[El Maestro]

Hi all, I was hoping you could help me with a problem. In my office we have an old iMac G4 that we still use for a few tasks. Recently, we reinstalled Panther and upgraded to 10.3.9. All was working well. That is, until we tried to install iLife '05. The install was going smoothly, and then it ground to halt, sometimes reporting it would take three hours! We left it, and let it go, becuase it was progressing, albeit slowly. Then, Kernel Panic. We shut it down and restarted, but we're getting nothing but a folder with a blinking ?. I want to take the iLife install DVD out and see if I can get it to boot, but I can't get the drive door open. Is there a manual release or something?

Also, occasionally, the screen will all of a sudden be taken over by multicolored vertical stripes that blink. Eventually, there will be a Kernel Panic. This means the computer is on it's last legs, no?

Thanks!

[P]

Try holding down the mouse button when turning the computer on - that should open the tray. If that won't work, there is indeed a manual release. There should be a hole next to the drive. Insert a straightened paperclip in it and push with the power on. This should eject the drive and let you switch DVDs.

With the errors you're describing, I think the machine is overheating. Have you ever opened the machine to install RAM or switch HDs? Did you apply the thermopaste when reassembling? Have you installed an HD with an 8 meg cache? Those are some common reasons for the machine overheating.

[El Maestro]

Thanks! I got the door to the drive open with the omuse button. Good trick.

However, when I put a Panther Installation Disk in the drive and hold down "c" after the start-up chime, I get a gray screen with a crossbar (think no smoking) on it, and nothing happens. What's up with that?

This machine was never opened, it's been kept as-is out of the box.