11-06-2004, 09:25 PM

I am a newb to macs. I just got a G4 Dual 1 GHz (mirrored-drive doors) on ebay and it came with the HD wiped clean. now i need to install OS 9.

I dont have an Apple keyboard. I have a normal usb keyboard and mouse plugged in. I got the cd in the drive, which I had to put in by manually opening the door with the emergency release (there is no eject button on the drive... brilliant). I tried to boot w/ the CD (holding the C key)... nothing.

The keyboard does not even seem to be responding (Num lock does not light up, etc.)

Please help end my pain.

11-07-2004, 07:04 AM

Have you tried the F12 function key? It is assigned the task of opening and closing the CD/DVD tray on third-party keyboards which are missing a dedicated Eject key.

It might not work at start up if your keyboard requires drivers to be loaded to be recognized.

11-07-2004, 09:56 AM

I thought of the F12 key as well, but I don't even think the boot process gets far enough to allow me to use a 3rd-party keyboard. Thanks for the suggestion though. :teen:

A friend of mine has an Apple keyboard, I will take my rig over there and see if it makes a difference. I will post an update if this works.

11-07-2004, 11:35 AM

I never tried a 3rd party keyboard on my Mac, but even on the original Apple keyboard the NUM-lock doesn't light up. It does light up though when I connect the Apple keyboard to a PC.

Another hint:
To eject the drive's tray, press the mouse button (the left one if you have a 2 button mouse) while booting.
Then put in the CD, and after a little moment, it should boot from the CD (if the CD is bootable, of course)

11-11-2004, 01:09 AM

I have a nice Logitech USB keyboard hooked up to my G4 Tower. It will not boot the Mac from the a CD by holding down the C key. I have to use my stock Apple Keyboard for that.