RET80 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I have a purple G3 imac 233mhz (the tray loading models, not slot loading) I have 256mb of ram an 6 gb HDD CD burner External DVD reader When I load my 10.4 DVD in my external DVD reader and click 'Install mac OS X' it pops up and says 'this version of mac OS X is not compatible with this machine'. I also have a mac OS X 10.3 DVD that came with my mac mini. That one at least pops up with an inatallation window that prompts me for a restart. But when I restart it does not go into mac OS X mode, it boots right back into OS 9.2. Which I think the problem of that one is that its not a universal install disk and only made for the mini. I am wondering, are all my requirements met for installation? Any help would be great, im pulling my hair out at how frustrating this is getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consolation Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I have a purple G3 imac 233mhz (the tray loading models, not slot loading) I have 256mb of ram an 6 gb HDD CD burner External DVD reader When I load my 10.4 DVD in my external DVD reader and click 'Install mac OS X' it pops up and says 'this version of mac OS X is not compatible with this machine'. I also have a mac OS X 10.3 DVD that came with my mac mini. That one at least pops up with an inatallation window that prompts me for a restart. But when I restart it does not go into mac OS X mode, it boots right back into OS 9.2. Which I think the problem of that one is that its not a universal install disk and only made for the mini. I am wondering, are all my requirements met for installation? Any help would be great, im pulling my hair out at how frustrating this is getting. You can use xpost facto (sic?) to install .4, but .3 is a much more viable option. When you boot into 9, you need to change the boot disk/folder, all .3s were ppc and "universal" in the sense that they could be installed on any mac at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 You can use xpost facto (sic?) to install .4, but .3 is a much more viable option. When you boot into 9, you need to change the boot disk/folder, all .3s were ppc and "universal" in the sense that they could be installed on any mac at the time. How would you go about changing it? I'm sory, im mostly a PC/linux user. I'm still a tinkerer when it comes to apple machines. Would I do this under contro panels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I believe it was: System Preferences >> Startup Disk And in that control panel, it searches through your disk and finds bootable OSes. Choose the OS (in this case 10.3 Panther) and click, OK, Apply, whatever it is and restart. Should boot into Panther. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Alright and as a second question, what is xpost facto? Is it a boot loader simmilar to that of the osx86 boot loader? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollcage Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 It actually does three things: installs a replacement bootloader, provides kernel modules that let OSX support the hardware that would normally be unsupported in the retail version OSX, and lets you boot the kernel off a supported (by xpost) medium even when installing to or from a drive that the kernel or system would normally not support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Well I tried the xpostfactoand as soon as I attempt to boot into OSX it give me an instant circular x-mark and stays that way.I tried verbose, nothing works.I boot back into OS 9.2 successfully.I tried removing one slot of ram as well to see if it was a ram issue, nothing.The only thing I can see that could be causing this problem is that I decided to attach the DVD drive along with the internal HDD through its one singular IDE port via master and slave. Would this cause any problems at all?If not, what the heck is going on. Well I tried the xpostfactoand as soon as I attempt to boot into OSX it give me an instant circular x-mark and stays that way.I tried verbose, nothing works.I boot back into OS 9.2 successfully.I tried removing one slot of ram as well to see if it was a ram issue, nothing.The only thing I can see that could be causing this problem is that I decided to attach the DVD drive along with the internal HDD through its one singular IDE port via master and slave. Would this cause any problems at all?If not, what the heck is going on.to be better noted, its the apple's prohibited symbol.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Well now im beginning to think its not the IDE way I laid it out. I was able to find a DVD laptop drive that could fit inside, so I removed the stock tray laoder and put the DVD drive in. Same thing. Now I don't know what to think. I'm pretty sure there's something else that's causing it do blatently freak out as soon as it loads into OS X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Here is the detailed info from Mactracker. BEFORE ANYONE CRIES ABOUT IT, I couldn't upload it as an attachment today. iMac (5 Flavors) Codename: "Life Savers" Introduced: January 1999 Discontinued: October 1999 Machine ID: iMac,1 Model Number: M4984 (Strawberry) Order Number: M7389LL/A (266 MHz Strawberry), M7392LL/A (266 MHz Lime), M7391LL/A (266 MHz Tangerine), M7390LL/A (266 MHz Grape), M7345LL/A (266 MHz Blueberry), M7441LL/A (333 MHz Strawberry), M7444LL/A (333 MHz Lime), M7443LL/A (333 MHz Tangerine), M7442LL/A (333 MHz Grape), M7440LL/A (333 MHz Blueberry) Initial Price: $1,199 USD Support Status: Obsolete Processor: PowerPC 750 (G3) Number of Cores: 1 Processor Speed: 266 or 333 MHz Cache: 64 KB L1, 512 k backside (1:2) L2 System Bus: 66 MHz Hard Drive: 4 or 6 GB Media: Tray-loading CD-ROM Peripherals: Apple USB Keyboard, Apple