G3 is stuck on Happy Mac

I had bought a new fresh copy of OS X 10.0 and installed it on my Hard Drive...about 5 times now. Theres no third party hardware in the machine,but the videocard does tend to show trails of random things and colorwhen im working in Mac OS desktop and other programs. So i started to play a game and couldnt get out of it cause the screen went black so i hit the reset button on the front,the monitor showed black but the mac chime sounded. So i reset the PRAM by Command,Option,P and R and now the happy mac face is there only the hard drive does nothing,i hear no loading at all. The harddrive isnt old and works very well,im just wondering why the machine wont progress any further than the Happy Mac Icon. Ive actually reinstalled OS X 5 times now cause of this problem and each time something locks up the system. Firmware is up to date,it has plenty of RAM and Hard Drive Space so what could be the problem?

The minimum version of Mac OS X worth loading on a Mac is 10.2. Previous versions are not worth the pain and suffering.
Mac OS X 10.0 is really not very stable or very good. No one wants to support it because it works badly, if at all.

Similar Messages

Stuck on Happy Mac?

Hello,
my old iMac G3 (summer 2000) is stuck on the Happy Mac during boot! I can put a CD in and boot from a software restore disk, which I did, but even after restoring it's not working! Help me please!
P.S. I'm running OS 9.0.x

It's good that it's the happy Mac & not the sad Mac. Look at this link.
Mac OS 7.x - 9.x: Troubleshooting Startup Issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1926
Try a startup with extensions Off (depress the Shift key at startup).
If that doesn't work, try a PRAM zap (Depress the following keys at startup; CommandOption+PR & listen for at least 2 bongs; then release the keys)
Once you get your startup problem resolved, you should update your OS to at least 9.1 (or higher). The freeware updaters are at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1387
 Cheers, Tom
Message was edited by: Texas Mac Man

Happy Mac Day To Me

Happy Mac Day To Me!!!
Its been 4 years since I brought home my G3 Graphite iMac. How time flys. I remember needing a computer. I had lost my job, my wife started working from home, and I was attending college part time. This meant the Gateway was now hers for the purpose of work. I was thinking about another Gateway, maybe a Dell. I also remembered that Comp USA had this neat little section for Apple. This section stood out from the rows of generic pc’s. This section was in a word cool.
It was different. From the carpeted floor, to Nanosaur on the iMacs to the aura that one would feel a sense of quality. The look and feel of these computers was well, superior. “Just looking” I would say to the helpful sales people. These machines are gorgeous, but a little tough on the budget. But I liked the seamless appearance and interface of the Mac. Even if they were an all in one. The pcs were just clones of each other, take off the manufactures label and you couldn’t tell one from the other. Pcs had no where near the software or extras like on the Macs.
Then it happened Mac World 2002. The incredible g4 iMac was released to an unsuspecting world. I pounced...on the g3. It was seriously marked down. All that power, speed and all those applications. I just couldn’t resist.
On January 12th 2002 I brought home my graphite 40 gb, 256 mb 600 mhz iMac. And immediately panicked!!! What was I thinking? I didn’t know Apple! Certainly I didn’t know this OS X stuff! No applications from Windows would work with this this THING! Right? I had seven days to see if I liked this Apple iMac, if not it goes back in the box and I get a nice safe Windows PC running 2000 or better yet XP. Day 1, 2, 3 went by. The box only feet away. Back to Apple store I thought. Back to the Apple store. I’ll just pick it up and put it in the box. Truth be told it almost happened. Divine intervention I speculate.
Some where around day four, my wife, she’s pretty smart, told me 2 magic words. Learning Curve. The box slowly got pushed aside. My iMac started to become...cool again, I didn’t know it could do that, Wow that was easy! This iTunes is awesome (V. 2), This is really cool!!! Words of praise started to come from my work area in the recently refinished basement. The box disappeared. It got donated to give an old Tangerine iMac that was loaned to me safe passage to a school in need of good working computers. Day 7 came and went. I think I was playing with iTunes, Quicken 2002, Nanosaur, and of course I was online, at the same time! My new trusty friend, my iMac was here to stay!!! The fun had just begun.
I started to learn and LOVE OS X. I switched back and forth between OS 9 and OS X. I found that I liked the stability of OS X that much more. I do like OS 9. I started to learn then love the applications. Most of my associates degree assignments were done on my iMac. Thank God for spell check!!! My job search changed from knocking on doors and reading the paper to e-mailing resumes and internet searches. Macintosh became an integral part of my life. Even Charlie, my tabby cat is learning OS X. He has the file renaming down to a science. Chelsea, the kitten loves HP printers. Cats! Must be the whole feline theme.
I look back on these past four years as a wonderful period of my life. My iMac was and is a big part of that. My Mac and my Jeep pick up with plow stand out as the two best purchases I have ever made. It snows a lot in Ma. Since I bought my iMac an iBook found a home here last Christmas. For a birthday present an iPod Photo resides here. My darling wife who after 15 plus years of crashes, viruses, as well as hang ups, and blue death screens from Windows 3.1 to 2000, switched. November 1, 2005 her Mac Mini arrived. Two days later she, (had to go to work due to job change) was saying “What took me so long, this is great” and “I love my Mac!!!” Told you she’s smart. She’s spreading the word. The Gateway has since been put out to pasture. That, by the way arrived on a Halloween. What does that tell you. Scary!
Now, just after Mac World 2006 the future looks bright. Strong leadership, bold innovation, and a sense of optimism and excitement. So if their is anyone on the fence here is a little advice from a former procrastinator. The question isn’t whether to buy a Mac or not, but which Mac to buy. Go to an Apple store,Comp USA, or other authorized reseller. Talk to them, tell them your wants and needs. No pressure, just a pleasant experience to say the least. Buy what suits YOU. You will not go wrong. You will be very, very happy that a Mac calls your place home.
I'll post this in Tiger as well.
Thank you all at Apple and the discussion boards too!
God Bless,
Lee Janerico

