I'm still using 8 - but need help to move on...

Can anyone help?

Sorry - I'm sure that this has been discussed a thousand times. New to the forum and can't identify an archive.

Am running a very early (Blueberry!) i-Mac loaded with OS8. I want to upgrade it to OSX but when I put the disc in the machine tells me I cannot go to OSX unless I'm already on OS9.

How on earth do I get hold of OS9 in 2007?!

All help gratefully received - feel like I'm living in Software Stone Age.

Thanks.

What iMac is this first off? The first Bondi Blue with the 233 Mhz G3?

What version of OSX are you trying to install?

If that is your iMac this is a good URL to read. There is a section on installing OSX and Firmware updates.

http://www.lowendmac.com/imacs/imac.shtml

Maybe time to upgrade your Mac.

I have had a miserable time getting a Bondi Blue iMac to run OS X. You have to do the firmware update or you will fry the graphics processor. You really need 512 megs of ram and those early iMacs are unpredictable with chips larger than 128. Then you need a DVD drive so you are only going to get to OS X Panther, unless you can find Tiger on CD. Next you need to make sure you have enough room on your hard drive. And last, you really will need System 9 unless you can live without any of your old Classic apps.
By the time you add the expense and hassle, you might want to consider a new computer.

essgee said:

Can anyone help?

Sorry - I'm sure that this has been discussed a thousand times. New to the forum and can't identify an archive.

Am running a very early (Blueberry!) i-Mac loaded with OS8. I want to upgrade it to OSX but when I put the disc in the machine tells me I cannot go to OSX unless I'm already on OS9.

How on earth do I get hold of OS9 in 2007?!

All help gratefully received - feel like I'm living in Software Stone Age.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Welcome to Mac-Forums, essgee.

This guide might help you identify your iMac model. Please refer to it and let us know which model it is.

In a way general way, going to OS X you will need to do a couple of things. You will have to upgrade to OS 9 (look at eBay), I would think, then install a firmware update that is available at Apple Support. Once the firmware updated has been installed, you can then go on to an OS X install.

One thing to remember: you will not be able to install OS X 10.5 Leopard on it because the minimum system requirements are a G4 867MHz and faster. Your iMac is, as far as I can tell, a G3 either 350MHz or, at best, 400MHz, way out of Leopard's range.

Also you need to realize that no matter which OS X flavour you install on your iMac you will definitely have to max out the RAM if you want to continue to enjoy using it, otherwise it'll be so sluggish, you won't have much fun using it and it won't be very stable.




Edited to add:

DOH! My man Sherman beat me to it! I thought that you needed OS 9 installed for the Firmware Update. I could be wrong though...

Yep it appears that Firmware updates are not tied to an OS version. Good call, Sherman!

You will need OS 9 to do the firmware update.
From Apple

you may need to update the firmware on your Macintosh computer prior to installing Mac OS X 10.2 or later.

Click to expand...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60385

Thanks

The i-mac is circa 1998. No upgrades - still running as was was when it was lifted out of the box. Much as I hate the thought of it becoming landfill (hoping I can find someone who'll recycle some of the more useful bits) it sounds like the upgrading process is convoluted at best. And - from what I'm hearing - the giblets in the machine are so hopelessly underpowered that trying to run OSX will be a thankless task anyway.

Appreciate the assistance - but it sounds like I'm in the market for a new machine.

Am I reading you right here?

Well, depending on what you plan to use it for, it could still have its uses. If the iMac is powered by, say OS X 10.3.x Panther or OS X 10.4.x Tiger, you can use it for web browsing, email, word processing and stuff like that. I dunno if the video card has enough horse power to run full screen videos though, someone else will have to confirm this.

If you wanted to use it for video editing, 3D modelling and the like, that might be asking way too much of the little cutie.

It all comes down to what you plan on using it for and how much you are willing to spend on it.

Like was already posted in this thread, you will need to buy OS 9 and the correct version of OS X (you cannot use 10.5.x Leopard, the latest OS X version). More than probable you will have to add lots of RAM if you are still using the factory installed RAM.

I have a 233Mhz Bondi Blue iMac. I slapped 256 Megs RAM into it and installed 10.2 Jaguar. It's no ball of fire to be sure but it works and like MHC said, it's useful for basic stuff but not a fast machine at all. I will try Panther and see what happens. The Hard Drive is so small in that first iMac there is not a lot of room. Mine is dead stock except for the Ram.

I have messed with Panther 10.3 on a 333Mhz Grape iMac also with 256 Megs RAM. It's better but still on the slow side but I do use it sometimes to check email and basic browsing. More RAM would help in that case.

On that 333Mhz Grape I have many times joined the Mac Forums Sunday evening IRC chat using Colloquy and it never missed a beat. Mail and Safari were running also. All with 256Megs RAM.

Where is bryphotoguy?!
He has a superb use for a Bondi Blue iMac!
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85114

Sherman Homan said:

Where is bryphotoguy?!
He has a superb use for a Bondi Blue iMac!
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85114

Click to expand...

You, You, You hater of the old iMac you!!! GRIN

Just kidding. My cats would not even sleep in an iMac. They sleep on my bed and love it!

Just put 9.2 on it and stop or Linux and use it!

I roll around a lot in my bed. My queen bed holds me and whatever else that wants to sleep in it and doesn't mind getting whacked.
My cat likes his cat bed. I can't tell you if he uses it in the middle of the night but he'll use it in the afternoon.
I want to stuff a nice fluffy blanket or pillow in there for him.

Me famous? *blushes*

Wow! You do have a cat in an Imac...Far Out ,,
better than a fish tank.

here's a guide to your mac

http://lowendmac.com/pb2/ibook.shtml

as it says on the low end mac pages - you might be better off sticking to os 8 or 9, but keeping it - they are probably becoming collectors items soon

By the time you have bought a bigger hard drive, os 9.2 and more ram (and hooked it up to an external dvd drive) you could pick up a decent ibook off ebay that will happily run leopard or tiger