Mac G3 has no OS!!!

[jonni08]

Hi I recently was given a Mac G3 (14.1TFT/300MHz-1MB/192MB/8GB/4MB video/CD/Modem - family no. M4753). Great! whan I turn it on a disk appears with a flashing '?'. not so great! NO OS i assume. What do I do? I want to install the best OS for the available system. Does this mean 9.2.2? Can i install 10.4 or do I need XpostFacto to do this? If i do need xpostfacto does that mean I first need 9.2.2, then xpostfacto, then 10.4? What other upgrades might I need in order to install 10.4?
Many thanks!
J-)

[Turboladdade]

You are correct, that means there is no installed operating system. By what you described, you have a PowerBook G3 Wallstreet PDQ, which you can find the specs for here.

These can officially run up through Mac OS X Jaguar, but I would stick to Mac OS 9.2.2 on that particular system. There are ways to hack Mac OS X Tiger (10.4.x) on there, but I've done it, and found it rather slow and unstable. If you want to do that, yes you need XPostFacto. That also means you need Mac OS 9 first.

Tiger will run with 192 MB of memory, but will be insanely slow. I'd look into more memory. There are also G4 processor upgrades for those as well. Tiger is also going to occupy abou 2 GB of disk space without printer drivers and language translations.

[jonni08]

ok, nice one, thats very helpful, now the basic question is one of cost. It seems that everything to do with mac must be bought rather than shared. Surely this can't be true!!! Does 9.2.2 come with additional software and if so does this make it worth the price? And where, if anywhere, can one get free Mac software?

[Turboladdade]

Retail Mac OS 9 CDs come with basic software such as a web browser, QuickTime player, and hardware drivers. Aside from that, you can choose to purchase commercial software, or consider free alternatives, such as WordPerfect for Mac, which has been released as freeware. You can find a lot of freeware and shareware for Mac OS Classic at VersionTracker's Classic Mac page or right here at our own Info-Mac Archive.

[cheryl]

Sometimes the restore CDs that come with a particular Mac contain extra software, like for example iBook G3 restore CDs come with AppleWorks 6, FaxSTF, and some games. It's a hit or miss though, on whether a restore CD for some other Mac will work. I find the best chances are with Macs of the same or similar generation/processor etc...

[mickeally]

i have lost my restore CD's that came with Mac, had a place shift last week and had them misplaced, what to do now to get the additional softwares in their purest forms

[sruckman]

I have the same sort of problem. I just bought an iMac G3 M5521, 500mHz, 512mb RAM, 15 GB HD. I got it from Computer Recyclers for next to nothing, but it has no OS, keyboard or mouse. I've never had a Mac before and don't know where to start. When turned on, it shows a split folder with a blinking ?. I read somewhere to download a boot up disk, and I did that, but nothing happened, and now the disk won't come out of the slot. The next problem is the keyboard and mouse. Does Apple have a particular type you have to use, or is there an adapter for IBM compatible devices?

Once I get the other disc out - any suggestions?? - can I load the correct OS without doing anything else first? I read somewhere about partitioning the hard drive first.

Thanks a million in advance from a completely computer inept homeschool mom in LA!
Suzanne

[Turboladdade]

Well, first you have to get an authentic Mac OS install CD. They aren't free, and on top of that, it's pretty unlikely you're going to burn an illegally downloaded image of one successfully on a PC without any prior Mac experience or understanding of how Mac OS disks differ from Windows ones. The blinking question mark does indeed mean the computer cannot find a bootable operating system.

As far as a keyboard and mouse go, your iMac uses standard USB keyboards and mice, however for correct modifier keys, you need an Apple keyboard or a third party set made specifically for Macs that contain the Command key and a Mac-specific layout.

You'd get the disk out by holding down the mouse button while powering on the computer.

I suggest eBay for a Mac OS install CD. Yours can run up to Mac OS X 10.4.x Tiger, which is what I would recommend. On an iMac with your level of power, it is completely unnecessary to (severely) limit yourself to Mac OS 9. Here are a whole bunch of Tiger auctions. If your iMac has a DVD drive, you can get any of them. If not, you have to specifically seek out the CD version.

[CharG3]

My problem goes one deeper: I'm trying to upgrade a PowerBook G3 series (Bronze keyboard) to OS X but the CD expansion bay died and was replaced with a ZIP drive. I have a CD peripheral, but can't get the Mac (now running OS 9.2.2) to recognize it. Any suggestions?

[Turboladdade]

Any suggestions?

You're probably going to have to get a replacement DVD drive. Here is one for $25.