USB Mouse Colors: Blueberry, Grape, Strawberry, Tangerine, and Lime Weight and Dimensions (US): 40 lbs., 15.8" H x 15.2" W x 17.6" D Weight and Dimensions (Metric): 18.1 kg, 40.1 cm H x 38.6 cm W x 44.7 cm D Original Mac OS: Mac OS 8.5.1 (Mac OS ROM 1.2.1) Later Mac OS: Mac OS 8.6 Maximum Mac OS: Mac OS X 10.3.9 Hardware Test: Not Supported Firmware: Open Firmware Firmware Update: iMac Firmware Update 1.2 Firmware Update URL: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60384 Logicboard RAM: None Maximum RAM: 512 MB (Actual) 256 MB (Apple) Type of RAM Slots: 2 - PC66 144 pin SO-DIMM Minimum RAM Speed: 10 ns Interleaving Support: No Graphics Card: ATI Rage Pro ATI Card Model: ATY,GT-C Graphics Connection: -- Graphics Memory: 6 MB Built-in Display: 15-inch shadow-mask CRT (13.8-inch viewable) Resolutions: 640x480 @ 117Hz, 800x600 @ 95Hz, 1024x768 @ 75Hz Display Modes: None Display Connection: Internal DB-15 for built-in display Camera: None Expansion Slots: None Hard Drive Bus: ATA-3 (Shared with optical drive) Large Drive Support: No (Maximum of 128 GB per drive) Optical Drive Bus: ATA-3 (Shared with hard disk drive) Backup Battery: 3.6 V Lithium Max Watts: 80 W Line Voltage: 100-240V AC AirPort: None Bluetooth: None Ethernet: 10/100BASE-T (RJ-45) Modem: 56k USB: 2 - 12 MBit/s FireWire: None Audio In: 1 - 3.5-mm analog input jack, Built-in microphone (16-bit 44.1 kHz sample rate) Audio Out: 1 - 3.5-mm analog output jack, Built-in speakers (16-bit 44.1 kHz sample rate) History: Announced in January 1999, the Rev. C iMac came in 5 dazzling new colors: Blueberry, Strawberry, Lime, Tangerine and Grape. Essentially a speed-bump of the original iMac, the Rev C. lacked both the mysterious "mezzanine" slot and the IRDA port, which lowered its price to $1199 U.S. In April, Apple Replaced the Rev. C with the Rev. D iMac, bumping the processor speed to 333 MHz. All other specs were the same. Created by Mactracker, copyright 2001 - 2007 Ian Page http://www.mactracker.ca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 @RET80 I hope you realize that any version of OS X is not going to get going fast on a 233MHz processor Your RAM and everything else is OK for running OS X, but even if you do manage to install OS X on it, it won't be pretty and you won't be able to do much except the basic stuff (checking email, browsing the net, word processing, etc.) But anyway, our job is to help you get it running . So, back on topic. Before installing OS X on a tray loader, it needs a firmware update. Maybe thats why you are experiencing problems. To install the firmware update you have to have OS 8 installed. Use these instructions to download and install the firmware update. Once the firmware has been successfully updated, try again to install OS X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 @RET80 I hope you realize that any version of OS X is not going to get going fast on a 233MHz processor Your RAM and everything else is OK for running OS X, but even if you do manage to install OS X on it, it won't be pretty and you won't be able to do much except the basic stuff (checking email, browsing the net, word processing, etc.) But anyway, our job is to help you get it running . So, back on topic. Before installing OS X on a tray loader, it needs a firmware update. Maybe thats why you are experiencing problems. To install the firmware update you have to have OS 8 installed. Use these instructions to download and install the firmware update. Once the firmware has been successfully updated, try again to install OS X. Well I'll be using it basically for just that. Typing up reports and checking an email hre and there once in a while. It's mostly going to be used for basic college work. I have another mac specifically designed for Maya animation, that one's my favorite (actually two if you count the OSX86). Alright I'll check out the instructions and do the firmware update. One quick question however. You mentioned OS 8, will it work for 9.2? That's what I have stock this this little machine from hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 9.2 should work, yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 9.2 should work, yes Well, it says 'your imac's firmware is up-to-date'. This computer I bought used in a store about two weeks ago, it was sold as-is. So the previous owner may have already done this. Hmm, this thing is definitely a challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Are you sure you did everything with Xpostfacto right? Anyway, looking at the 10.3 system requirements it should be able to run without Xpostfacto. So try installing 10.3 without Xpostfacto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Are you sure you did everything with Xpostfacto right? Anyway, looking at the 10.3 system requirements it should be able to run without Xpostfacto. So try installing 10.3 without Xpostfacto. Yes, I used xpost facto with default settings and as soon as it booted, it flatlined and gave me the prohibited symbol. The only 10.3 disk I have came from a mac mini, would it work? If not, where would I go to get one, apple....torrent? =P Here's the thing, my mac has only a CD drive in it. The only way I can insall is if I slip in a third party DVD drive into it from one of my laptops. I don't know whether it likes it or not because when I put in the OS X DVD and click restart it gives me an error saying that the DVD drive is not bootable or something along those lines. Would I need to go control panels and boot that way, or what other options would I have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 The only 10.3 disk I have came from a mac mini, would it work?If not, where would I go to get one, apple....torrent? =P I remember my old OS X disks would in fact work with any model that supported