iMac G3 DV SE (Summer 2000) having an identity crisis

[Emehr]

A friend recently gave me a 500MHz Graphite iMac DV SE (Summer 2000) and I just acquired the original install/restore discs that should have come with it from the factory. The CDs are orange, marked "For iMac DV models", have OS 9.0.4, and have a date stamp of 2000. All of that matches my iMac.

The problems:

- When I insert the Install CD and launch the Mac OS Install app, it tells me it cannot run on this computer.

- The iMac will not boot from either the Install or Restore CDs (again, they have Mac OS 9.0.4, which is what the iMac came with)

I tried everything: Open Firmware reset-nvram, etc., hold option at startup, hold 'c' at startup, reset PRAM, etc. Nothing would make this iMac boot from either CD.

Here's what I did:

- Booted to Target Disk mode and mounted the HD on my B&W Mac

- Wiped the disk clean

- Mounted the Restore 'iMac HD.img' from the Restore CD and copied the contents to the HD.

The iMac, now with a factory fresh install of Mac OS 9.0.4 and all of the apps that presumably came with it (Appleworks, Bugdom, etc.), still will not boot.

So here's what I did:

- Again, booted to Target Disk mode and mounted the HD on my B&W Mac.

- Installed the Mac OS 9.1 update to the HD

- Eject the HD, unplug the Firewire cable, reboot the iMac...

The iMac, now with a newer install of Mac OS 9 than what it shipped with from the factory, now boots! Great, but...

- Both Bugdom (OEM) and Nanosaur (OEM) say they are not licensed for this machine. Say wha?!

- The Apple DVD player app will not run (missing a DVD RuntimeLib extension, which is in the Extensions Folder)

It's basically behaving like I'm trying to feed it the wrong OEM install software, which I'm pretty sure I am not.

Here's what I know:

- the iMac Firmware Update 4.1.9 was installed when I received the iMac (it was running Tiger/OS 9.2.2 so it had to have it, plus the installer was still on the HD).

- the 1/2 AA battery is dead (not sure if this would cause it to not boot from an OEM CD, but I'm trying to cover everything)

- it has been upgraded to 256MB (again, shouldn't be an issue I would think)

- it will boot from a Tiger install DVD

Beyond that it is, to my knowledge, a stock machine down to the 30GB HD. Apple System Profiler reports this machine's Order Number as M7651LL/A, which is without a doubt a Summer 2000 iMac.

I'm absolutely stumped. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

(*sorry about the post length, I try to anticipate responses so I tend to cover everything)

 

[mcdermd]

Are you sure those are the correct discs? I think the orange discs may be for the original 1999 iMac DVs. I have the later grey discs with 9.0.4 for iMac DV (691-2629-A Install & 691-2777-A Restore) which I believe are the Summer 2000 discs.

 

[Emehr]

It's quite possible they are incorrect. I actually hope they are so I can move on and get the correct discs. :lol: Here's the info stamped on them:

Install: SSW 9.0.4, CD version 1.1, 691-2709-A

Restore: SSW 9.0.4, CD version 1.1, 691-2710-A

Both discs have © 2000 on them.

The earliest iMacs to have 9.0.4 were the Summer 2000 models (according to everymac.com). The previous year's DV models had 8.6. And it appears that the Summer 2000 models were the last to use "DV" as part of the name. If these aren't the right discs then I wonder which iMacs they are for.

If you wouldn't mind checking, do the System Folders on your discs have a "PowerPC Enabler 9.0.4" file in them? Mine do, and I wonder if these discs may be for a late production run of the previous year's iMacs, which were discontinued three-and-a-half months after Mac OS 9.0.4 was released (everymac/wikipedia), which may mean Apple made special 9.0.4 discs for those models that, for some reason, won't boot the Summer 2000 DV iMacs.

 

[Emehr]

Mystery solved! The discs I have are, in fact, a later re-issue for the previous year's iMac DV. Now to put these back on the market (with red caution tape, of course) and get the correct set of discs...

This page details the versions of Mac OS sold with each model...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2191