General NOOB help

[nd2003grad]

I don't know where to post this, so I'm going to here.  I have several questions!

1.  I have some files of the "img" variety, but OS9 reads them as documents.  How do I make these usable?  I'd really like to.

2.  I have used Classilla, which is fantastic.  However, I moved some files by accident.  I moved them back, but now Classilla displays as a document only.  Is there a way to get this executable again?  I've tried re-downloading--same result.

3.  This is really reaching, but I wanted to try to install osx on a second drive as an alternative OS.  I can't get any install CD to work...at all.  I can get tiger to boot to an apple symbol, but it hangs there.   Using a 450 G3 B/W with 1G ram.

Thanks!

[ovalking]

Items appearing as plain documents is usually caused by a corrupted desktop database.
Hold down Command and Option keys during startup in order to rebuild the database.

[nd2003grad]

Thank you, I tried that and it didn't do anything...I'll try the "right" option key later.  Another question....does anyone know how to register actiongomac?  My "trial" period expired and it disappeared...really great utility.

[nd2003grad]

 Scratch the register question, figured that out.

[macStuff]

if you are having alot of problems it might be a good idea to do a fresh installation on a fresh disk or partition

glad to see another user of the G3 B+W 450mhz!

[GaryN]

Thank you, I tried that and it didn't do anything...I'll try the "right" option key later.

Are you saying that you did get the window to rebuild the desktop, you rebuilt it and it didn't help or that the rebuild window never appeared? If the latter, you need to try again. Press and hold the command and option keys together immediately after the startup chime and hold them down until the desktop appears.

[GuiBer]

About Action GoMac, an help can be found here :
http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/action-gomac-211 

[nd2003grad]

Thank you everyone.  I've been very busy.  Yeah, I don't think I held down the keys long enough as nothing happened.  I'm going to take the advice on the OS as soon as I get a chance (and if option/cmd doesn't work).  Thanks for being a cool community.

[macStuff]

I don't know where to post this, so I'm going to here.  I have several questions!

1.  I have some files of the "img" variety, but OS9 reads them as documents.  How do I make these usable?  I'd really like to.

sounds like your files may have been corrupted? u can try to drag the file to an appropriate software that handles that filetype and hope it just works... .img can be opened (and optionally converted to .dmg) in ppc versions of osx by Disk utility or in os9 by disk copy i think? its a very standardized file format if its an NDIF .img file; basically osx disk utility is a combination of software originating in os9, combining drive setup with disk copy!

https://fileinfo.com/extension/ndif
"An NDIF file is a disk image saved in Apple's New Disk Image Format (NDIF), which was introduced with Disk Copy 6.0, an older Mac Classic application. It compresses data in a dual-fork format, which is comprised of metadata in the resource fork and data in the data fork. NDIF files were used as an older format for mounting file systems on Mac computers."

2.  I have used Classilla, which is fantastic.  However, I moved some files by accident.  I moved them back, but now Classilla displays as a document only.  Is there a way to get this executable again?  I've tried re-downloading--same result.

just erase the classilla directory entirely and reinstall. easy fix.

3.  This is really reaching, but I wanted to try to install osx on a second drive as an alternative OS.  I can't get any install CD to work...at all.  I can get tiger to boot to an apple symbol, but it hangs there.   Using a 450 G3 B/W with 1G ram.

this could be due to the cd/dvd rom drive that you have installed in the B+W g3.. my machine was incredibly buggy/wierd and i find the blue + white g3s to be kinda wacky to deal with, (moreso then even the pci graphics yikes! g4) due to the early open firmware implementation

my suggestion: replace the optical drive with a more modern one that will more easily read modern CD/DVD media; there have been numerous subtle changes in optical media since 1999, alot of the rom drives from that time period will have difficulty reading optical media that can be purchased today (and from the last 10 years or so since around 2008 time period)

if replacing the optical drive is not an option at this time, u can try to make sure u are using DVD-R media (as opposed to DVD+R) this can make all the difference in being able to read the disc properly

lastly; ensure that u are using the right disc! for PPC (not Intel)

also to avoid buggyness i suggest u use matching ram sticks
that are all in the original spec for the machine
(for the B+W G3, that means PC100 SDRAM, either 128MB or 256MB size -- i dont think it supports 512mb sticks) if your ram is a "variety pack" there can be subtle differences that make the computer prone to behaving badly with strange + hard to analyze issues
also some pc133 ram can have problems with downward compatibility to pc100
although some pc133 can work just perfectly

good luck!

[nd2003grad]

Hey, folks!

Yeah, I have now successfully rebuild and it didn't help Classilla.  I tried doing a "restore in place" and it told me that the disk may be unusable and that the restore failed (even though the only real problems I'm having at this point are: 1.  Inability to get Classilla's exec file to show as a program and 2. Inability to install OSX).  It's frustrating because that browser made my life much easier.  I suppose I could try moving my OS disk stuff to disk 2, doing fresh install, then moving relevant data back...maybe that should be my next thing.  Aside from that, my system is making me pretty happy and I'm glad to be a part of the "club."  I loved these B/W computers so much in college, but I only got to use them to type damn research papers and surf the net (or was it still "information superhighway" back then?).

If anyone knows what software or driver is necessary to run Classilla aside from the files themselves, I'd be much obliged!  I've tried the replace entire directory thing. Other than that, I think fresh install may be in order.  I also DO have a new optical drive. 

If I were just to put OS9 on a new partition (neither of my drives are partitioned), how big would you make that?

[macStuff]

if you deleted and then reinstalled classilla from a fresh download
and it still doesnt work then you have some kind of problem with disabled extensions or other settings

i recently had a problem with appleshare not letting me connect over tcp/ip
all i did was restore my os and everything was working again
i had disabled a bunch of extensions that caused the error

if i was in a similar position i would just reinstall my os to fix it quickly
other people would compare extensions sets i guess

new fresh install is the fastest way to fix strange problems for me
u can do an install on a partition as small as 8gb/16gb/32gb
os9 doesnt take much room

[nd2003grad]

Believe it or not, doing the cmd/option trick another time AND re-copying the directory for Classilla was successful!  What a great piece of software, btw.  Impressive. 

Now on to getting Softwindows98 or something similar to work and getting OSx on track sooner or later...no luck yet, but I think it's media-based.

[nd2003grad]

I've got MOST of this ironed out, except trying to install OSX.  I FINALLY got it installed, only to get stuck on the happy mac (10.1) or the Apple logo (Jaguar).  Anyone have any idea on these?  There's not even a spinning anything.  It's installed on a separate drive.

[nd2003grad]

Never mind!!! I got it fixed, it was a master/slave/jumper problem!!!