Chryyys
asked on
OSX install
Yesterday I was able to salvage a PowerPC G3. not having a great deal of exposure to Mac OS's it was perfect for a reference machine. Currently it's running OS 9.2, it has a G3 266Mhz cpu, 352Mbs of RAM and a 4GB hard drive.
I'd like to install OSX on this machine but when I put the CD and boot from it, first I get the apple logo with the spinning wheel, then after a minute or two I get a badly flickering screen and a message saying that I need to reboot the Mac. It does this every time I boot with the OSX CD. I can boot to OS 9.2 without difficulty.
Thinking that maybe the video card was sub par, I installed an ATI 9200 PCI card but booting from the CD doesn't seem to recognize it. In OS 9.2 I can see the card in the system profiler.
Does anyone have some suggestions I could use to get this running?
I'd like to install OSX on this machine but when I put the CD and boot from it, first I get the apple logo with the spinning wheel, then after a minute or two I get a badly flickering screen and a message saying that I need to reboot the Mac. It does this every time I boot with the OSX CD. I can boot to OS 9.2 without difficulty.
Thinking that maybe the video card was sub par, I installed an ATI 9200 PCI card but booting from the CD doesn't seem to recognize it. In OS 9.2 I can see the card in the system profiler.
Does anyone have some suggestions I could use to get this running?
weed
You may need a firmware update before you can install OS X. Run your software update control panel to check for current firmware.
ASKER
I had seen that suggestion, but i'm having another issues that would prevent me from doing that. I can't get the ethernet connection to work. Either through the onboard nic nor an intel pci nic. I have tcp/ip set to use dhcp but according to the switch there's no connection light. now the intel card shows a good connection and the activity light is blinking happily, but I cannot get it to get a IP address. any one????
Sounds like you need a clean OS on it. It's probably missing components.
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To clarify, if the G3 you have is one of those white ones that says "PowerPC" on the front then, according to Apple at least, you won't be able to run OSX on it. I've heard rumors to the contrary, but can't personally confirm them.
Chryyys:
Can you give us a model or type? All your specs add up to it being a "beige" G3 is my guess.
If it is, you can only install up to 10.2. What OS X CD do you have? There are also video card issues with the original G3 (Beige) and OS X, even 10.1. Is the ATI Card made for a Mac and does it say for "Mac" on the box. If not, it won't work.
Keep in mind this G3 is now 5-7 years old. Nicknamed "Gossamer", The production dates for this model were from Nov 1997 to January 1999. So the newest it could be is 5 years old.
There was in fact a class action law suite because Apple didn't make OS X 100% compatible with the old video cards in the beige models
See these links, it might help, I think you have one of these machines
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/01/26/ferlauto/
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2002/01/31/g3osx/
BTW, even if you get OS 10.X installed, you will be disappointed at the slowness as compared to OS 9 performance. Now you can put a G4 card in:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X11825D09 (redirects to MacSales.com)
Hope this helps -- Dan
Can you give us a model or type? All your specs add up to it being a "beige" G3 is my guess.
If it is, you can only install up to 10.2. What OS X CD do you have? There are also video card issues with the original G3 (Beige) and OS X, even 10.1. Is the ATI Card made for a Mac and does it say for "Mac" on the box. If not, it won't work.
Keep in mind this G3 is now 5-7 years old. Nicknamed "Gossamer", The production dates for this model were from Nov 1997 to January 1999. So the newest it could be is 5 years old.
There was in fact a class action law suite because Apple didn't make OS X 100% compatible with the old video cards in the beige models
See these links, it might help, I think you have one of these machines
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/01/26/ferlauto/
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2002/01/31/g3osx/
BTW, even if you get OS 10.X installed, you will be disappointed at the slowness as compared to OS 9 performance. Now you can put a G4 card in:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X11825D09 (redirects to MacSales.com)
Hope this helps -- Dan
Chryyys:
Also, In regard to putting any money into this like a G4 card, in the end, it may be putting good money after bad, you'll have to weigh it out.
If you are just going to run 9.2, it's a great machine, have fun! -- Dan
Also, In regard to putting any money into this like a G4 card, in the end, it may be putting good money after bad, you'll have to weigh it out.
