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Need some help with a...*choke*...Emac.

HeXploiT

HeXploiT

Diamond Member
Alright i picked up this emac at the local landfill today just because it looked so shiny new. It's an Emac G4-700/384mb/40gb/combo drive/geforce2 0SX 9.1 system. Now i don't have a keyboard for it yet but i plugged in a usb mouse and after it loads the programs there is one message that tells me that the quicktime software won't load because it's out of date and immediately after that message box closes it freezes up and i can't click on any of the icons although the mouse can still move. In the far left upper corner of the screen just to the left of the little apple there is something that is repeatedly blinking even when the system is frozen although i don't know what it is.

Does this sound like a software issue? Could a reinstall of OSX fix this problem? Should i waste $20 to buy a keyboard for this system? Can other linux os's be installed on a mac?

I know absolutely zero about macs. Sure it a cute little machine though.
 
I guess it's a pure software issue. The eMac 700 model isn't brand new, it was produced in summer 2002. Cool thing you found it in good condition. Maybe a tech unsavvy person or a school with too much money dumped it... The described problem seems to be a typical OS 9 freeze (on the boot screen there is no X, right?) However to repair this issue a keyboard is absolutely necessary. Look at it this way: If your project fails, you can sell the keyboard or use it for your next PC system... 😉 Second thing you may need is a bootable CD with Mac OS 9 or X, or even better a system installation cd/dvd of said operating systems. Five OS match the eMac's requirements:

Mac OS 9: Stone-age old... but if you can grab it for free, why not? It will do the job
Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1: Early versions of OS X are cheap nowadays if you can find them, but they have a certain Beta-version flair 😉
Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3: This versions are somewhat cheap, rock stable and support many features.
Mac OS X 10.4: The actual version, comes on a DVD but this should be no problem for the Combo drive. However it's the most expensive solution of your problem.

System CDs are available at ebay, sometimes in the For Sale/Trade section of this forum and in other places, but only OS X 10.4 is available through Apple.

But before you buy an operating system, try to boot the eMac while holding down the "X" key on your keyboard (if you're going to buy it). This should make the eMac boot in OS X. Maybe the OS X installation isn't as screwed as the OS 9 one. (This of course imlies that right now the eMac is booting in OS 9 and not OS X.)

It is possible to install Linux on Macintoshes. Mandrake and Debian are among the more common Mac distributions. And there is Yellow Dog Linux, from a company that only develops for Apple hardware. They have a deal with Apple and are allowed to sell Macs with Linux preinstalled.
 
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