IMac G3 DVD 400-3 beeps

Question

I have a friends iMac to fix, it has been difficult; I posted at first about a DiscWarrior cd that was stuck in the drive "causing it to not start", requesting help with getting the disc out.
Well I got the CD out by dismantling the computer and removing the CD/DVD drive only to discover that the slot loader has a sort of gate that prevents removal. So I reconnected the power and plugged the DVD drive back in to the internal power cable, started up with the computer open and the DVD drive resting on a front edge but with a paper clip pressed to the Emergency Eject button - this in time worked. The disc ejected.
I put the computer back together, installing two new sticks of 512 Mbs RAM while I was at it (which I now realise might not have been the brightest thing to do) and so started up with an empty DVD slot. Exactly the same sequence of events took place. No screen image, no chimes, just the graunch sort of noise of the initial start-up (normal sound), the power button glows green but nothing further.
If I try Option start with my LaCie FW Pocketdrive (it has a System and System folder) attached, I get 3 beeps after about 30 secs, while still holding down Option (I'm not sure if this should work or not - the OS is 8.6 and I don't know if Option start was an Option back then!!). I have not seen mention of 3 beeps or its significance in all the literature that I have looked at in the last 3-4 days as a direct consequence of getting involved with this iMac. I have read all that I could find and am now stumped because having removed the back panel and connected a spare monitor to the VGA port I get no image on the second monitor either.
So far everyone has talked of OS 9 or OSX but not 8.6 - I don't know what to do next. I do have a Software Install and Restore disc for the G3 that has 8.5.1. on it. Should I try starting from this? I also have the OS9.0.4. Install discs for my old G4 DP 500 that I could try. Given that the DW disc got stuck in the slot (I know now that TTPro and DW can cause this to happen) I am nervous of this getting stuck too.
I know that what I really need to do is run the Firmware Updater 4.1.9. that I downloaded but as I can't start the computer or see anything on a screen, I don't know how to proceed. And as I can't start it I can't tell you much about it other than that when it WOULD start, prior to me running DiscWarrior, I had ascertained that it was a 400 Mhz G3 with 192 Mbs of RAM. It is Dark Blue which could be described as Indigo or Bondi Blue, it has a 9 Gig Maxtor HD which is called Barry's New HD implying that it is a replacement.
I tried a Firewire Target disc mode (with the G3 attached to my G5 - which CAN'T boot into 9) start-up but this did nothing other than cause the 3 beeps as well. Should I try this with my G4, as this will still boot into 9? The one thing I have not done is check the internal PMU(?) battery but I didn't think that this would cause all this strife. I have discovered the 3 beeps are to say no ram installed! I removed the 2 new sticks and find they are 133 and the originals are 100 BUT I do remember seeing that the slot loaders are suppposed to take both speeds!?
Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I'm not sure whether it was beeping because it didn'y want to know about the NEW RAM that I had put in - 2 x 512 mbs of pc-133 (the old ones were pc-100i) or that I hadn't pushed BOTH of them in properly. I have added and removed RAM from so many Macs that I find this difficult to believe.
The RAM supplier, Microseconds, was sure that this slot loader would take both pc-100 and pc-133 sticks (on the sticks it says -Edge PC-133 memory, followed by PC-133-322-620, pc-100 compatible) so I don't know why it didn't want to know about this memory.
Possibly it is because I haven't yet resolved what is clearly a much bigger issue, one that I didn't know about until a few days ago; the iMac Firmware and Installer/Utility disc issue that has resulted in an unbootable iMac, that I now feel I should not have gone near but my friends are waiting for me to "wake it up" and so I must persevere.
I have tried Firewire Target Disc Mode, Ethernet, Option start with a FW drive attached that contains a System folder (admittedly, OS 90.2.2 and the iMac is still 8.6), OS 90 Installer disc and I have also tried plugging another monitor into the "concealed" VGA socket - all to no avail so far.
My next thought was that I only have the option of removing the HD and putting it into another computer and updating this to OS 9.2, then putting it back into the iMac BUT I do not see how this is going to allow me to boot the computer or see anything on the monitor so as to then open the Firmware Updater 4.1.9. I'm stumped. Any more ideas would be great to hear about..