Flashing question mark on Apple G4

[Suture]

I recently acquired a Powermac G4. Here are the stats:

G4 400MHz
512MB RAM
ATI Radon 9000 Pro
10/100/1000
DVD-ROM

I borrowed a friend's OSX DVD to make sure this thing works before I buy a new HD and my own OS.

Since it didn't have a HD, I installed an old 10GB HD I had lying around, and attempted to boot off the optical drive. It gives me the flashing question mark and Mac smiley face (I don't know what he's smiling about).

I tried the following to boot from CD/DVD:

• Held down [C] during bootup
  Held down [Option] during bootup
  Held down [Command] during bootup
  Held down [Command] [Option] [Shift] [Del] during bootup

Also reset P-RAM with [Command] [Option] [P] [R] -- note it did not beep or anything. It gave no indication it did something. Anyone have any suggestions on things I can try? I have been wanting to try a Mac again and was hoping I could get this running to get my feet wet before I dumped money on a 20" iMac.

 

[drag]

The flashing question mark just means that it can't find the boot media.

If you do the pram reset correctly it should beep and reboot. You can hold it down and it should just keep doing that.

The easy way to make sure you do it is a bit tricky to do. (stupid I know)

What you do is hold down cmd-option-p-r when the machine is turned off. As your holding down that stuff then you hit the power button. I used to do this with no shows on then I could hit the powermac button with my toe. Eventually I figured out how to position my hand so I could hold all 4 buttons with one hand, but I still used the no-shoe technique when nobody was around.

Same thing with booting to the cdrom. Don't hit the power then hold down the c button. Hold the c down first and then hit the power button second.

Then just sit there holding the C button down until it gives up and tries the cdrom. Sometimes it takes longer then other times. Sometimes it won't notice that your doing this.. It take 3 or 4 times for this to work for me sometimes.

 

[Suture]

I tried your method (previously I was turning it on and in under a second was holding down the buttons), but it's still the same -- still won't even beep when resetting the PRAM, even when I hold it down for 60 seconds, which I'm assuming is more than adequate. I was considering picking up a copy of OS 9.2 I found on Craig's List for cheap, but I'm starting to think that something else is wrong with this thing.

 

[drag]

Ya, I am not sure. It's been a long time since I messed around with those powermac g4s.

It's possible that it may just not like your harddrive. Try removing that and see if you get anywere.

 

[Oyeve]

Can you run the disk utility from the boot disk? Could be your HD is not set to boot.

 

[KeithP]

Are you sure it has a DVD-ROM drive and what version of OS X did you borrow? I ask because OS X 10.4 normally only comes on a DVD. If the drive is actually a CD-ROM that would be a problem.

You could try a PMU reset. See this Apple Tech Note. You may want to replace the motherboard battery before you try this.

If all else fails check the jumpers on the optical drive. Try cable select or master (assuming it is on a IDE channel by itself). It could also be the optical drive is dead.

A good place to get Mac parts is Other World Computing. I just bought an Apple ROM DL DVD burner from them for about $30 plus shipping. Here is that burner.

-KeithP

 

[Suture]

It's 10.4, and I double checked to make sure it's a DVD-ROM drive. Thanks, I'll check out those links.

 

[Suture]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I officially gave up on it this morning. Could be so many things. I spent under $90 and bought a used working G4 off eBay a few minutes ago. Comes with OSX, too, so I figure I can play with that before I decide whether or not to buy a new iMac.