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gl1tchy0ne · Aug 20, 2006, 02:00 AM

Hey guys I could really use some help. I am a long time Linux user (Debian GNU/Linux) and just got my first Mac (iMac G3 350 / 512MB Ram / 80 GB HDD) <-- I upgraded it!. Anywho It now has 10.1.5 installed as that is the only disc that I have (Didn't come with one but had OS X already) I hope the dood did the firmware upgrade as he said he did.

So anyway my issue is this... I have tried to install two programs on my iMac so far Firefox 1.5.0.1 and Opera 9.01 and I cannot get either one to install. So lets start with Firefox, I double click the .dmg file and then drag the firefox.app file to my applications folder... I then try to launch it and it says that it has quit.

So I thought weird.... Lets try Opera, So double click the .dmg click on the now mounted drive and drag the opera.app file to the applications folder and try to launch it... it thinks for a sec and then nothing happens and it's as if I never tried to launch it no errors or anything.

Please help me to understand if I am doing something wrong or wtf is going on here!

Thanks in advance,

Josh

gl1tchy0ne · Aug 20, 2006, 03:10 AM

Ok so i finally go something to install... Adobe Flashplayer 9 installed without issue. This worries me cause it makes me think that I am doing all that I am suppose to and for some reason a bunch of apps are not working right.

Please someone give me some information!

~gl1tchy0ne

analogika · Aug 20, 2006, 03:38 AM

I'm willing to bet that Firefox simply won't run on any operating system older than three years and will require at least 10.2 or 10.3.

Two words of advice:

1.) Don't trust the guy on the firmware update; just download the farking thing off the Apple website and install it for yourself. If it's installed already, it'll tell you. If not, running OS X WILL EVENTUALLY KILL YOUR iMac.

2.) Upgrade the thing to AT LEAST 10.3 (paid upgrade; can be had off eBay for about $50). 10.4 won't install without a bit of hacking. You do not do not do not Do Not DO NOT want to be running 10.1.5. Apple didn't make OS X the default system until 10.2, with good reason, and 10.3 is MUCH faster on your iMac.

Big Mac · Aug 20, 2006, 03:38 AM

10.1 is very much depreciated. Any machine capable of running OS X should be running at least Jaguar (10.2). You may be having problems because the apps you're trying to install are incompatible with 10.1.

reader50 · Aug 20, 2006, 11:25 AM

You can also buy older OSX copies from Other World Computing.

JKT · Aug 20, 2006, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

<snip>10.4 won't install without a bit of hacking.<snip>

10.4 will install perfectly fine on that iMac with no hacking necessary at all.

analogika · Aug 20, 2006, 12:51 PM

The 350 MHz G3 iMac does not have Firewire, so it's not among the officially supported machines. Are you sure it will install?

I confess I've never actually tried it, since:

Even if it will support the machine, it will only install if you have it on CDs, not the regular DVD, and I'm not sure Apple still offers the media exchange program.
The 350 MHz iMac G3 only has a CD-ROM drive.

cms · Aug 20, 2006, 01:00 PM

Hmmm.... good point. How about installing from a disk image instead? I've done plenty of these on networked G3 iMacs with no trouble at all. You'd have to find a way (friend's Mac with DVD perhaps?) to create the disk image but it definitely works and gets round the problem of not having a DVD drive or being able to install through another Mac in target disk mode.

gl1tchy0ne · Aug 20, 2006, 01:12 PM

Hey guys thanks for all the great information. So it sounds like I am screwed as long as I am running 10.1. Can anyone please confirm that the disc image thing actually works to install from 10.1 to 10.3 or something else?

Please let me know and thanks again for the great information.

~gl1tch0ne

cms · Aug 20, 2006, 01:18 PM

A disk image simply overwrites any existing data on the drive -- it replaces rather than upgrades/installs. And yes, I can confirm this works -- I have done it tons of times on G3s of same vintage as yours. The only note of caution I would sound at this stage is something I mentioned earlier in the thread -- you MUST be sure the firmware upgrade has been applied before you go any further.

cms · Aug 20, 2006, 01:24 PM

Oops - sorry, I think I mentioned the firmware upgrade in another thread of yours relating to hardware upgrades to your imac. I am assuming this is the same machine.....

analogika · Aug 20, 2006, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by cms

Hmmm.... good point. How about installing from a disk image instead? I've done plenty of these on networked G3 iMacs with no trouble at all. You'd have to find a way (friend's Mac with DVD perhaps?) to create the disk image but it definitely works and gets round the problem of not having a DVD drive or being able to install through another Mac in target disk mode.

How do you install from a disk image via network?

JKT · 02:13 AM

Originally Posted by analogika

The 350 MHz G3 iMac does not have Firewire, so it's not among the officially supported machines. Are you sure it will install?

My bad, you are right. 10.3.x is the maximum for a 350MHz iMac.

gl1tchy0ne · Aug 20, 2006, 06:00 PM

ok thanks for all the great information. Is there anyway for me to tell what firmware I am running? Cause Apple's site says that it has to run from OS 9 and I don't have that so I would like to check and make sure what version I have before I see about trying to find a OS 9 disc.

Thanks,

gl1tchy0ne

JKT · Aug 21, 2006, 02:15 AM

Use Apple System Profiler. It will be in your Applications>Utilities folder. The Boot ROM version is your firmware and it should be listed under the Hardware information. However, as you are using 10.1.x I can't recall if it told you this information or if it was in the same location as it is now...