iMac G3 - OS X

L

lavarock09

Registered
Hey,

I was out and about at a car-boot type thing the other day and saw a G3 iMac, 333mhz I think. It had Mac OS X installed on it, Tiger I think, and from what I could see it was working find. And so, I bought it..

Anywho, I got home, plugged it in, it booted up fine and everything. First thing I went to do, was run software update, and...guess what happened...it crashed. Similar to this message, http://www.paulofierro.com/images/osx_crash.jpg (That aint my screen btw, but it's that message).

So I can restart it and it works fine. However, when I go to run the software update again, if it manages to get past that error message, it often gives the "unexpected quit" dialoge asking me to retry/reopen the program, which usually just crashes again.

So basically, I can't do much with it without it crashing. As I got it second hand, I can't reinstall Mac OS X or anything.

Some specs I know off the top of my head is that it has:-
- 6Gb HD
- 256mb RAM
- 333mhz Processor

I might be upgrading the RAM to 512mb, assuming it'll take 2 sticks of 256 pc100 RAM, but I'm not sure yet

Anyone know what could be causing my problem?

Thanks,
Chris
 
First and foremost, you're going to need to apply any needed firmware updates for Mac OS X to run properly on that iMac:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117

Be warned that you'll need to apply the firmware from and installed copy of Mac OS 9 or below to do it. It won't work under the Classic environment if you somehow manage to get OS X on it without the firmware update.

Also, depending on the iMac model, you need to make sure that OS X is installed on the first 8 GB of hard drive. This means that you have to create a partition that's about 7.5 GB just for OS X, and then another one for everything else (which can use up any remaining space). Since you only have a 6 GB drive, you should be fine but you'll be tight on free space and people here report that having less than 10% free on your hard drive can make OS X run really slow.

Any operating system discs that you'll need can be purchased at the following link for a pretty good price:
http://www.applerescue.com

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the reply. I've looked at that link to the apple link you posted and seen the latest firmware is 4.1.9 (If I'm not mistaken).

I looked at some info in my "System Profiler", it says,
Boot ROM Version: 4.1.9f1

Is that not the correct version?

So what else does anyone think?

Thanks,
Chris
 
You need to get your hands on a copy of OS X. I'm not saying your current issue cannot be resolved without re-installing the OS, I'm just saying I wouldn't trust a second-hand computer install period. The computer will run more reliably with a clean install instead of plugging up the holes in the dike. Clean OS will help remove those concerns and you know from that point you have a solid computer. That link that nixgeek has listed seems like a very good source to start with.
 
Chris, if you have the 333 MHz, tray-loading iMac, then Tiger cannot be installed on that machine without a hack. Which Version of OS X does it say it is running in About this Mac?
 
andychrist said:
lavarock09, if you have the 333 MHz, tray-loading iMac, then Tiger cannot be installed on that machine without a hack. Which Version of OS X does it say it is running in About this Mac?
Click to expand...

Yeh, apologies about that. I looked again and I have the slot loading one =P

I'd read the info wrong and only just realised.
 
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