we are still using one of our non intel computers (first generation of flat screen imac with the round stand and the post)

it recently started hanging up (spinning wheel) and needing to be restarted.. so I thought Id just reinstall the Tiger operating system that was on it. I put in the installation disk.. and when it tried to restart. i get kernel stuff that says.. im hanging here

I also dont know how to get the disk out now..
any suggestions on how to wipe the computer out and reinstall the software?

thanks

Use a fingernail or other thin object to open the optical drive hatch. Use a paper clip or similar object to press the white rectangle in the bottom center of the drive.

Given the age of the machine, I would try booting it from a known good external firewire drive; if that succeeds, assume a bad hard drive; if that fails, assume a bad logic board or similar problem.

got the disk out by using this tip

You can try booting into open firmware and eject it before the system boots. Try this: turn you computer off. Then, turn it on via the power switch and hold down the keys: Command-Option-O-F

You will arrive at a command line at which point you type "eject cd" (without the quotation marks)

After the CD ejects, type "mac-boot"

It restarted and is working so far.. but still not sure why it keeps hanging up or how to reinstall tiger on it

You can also "force" the Optical Drive to open by restarting the Mac and holding the mouse or trackpad button down for 45 seconds. This works most of the time.

Based on what you have described and the probable age of your G4 iMac, my educated guess is that the Hard Drive is starting to fail. Hard Drive replacement in the G4 iMacs is a really pain in the butt. Copy any data you really need while you can.

I was able to get the computer to run for at least the time being.. disk utility shows my hard drive in red.. and when i click on it.. it states that i had a fatal error, the repair button is greyed out. (that cant be good i think) I then installed tech tools deluxe. it ran multiple tests.. all of which passed except drive hardware.. it failed. it said "physical attributes of selected volume failed.. i should back up date.. device may work without issue for period of time.but may fail without warning.. does this mean I need to replace my hard drive? I found disks which may be the original ones from this computer. Would the 6 grey disks labelled imac software restore (mac versions 10.12, 9.22) be the correct disks to use? Will this help at all if its the disk which is showing failure? Is it feasible to try to replace the hard disk in this imac?

thanks

its still running this morning... should I try using software restore disks 1 to 6 or would this be a waste of time? I dont mind starting with fresh software and wiping out all the old accumulated stuff (I dont need to save anything) if it will help. or is this strictly a hard drive issue?

You have a hard drive that's about to die. Backup anything important and consider it dead. Don't bother trying to replace it - you'll spend too much upgrading an ancient computer.

Instead, get a second external Firewire drive (you should already have one for backup) and boot off of that. Don't even bother with the internal drive. This way, when you eventually get a new computer, you can still use the external drive with it and not throw away your investment. If you replace the internal, you will not get your money back when you go to sell the computer - it's just too old and not an Intel.

thanks... are you saying that I can get an external hardrive that runs all the software and applications including the operating system, that way avoiding having to replace the dead (dying) internal hard drive?

Yes, that is exactly what Jack is saying.

Note that it must be a FW drive.

I'm going through the same thing right now, this is the 2nd internal drive to die in my Intel iMac.
I restored my Time Machine backup to an external drive & booted off of that. Next stop the Genius Bar for some AppleCare repair.

I dont think that computer has time machine on it.. its got 10.1.4 software... I have backed up individual files onto an external hard drive.. most everything else on there can be deleted.. how do I boot off an external hard drive (am I trying to eliminate my internal hard drive from the picture and run my computer entirely from my external?) without time machine?.. can time machine run on a G4 800MH Power PC?

Get Carbon Copy Cloner

It will make a bootable system from you existing drive.

WARNING, THIS WILL WIPE OUT ALL DATA ON YOUR DESTINATION DRIVE!! IF YOU PUT YOUR FILES ON THE EXTERNAL, BURN THEM TO A DVD OR PUT ON A THUMB DRIVE 1ST!!!

You can use Disk Utility, Carbon Copy Cloner, or Super Duper! to create a bootable external drive. You can also install a new OS to an external drive and go from there if you can't get your internal to stay up long enough to clone.

the computer seems to act up mostly under one user so I deleted that account. Its running and disk utility still shows the hard drive in red. can you explain how I use disk utility to create a bootable external drive and how to install the new OS to the external drive? If the computer is booted from the external and there is a second operating system installed on that external does this bypass internal hardrive? Im not really clear on the concept of a bootable external drive and the concept of two Operating systems..


thanks

You will either install a new OS to the external or use disk utility to copy the disk, one or the other.

