My iMac G3 couldn't start to its OS. Question icon and Finder in folder appear

Question

A folder with question mark appears simultaneously with a finder folder. When try to boot in Open firmware and input the “mac-boot” code, it suddenly restart then it will back to the first problem. I don't have any iMac OS CD so try to give advice using simple terms if possible. I'm not kinda' techy person. Need immediate assistance.

Answer 1

Your hard disk appears to have a problem. Sometimes it can be fixed using a built in diagnostic. Sometimes it is just broken and can't be fixed.
You can try this:
(1) Restart computer, holding the Apple key (which is next to the space bar) and the S key down together as the computer starts up.
(2) After a few moments, you should see a dark screen with light typewriter-style text on it. Wait until the text stops appearing or scrolling.
[If you don't see what I describe you probably have a hardware failure and will need to replace the computer unless you can find someone to repair it.]
(3) Hit return once or twice. Then type the following, exactly, and hit return:
fsck -fy
(4) You should now see various things being checked and confirmed, and you may see a message about things being fixed or repaired. If the last message is that this computer "appears to be ok" then you can type
reboot
and see if it starts up. [If it still won't start up, your disk is probably broken and not fixable.]
(5) If you see a message that something is fixed or repaired, then re-enter the
fsck -fy
command and keep repeating it until you get the "ok" message above.
(6) If this fsck command cannot fix it, or if you see a message that says something cannot be fixed, or it still won't start up, you need something stronger.
(7) The next step is to purchase Disk Warrior, boot from that DVD and run that program. It can sometimes fix things that the built in Mac diagnostics cannot fix. Disk Warrior costs about $100.
It is worth trying the above things but a computer this old may be near the end of its life, and certain types of hardware failures might not be repairable, or might cost more to repair than a new computer would cost.
It doesn't hurt to try the fsck command above. fsck = file system check, it is a built in repair capability.