Wont boot from cd!

[MDK]

This is my first post on mac-forums.com. I hope you can help. Other sites run me in cirlces. So heres a real challenge- well atleast for me. :mac:

I have a 12" 600MHz G3 iBook that has no OS and will not boot from CD. Ive tried booting from CD by pressing the 'c' key on the keyboard right when i press the power button and the ibook didnt even agnoledge the command. I also pressed the 'c' key right after the chime and got the same result.
By this failing I opened open firmware and typed "eject cd" and received this error:

0 > eject cd method <eject> not found; ihandle=ffbc8100 phandle=ff9115e0 EJECT method failed

So by this not working I then typed "boot cd" in open firmware. I could hear the cd start to spin and the quit. This was the result:

0 > boot cd MAC-PARTS: LOAD (noninterposed) not supportedload-size=0 adler32=1

LOAD-SIZE is too small

I was stumped. So in my desperate atempt I decided to do away with booting from the CD and try target disk mode by pressing the 't' key upon boot up while I connect the 12" to my perfect working order 14" ibook.
While i was pressing 't' the ibooks screen stays black for about 5-6 seconds and then clicks off.

Zapped the PRAM; got nothing. Typed "reset all" in open firmware; got nothing. Tried a PMU reset; got nothing. (these atempts where in this order)

What gives? Why is this happening? And most importantly... how do I fix this?

Thanks,
x MDK

 

[MDK]

Bummer...

Only 8 views and no responce on my first post. Did I stump you guys already?

neye:

 

[osvoldk]

First, I will need some more information, I have some great contacts if I am unable to solve it myself. First, what booting cd are you using? Exactly what do you mean that it doesn't have a OS? Has it ever been able to run an operating system, and which one. When booting from target disk, was your other computer able to see the hardrive? Beside the what you described, any other syptoms of the computer? Furthermore, are you running OS X or OS 9?

 

[dtravis7]

If it were not for what you tried with the Target Mode, I would have said your CDROM Drive is either dirty or defective. Since it seems to have problems in Target mode I am not sure what is up. Do you have any kind of External CDROM drive that connects with USB or Firewire you could try? It's probably something else though in your case. So far my problems like yours was the CDROM drive was dirty. Cleaning the laser made it read the CD and boot.

 

[osvoldk]

I have also heard of bad CDs also, meaning that they become scratched, or no longer readable, especially if it is a burnt CD not from Apple.

 

[dtravis7]

What CD are you trying to boot from? Is it a FACTORY Apple OS CD? What version is it? OS9? OSX?

 

[MDK]

First, I will need some more information, I have some great contacts if I am unable to solve it myself. First, what booting cd are you using? Exactly what do you mean that it doesn't have a OS? Has it ever been able to run an operating system, and which one. When booting from target disk, was your other computer able to see the hardrive? Beside the what you described, any other syptoms of the computer? Furthermore, are you running OS X or OS 9?

I am Using a OSX (tiger) DVD. It's not burned. My CD rom does play DVD's Making it a Combo Drive. The Tiger DVD is in Good condition and is not specific to a certian maching.

By it not Having an OS is that I mean the Hard Drive is Blank. It Has been Fromated (Journaling) through an external enclosure.

It has been able to run an Operating system in the past OSX 10.3 (Panther)

When I booted from Taget disk mode My working computer didnt even agnoledge the broken ibooks existance. How ever I was able to boot from Target disk mode with my working mac, This allowed me to peek around inside the broken ibook.

The only other syptoms that I can think of is that when I had the working mac up on the brocken mac in target disk mode, the mouses tracking pad wasnt all that responsive. I had to hook up a USB mouse to get around. The USB moust worked great... leaving me to beleave that the USB ports or functioning properly.

And for your last question... I'm running OSX 10.4 Tiger.