Lee
It certainly took some time, but every day's a Happy Mac Day! I started using Apple with a strange Apple2 running DOS in 1980 something.. possibly before 85, but cannot stretch the neurones that far. Bought a Mac+ (512K ram on system 5... wow) then a SE30, Centris610 then went mad on a PM8500, PM9600 and now started collecting imacs and other strange things like Newton Message Pads that nobody wants to know. OS9 is a wonderful thing, Hypercard is magic, GUI fun, and OSX is all very well, but itfor me is not as exciting as firing up my old SE from 1989-90, running up OS6 and watching things happen on a paper white screen... yes, I AM WIERDperson, but I am exstatically happy with my Macs

Happy Mac Day To Me A Success Story.

Happy Mac Day To Me!!!
Its been 4 years since I brought home my G3 Graphite iMac. How time flys. I remember needing a computer. I had lost my job, my wife started working from home, and I was attending college part time. This meant the Gateway was now hers for the purpose of work. I was thinking about another Gateway, maybe a Dell. I also remembered that Comp USA had this neat little section for Apple. This section stood out from the rows of generic pc’s. This section was in a word cool.
It was different. From the carpeted floor, to Nanosaur on the iMacs to the aura that one would feel a sense of quality. The look and feel of these computers was well, superior. “Just looking” I would say to the helpful sales people. These machines are gorgeous, but a little tough on the budget. But I liked the seamless appearance and interface of the Mac. Even if they were an all in one. The pcs were just clones of each other, take off the manufactures label and you couldn’t tell one from the other. Pcs had no where near the software or extras like on the Macs.
Then it happened Mac World 2002. The incredible g4 iMac was released to an unsuspecting world. I pounced...on the g3. It was seriously marked down. All that power, speed and all those applications. I just couldn’t resist.
On January 12th 2002 I brought home my graphite 40 gb, 256 mb 600 mhz iMac. And immediately panicked!!! What was I thinking? I didn’t know Apple! Certainly I didn’t know this OS X stuff! No applications from Windows would work with this this THING! Right? I had seven days to see if I liked this Apple iMac, if not it goes back in the box and I get a nice safe Windows PC running 2000 or better yet XP. Day 1, 2, 3 went by. The box only feet away. Back to Apple store I thought. Back to the Apple store. I’ll just pick it up and put it in the box. Truth be told it almost happened. Divine intervention I speculate.
Some where around day four, my wife, she’s pretty smart, told me 2 magic words. Learning Curve. The box slowly got pushed aside. My iMac started to become...cool again, I didn’t know it could do that, Wow that was easy! This iTunes is awesome (V. 2), This is really cool!!! Words of praise started to come from my work area in the recently refinished basement. The box disappeared. It got donated to give an old Tangerine iMac that was loaned to me safe passage to a school in need of good working computers. Day 7 came and went. I think I was playing with iTunes, Quicken 2002, Nanosaur, and of course I was online, at the same time! My new trusty friend, my iMac was here to stay!!! The fun had just begun.
I started to learn and LOVE OS X. I switched back and forth between OS 9 and OS X. I found that I liked the stability of OS X that much more. I do like OS 9. I started to learn then love the applications. Most of my associates degree assignments were done on my iMac. Thank God for spell check!!! My job search changed from knocking on doors and reading the paper to e-mailing resumes and internet searches. Macintosh became an integral part of my life. Even Charlie, my tabby cat is learning OS X. He has the file renaming down to a science. Chelsea, the kitten loves HP printers. Cats! Must be the whole feline theme.
I look back on these past four years as a wonderful period of my life. My iMac was and is a big part of that. My Mac and my Jeep pick up with plow stand out as the two best purchases I have ever made. It snows a lot in Ma. Since I bought my iMac an iBook found a home here last Christmas. For a birthday present an iPod Photo resides here. My darling wife who after 15 plus years of crashes, viruses, as well as hang ups, and blue death screens from Windows 3.1 to 2000, switched. November 1, 2005 her Mac Mini arrived. Two days later she, (had to go to work due to job change) was saying “What took me so long, this is great” and “I love my Mac!!!” Told you she’s smart. She’s spreading the word. The Gateway has since been put out to pasture. That, by the way arrived on a Halloween. What does that tell you. Scary!
Now, just after Mac World 2006 the future looks bright. Strong leadership, bold innovation, and a sense of optimism and excitement. So if their is anyone on the fence here is a little advice from a former procrastinator. The question isn’t whether to buy a Mac or not, but which Mac to buy. Go to an Apple store,Comp USA, or other authorized reseller. Talk to them, tell them your wants and needs. No pressure, just a pleasant experience to say the least. Buy what suits YOU. You will not go wrong. You will be very, very happy that a Mac calls your place home.
Originally posted in the iMac g3 section but i wanted to share with potential switchers.
Thank you all at Apple and the discussion boards too!
God Bless,
Lee Janerico

