kids editing software, it crashed. I had tried 3 times and crashed all 3 times. After that the iMac would always crash 5 minutes after the desktop loads. I stopped using it because I couldn't do anything at all with that issue.

 

About 2 years later I went to see what happened when I tried to turn it on. It ran really slow and would not boot up. It would eventually give me the bomb cursor. Would never go past that.

 

It was only yesterday that with my tech sense that I would attempt to see if I could fix it. I looked up the bomb icon cursor and found an answer that said it was a startup disk error. I actually started it up yesterday night and it did a "Didn't shut down correctly" process, and after 3 minutes it said it couldn't do anything and had text that said "NOTE: Could not read the startup disk" confirming the issue. After that it actually began to boot up unlike 2 years ago. After 15-20 minutes this would be all that pops up on screen:

 

http://i.imgur.com/1ZJy4yQ.jpg

 

My reason for mentioning how I got it is because the details of what I have are very complicated.

 

This iMac is indigo with OS 9.2, but it came with:

 

Mac OS 9.1 install disc (Just sharpie on it)

 

iMac software install disc (9.1, probably came with one of the blueberry iMacs, not 9.2)

 

All 4 iMac Software install discs (I'm not home but I think its 9.1 also)

 

Mac OS X (10.0) install disc

 

iMac Applications disc

 

3 World Book discs and a KID PIX Deluxe disc.

 

Original iSub

 

The Pro keyboard that the indigo would have come with

 

The 2 iMac mouses that the blueberry used (Both mouses won't work right)

 

What can I do to fix this with the stuff I have?

iMac, Mac OS 9.2.x, G3 (Indigo) (Refurbished)

Posted on Aug 19, 2016 4:33 PM

Close
SSM0770

Q: iMac G3 startup issue

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by poikkeus1,

    poikkeus1 poikkeus1 Aug 19, 2016 5:03 PM in response to SSM0770
    Level 4 (1,517 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 19, 2016 5:03 PM in response to SSM0770

    I'm not sure if trouble-shooting this machine would be worthwhile. I did find this useful advice on another site:

    Can it boot from Mac OS 9.2 with extensions disabled? (i.e. try restarting in Mac OS 9 while pressing the < SHIFT > key, until "extensions disabled" notice appears).

     

    It frequently occurs that a pref file is damaged. Try removing the System Folder:prefernces Folder to the desktop and restart normally.

     

    Sometime the Bus-error displays more or less which error led to the Bus-error. Try deleting the pref corresponding to that displayed error.

    A few caveats:

    1. Don't upgrade. That will only slow down the system, and introduce potential conflicts with software that doesn't exist anymore.

    2. Don't sink any extra money into the machine, despite its sentimental value. Additional repairs aren't guaranteed to last, and the final results may not be what you expected.

    3. Contact local Mac repair shops to see if they have peripherals that meet your needs (printers, input devices, etc.). Also, use your local repair shop as a source for information. You'd be surprised how much people know.

  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Aug 19, 2016 5:07 PM in response to SSM0770
    Level 9 (53,872 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 19, 2016 5:07 PM in response to SSM0770

    I probably won't be able to help much, but I can at least arm you with additional information about your Indigo iMac:

    • Model Identifier: PowerMac4,1
    • Introduced: July 2001; discontinued: March 2003
    • Model Number: M5521
    • Order Number: M8582LL/A
    • Processor: PowerPC 500 MHz
    • Original OS version: 9.1
    • The latest version of OS that you can upgrade to: OS X 10.4.11
    • RAM: 128 MB, max: 1 GB
    • Hard Drive: 20 GB
    • Wi-Fi: has an option for an 802.11b AirPort card
    • Ethernet: 10/100BASE-T
    • Modem: 56k
    • Original Owner's Manual
    • Detailed specifications

     

    My background is in networking, so as I mentioned I may not be very helpful, but I have a few thoughts for you to consider:

    • Most likely, the installed hard drive is faulty and/or the installed operating system software is missing or corrupted. Chances are a replacement drive may be in order to move forward. One source for these drives would be: Other World Computing (OWC)
    • To get an idea on what it would take to replace the drive another great resource is: iFixIt

     

    Good luck and have fun ...

  • by SSM0770,

    SSM0770 SSM0770 Aug 19, 2016 5:12 PM in response to poikkeus1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 19, 2016 5:12 PM in response to poikkeus1

    Holding shift to disable extensions was actually why I decided to try again. Same result. Though when I hit the power button one time the time and Macintosh HD drive icon in the image dissapeared and everything elseon the desktop popped up, desktop icons and the menu, but I still couldn't do anything.

     

    I asked because I was wondering if I needed to use an install disc or the software recovery discs to try to fix this startup disk issue, as everything that's happened yesterday points to that.