Open Firmware Mystery

I have duplicated this strange problem on both my G4 tower and Aluminum Powerbook, which is that I cannot get Panther OS X version 10.3.9 to boot off the Panther OS X CD, it instead boots into open firmware. I also have tried to get the machine to boot from my previosuly worked-just-fine Disk Warrior CD (Panther Version) and again, it boots into open firmware and acts like it cant find a bootable disc - it seems all this worked just fine before the last couple of updates.
I went ahead and just upgraded my G4 tower to Tiger just to avoid the issue altogether and things are swimming there...
So my question is, how do I get my Aluminum powerbook to boot up using the Panther CD or Disk Warrior? I have a disk related issue that needs to be resolved with either Disk Utility or Disk Warrior, and obviously I need to boot from either of these in order to operate on the disk.
So, anyone have any idea what the heck is going on here?

Thanks, but that doesn't work. I reset the PRAM, but it still boots into open firmware when I attempt to boot from the CD of Panther - when I try to boot from the disk warrior, it gives me the "you need to restart your computer" screen.

Similar Messages

  • Start-up problems, black screen or open firmware

    My iBook G4 1.33GHz Dual USB, with 1 gb RAM memory has been troublesome lately. It's installed with the latest version of OS 10.4.9
    When starting up the ibook, it will sometimes only show a black screen after the boot chime. Repeated force restart sometimes makes it boot up the open firmware (white screen).
    Then I see the error message:
    "Illegal instructions at: %SRR0:ff85e778 %SRR1:00081000"
    When I continue on with "mac-boot", I get the blue screen with a question marked box. So it can't find the startup disk.
    This usually only happens when I'm done working for the day and close the lid on my ibook without manually clicking on the sleep mode when I put in in my drawer,. I've seen several times that the screen is still on when I close the lid, so it will continue to burn battery time.
    I've managed to get the ibook to boot properly after removing the battery and letting it "cool-down" for 15-20 min. Also, zapping pram, vram sometimes works, but I don't know how much that actually helped. It worked once when I typed in the reset-nvram in the open firmware screen too.
    I'd rather not have this happen at all! Any suggestions? Is this the much-talked about RAM memory failure?
    Any suggestions would be very appreciated.
    Message was edited by: antony chen

    HI,
    *"I get the blue screen with a question marked box."*
    That can mean several things. One, the drive is failing. Two, your iBook can't find a System Folder to boot from. Try booting while holding down the Option key which will prompt the Startup Manager window.
    MemTest
    Boot from your install disk and check the hard disk for errors.
    Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
    Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
    Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
    Select First Aid in the Main panel.
    (Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
    Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
    If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
    If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
    When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
    Select your start up disk and click Restart
    While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window where you see Capacity and Available. Make sure there is always 15% free disk space. Not enough disk space can cause directory corruption.
    If you cannot boot from your install disk, try booting in Safe Mode
    A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
    Carolyn