Lee:
What a beautiful story! And how well you tell it!
In a sense your story is every mac user's story, only the names and details are different. We love our macs, even when they challenge us.
Thank you for reminding us of the satisfaction and thrill of owning a mac.
Good luck.
cornelius
Pismo400, 100 GB 5400 Toshiba internal, 1 GB RAM; Pismo 500 OS 10.4.3 Mac OS X (10.3.9) Beige G3 OS 8.6

Stuck with Apple Mac OSX 1.7.2 update!

My MacBook Pro Early 2011 is stuck on the Mac OSX 1.7.2 update.
I ordered Lion OSX from App Store about 2/3 months ago.
It says:
Software Update
Installing 3 items
Progress Bar
This may take a few minutes; do not shut down your computer.
And it has been going about 45min. on the same screen.
And i don't have a Time Machine recovery and don't want to lose my data.
PLEASE HELP!!!

I have solved my problem!
I just shut it down with the power button.
Waited 10 minutes (i kept trying before but did not start up).
I started it then it restarted about 4 times then it started up with all my data.

I have a DVD stuck in my Mac Pro laptop. I can't access the drive to eject it. There is a rainbow circle icon that just keeps spinning on the screen.

I have a DVD stuck in my laptop. There is a rainbow circle icon on the screen that keeps spinning. I can't access the eject DVD in the toolbar. How do I get it out of the DVD drive?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4278382
https://discussions.apple.com/message/18074621#18074621
http://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/quick-tip-how-to-force-eject-a-stuck-dis c--mac-31662
http://guides.macrumors.com/Force_Eject_a_Stuck_CD_or_DVD

HT1338 CD is stuck in my mac- doesn't eject

Hi a photo cd is stuck in my mac - can't get it to eject. tried everything, with Itunes -command eject etc... nothing works HELP

Try rebooting your Mac while holding the mouse key down - keep it down until the CD ejects or the Finder is completely loaded.
If this fails you may have a hardware fault which will need the attention of an engineer.

G3 won't startup (grey screen with happy mac)

My sister has a iMac G3 that all of a sudden stopped working. When it's turned on, we get the chime, a grey screen and a happy mac, that's all. It just sits there. I've tried restarting with the C down, using the PRAM trick, putting in a CD startup disk (though not the one it came with), disconnecting the USB drve/hub, but get nothing. We've had problems with the CD drive before, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was broken too. Any help would be appreciated. It's a blue iMac (maybe a 350mhz?. Thanks in advance
iMAC G3 (350mhz) Mac OS 9.0.x

You may need to replace the PRAM battery. A weak or dead battery has been known to cause startup problems.
If you can startup from a Mac OS installation CD, you can run Disk First Aid from the CD (for Mac OS 9) in the Utilities folder, and verify (and repair if necessary) the internal drive.
If you suspect the CDROM drive, you can also try disconnecting the CDROM drive internally to see of this will allow the iMac to start up. Sometimes, a bad drive will prevent another drive on the IDE bus to not be recognized.

