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kick52 · Aug 10, 2005, 08:01 AM

Hi, everyone!

I just got panther off ebay for £24!!!! thats like 48$?

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway,
i saw an iMac G4 in a picture-taking place (i cant remember what there called) and it was on OS X and every 20 secs. it would fade in to a different desktop pattern. does this come with OS X? or does anyone know where i can get it from?

many thanks,
kick52
Have a nice day

OptimusG4 · Aug 10, 2005, 08:06 AM

Apple-->System Preferences-->Desktop and Screensavers. On the Desktop tab, there is an option to 'Change Picture' every so often. Check that and have fun!

rickey939 · Aug 10, 2005, 08:30 AM

Not interested in Tiger, eh?

kick52 · Aug 10, 2005, 08:45 AM

i dont have enough money. anyway, i might upgrade later

seanc · Aug 10, 2005, 11:09 AM

Make sure you upgrade the firmware first, assuming you're installing it onto you're Imac.
You'll need OS 9 to do it.

CharlesS · Aug 10, 2005, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by kick52

I just got panther off ebay for £24!!!! thats like 48$?

That's not that much less than you could have got Tiger for if you qualify for the educational discount.

Grrr · Aug 10, 2005, 01:50 PM

Cant grumble for £24 I guess.. but yes, For the love of God, or whatever you happen to believe in, make sure that iMacs firmware is up to date before installing. Installing OS X without doing this, can royally fcuk up G3 iMacs. I've seen them require all kinds of hacks and cracks (Involving complete disassembly) to get them working again because of this.

Chuckit · Aug 10, 2005, 02:17 PM

Doesn't the installer just bitch at you if you need a firmware update? I thought that's what the 10.1 installer did when I first installed OS X on my iMac.

Grrr · Aug 10, 2005, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Doesn't the installer just bitch at you if you need a firmware update? I thought that's what the 10.1 installer did when I first installed OS X on my iMac.

Im guessing not? I've not had this problem happen to me, but it did happen on a friends iMac a couple of months ago. Installation of X went fine. And it even ran perfectly well, until it was shut down, and then refused to boot again. (I cant remember if it was 10.2 or 10.3 she put on there)
Took a hell of a lot of work to get the thing up and running again. Had the thing in pieces, and had to apply some reset hack, involving inserting makeshift jumpers into the ends of cables. Most people would not have bothered, and probably chucked it, assuming it was dead for good. Got it all working again tho, but it really was an ordeal..

kick52 · Aug 11, 2005, 07:23 AM

i downloaded the firmware update last night but the installer said it couldnt recognise my firmware version. it said that my firmware might be a newer version. how do i find out my firmware version?

come to think of it...

i might of downloaded it before and ran it. because when i first got my mac i went on a updating spree.

please help

CharlesS · Aug 11, 2005, 07:42 AM

Yep, it bitches that it needs the firmware update. While it's doing that, though, it goes right ahead and hoses your iMac. Just booting from the CD will royally muck up the machine.

http://www.macintouch.com/panfirmware.html

Apple has a tech note about it, too:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75430

What I'd do would be to go to http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ and find the latest firmware update for your iMac. Try to install it, and if it says you're already up to date then you're probably good. I think that this is the one you need:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75130

edit: actually, now that I think of it, the 333 MHz iMac might not be a slot-loader. I think this issue only applies to slot-loading machines, so if it's earlier you might not need to worry about it. I'd try to run the update anyway, just to be sure - the update won't let you run it if it's not appropriate for that particular machine anyway.

analogika · Aug 11, 2005, 08:24 AM

No, the 333MHz is not a slot-loader - which, incidentally, also rules out Tiger as an option (hello to those who suggested it).

The firmware issue DOES affect the tray-loading iMacs as well, and they need to be updated to Firmware version 1.2 before installing OS X.

kick52 · Aug 11, 2005, 03:41 PM

but does anyone know of the firmware for the tray-loader?

CharlesS · Aug 11, 2005, 04:02 PM

Well, here's version 1.2:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60384

kick52 · Aug 11, 2005, 04:24 PM

downloaded it and it says the same thing

kick52 · Aug 11, 2005, 04:31 PM

heres my apple system profiler report:

Software overview

Serial number: Not applicable

Mac OS overview

Finder: 9.2

System: 9.2.2 International English

Active enabler: Mac OS ROM 9.3.1

QuickTime: 5.0.2

CarbonLib: 1.5

File sharing: is off

Multiple Users: 1.4.1

The startup device has been chosen; however, Apple System Profiler

can't determine which ATA Bus device it is.

