iMac 266 rev. B hard trouble!

[Domenico73]

Hi all!
I have an old and nice iMac 266 rev.b and i always had the 8.6 Os installed. I tried to update the with the os X but after i put the cd in (and discovered that was not possible to upgrade) my computer restarts with a white screen and requires command lines to boot.
I cannot boot from the old CDs. The 8.6 does not works, the only way to make it start is to write :"boot" and the only boot disk accepted is the OS X. I can't boot from other cd.
What can i do?
Waiting for your answer. Thanks for your time.
Domenico

[kandombe]

Before going to MacOSX you probably should upgrade your firmware. Take a look to this Apple's address:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117

Originally Posted by Domenico73

I cannot boot from the old CDs. The 8.6 does not works, the only way to make it start is to write :"boot" and the only boot disk accepted is the OS X. I can't boot from other cd.

It's quite strange that you can't boot from your original 8.6 installation CD. I used to have some problems time ago in a 266 G3 that didn't start from the CD when I holded the 'c' key, but you still have another way to do it: if you press the 'alt' key while booting the computer, it should let you select from the available volumes with different OSes. Try that .... and good luck

[Domenico73]

Thanks for your suggestions!
I solved the problem with two command lines, reset-nvram and reset-all.
This allowed me to reinstall the 8.6 os! Now it's all ok!
But i'm always wondering if i can install another OS on this machine. Maybe the 9.0? Is it still for sale? I cannot find it on Apple store online...
Someone told me it's not safe to install the 10.x os because it's an old processor... Any advice?
Thanks!

[nixgeek]

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/software/

As for OS X not being "safe," that's complete bunk. However, it's not a straightforward install. Some of the early iMacs required the first 8 GB of the hard drive be partitioned off for OS X, otherwise the Mac wouldn't boot after the install. Yours is one of them.

Here's some more information on your iMac:

http://lowendmac.com/imacs/imac-b.shtml