iMac 333Mhz

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seth_381's picture
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iMac 333Mhz

Well my aunt justgot my neese a purple iMac and since I know the most about Apple Computers in the family (But when it comes to formatting and so fourth I'm a dumbs**t.) Well the iMac didn't come with the OS Cd's and the System File is missing the common File with the "?" Falsing. I do have an old OS 9 Cd but when I try to put it on the Mac but it doesn't istall and says to update the firmware but everytime it has failed. So what should I do and just to say it probably has 8.6 but I don't have any ancient CD's ?

GEOS's picture
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So when you attempt to update

So when you attempt to update the firmware you get an error message?

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I try to install it and..

After I click to install it some error message shows up then I am told to put a paper clip in the reset button and restart my comp to install the firmware but it doesn't work

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Can't update firmware while booted to the CD.

The firmware update needs to be run from an active, bootable, writeable Mac OS. It will not run properly when booted from the OS 9 CD, because the updater can't modify the CD's System Folder.

Did you receive the original installer CDs that came with the iMac? If so, start by installing Mac OS 8.5 or 8.6 from that CD, then boot to the hard drive. Put the OS 9 CD in the drive and run the firmware update from the CD, while booted to the hard drive. Follow the instructions to the letter to update your firmware. At that point, you'll be ready to install Mac OS 9.

If you didn't receive the original iMac installer CDs, you're going to need to round up a retail copy of Mac OS 8.5 and follow the instructions in my previous paragraph.

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Apple instructions

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58174

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60385

Once again, as in this thread, I don't remember a firmware update being required to upgrade to 9. What color is your OS9 install disk? and what does it install--9.1, 9.2.1, oe 9.2.2? It will say on the disk. Perhaps, the previous owner tried to install OSX? Without the firmware update, though, that is supposed to kill the motherboard, even by booting to the OSX install disk. Like mentioned in the other thread, maybe these OS9 disks bundled with X look for the firmware update because the assumption is that X will be installed too. Can someone tell me, why don't OSX install disks check firmware updates before proceeding to boot, or is that an impossible cart before the horse thing?

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From recent experience with a

From recent experience with a Blueberry tray-loader, these particular machines do require a firmware update before they can install 9.2.2 -- although I don't know exactly which is the lastest version that will install without it. I defaulted to 8.5, because I knew that the earliest iMacs shipped with it or 8.1.

On that particular machine, I was able to install from a retail copy of 8.5, install the firmware update, then reformat the HD and install 9.2.2.

Again, in order to run the firmware update, you must boot from a Mac OS install on a hard drive. The installer places an item in the Startup Items folder (inside the Mac OS System Folder), which runs on the next boot. You're then asked to shut down the machine, hold the Programmer button, press the power button and wait for the long tone, then let up on the Programmer button.

The firmware installer won't work when booted to a Mac OS CD because it can't modify the system folder on the CD. Nothing is added to the Startup Items folder, and so the firmware update never completes.

Cheetah, Puma and Jaguar installers would automatically check for the firmware updates and install them if necessary, but this self-check disappeared with the Panther installer. That's why it's so crucial to run the firmware update on a slot-loading iMac before installing Panther, in order to avoid the "black screen of death" (to which, curiously, the tray-loaders seem to be immune).

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