If you are just going to run 9.2, it's a great machine, have fun! -- Dan
As already mentioned, 10.3 will not install onto a Beige G3.
The message your getting about having to reboot is a "kernel panic". You may want to remove any PCI cards you have installed, they can cause this.
The Intel ethernet card will not work with a Mac as far as I know. I doubt they have Mac drivers for it unless it uses a Realtek chipset which could use reference drivers but I doubt it.
Is your Radeon 9200 card the Mac version of that card? If not, it wont work.
The message your getting about having to reboot is a "kernel panic". You may want to remove any PCI cards you have installed, they can cause this.
The Intel ethernet card will not work with a Mac as far as I know. I doubt they have Mac drivers for it unless it uses a Realtek chipset which could use reference drivers but I doubt it.
Is your Radeon 9200 card the Mac version of that card? If not, it wont work.
patgmac:
>>>"Is your Radeon 9200 card the Mac version of that card? If not, it wont work."
I had already mentioned that in my comment above -- Dan
>>>"Is the ATI Card made for a Mac and does it say for "Mac" on the box. If not, it won't work."
>>>"Is your Radeon 9200 card the Mac version of that card? If not, it wont work."
I had already mentioned that in my comment above -- Dan
>>>"Is the ATI Card made for a Mac and does it say for "Mac" on the box. If not, it won't work."
Sorry, I skimmed the comments and missed that.
On a machine that old, a firmware update is in order. You have to do this on some older iMacs too to ensure that OS X will install. Firmware updates can be found at www.apple.com/support for your model. I recommend maxing out the RAM, or getting more, because OS X sucks memory like a beast. If you've got the extra cash, spring for a G4 processor upgrade. It's cheaper than buying a new computer, and on that machine, OS X is going to run very sluggish. I know its not what you want to hear, but it is true. ;) I've seen older machines like that running OS X with cursor lag (!). Not a pretty sight. Hope everything works out okay for you!
Chryyys:
Here are some G4 upgrades for G3's (I think it's safe to assume you have a Beige G3 by now -- but please post back and confirm this, it's important for us to know to help you better)
Remember, weigh the cost of a G4 upgrade with a very old computer that has PC100/133 memory and a 66 MHz system bus. The "G4" won't really run as if it were a real Mac G4 because you are limited by these factors I mention.
Here is the link for Beige G3 models to upgrade to G4
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=59&type=Processor&TI=%23TimeFormat%28Now%28%29%2C+&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades
mrblackhat : I don't think he has an iMac nor a Blue & White G3, both of which have major firmware upgrades.
However, I did find this for some G3's with 24x CDROM Drives
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=24714
and more firmware links:
http://www.apple.com/support/powermac/g3/
Here are some G4 upgrades for G3's (I think it's safe to assume you have a Beige G3 by now -- but please post back and confirm this, it's important for us to know to help you better)
Remember, weigh the cost of a G4 upgrade with a very old computer that has PC100/133 memory and a 66 MHz system bus. The "G4" won't really run as if it were a real Mac G4 because you are limited by these factors I mention.
Here is the link for Beige G3 models to upgrade to G4
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=59&type=Processor&TI=%23TimeFormat%28Now%28%29%2C+&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades
mrblackhat : I don't think he has an iMac nor a Blue & White G3, both of which have major firmware upgrades.
However, I did find this for some G3's with 24x CDROM Drives
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=24714
and more firmware links:
http://www.apple.com/support/powermac/g3/
I don't think that EyeInHand deserves a C by any means, at least a B.
Though I think I had some good comments to which the poster never came back to comment on like "that didn't work" or whatever -- nothing. He never even came back to say what model G3 he had (there were many different kinds), which was requested a few times. How can we help him if we don't know what model he has. In that case it's all conjecture so I say again, a C is questionable.
EyeInHand, if it were me, I would challenge this grade to have it changed to a "B"
FWW, my 2 cents...
Though I think I had some good comments to which the poster never came back to comment on like "that didn't work" or whatever -- nothing. He never even came back to say what model G3 he had (there were many different kinds), which was requested a few times. How can we help him if we don't know what model he has. In that case it's all conjecture so I say again, a C is questionable.
EyeInHand, if it were me, I would challenge this grade to have it changed to a "B"
FWW, my 2 cents...