G3 Dalmation iMac won't boot

[kharm]

Hi,

I have been keeping a spare G3 'Dalmatian' iMac around for parts or to replace my indigo G3 iMac if needed. I've now got a G4 QS and want to get rid of the Dalmation.

I turned it on to check it didn't have any data that should be removed before selling and got the screen with alternating question mark and macOS icon. The HDD was busy chirping away so I thought I'd leave it for a while. It didn't move past this screen but in the end the question mark went away and it just stayed on the MacOS face icon.

Tried booting it to target disk mode and accessing the HDD from my Indigo machine - nothing mounted and Drive Setup didn't show any disks except the Indigo's internal HDD and CD drive.

Tried target disk mode the other way (indigo on Target mode) to see if I could boot the Dalmatian off the indigo drive. Got the flashing question mark again which seemed odd. Tried restarting with option key down (why not) but no drives came up on the system selection screen (just the restart and continue buttons) - but the internal HDD was still chirping away so I left it. I'd given up but then my 4 year old piped up 'Daddy it's doing something' and the internal HDD showed up with the correct name! The cursor had disappeared so I tried hitting enter. After ages it progressed to a grey screen, and eventually the floppy disc with a question mark. *sigh* Another restart and it managed to find it's way to the question mark over the floppy.

I can probably just sell this as 'for parts/not working' (probably not worried enough about 'sensitive' data to open it up and pull out the HDD), but I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions.

Will probably try the above options a few more times - seems to be blowing out some cobwebs as it goes!

It's curious to me that it didn't even see the indigo HDD in target mode.

[Roman78]

Looks like a defect HDD...

Were are you from? I like those G3s 

[kharm]

Brisbane Australia. 

I have been so excited about my new G4 Quicksilver, but I must admit with the prospect of ditching the iMacs I have been noticing how nice the indigo iMac looks on the desk ... and it has NO FAN!!   

[kharm]

If it's just a failed hdd why wouldn't it boot from the indigo macs hdd when in target disk mode?

[kharm]

UPDATE!: I tried again and was able to boot the dalmation using the indigo's internal drive via target disk mode. Hooray!

Couldn't see the Dalmatians internal drive from OS9. Presently it is attempting to boot to the indigo's OSX installation. But it's stuck on 'waiting for local disks' on the boot screen (with the Dalmatians drive seeking away audibly ...)

Time to have a cuppa and later on I'll check whether it has sorted itself out.

Interesting that it just seemed to need some more time to figure itself out after a long stint on the shelf

[refinery]

Interesting that it just seemed to need some more time to figure itself out after a long stint on the shelf

my beige G3 is like that. i think its just old electronics, really. if it gets unplugged for more than a few hours, I have to let it sit, plugged in for a while, before it will start up. not sure why, its got a new lithium battery in it.

my korg oasys pci card in another machine is like that too, but its only the card.