  • PowerBook G4 boots to Open Firmware without keyboard access

    Summary:
    Let me provide a little backstory.
    According to the [DARPA Visitor Guidelines|http://www.darpa.mil/body/visitor_guidelines.html] wireless network technology is prohibited from DARPA facilities. Laptops with a wireless card are required to be "disabled at the BIOS level".
    Before an upcoming visit to DARPA I was told that I would need to make sure my laptop wireless card was disabled. I mentioned that Macs don't have BIOS but I'd look into doing it in Open Firmware. The response from DARPA was that no one has ever successfully brought an Apple laptop into the facility, and that I should procure a PC laptop for my visit. Ah, a challenge!
    I booted into Open Firmware (⌘⌥OF), located the wireless card in the device tree, and removed two properties I figured the driver would be searching for: the vendor ID, and the product ID. I exited Open Firmware and continued to boot into Mac OS X v10.5.2.
    Sure enough the System Profiler showed that no wireless card was installed. Success! Now I just need to make the device tree modifications persist between reboots.
    It seemed the solution was to place the Open Firmware commands I issued to disable the card into nvramrc. So I set nvramrc to contain the same commands, and set use-nvramrc? to be true. I rebooted the machine but the card was still detected.
    A bit [more research|http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/805-4436/6j4719c8v?a=view] revealed that the device tree is not created by Open Firmware until after the nvramrc is executed. The solution is to build the device tree in the nvramrc and tell Open Firmware not to rebuild it. The documentation states that this is accomplished with the probe-all, install-console, and banner Forth commands. I added those commands to my nvramrc and rebooted. The contents of nvramrc:
    probe-all install-console banner
    dev wireless
    " device-id" delete-property
    " vendor-id" delete-property
    The outcome... well technically the laptop has wireless disabled. Almost everything is disabled. The machine now boots directly into Open Firmware with a few ominous bits of output and no response from the keyboard.
    no active package
    Apple PowerBook5,6 6.4.9.1f1 BootROM built on 01/21/05 at 10:51:16
    Copyright 1994-2005 Apple Computer, Inc.
    All Rights Reserved.
    Welcome to Open Firmware, the system time and date is 05/06/2008 10:00:00
    Command security mode
    To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return.
    To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return.
    ok
    0 > _
    The first sign that something has gone wrong is no active package. The second message just throws another wrench into the works: Command security mode. Yes, the Open Firmware password was enabled. In retrospect this was a bad thing to have set when mucking about in OF. I knew of the RAM change trick (see below) so this was not an issue at the time.
    Question:
    So the question is: What actions do I need to take to return the laptop to a useable state. That is, booting into Mac OS X.
    *Attempted solutions:*
    +1. Reset nvram+
    The first and most obvious solution is to reset nvram using the snag key combination ⌘⌥PR. Unfortunately do to the firmware password being set, [all snag keys have been disabled|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352]. This means no target disk mode (⌘T), boot from CD (⌘C), boot from network (⌘N), etc... In any case an attempt at resetting nvram yields an additional message being appended to the Open Firmware screen:
    Release keys to continue!_
    +2. Reset nvram after changing amount RAM in system+
    Luckily there is a work-around to firmware password protection. Changing the amount of RAM installed in the machine should allow the nvram zap snag to function. I removed one of the two 512MB DIMMS in the laptop and started up while holding down ⌘⌥PR. This results in the same message as above:
    Release keys to continue!_
    Not so lucky.
    +3. Reset the Power Management Unit+
    [Resetting the Power Management (PMU)|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449] is accomplished by removing the battery and disconnecting the power cord, and then holding down the power button for about 5 seconds. This had no effect besides resetting the system clock to 01/01/1904 00:00:41.
    Getting more desperate...
    +4. Search logic board for CUDA+
    I [opened the machine|http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G4-Al-15-Inch-1-5-1-67-BT-2-0 -LR/64] to search for a hidden [CUDA button|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760]. As expected, a CUDA button does not exist on this model and the PMU reset is accomplished as noted in attempted solution 3.
    +5. Remove internal battery+
    Well the laptop is open now, so I tried removing the internal memory backup battery and revisited each of the above solutions. No success.
    +6. Remove hard drive+
    Again, since the laptop was open, why not remove the hard drive and see what happens. The machine wasn't even making it to the boot-loader hand-off so I didn't expect this to produce any results. No results produced.
    Thinking crazy thoughts...
    +7. Attempt a firmware update+
    Firmware updates have a side effect of resetting the nvram. Also firmware updates are initiated very early in the startup process by holding down the power button until a tone is heard and the power light flashes. My thought was that I would grab a previous firmware update for this laptop and force it to be reapplied. Unfortunately there have been no updates to this model's firmware.
    +8. Write my own firmware update script+
    While investigating solution #7 I realized that the file BootROMFirmware installed by the firmware updaters for G5s and G4s machines are just Forth programs with a binary payload attached to the end. I learned [Forth|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth(programminglanguage)]. The BootROMFirmware files are really cool, since they do everything from drawing the progress bar during the update, uncompressing and check-summing the binary payload, and generally making sure you don't brick your machine. In any case it seem entirely doable to write my own program in Forth and undo the evil I did before. I really only need to flip one bit. I needed the use-nvramrc? variable set to false. So I created this very simple Forth program:
    \ debrickifier
    setenv use-nvramrc? false
    reset-all
    The original firmware file had additional attributes set, a creator and file type of fw99. So I set those two attributes on my file as well. I ran strings on the firmware installer program and guessed that it was copying the file to /System/Library/CoreServices. So this is where I placed my Forth file. Reinstalled the drive and rebooted the laptop while holding down the power key to initiate a firmware install. No dice.
    Its hard to tell why this is failing. The file may in the wrong place, have the wrong permissions. From what I've reviewed in the original files, the setenv and reset-all words should be available. Maybe the Firmware Update utilities are setting some other magic in nvram before the reboot.
    I think I've covered all the different major solutions that I've attempted. Their might be a few more that I've forgotten to mention (like using an external USB keyboard). I still think that getting some Forth to execute via the firmware update mechanism could use some more exploration. My current worst case is that I'll replace the logic board, although I'd hate to do that when I know there are only a few bad bits flipped in a CMOS somewhere.
    I'm hoping to snag the attention of the resident hardware/firmware guru that can shed some light upon the firmware update process, but any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
    Cheers,
    Mark

