I have an old PowerMac G4 500Mhz (specifically a 3,1 variant but with an ATI 9000 Pro card installed - specific model: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/stats/powermac_g4_500.html ) sitting under my desk that I thought I could use to experiment with MorphOS.

I have the latest version and have burned a few discs to ensure that wasn't a problem.

The issue I have that I only get a couple of lines of text when I try to boot from the CD and it halts at that point. It does not respond to any keyboard input or doesn't do anything if left for some time.

The last two lines of input start with "CPU0:" and state the CPU model (<7400> I think, I'm not at the same location as the PowerMac to check on a boot just now) and the second line would appear to indicate its clock speed.

I've tried entering into Open Firmware and tried some boot options that MorphOS provides but get no further than booting by holding down the C key from a restart.

I should have the original Rage 128 card it came with somewhere so will try to dig that out but from the hardware compatibility list, the 9000 card I have in is supported too.

From what I gather, MorphOS should boot on this particular model (though sound is not supported on the 3,1 models).

I've struggled to come up with any answers via Google. Most people having problems with booting get much further in the process or discuss booting from the hard drive. I should at least be able to get into the Live CD environment.

Can anyone offer any possible advice, solutions or reasons for the problem?


Thanks in advance!

(edit to fix link)

[ Edited by koko64 28.05.2011 - 01:47 ]

I had that problem, but it went away when I burnt another CDRW.

Which you've already tried I see.

If I boot into the current Mac OS 9.2.2 install that is on the computer, I can read the discs I've burned ok.

Does anyone know what the next step in the boot process is at this point after it identifies the CPU and its speed? Could this be a memory issue?

There is also a second hard drive in the machine, would this cause any freezes on boot?

I'll see if I've got a different brand of disc to try and burn to.

When I get back to the PowerMac, I'll make a note of the exact text I see in the boot process.

koko64,

Since OS9 boots okay with this PowerMac and morphos fails early on in its boot process i wouldnt expect it to be a memory problem.

Until someone comes up with something more specific i would strip the powermac down to its basics.
ie 1 hard drive 1 memory stick no external cards (sound?) etc.
and try to see if you can get it to boot from that.

Martin

Personally, I'd consider changing the CD/DVD drive. For some reason, on my Powermac, MorphOS is rather picky about which drives it will work with (where as my OSX partition will work with almost any drive).

Thanks, I'll try the strip down to see if that has an effect.

Its been a few years since I got this machine (it was my primary machine for a time running OS X til I got some updated Apple hardware) but I may have changed out the CD/DVD drive for something better - either because the original was not performing or to be able to burn CD's. I should have a couple of optical drive lying around somewhere so will see if that has an effect too.

The exact boot up text I get is:

Quark/OpenFirmware
console active
System: <PowerMac3,1> Rev <>
CPU0: <PPC7400> Version 0xc Revision 0x208
CPU0: CPUClock 500000000 BUSClock 99630669


...and that's it.

If I boot into OpenFirmware with the Cmd Shift O F keys, the version number, in case it might be relevant, is:

Apple PowerMac3,1 4.2.8f1 BootROM built on 10/11/01 at 14:12:47

...followed by the usual copyright and welcome messages.

Solved! Thank you Jim!

As suggested, tried a different optical drive and this sorted it. I was hoping to post this from within MorphOS but having some issues with network connection though this appears to be a known problem and I should try a Realtek PCI card instead ( https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_ ... 8&forum=11 ).

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

Glad you got it working.

I had some problems with my mac mini optical drive but i thought it was only the mini G4 that had the poor quality drives.

Yeah, its a weird issue that I've discussed privately with Amigadave, but MorphOS does appear to be pickier about CD/DVD drives then OSX.
I ran into the problem initially when I first tried to install MorphOS on my Quicksilver.
A few other people have mentioned it, but its not a major issue. From what I've been able to tell, all Apple drives appear to work fine.
I just happened to be using an non-Apple DVD drive. I didn't have to swap in an Apple drive, but I did run through a few others I had on hand till I found one that worked 100% correctly.

Good luck with the system. I originally had a 733Mhz processor that was more then adequate, so your 500Mhz CPU should work fine (definitely better then an Efika).