I got a beige G3 from work and wanted to put a bigger hard drive in it because the older hard drive wouldn't boot sometimes. So I tried to boot from the OS 9.2.1 disc, I also got from work, by holding down the 'C' key and nothing happened. I tried reseting the PRAM and that didn't work either (not sure what that does but I saw it on the apple web site). I even swapped out the CD-ROM drive with a newer working one, that didn't make a difference. I've never really used a Mac so maybe I'm missing something :?
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Make sure to check jumper settings. If the CD-ROM is IDE, make sure it is uniquly set to "master" or "slave" on the bus, not calbe select. For example, if you have the IDE CD-ROM AND an IDE zip drive on the IDE bus, make sure they are set uniquely, one to master and one to slave.
If you have a SCSI CD-ROM, make sure to test for hte same issue. If you have a SCSI Zip or SCSI hard drive on the bus, make sure they are all set to different ID numbers (usually Hard drive=0, CD-ROM=2, zip or whatever=5) The LAST device in a SCSI chain, the zip in my example, shoudl be terminated, there will be a label and a jumper on the back of the drive called "term power" or "term on", and that should also be selected.
If that doesnt work, you may have an early revision G3 motherboard with a bad secondary IDE. This either means 1) you can't have slaves connected to the IDE bus, or the secondary IDE bus is dead period. If you can find another, older Mac with a SCSI CD-ROM drive, pull the SCSI drive and try booting off it. Make sure it has the Apple logo on it, ensuring that it is Apple ROM'ed and thus compatible.
You can also try booting into open firmware (hold down Apple/Option/O/F as the chime dings) and type in "cd-boot" to the command line.
I tried booting into open firmware (apple/option/O/F) and the monitor came on for a few seconds and then turned off. :?
I checked the cdrom and it was set on master. I was on the website lowendmac.com and it says if you have a Rage Pro onboard video chip (which I have) you have a revision 2 motherboard. when I first got the computer I could use the cd-rom to install programs while in OS 8.6 but I could never get it to boot off the cdrom. So I'm assuming the cd-rom works.
edit: I was reading up on the PRAM battery and how if its dead it can cause problems...is the PRAM battery the small white and black battery? does 3.6v sound about right? and is it down by the sticker that says void warranty is seal is broken? well I measure mine and it was dead.
My old 7500 won't boot to CD holding down the "C" key either. It will work if i hold down Command>Option>Shift>Delete at startup. try that and see if it works.
yes, that is the one, and yes, it could cause the problem you encountered. I run across that problem with both beige and iMac Rev B.
I tried command > option > shift > delete and no luck
The_Red_Baron: did you figure out a workaround to this problem?
U insert any 3rd party 3d/graphics cards? My beige G3 had one in it which wasnt os x compatible and it refused to boot at all...
Just an idea...