To use Disk Utility, here are the instructions from Help:

Duplicating a disk
You can duplicate one disk onto another. For example, you can duplicate your startup disk to use as a backup.

To duplicate a disk:

Click the disk to duplicate in the list at the left, and then click the Restore tab.

Drag the disk you want to copy to the Source field.

You can drag it from the list at the left or from the Finder.

Drag the disk that will contain the copy to the Destination field.

If you can’t drag a particular disk to that field, you can’t copy to it. If it’s your startup disk, start up your computer with another disk, such as a Mac OS X installation disc. Otherwise, try to quit any applications that are on it or that use documents on that disk.

If you want to erase the destination before copying to it or use the copy as a startup disk, select “Erase destination.”

If you want to add the original’s contents to the destination without erasing it, deselect “Erase destination.”

Click the Restore button.
===

In System Preferences is a Preference called "Startup Disk". After you have copied your disk or installed a new OS, you use this preference pane to tell the system which disk to boot from. If you set it to the external disk, then it will not matter if you have an OS on the internal disk or not.

I had disk utility copying the internal hard disk to my external.. it got about 2/3s done. then froze up.. Now when I restart the computer.. i get the chime.. a symbol with the old os9 flashing to a folder with a ? then it switches to start in osX the apple and grey screen and then a frozen screen it wont get past. i tried starting in safe mode using the shift key. but the same thing happened.. I was able to get to a terminal line by doing command option OF but the only thing I know to do from there is to open the cd and restart in osx.. I put in the tech tools disk and with that it.. it went through the same thing as before. but stopped on a grey screen with a big circle with a line through it..

If my goal is to replace using my failing internal hard drive with an external.. what can I do at this point? Can I put the original operating system using the 6 grey cds onto my external using my working macs and then start up from the external after that? Can i use target disk mode and connect to a working mac?

the old mac is G4 the new ones I have would be mac mini or imac running 10.5.8 2.4GHz intel core duo

thanks

Your internal drive is pretty much dead. You can't count on it for anything, so I would forget about Target Disk Mode. At this point, you should find an install disk for the OS you want to install (either the original or else a retail disk for something newer), insert that disk, hold down the C key and boot. Make sure the external you want to install to is connected and choose it as the device to install your OS to.

I assume you are telling him to install a system compatible with that vintage computer, probably 10.4, then apply the combo update to get it up to 10.4.11 and any other appropriate updates, on an external firewire drive using another computer that works. Then he can connect that firewire drive to the g4 and force it to start up from that external drive, ignoring the "dead" internal from then on.

Dale,

Your internal HD is officially dead...

You will be able to install an OS from the Grey Disks via the G4 iMac if you follow these steps.

A) Plug in a NEW HD to the iMac. You may as well start fresh at this point. It HAS to be a Firewire HD.

B) Start the iMac while holding the mouse down for about a minute. This will force the Optical Drive to open so you can insert Disk One. Insert that disk and close the Optical tray. Power down the iMac.

C) Start the iMac again while holding down the "C" key. This will make the iMac boot from the Optical Drive. You should see after a few minutes the "Pick a language" screen. Choose the language you are most familiar with

D) Up in the Menu bar, choose Utilities and drop down to Disk Utility. Disk Utility will open and you know have some options for the HD. You may need to reformat the HD, so do that now. (I personally would partition the HD so you have a chunk for the OS/Applications and the rest for storage) Name the partitions at this point to make it easier when you select which partition to install the OS on.

E) Quit Disk Utility and proceed with the OS installation. Have the rest of the Grey disks handy and in order. Make 2 piles (one on either side of the iMac) so you'll know which ones has been used.

F) Once everything has been installed, you will need to select the correct partition to startup from under "System Preferences>Startup Disk". Jack explained this already above so follow those steps.

G) Make sure the HD is ALWAYS PLUGGED IN (and powered up if need be) before starting the iMac. If you fail to do this every time it will will confuse the system and you may end up with the Flashing ? Folder again.

H) Create your User account and enjoy!

I've spelled everything out in the simplest of terms not for you, but for others who may attempt this in the future.

Now you are probably installing OS 9 and 10.2.8, if you are using the Original Disks that came with the iMac. If you upgraded to 10.4 you should just use that disk and follow the same steps. This will probably save you an hour or more. Then install the other App's you'll be using and you're done.

Good Luck!

Could he do this all on another computer,and then just use that drive with the OS on it to boot this machine? If so, would that have to be a non-intel?
I guess what I am asking is: can you install 10.4 (or 10.5) on a dedicated external hard drive so that it could boot any G4 (or maybe G5) machine?