3lectr1cPPC
Well-known member
I have a troublesome iBook G3 Snow that I've been trying to diagnose ever since I bought it nearly 2 years ago. It's a 600MHz "16MB VRAM" model (12 inch), and it seems to work just fine. I've ran OS X Jaguar and Tiger on it with no problems. The Classic Environment also works as expected. Just one issue - it won't run OS 9.
It's been a while since I've messed with it, but here's a list of everything I remember trying.
1. Booting from an OS 9 disk to install. This iBook's CD Drive is incredibly finicky when it comes to booting from burned disks, so for the longest time I haven't been able to try installing the standard way. I once managed to boot it from a disk, but it was 9.2.1, and refused to install as it wasn't supported. I needed 9.2.2. I haven't been able to get it to boot a 9.2.2 disk (or any burned disk for that matter) since.
2. Copying over a known good system folder and trying to boot from it. OS X's startup disk selector detects it, but after trying to boot from it, it stops and gives me a blinking question mark over a floppy disk icon. Important note: This is over a floppy disk icon, not a folder like the iBook's firmware would normally display if it can't find a bootable disk - this was a floppy disk. I believe this is simply down to a failed boot. The iBook displays the folder if it can't find any bootable device The only way to escape this boot error is to put the iBook in target disk mode, mount the drive on another computer, and set that computer to boot from the OS X system on the volume. Then it will boot OS X again from the iBook.
3. Installing OS 9.2.2 using the classic environment on OS X. The install finishes successfully, but it displays the same issue as #2.
4. Installing OS 9.2.2 from a bootable disk via booting it on another computer (my TiBook or iMac DV SE), and mounting the iBook's drive in target disk mode. This also yields the same result as #2.
5. Trying to boot a known working OS 9.2.2 install via mounting a different computer's drive (my TiBook or iMac DV SE) on the iBook and booting from that. This works fine! 9.2.1 or 9.2.2 if I remember both ran. But I just booted 9.2.1 to confirm it works - it just won't do it from its own drive.
That's all I've tried, but what else is there to try? Has anyone seen this before?
Just one note - I've once managed to get it to boot 9.2.1 via copying over a system folder. This was a long time ago, and I remember it running at a low color depth (due to being 9.2.1 not 9.2.2), and it being extremely unstable and prone to crashing. I'm not sure if this was due to it being 9.2.1 or something else.
Thanks in advance for helping me troubleshoot this one - it's been a real doozy.
It's been a while since I've messed with it, but here's a list of everything I remember trying.
1. Booting from an OS 9 disk to install. This iBook's CD Drive is incredibly finicky when it comes to booting from burned disks, so for the longest time I haven't been able to try installing the standard way. I once managed to boot it from a disk, but it was 9.2.1, and refused to install as it wasn't supported. I needed 9.2.2. I haven't been able to get it to boot a 9.2.2 disk (or any burned disk for that matter) since.
2. Copying over a known good system folder and trying to boot from it. OS X's startup disk selector detects it, but after trying to boot from it, it stops and gives me a blinking question mark over a floppy disk icon. Important note: This is over a floppy disk icon, not a folder like the iBook's firmware would normally display if it can't find a bootable disk - this was a floppy disk. I believe this is simply down to a failed boot. The iBook displays the folder if it can't find any bootable device The only way to escape this boot error is to put the iBook in target disk mode, mount the drive on another computer, and set that computer to boot from the OS X system on the volume. Then it will boot OS X again from the iBook.
3. Installing OS 9.2.2 using the classic environment on OS X. The install finishes successfully, but it displays the same issue as #2.
4. Installing OS 9.2.2 from a bootable disk via booting it on another computer (my TiBook or iMac DV SE), and mounting the iBook's drive in target disk mode. This also yields the same result as #2.
5. Trying to boot a known working OS 9.2.2 install via mounting a different computer's drive (my TiBook or iMac DV SE) on the iBook and booting from that. This works fine! 9.2.1 or 9.2.2 if I remember both ran. But I just booted 9.2.1 to confirm it works - it just won't do it from its own drive.
That's all I've tried, but what else is there to try? Has anyone seen this before?
Just one note - I've once managed to get it to boot 9.2.1 via copying over a system folder. This was a long time ago, and I remember it running at a low color depth (due to being 9.2.1 not 9.2.2), and it being extremely unstable and prone to crashing. I'm not sure if this was due to it being 9.2.1 or something else.
Thanks in advance for helping me troubleshoot this one - it's been a real doozy.
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