    For your next DARPA visit, another option might be to buy the cheapest possible third-party wireless card — it doesn't even need to work. Insert it into your Powerbook's CardBus slot before visiting DARPA, and turn Airport off in System Prefs. On arrival at DARPA, remove the card from the Powerbook and hand it to the security guard. Retrieve it from the guard as you leave, and turn Airport back on again when you get home or back to your office. Unable to comply with the letter of the dunderheaded regulation because you have no BIOS, you will be complying with the spirit of it instead, and no one will be the wiser.

  • I am having a Startup problem. Someone comes on the screen with Open Firmware to Startup. How can I reset the PRAM myself to solve this problem?

    I am having a Startup problem. Someone comes on the screen with Open Firmware to Startup. How can I reset the PRAM myself to solve this problem?

    Read these.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431
    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10330118-263.html

  • Start-up Problem - White Screen Open Firmware

    Hi
    Just turned my eMAc on and got a new beeping sound, the little light on the front flashed several times and then the screen went completely white with the following message;
    Apple PowerMac 6,4 4.8.2f1 BootROM built on 03/11/04 at 09:18:55
    Copyroght 1994 - 2004 Apple Computer, Inc.
    All Rights Reserved
    Welcome to Open Firmware, the system time and date is: 07:26:35 10/20/2006
    To continue booting, type "mac-boot" and press return
    To shut down, type "shut-down" and press return
    ok
    0 >
    I typed in 'mac-boot' and return and everything starts and 'appears' to work as normal.
    I have shut down and restarted twice and the same thing happens. I also noticed that the push button switch seems to be sticking.
    My question is - Is this a hardware issue (the start button is faulty) or is it a software (firmware, corrupt file)?
    Many thanks for help and advice
    Mick

    It's possible it's a hardware problem, but first I'd suggest you try resetting Open Firmware:
    At the 0 > prompt, type:
    reset-nvram
    and press Return
    At the 0 > prompt, type:
    set-defaults
    and press Return
    At the 0 > prompt, type:
    reset-all
    and press Return.
    With luck, that will clear things and you'll be back to booting normally.
    Hope this helps.

  • Long tone on start up and then goes into open firmware

    I stumbled upon the older posts here and thought I'd add a solution.
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6115258
    It was about an emac starting up with a long tone and the led flashes a few times and then goes into Open firmware, and when doing "mac-boot" in open firmware, it attempts to start, shows the apple symbol, the screen goes dim and crashes.
    It could be a bad power switch. To confirm - you can remove the emac case, be careful not to touch the motitor's picture tube. Find the cable to the power switch; with a small wire just touch together the black and red wires on the power switch cable (or it might be red and green). This will start the emac. If it boots up and runs OK then the power switch was bad. Not sure where to buy a new switch. I soldered and glued my switch together.
    <Edited by Moderator>

    Or, you'll find both the short pigtail-cabled nVidia graphics driven power switch and the version with a longer cable used with the AIT graphics driven models here* for a good deal less.
    Note that the later ATI version can actually be used with either product generation.
    *I may receive compensation as a result of parts or services being ordered by users specified at the link shown in this message.

  • IBook G4 - Black screen in open firmware

    Hi, i have a strange problem with my iBook G4.
    When switched on it chimes and starts loading but the screen is completely black (not no backlight but completely black). In otherwords it does not show the grey screen or apple logo.
    Once the OS boots the blue screen comes up and everything works perfectly.
    So the problem is that anything before the actual OS loads is black. That means the grey screen with apple logo, open firmware and the drive selection screen (if you boot holding ALT/OPT) are all black.
    I have tried resetting the PMU, Pram and blindly (with black screen) in open firmware did reset-nram and reset-all but nothing changed.
    It is a late 2004 iBook G4 1.2Ghz with 512MB ram, 30GB HD and OSX Leopard 10.5.8.

    This is a strange one, isn't it?
    I'd count my lucky stars that it will boot into the OS, and I'd be saving up for a new MacBook Pro (or used MacBook).
    I'm going to kick this one around with some of the gang in the Lounge and see if any of them have any ideas about what may be causing this.
    Good luck with it.

