B&W G3 - circle with diag. line

I think it means it cant find a valid system folder.

Check my image gallery. I've got a picture of it there. It means your BOOTX file is not loading. You may find some explanation in my thread in my attempts to boot OS X on an old prototype motherboard:
http://www.applefritter.com/node/6148
It comes up in my thread around page 4.
I would think the best thing for you to try is to reinstall your system software.

start in single-user mode, (Open Apple -option - S, I think) at starup before it gets to that screen. type :
fsck -y
or if that doesnt work:
fsck -f.

That should help i think. But im not too unix savvy. all that does is a File System Check

Its Open Apple(Command) S, no Option. And you may want to try fsck -yf. Its like a force repair type thing.

Okay first, thanks for ALL of the input! I assure that I attempted each one (not a computer neophyte, just a Mac Newbie...). Finally I put the hard drive into my other B&W G3 and installed fresh (deleting and installing; saved nothing). At this point, while a slave drive, I was able to boot from either drive without any problems whatsoever. However, when I put the drive back into the system that it was meant for, came up with the same problem. Interesting note; I put the drive back into machine number 2 and it stated that it could not "read" the drive and reported that it had 543.453982 GB (I wish...it's only a 37GB HDD)... SO what happened? I did nothing other than remove it, change the jumpers, install the OS, remove it, change the jumpers... PRAM, CODA (I think that's what it's called) and went through the entire process all over again and still, it does nothing. In my inexperience, it would seem that there is something wrong with the system itself, yes? Is there a way to troubleshoot this without being a certified tech? By the way, I was able to make the drive a single Master drive in machine number 2... I am a wee bit confused. But again, thanks for all of the assistance!!

Charles

I had hoped that someone here would have a solution as I am having no luck whatsoever. Again, I have tried each of the other mentioned possible fixes and still nothing. I would greatly appreciate any ideas (at this point, I am up for anything!)....

Thanks,
Charles

have you tried reformatting and reinstalling?
i mean doing so with the same computer?

Zap the PRAM four times in succession first--in other words, after startup, hold the option-command-p-r down all the way through four video blinks and chimes, and then let go and wait. If that doesn't lead to anything new, try low level reformatting via OS9 Drive Setup (Functions>Initialization options--you should probably even do a write zeros, if you've got the time), and then install only OS 9 on the harddrive and see what happens, or any other harddrive you can risk experimenting with. What brand is the 37GB HD? You might want to check out this thread:
http://www.applefritter.com/node/8022
I posted some of my B&W experience near the bottom of page 1.

I thank you all for the wonderful assistance but, I have purchased a new system (I now have 3! One I am keeping; an excellent system purchased from a member here - KUDOS to you-know-who!!). The second and the third systems I am going to sell (or at least try to). This G3, I guess, if anyone has the "know-how" can be had...I will place this one the FOR SALE section.

Finally ended up installing the harddrive after erasing/formatting on another G3, and instead of the circle/line scenario, now you simply get the little blue box (with OS faces???) and it blinks between that and a question mark....

Again, I thank you guys for the help and I can honestly say that I am learning way more than I ever thought I would about the inner workings of a Mac!

Charles

Oh yeh, I would appreciate it if someone would PM me and let me know, based on what we have discussed here, what this system is probably worth. I know, odd request, but I honestly have no idea...