iMac newbie needs help

[WhiskeyPapa]

I picked up an old iMac (333MHz, 6gb, 256k) for 50 bucks. It has OS X 10.2.8 installed and nothing else. No 9.2 Classic, and I didn't get any CDs or manuals.

I bought a 4-disk restore set for OS 10.1/9.2 and wanted to reformat the thing. When I try to boot to the CD (by holding down the C key) I see a flashing icon. It flashes question mark - smiley face - question mark - smiley face, then boots to OS X from the hard drive.

What's going on? Why won't the CD boot? Do I have the wrong CDs? If so, what CDs do I need?

[Joshua]

Originally posted by kb0wwp
Do I have the wrong CDs? If so, what CDs do I need?

Windows Cd's. Go with XP. :D sorry... had to...

[eSDee]

Does the OS9 disk say bootable on it? What does the writing say on the OS9 disk? Most of the time those restore disks will only work on the machine that they came with. Let us know what the disks say on them.

[eSDee]

If the disk says bootable go to System Preferences in OSX, then Startup Disk and select the OS9 CD-Rom. See if that works.

Oh yeah and of course make sure the disk is clean :duh:

[verve247]

when 10.2.8 is running, go to system prefernces, then startup disk. choose the cd and restart.

Or

Double Click on the cd icon on your desktop. there should be a install file to click on. Take it from there.

[ribitch]

easier yet.

when it boots, hold down option. A boot menu will appear and load icons for all found operating systems. Make sure the CD's in the drive. It will find the CD if there is a valid system folder.

Click the icon of the cd you want to boot to. Then click the ---> arrow. The second arrow will refresh the options.


Congrats on the new mac. You got a great deal. I sold a 600MHz iMac a few months back. I gave my friend a hell of a steal. These were selling for 600+ refurbished.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Yes, the disk is bootable (it says "To start up from this CD, hold down the C key as the computer starts up".) The disks also say "iMac", but I'm positive my iMac did not originally ship with OS 10.1, my research shows it shipped with 8.6 at best.

I've tried everything except ribitch's last suggestion. I'll give that a try tonight.

[seqiro]

Well you could try zapping the PRAM (http://web.whittier.edu/comp/macguide/PRAM.cfm).

Restart the computer and press Command+Option+P+R before you see the smiling Macintosh.

Keep the keys depressed until you've heard the computer's restart chime two times, then release them. The first chime indicates the computer has restarted. The second chime indicates the PRAM has been zapped.

If this doesn't work, then I would suspect that either the restore disc wasn't made for that model iMac and thus won't work or the disc has a corrupted system folder.

[spigidygak]

I'm guessing that disc you bought was for the lcd iMac and you will have a very hard time using it as a restore disc for an older mac. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Well, I got it going, although not like I wanted. I copied all the .img files from the 4 CDs onto my hard drive, then mounted the image. I was then able to copy the OS 9.2 system folder. Now I can chose to boot from either 10.2, or 9.2. I guess that's what I wanted from the start.

The only problem is that Classic mode still doesn't work under OS 10.2. Any ides on how to fix that?

[eSDee]

Have you tried to go to the Classic System Preferences panel, and point it to where you mounted the new OS9 System folder?

[spigidygak]

if you did a full format and install of os x, chances are classic isn't installed yet, you have to pop in the os x disc and select to install apps and classic.

[WhiskeyPapa]

eSDeeLoco: I tried that, and it has an empty "Classic" folder in the OS X "System" folder, and won't seem to let me copy anything into that, and the Classic System Preferences panel won't let me point to a different location. I'll keep exploring in that area.

spigidygak: If I had the original OS X disc used to install the OS on this system, I wouldn't be in this pickle! :)

[eSDee]

I might be able to dig up a System Restore disk for the slot loading iMac. Depending on how much time you want to spend, you could restore from it and wipe out the hard drive in the process. You'd then just have to upgrade to OSX as you normally would and you could run both OS's no problem. What do you think?

[WhiskeyPapa]

Thanks for the offer, but your suggestion about the classic preferences did the trick. I checked there before, but I don't think I actually clicked on the "system folder" in the list, I just saw it was there and closed the window. Everything works great now!

Thanks for everybody's help! I'm a Mac user again... I haven't had one since my Mac Plus died a long time ago!