Happy Mac that will not go away

My worse case scenario is now in play. I tried starting in OS 9. I have a Happy Mac that will not go away. Hard shutdown and restart and it is the same story.
I read somewhere that you could hold down the "X" key after the tone to force the system to load OS X but as far as I can tell that is nothing more than a fairy tale. I have tried it in the past and I tried it repeatedly last night.
I have no apparent way to get this computer to start up without using CDs - I cannot use a startup CD or Disk Warrior or anything else because my G4 MMD is currently not recognizing that there is a combo drive present. It was part of troubleshooting that problem that caused me to try to startup in OS 9 to begin with.
IF I was able to get it to startup in Target mode, could I use a laptop to try to change the change the startup HD system back to 10.4.8? If ever I needed help before, I need it now. PLEASE, any ideas?

What I used was the Option key. That showed all of the OS that are in my machine. I chose OS 10.4.3 and started up. I clean permission both in OS X and OS9, and restarted with the drive with OS 10.4.8. I understand that will even work with external opticals with CDs.
The kicker is that even after repairing OS 9 permissions, I tired a restart and ran into the same issue. I got out of it the same way with the Option - a very powerful command at start up if your system is configured efficiently to use it. I did not try the OS 9 on the drive with OS 10.4.3 but I guess it would be the same. I'll try it if I am ever forced into it.
So I am to go - go back to figuring out why my 2 internal optical drives (who reappeared during all of the above) will not read media, that is. It does not reject them it just ignores them. But, that is another thread.
Thanks for you assistance, I really, really mean it. Lots of good karma generated.

Macbook 2009 No happy mac sound

When I boot my macbook, I am not getting the "Happy Mac" sound, it goes thru the normal pinwheel and Lion comes up normally. Does this mean that somethig is wrong with my Macbook?

No answers?

Unhappy "happy mac " !

Here's something for you to puzzle over.
I ran Disk Warrior against my main boot partition last week from a backup partition and rebuilt the directory. I then set it to boot from the main boot partition and everything went pear-shaped.
All the Mac does now is boot to a happy mac screen. I am unable to boot from CD - I hear it spin up, but nothing happens - no safe boot ie Command Line. I have zapped PRAM, reset the CUDA and am now at a loss as to what to do next !
Any suggestions anybody ?
Many Thanks
Alan

Good morning, Alan,
Hmmm. What version of DW did you run? 3.0.2 will work fine on Jaguar, but not 3.0.3.
Next thought --- how old is your PRAM battery. Perhaps it has just coincidently decided to run out of gas?
When you say you ran DW from backup partition -- is that an OS9 partition? Can you boot from that backup partition? Doesn't sound like it.
What CD are you trying to boot from? OSX install CD? OS9 CD? Booting from DW CDs has generally been problematic. If you are pressing the C key to get it to boot from CD, try NOT pressing the C key and see if that does it. I know it doesn't make sense, but has worked for me.
All peripherals unplugged for now?
When you opened the box to reset CUDA, did you check all cable connections and look for signs of fraying anywhere? Also, sometimes the personality card (big card next to PCI slots), works itself loose on its own. Make sure it is really really firmly seated.
Keep us posted....
Tina

Delay when booting. First flashing folder with ?, then happy Mac...

Hi,
I recently tried to install ubuntu on my old CRT iMac DV model, but everything went miserable wrong so I tried to reinstall OS9 from my Install disc and again that didn't work either. After some helpful assistance from this forum I figured out that it was either the install disc (scratched) or the PRAM battery.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Apple Tech Service Centre kindly burnt me a new copy of my install disc adn supplied me with a new battery. I ahve successfully installed OS 9.2.2 but when I boot the iMac I get a flashing folder at first with a "?" sign and then after 10-20 seconds it changes to a happy Mac icon adn starts to boot.
Has anyone got any idea what is happening and is it something I should be concerned about?
Cheers
Manuel
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) also have iMac G3 OS 9.0.4

Hi, CMNG. Your Mac's behavior suggests that there is no startup disk designated in the Startup Disk control panel, so the Mac is taking extra time scanning all possible locations and busses for a potential startup volume before resorting to the only one that turns up. Open that control panel, select your hard drive, close the control panel, and the problem should be gone the next time you restart.

