ever had one of those nights where everything seems to go wrong? I have a little iMac g3 600 dv for sale in tomorrow's paper, so I thought I better put it back together. its a lovely little machine, and I was putting the same 20gb hdd back into it that I took out a few months ago. Anyway I could not install 10.4 from a dvd or 10.3 from a cd, so i decided to do an install using Target Disc Mode over firewire, which worked sorta.
I ended up with 2 'puters that would not boot, the iMac and the PM that I had installed from. Took me a little while to work out the issue with the PM, which is that I turned it off BEFORE resetting the boot disk back to the original one, so when it boots its looking for the no longer attached firewire hdd. That I can fix.
What i can't work out is why the iMac won't boot from its hdd. The hdd definitely has a bootable instalation of 10.4. I know this because I took the whole drive assembly back out and stuck it into another PM I had lying around and booted from it. I am currently updating this installation as I write (I am on yet another PM in another room).
To recap. Could not boot from hdd in Imac.
Installed a clean copy of 10.4 using Target Disc Mode.
Still could not boot into os x (getting cute little grey folder).
BUT when I install this hdd into another 'puter it boots fine.
*** thinks out loud*** Could the ram inthe imac be corupt (Its new I have not used it before)?

sao

PS drink of choice tonight is XXX Special Brew, proof that even big brewers cabn make a good beer when they choose to

Drop the booze. Sober up and do it again in the morning.. then post again if it still dont work with all your steps..

Seriously I think if you do the above it will probably end up working when you try it again in the morning with a fresh head and thoughts.

no. I think the memory is bad. I paid $2 for it on ebay and have not tried it before. before I give up for the evening I am going to swap in a known good simm and see if that works.
But I agree, logic and alcohol don't mix well, and logic is what you need to trace your steps. Its just interesting that the hdd is working fine in the PM.

sao

AMAZING! it is the memory. I stuck another simm into the 'puter and it boots fine. Well its upside down but once i put it back together again it will be fine.

sao

PS Purana I'm not drunk. I have been imbibing moderately as is my wonr. While i would not drive I am certainly no where near hangover territory.

Purana. I got up this morning and put the iMac back together. Sold it to a nicve guy who was buying it for his father (given that he was middle aged his father must have been quite old). Threw in an external cd writer and some usb cables. Upped the ram and it worked a treat. I had forgotten how nice the xceeen was on that particular iMac, very clear and sharp.

sao