# flashing Broken File after attempting to install Osx



## mauve (Feb 1, 2007)

Someone gave me an old iMac G3 m5521 that runs/ran Os 9. 
The machine has slot loading DVD drive and Firewire...
I tried to install Tiger on it and it rejected it saying that it cannot be installed on this computer. 
Now when i start the iMac I get this file icon with question mark flashing forever. 
When I restart the computer with the option button pressed I am not getting any start up disks....just too buttons on the screen (recycle) and (arrow pointing right). Pressing the latter 2 does not do anything.
I don't have the original OS9 disc to restore it.
Is there a way to fix it painlessly?
Thank you.


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## sinclair_tm (Feb 2, 2007)

not without the os 9.2 install cds


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## eric2006 (Feb 2, 2007)

You need to apply firmware before the Tiger install. You must also have 256 MB of RAM. After that, Tiger should install.

The catch is that you must have OS 9 installed to install the firmware.


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## andychrist (Feb 2, 2007)

Funny but Tiger actually can be installed on that iMac.  Perhaps it just needed a firmware update, though it should have shown a dialog box to that effect.  I don't know if you can use the OS X disc to do anything at all without the proper firmware, but unsupported Macs do at least allow you to choose Start-up Disk from the drop-down menu when you boot from the DVD.  Though it is probably too late for that now to be of any help.

But Mac OS 9 is available as a free download.  

Macosxhints has all the instructions on how to get a disk image out of it.


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