It really is a crime that Apple has let this go on for such a long time.

[Viro]

Why can't they make the firmware installation part of the Install process? Add all the different firmwares onto the install disc. Couldn't be too large, especially if you compress all the ROM images and given that Apple knows which Macs are officially supported.

[WeeZer51402]

R&D Dollars...they don't really want to spend money on something that they don't need to spend it on so they probably wont unless Mr. Smith has a large following of 400Mhz G3 iMac users, and even then...

[Viro]

I personally don't see how it could cost them R&D money. They have already made those macs. Surely it can't be too hard to pull up the technical specifications of all the supported Macs and see what firmware needs to be upgraded? You could do that in a day, get a few interns to do it and it would cost less than 3 retail copies of OS X.

[StarBuck]

Ok I have seen loads of these iMac's with the problem, here is the solution to get the display up and running.

Step One

If the machine has a VGA port plug-in an external monitor and apply the firmware update.

Step Two

If you don't have a VGA port or an external monitor handy try letting the machine start up from a HD not a system CD when you get to the desktop just hit the space bar.

Step Three

If these don't work for you remove the RAM reset the machine the reset button is located to the left of the RAM slots a little round button.

If the above don't work you're stuffed, I've seen this problem on lots of machines we keep a OS 9 hard disk in the office so we can boot up these old iMac's and press the space bar to wake the machine.

Another problem you can have if you don't update the firmware on the iMac's is a non functioning mouse.

Always make sure you have the latest firmware on your mac before updating and on devices like firewire drives.

Hope this helps you.

[WeeZer51402]

Originally Posted by Viro

I personally don't see how it could cost them R&D money. They have already made those macs. Surely it can't be too hard to pull up the technical specifications of all the supported Macs and see what firmware needs to be upgraded? You could do that in a day, get a few interns to do it and it would cost less than 3 retail copies of OS X.

Well you're right it probably wouldn't cost too much but there is a bit more work involved then whats indicated in your post. Yes first off you gather the data, but if you want an installer for the appropriate firmware for the lucky machine getting OS X you must first write a program that determines the necessary fimware and then applies it. Secondly with tiger already out its not gonna happen. Leopard is on the way and by that time we shouldn't have firmware issues like this because I highly doubt Apple will support 400Mhz iMacs in there next major release. What it all comes down to is money. Did Apple need to spend money to make Mr. Smith happy? probably not, odds are most customers in his position will do one of two things; get over it and find a fix or buy a new computer. Either way Apple has lost nothing or made something so unless as I said before it becomes a pertinant issue to a majority of Apples customers, and it probably won't than why waste a day or two and some money on writing a program that simply doesn't need to be written?

[RacerX]

I'm reading this and wondering how this is a Mac OS X issue... this firmware jump happen in the move from Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x. And it was a one way move... once the firmware was upgraded you would no longer be able to run 8.6 again, the system's minimum OS becomes 9.x.

All this happened before Mac OS X was even released to the public.


As I recall, the B&W's fell into the same area where going back to 8.6 after the firmware update was no longer an option.

As for upgrading iMacs of that vintage, I've done tons of them without issue... but then again, it is what I do for a living. If you are trying to jump from 8.6 to 10.4 and have no experience beyond using 8.6 all these years, doing such a jump on your own would be (to say the least) naive.

[Krevinek]

Originally Posted by Viro

Why can't they make the firmware installation part of the Install process? Add all the different firmwares onto the install disc. Couldn't be too large, especially if you compress all the ROM images and given that Apple knows which Macs are officially supported.

One of the problems is that depending on how the system is affected, you can't feasibly do it. If you boot from the disc, and attempt to boot into OS X (which causes the problems), how do you get to the point to install the firmware? I am not versed on the major issues of this firmware problem (although I did narrowly dodge it on my Pismo, the 64MB, combined with the 128MB RAM check in the installer saved my butt!), but it is not possible if the boot-from-CD hoses your system before you even install.