Start up stops at the happy mac

I have an old color iMac that has worked fine until recently. Now the computer goes to startup, but will stop at the happy Mac symbol and just stay there.
Does anyone know if there is way to reinstall the os without the CDs? I have no idea where my disks are now.
Or is there another way to fix my good old iMac?
Thanks in advance for any help!

There is no way to reinstall without the installation discs. Unfortunately, the problem you've reported requires installer discs to resolve.
You've posted this as apparently an OS X problem since your profile indicates you have 10.1.x installed. However, the "happy Mac" is a relic of OS 9. Are you sure you've posted in the proper forum?

Flashing '?' switches to 'Happy Mac' but still doesn't boot

I recently had to reinstall OS X. After successfully doing so, everything works fine, including Classic. But when I try to boot into OS 9.2.2, I get the flashing question mark for about a minute, then it switches to the 'Happy Mac' icon, and I assume it will boot... but it doesn't. It just sits there. A re-install of OS 9.2.2/Classic was successful, but it hasn't changed the problem.
I never encountered this before, even in the 'old' days of OS 6, 7, and 8.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

Hi, Mike -
A couple of thoughts come to mind...
1) When you re-installed OSX and Classic, did you first reformat the drive? If so, perhaps the option to install OS 0 drivers was not selected during the formatting process. If the OS 9 drivers are not installed on a volume, OS 9 can not mount the volume - and this includes being able to use it as a boot volume.
2) Is it possible the OS 9 System Folder is not blessed? In OS 9 the 'blessed' status is indicated by a glyph of the Mac OS being superimposed on a standard folder icon; not sure whether OSX does the same, or if you have to find that status info elsewhere.
One other possibility, perhaps. If you have added any non-original hardware to the machine, hardware that requires proprietary software in order to be used in OS 9, if that software has not been re-installed in OS 9 then the machine may balk at booting to OS 9.

Mouse appears before Happy Mac:

Why does the mouse appear for like 15 seconds before Happy Mac appears?????????

Hi, In-Correct -
Baby Boomer is far from being a "silly person".
Fact is, you do have a habit of not giving adequate info about which of your machines, and its particulars, is pertinent to the issue you wish to discuss. You have several threads going in more than one forum; it is not reasonable to assume that a potential responder is familiar with all or even any of them. Responders, including frequent ones, visit forums of their choice; given that there are over 450 unique forums in Apple Discussions, the chances of a particular responder having seen one or more of your other threads is slim.
Baby Boomer responded referencing the only info available in your post - the info in the machine specs line at the bottom of your post. It does not mention OS 9.
As a courtesy, but more importantly to save everyone's time including yours, it helps if you include in your thread-initiating post the pertinent information applicable to the issue given - the particular machine model (especially if you have more than one machine), which specific OS it is running, etc. Or, you can alter your forum specs for that post - there is an entry filed to do that in each post-message screen (the screen where you write the message); changing the info in this field will not change that info included in previous posts, it will only remain in effect until you change it again.
We can't read minds; we can't see your machine; we may not recall (or be aware of) info in other threads you have posted. All we have for sure is the info you give in a particular thread, so it helps everyone if you include all pertinent info in every thread you start.
<hr>
Re this question, why the cursor (not the mouse) appears before the OS-booting displays appear -
The short answer is - because it does. It has done so since probably OS 1.
The long answer is something along the lines of - because the cursor display is generated via one of the many hardware-based routines ("toolbox" routines) which are called up before the OS has started to load.
It is good that this happens. If it did not, then -
• Startup Manager (what you get when holding down Option during startup) would be useless; and
• the Extensions Manager intercept function (holding down Spacebar during boot) would probably be useless.
The cursor's presence at that time is also a sometimes useful trouble-shooting factoid if the machine hangs during booting - if the cursor is movable (repsonsive to the mouse), it would tend to indicate the loading of the OS has bogged down on an item, and perhaps waiting it out is the answer; if it is not responsive, then the machine is in a total lockup and needs to be reset (and all too often this can indicate a hardware fault). And, if the cursor does not appear at all at the inception of booting, there is definitely a hardware problem.
If you happen to use a third-party mouse and third-party mouse software (including USBOverDrive), you will note some behavior issues at that time - the mouse will be very, very slow in tracking speed; and, for multi-button mouses, clicking (such as in the Extension Manager window if that intercept is invoked) will work using only the default button particular to that mouse.

G3 is stuck on Happy Mac

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