OS X installation problem

[yummy]

Hi there, I'm new to the whole MAC thing. I just got a G4 (used) and i'm trying to install OS X panther onto it. I've done the whole "hold down 'c'" thing. Error messages pop up though in the middle of startup. Here's the first error message which seems to be the route of the problem:

panic (cpu0): unable to find driver for platform: "powermac 3,1"


can anyone help? There isn't anything on the computer, so i could wipe it clean if i had to.

thanks.

 

[yummy]

If you think i should wipe it clean, how do i do that?

 

[Avalon]

Which G4 is it? Maybe you need to do a firmware upgrade before you can install Panther (or OS X in general).
But for this you need to have OS9 installed...is there any system on the Harddisk?

Please give use some more info, makes it easier to help you...

And welcome to the Mac world, you'll like it.

 

[yummy]

OK, sorry bout that. Here's the info:

G4 PowerPC
OS 9.2 (is on it and running)
400 MHz (memory)
Machine ID: 406

Is there a place I can find more info for you? THis is all I could find for now. From the research I've done, it says that I may have to upgrade the firmware. But I have no Internet connection with it, but i can download the update from my PC (burn it on a disc and bring it over. will that work?).

Let me know if there is anything else.

 

[Avalon]

Ok, well...

Looks like a PowerMac G4 400MHz (which is the CPU speed, not memory)
A running OS9 is good, so you can upgrade the firmware.

The problem is, the G4 400MHz existed in three models:
the "Yikes!" with PCI graphics, the "Sawtooth" with AGP graphics and the famous and very cute Apple Cube.

Check the folowing link, it tells you how to recognise it:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58418

If it's an AGP, you can find the firmware and how-to here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120068

Here's a grid of available firmware uprades for all Macs:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117

 

[yummy]

OK, thank you so much so far.
What's happening now is that I keep on getting an orange screen where i have to type something in: either "mac-boot" or "shut-down". And then it starts up normal without activating the OS X installation menu ever appearing.
I'm pressing "c" down at restart, i'm selecting the startup disc as the OS X disc1, and I'm clicking the OS X installer button and hitting "restart".
What is going on? What should I do?

 

[Avalon]

The screen where you can type is the OpenFirmware screen. You can't do much here except resetting the NVRAM (type reset-nvram, then type reset-all).
You didn't mention if you did a firmware update or not.

When you press "c" during startup, the Mac should boot from the CD, but not asking for a startup disk...

 

[yummy]

I did the update, but I think the firmware was updated because it didn't do any of the things described in the documention you supplied me with (installation procedure and such).

what will "reset-nvram" do?

i'll try the "c" thing again, and let you know what is happening.
thanks.