Can't boot from CD

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I have a relative that purchased an older eMac G4 which didn't come with the original discs merely two burned discs labeled 10.2 Disc 1 and 2. I did a secure wipe of the drive using my PC since I was in there cleaning all the dust out and now I can't get it to boot from the CDs. I am using a PC keyboard as well as a USB mouse. I can get the the tray to open to insert the disc by holding the right mouse button down during boot however holding C during boot yields a globe icon which soon turns into a folder with a question mark and faces. I don't know if I'm doing this wrong or what but I am completely lost.
 

chscag

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Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
It sounds like you need an original install disk. The two disks you have are probably not for that machine or model. Does the eMac have a hard drive installed?

Try booting with disk 1 by holding down the Option key as soon as you hear the chime.
 
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Yes it does have the hard drive installed however I wiped all files and partitioning. I did the key equivalent to "Option" which is Alt as I am using a PC keyboard brings up a blank screen with what looks to be a refresh button and another button with an arrow pointing to the right which I assume is to proceed on to something else. However the arrow doesn't do anything but the refresh button looks to be working to do something. That is all that shows up on the screen
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
You need an operating system install disc in order to format the drive Mac OS Extended (Journalled). For an eMac suggest looking for Tiger OS X.4 or Panther OS X.3. eBay and such sites the best place to check o0ut but make sure you only purchase a full retail install version and not a silver/grey model specific disc.

Tiger did come on CDs, five from memory, for eMacs without a DVD reader but they are pretty scarce.
 
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Alright I will look around for some retail discs. Before wiping the drive I did check the version installed and it was 10.2.8 so I'm thinking it'd be a good idea to just reinstall 10.2 which is Jaguar plus some updates correct? I also read on the forums that some people were able to call up Apple and they would send restore discs. Would this be the best route for me as I have nearly no experience with Mac systems and I would assume this would install drivers and such.
 
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Ok my retail copy of Jaguar just came in today. I popped it in and restarted with the "C" key on my PC keyboard and it returned the folder with the question mark and what looks to be two faces icon after a minute or so. Prior to that it was a flashing globe so I'm guessing its trying to boot from LAN or something along those lines. When I use the Alt key (Option) it loads for a minute with the watch icon but remains rather blank with what looks to be a refresh button and what I assume to be a forward arrow. The refresh button doesn't appear to do anything other than spin the disc up for a minute then back down to idle. THe forward button doesn't appear to do anything either. I really hope someone can help me out. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what.
 
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There has to be someone that can help me out or knows what the issue is. The discs I got are white with the X on them so I'm sure its not an issue with the discs. its driving me crazy since this is my first experience with Macs and after getting the official discs its still not working.
 

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