On Aug 16, 2012, at 8:34 PM, rebtevye <[email protected]> wrote:
> USE CASE:
> Supporting a grade school Mac lab and am trying to make a consistent load for
> all of the iMacs (G3, Indigo, 500MB RAM), with OS 10.4 and OS 9.2.1
>
> PROCESS:
> I followed the recommendations in How to Clone Mac OS X to a New Hard Drive,
> using Carbon Copy Cloner instead of SuperDuper. To simplify this operation, I
> connected the target iMac to the source machine using a firewire cable, and
> starting it in [T]arget disk mode.
>
> RESULT:
> The transfer went very well, however, when I disconnected the two machines
> and tried to boot the target iMac, the gray OSX startup screen came up
> briefly, then a black square ~2" x 3" popped up on the screen and the
> computer shut down.
>
> When this has happened in the past, I started up from a OSX install disk and
> re-installed the OS.
>
> This time, I tried booting in Safe Mode (hold Shift after chime, and release
> at gray apple), and the computer booted up, starting me at a user
> selection/login screen. When in Safe Mode, I ran Disk Utility and confirmed
> permissions were OK. I also reset PRAM on the next restart.
>
> Still, the computer either gave the black warning screen, or just went dark
> and shut off.
>
> Any other suggestions? I would rather not re-install from scratch on every
> computer, plus I like the advantage of having the same 'student' and 'admin'
> user accounts on every iMac in the lab.
What you are experiencing is a kernel panic. In G3 iMacs on which OS X has been
loaded, this usually means bad or incompatible RAM. To successfully run OS X on
a G3 iMac, both sticks must be the same speed, have the same latency and
preferably be made by the same manufacturer. IOW, they should be identical in
all performance characteristics, except capacity, i.e. they can be of different
sizes (64 MB, 128 MB, etc.)
I have successfully done exactly what you are attempting to do, and also in a
grade school Mac lab.
Since OS X 10.4 is very picky about RAM, and does all sorts of strange things
when it doesn't like the RAM, the first thing I do with a G3 iMac is to put it
on its side and open the RAM door. Then I boot it from the Apple Hardware Test
disk. If the iMac chimes and boots with the installed RAM, that's a good sign.
If it beeps or refuses to chime and boot, I substitute RAM until it does chime
and boot.
If the iMac chimed and booted, I then check to see if the specs of the two
sticks are identical. Both must be matched, with the same latency ("CL: 2.5"
etc.), and with the same PC100 or PC 133 numbers. The amount of RAM on each
stick can vary, but the specs must be identical *in that particular iMac*.
Mismatched latency can really play havoc with a G3 iMac running OS X, as can
mismatching PC 100 with PC 133. Data moves at different speeds because of the
mismatch and sooner or later OS X cries Help! and that's the kernel panic
screen you see.
(When I've got a large number of iMacs, I usually put all the available RAM --
512 MB is optimal -- into a big pile and laboriously test pairs of sticks using
just one iMac. As I identify specification-matching pairs, I mark them "AHT OK"
and put them in an iMac. It's a lot of work, but it's the only way to ensure
the iMac will run OK with OS X 10.4. OS X 10.3 and earlier versions were much
more forgiving of mismatched RAM, but not good ole Tiger.
If, after sorting out the RAM you still have problems, check to make sure the
iMac slot-loader's firmware has been updated to (IIRC) 4.19f1 or something like
that. I still find G3 iMacs that have never had their firmware upgraded to the
latest. Since Apple's Software Update stopped being available to G3 iMacs
online this year, you may have to dig into apple.com's support website a bit to
find and download the firmware updater.
Have fun!
Jim Scott
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