Memory overview

Disk cache: 32736K

Virtual memory: 400 MB

Used on volume: Macintosh HD

Built-in memory: 160 MB

Number of empty RAM slots: 0 ()

Location Size Memory type

J3/BOTTOM 32 MB DIMM

J1/TOP 128 MB DIMM

Video memory: 6 MB

Backside L2 cache: 512K

Hardware overview

Machine ID: 406

Model name: iMac

Keyboard type: Apple Extended Keyboard

Processor info: PowerPC G3

Machine speed: 333 MHz

Nanokernel version: 2.28

Nanokernel pool extends: 12

Nanokernel scheduled CPUs:1

Network overview

Not available

Link: n/a Speed: n/a Duplex: n/a

Modem

Name: iMac Internal 56K Printer overview

Note: No printer has been chosen.

Protocol: V.90 Production information

ROM revision: $77D.45F6

Boot ROM version: 3.0.f3

Mac OS ROM file version: 9.3.1

Serial number: Not applicable

Software bundle: Not applicable

Sales order number: Not applicable

Version: V2.300-V90

Status: Information gathered.

Open Transport

Installed: Yes

Active: Yes

Version: 2.7.9

AppleTalk

Installed: Yes

Active: No

Version: Not available

TCP/IP

Installed: Yes

Active: No

Version: 2.7.9

Personal Web Sharing: is off

Multihoming: is off

USB Printer Sharing: Not running (v1.0.2)

Netmask: <not available>

IP address: <not available>

Default gateway address: <not available>

Domain: <not available>

Name server address: <not available>

Targon · Aug 12, 2005, 02:49 AM

Originally Posted by kick52

Hi, everyone!

I just got panther off ebay for £24!!!! thats like 48$?

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway,
i saw an iMac G4 in a picture-taking place (i cant remember what there called) and it was on OS X and every 20 secs. it would fade in to a different desktop pattern. does this come with OS X? or does anyone know where i can get it from?

many thanks,
kick52
Have a nice day

Download the 10.3.8 Combo updater, and install. Please resist the urge to install 10.3.9. IMO Safari took a huge step backwards in terms of stability and performance. PithHelmet-0.7.3.tbz (Panther only) an Safari on 10.3.8 works beautifully. I strongly recommend sticking with this combo. http://culater.net/dl/files/PithHelmet-0.7.3.tbz

kick52 · Aug 12, 2005, 08:07 AM

it arrived yesterday and it freezes when i get to the destination stage of installing : (please read this)

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=266291

and my firmware version is 3.0.f3

red rocket · Aug 12, 2005, 08:07 AM

Hmmm, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

Thing is, I'm a lot happier with 10.3.9 than I was with any of the previous versions.

My firmware is 1.3.f3.

(That's Boot ROM as reported by Panther's System Profiler. Apparently, that's equivalent to Boot ROM Version: 3.0.f3 as reported by OS 9.)

Safari 1.3 (v312)
OS X 10.3.9 (Build 7W98)
Same iMac as kick52, 256 MB RAM, stock HD.

I followed the US NSA's Panther Security Configuration Guide, available here: http://asumac.asu.edu/documents/OSXSecurity.pdf

kick52 · Aug 12, 2005, 08:43 AM

i dont have 256, ive got 160

CharlesS · Aug 12, 2005, 03:09 PM

Hmm, didn't Panther require at least 256 MB RAM? Or was it Tiger that made 256 MB the minimum?

Chuckit · Aug 12, 2005, 03:21 PM

It was Tiger that make 256 the minimum. Though I think Panther "recommended" 256, with 128 as the minimum.

kick52 · Aug 12, 2005, 03:52 PM

it only seems to freeze when does stuff with the hard drive.

red rocket · Aug 13, 2005, 05:22 AM

Originally Posted by kick52

i dont have 256, ive got 160

We know that.

Look at your System Profiler reports. Two memory slots. The bottom one is occupied by a 32 MB chip, the one on top by a 128 MB chip. 32 MB + 128 MB = 160 MB.

You have to replace one of the chips in order to upgrade your RAM.

F_Elz · Aug 13, 2005, 05:39 AM

My old g3 imac runs Tiger with 160. A bit slow though.

kick52 · Aug 13, 2005, 05:48 AM

F Elz, did you have any trouble installing? How did you install it?

F_Elz · Aug 13, 2005, 05:52 AM

I downloaded XPostFacto to let me install Tiger on my unsupported lime imac. Other than that... it was nothing else. Did you install Panther successfully?

kick52 · Aug 14, 2005, 04:43 AM

no, i ve got Xpostfacto. im going to give that a try some time later. But doesnt that just lead to the installer anyway?