No dings or external dents in the outer case, especially near the right internal mounting point or along the front of the case where drive ejects? (Had one here with a fairly severe right corner dent that changed the position of that right front mount just enough to interfere with eject.)



Other than that, a very sparse light coating of lithium grease applied to the drive’s internal metal pivot arms and other moving parts can do wonders.

If the keyboard being properly installed interferes -  that suggests the drive is somehow “higher” or otherwise out of normal position (from other possible damage?) for some unknown reason or another.

Is it an original optical drive or a replacement of some sort?

All red-dotted tabs correct and no other obstructions (rubber pads, etc.) to interfere here on the bottom side of the top?

Thanks for the link, J. Great to see (and hear) the “old man” being creative… even if he’s in his pajamas originating from the new Inter-dimensional Retirement Center for Forum Masters.

And yes, an added ripping guitar solo break might have just set the video completely on f-f-fire!

Of course, I’m mostly kidding here. But honestly, big thumbs up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aevNQBEawPQ

You owe us a guitar solo, DieHard!

Strangest Valls ever!

I have tried editing nvedit but when I start and press ALT, only the OSX partition appears

Code: [Select]

nvedit

Code: [Select]

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
80010201 encode-int " cpu-version" property
device-end

dev /pci@F2000000/mac-io/i2s/i2s-a
" screamer" encode-string " compatible" property
device-end

Press CTRL + C to exit the NVRAM editor.

Code: [Select]

nvstore
setenv use-nvramrc? true
reset-all

If this works, then copy it into a script.

If you wanted to wait, I might try modifying one of the ROMs tonight (but no promises). I don't currently have any machines to test with right now

Wow, thanks a lot! I'll try, but I don't know if I'll be able to write a script that runs at boot time. I'm not sure how to do this.

If you could make a modified ROM, that would be perfect! I can wait; there's no rush. If I can provide you with any information you need about the iMac, let me know how I can get it and I'll help. I guess using a 7447 instead of a 7445 doesn't change anything.

Thanks!!!

Bump. Again this is free and very close to being taken to e-waste.

Shipping would only be about $20-30 across Australia.

Hi Indibil,

Congrats on the upgrade, that's a fast machine!

I haven't had much to do with the unsupported installations for a while, but from what I remember a lot of the later G4 models have an unsupported sound device, and require the "screamer" fix to trick it into thinking the current device is compatible. This does require using Open Firmware (at least once).

My suggestion would be to follow the steps in that post with the "screamer" fix. When it boots you can write a script so you don't need to deal with Open Firmware every time (guide also referenced in that post). If you write a script with the Open Firmware commands, you only need to set the boot device to the script in OFW and it will run the commands automatically.

I've been planning to look at modifying the Mac OS ROM to run some of these commands, but I haven't had enough time recently.

A while ago I tried messing around with OFW to bring graphics support to the unsupported iMacs but was unsuccessful - a post you may find interesting/might want to do some experimenting with:
https://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=7054.msg54720#msg54720



In summary, boot into OFW and enter these commands as a test. It's likely you need to apply the "screamer" fix which I don't think is present in any of the Mac OS ROMs contained in the ISOs.

nvedit
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
80010201 encode-int " cpu-version" property
device-end

dev /pci@F2000000/mac-io/i2s/i2s-a
" screamer" encode-string " compatible" property
device-end

Press CTRL + C to exit the NVRAM editor.

nvstore
setenv use-nvramrc? true
reset-all

If this works, then copy it into a script.

If you wanted to wait, I might try modifying one of the ROMs tonight (but no promises). I don't currently have any machines to test with right now

What annoys me even more, regarding to my initial posting. I had never any issues with any router/adsl- or cable modem. I used 5 different ones the last 2 decades with WEP or no encryption without any problems. Just now my new phone gives me just "half internet access" :-/

I've been thinking about your issue off and on as I'm still troubleshooting my intermittent Airport issues (random disconnects, sometimes no internet access but LAN access is fine, etc.). I wanted to break your situation down a bit further and maybe get some clarification if you're up for it.

I assume you're on OS 9.2, but which version of Airport are you running? I've just updated to 2.0.4 and turned off "Interference Robustness" myself and was surfin' the net last night (all 3 sites I can access) without issue. This morning, however, it gives me like 5 minutes of good internet connectivity before it stops connecting (but I can still access my LAN server just fine), so it seems my pancea wasn't. I'm now having to turn off my iBook's Airport and back on to get a few more minutes of internetting.

Since you're hotspotting from your KaiOS phone, I assume other devices can connect to that hotspot without the issues seen on your Ti? It sounds like there's not many user configuration options on the KaiOS side, and you said you turned off wifi encryption so that shouldn't be the issue.

With my original Airport Base Station set into bridge mode with DHCP/NAT disabled, my iBook's Airport control panel also displays the "Getting status.../Status not available" loop every few seconds. I assume it's because DHCP/NAT is disabled and Apple didn't care to include status message handling for bridge mode.

For your TCP/IP settings, I assume you're set to DHCP, does the IP assignment look correct (IP has been assigned, not on the localhost 169.254.x.x subnet, etc.)? Since you said you can surf with Classilla and find a file to download, I assume it's set correctly, so it could be some protocol on the cell phone carrier's side that cuts your session short.

When your download stops transmitting, are you also unable to surf the net at that point? And is the Ti still connected to the KaiOS's hotspot?

If you don't download anything, how long can your surf the net? And I assume your KaiOS phone is positioned near your Ti computer for optimal WiFing, but are there other bluetooth or wifi devices nearby that could be contributing interference? And is there a way for your KaiOS to change which WiFi channel it's operating on?

Edit: Also, and I keep forgetting, if you have a dead battery your system clock might not be set correctly. This prevents me from connecting to the internet, either because of my router or ISP or mage that guards the portals. I won't get any messaging that my system's clock is set incorrectly, with the web sites Classilla will just time out on the "Connecting to <website>..." and stop trying. Even trying to sync my system clock via the Data & Time control panel doesn't work, which makes me think it might be an issue with my router (maybe even the Airport Base Station) rejecting packets because the timestamp is off by decades.

Hi, I just finished setting up my Super iMac G4, it was fun:

https://rosysumenteinquieta.blogspot.com/2025/07/hace-unos-dias-os-mostre-con-imagenes.html

Now I just need to add the SSD, but before that, I've been trying to install OS9 without success. I've tried every .ISO I could find, every Mac OS ROM I could find, and I've had no luck. I'm looking for a way to boot into OS9 without having to run Open Firmware commands; I don't want to have to figure out how to boot into OS9 again once the battery dies.

For the iBook G4, I was able to install OS9 with a custom-made Mac OS ROM:

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-922-boot-file-ibook-g4

Does anyone know how to modify a Mac OS ROM so my iMac G4 can boot OS 9? What information should I provide?

Thanks.

I am finishing up restoring a 17" Powerbook G4. Everything is working as it should with the exception of the Optical drive, which does not properly eject. It starts ejecting, then the media must strike something, the eject process stops and pulls the media back into the drive.

I have several working drives which I have used to install system and software, but the only way to get the media to eject is to leave the keyboard deck loose and hold it up out of the way when ejecting. I have not encountered this problem before and am at a loss to sort out what is blocking the media from ejecting. The media can be inserted normally and works normally, but does not fully eject.

I did a search on the forum and did not see any mentions of similar problems or solutions and would appreciate any ideas about what is  blocking the eject. It seems that something is in the way, or the drive is miss aligned. Thanks for reading.