OS X (not system restore, but the actual OS X disks). If it won't than you can torrent it (don't ask, we can't help you) or you can hit Amazon (they're expensive). I seem to remember an ad in Macworld that had a very very low price on OS X. If you want a legit copy, then I'd look for that ad in Macworld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consolation Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I remember my old OS X disks would in fact work with any model that supported OS X (not system restore, but the actual OS X disks). If it won't than you can torrent it (don't ask, we can't help you) or you can hit Amazon (they're expensive). I seem to remember an ad in Macworld that had a very very low price on OS X. If you want a legit copy, then I'd look for that ad in Macworld. Yes, any old 10.3 disk should work (afaik), I even used the system restore disk from an ibook on imacs without any trouble; it just pre-installs some extra software (you know... that 3d/platform game where you saved yokels from aliens -whatever the hell it was called, apple works, and some other stuff) IIRC from upgrading PPC macs optical drives, they are rather fussy about which one is master and which one is slave - my G4 tower would lock up if the dvd burner wasn't master. P.S. While 10.3 will run ok for basic tasks, if all you want is a bit of email/internet access and word processing, you're probably better off in 9.2. iCab is a very good modern browser for os 9 (that just released a new version) and you can get microsoft office 2001:Mac for your err... office needs. Photoshop 7 runs in classic and will be very snappy with 256MB. You will find it a hell of a lot more useable than chugging along in X. Just remember to disable virtual memory as you wont need it with 256MB and it will improve your speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 I remember my old OS X disks would in fact work with any model that supported OS X (not system restore, but the actual OS X disks). If it won't than you can torrent it (don't ask, we can't help you) or you can hit Amazon (they're expensive). I seem to remember an ad in Macworld that had a very very low price on OS X. If you want a legit copy, then I'd look for that ad in Macworld. Alright. Since my mac mini disk probably won't work due to the reason of it being only for the mac mini, I'll be a legitimate universal copy through ebay or something and take it into the mac store in San Diego and let them deal with the heartache. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Well try your mac mini copy first to see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET80 Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Well just incase I cannot get OS X to run on this machine for what ever reason, what are some excellent OS 9 applications that may modernize my apple. Such as word processing, internet browing and printing support... So far all I have heard is iCab for os9 Are there any other programs that spike interest? As for the mac mini disk, I'm now going to attempt to work with it, thanks PCwiz. I'll see if it works soon enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Yeah try to work the mac mini disc WITHOUT Xpostfacto Well for OS 9 there are some pretty good useful apps (but most aren't in developement anymore). For an office suite you can use Apple Works, it's pretty good. I used it on my OS 9.2.2 computer (when it was still working) and it works just as well as older versions of MS Office. And it works for printing documents too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Well just incase I cannot get OS X to run on this machine for what ever reason, what are some excellent OS 9 applications that may modernize my apple. Such as word processing, internet browing and printing support... So far all I have heard is iCab for os9 Are there any other programs that spike interest? As for the mac mini disk, I'm now going to attempt to work with it, thanks PCwiz. I'll see if it works soon enough... If you search for it, you can get WordPerfect for FREE under Mac OS 9. Can't remember the actual site for it, and it might be a "we can't help you" kind of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consolation Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 you can get microsoft office 2001:Mac for your err... office needs. Photoshop 7 runs in classic and will be very snappy with 256MB. All the "BIG" apps exist for classic, up to about year 2002. So all your dreamweavers, freehands, protools etc are there. Macs were pretty much standard for design and multimedia at the time, many big publishing/design houses didn't make the switch to OSX/Windows till mid 00s. It worked, and the early OSX versions of the apps were slow, unstable and expensive. In the MacOS universe os 9 fits in where win 2k does in windows, so if you think of the big apps of the time - there will be a version for 9. Not only that, they often turn up for pennies on auction sites - now is your chance to own a "legitimate" version of that $2000 suite http://cgi.ebay.com/Adobe-Photoshop-5-0-Ma...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-Office-Mac-2...1QQcmdZViewItem of course, if you look at the usual suspects, you can find links to these.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reanimation_LP Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Heres why your Mac Mini disc wont work. Thats a DVD disc. The iMac has a CD drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Heres why your Mac Mini disc wont work. Thats a DVD disc. The iMac has a CD drive. Sorry to burst your bubble but RET80 clearly states in the first post that he is using an external DVD drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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