  • How do I install an open firmware password on my 10.6.8 OSX Macbook?

    I tried to download the lastes version of open firmware, but it is incompatible with the version of my computer. Don't tell me to use a disk I got with my computer, that would be for a Macbook Pro, not a Macbook, which is what I have. Please tell me if you can find a link to a firmware password program for Mac OSX 10.6.8, or if you have another way of installing a firmware password. Thanks.

    You have other problems on your computer, then, or not reading carefully. Note this:
    "For Mac OS X v10.5.x, start from the Leopard Install DVD and choose Firmware Password Utility from the Utilities menu, then skip to step 5."
    For Snow Leopard if the above does not work, then look for the Firmware Password utility on your Snow Leopard DVD.
    Oh, and please don't click on the Helpful or Solved buttons for your own posts. 

  • Open firmware startup disk by default

    I have an iMac which by default always goes to the open firmware startup disk screen. How do I get rid of this? I have tried zapping the PRAM, reinstalling the OS and a different hard drive. There are no problems w/ the functionality of the computer or the software and there are no symptoms to say that there is anything wrong w/ the computer. Just want to get rid of having to hit enter at the firmware startup disk screen every time I turn it on. Any suggestions please.

    Mark, it appears that the defauly startup mode has been changed on your Mac.
    Probably the easiest way to get back to normal is using a utility. I use the free utility OnyX. In OnyX go to Parameters>Login and at the bottom of the pane you can change your Mac's default startup mode.

  • Strange boot bug; open firmware not working

    Hi!
    I have a powerbook Alu 15", 1.5Ghz. It runs OS X 10.4.2 with the latest security update. My problem started last Saturday.
    The problem is that my pb will not restart nor boot on its own. The computer makes its usual chime, the hard-disk starts to spin for a few second, and then stops suddenly before anything is displayed on the screen (the display does not even light-up). If I press the option key after or before the chime, and keep it pressed, or the shift key, or the c key, or the t key, or the command-option-p-r key combination, or even the command-option-o-f key combination, the behavior is exactly the same: the disk starts to spin for a few second after the chime, and suddenly halts. The computer appears to shutdown on its own before the boot can even start.
    Here is the strange part: the computer boots normally if I press the command key (this key on its own is not suppose to do anything). It also works if I press the command-s or command-v key combination. No other key combination seem to work.
    Except for this strange boot behavior, the computer works flawlessly. I did not have any kernel panic for at least a year, the computer did not crash recently, everything works fine except for one small detail on which I will come back at the end.
    I've tried to fix the problem by the following actions:
    1) Clean install of Tiger with a new partitioning of the disk; I even zeroed the entire disk. This did not change anything so the problem is probably not OS related.
    2) Reset of the PMU with the four finger salute: shift-control-option-power combination. No effect except that I lost the date/time information. Hence the reset worked.
    3) Tried to reset the PRAM, but the command-option-p-r key combination does not seem to work.
    4) Tried to load the open firmware with command-option-o-f, but this does not work either.
    5) Memory seems ok. I have 1x256M of Apple RAM + 1x1G of RAM bought from OWC. I've had the OWC RAM for about a year without any problem. Anyway, I removed the 1G module and tried to boot on the 256M Apple module alone. Exact same behavior. Then I removed the Apple module and put back the 1G module. Exact same boot behavior. So the problem is not with my RAM, unless both modules have simultaneously developed a malfunction.
    6) Tried to run the Apple hardware tests. However, for my machine, these tests come on the install DVD, in a special hidden volume. To boot on this special volume, one needs to boot with the option key depressed, and to select the boot volume from the open firmware interface. But this does not work on my machine, the computer seems to shut down before this interface can be activated!
    So this problem is very strange. I can live with having to press the command key for booting my machine, but I would sure like to know what is going on here. Is the problem hardware related? Perhaps, but as I said, the machine works flawlessly except for the strange boot behavior.
    Is the problem related to firmware? I think that this is the most probable option. What do you think? Maybe, the firmware got slightly corrupted? Maybe a bit got flipped in the flash memory? Is this possible? I guess so. But, what can I do? Should I contact my friendly local repairman?! I have to admit that this option scares me a little bit for such a strange problem. I would need an Apple engineer with boot related experience/expertise!
    Now, here is a little bit of further information. I don't know if its related, but it is also very strange. I work with a dual screen configuration. Usually, I connect my screen and then I wake up the computer. Last week, I noticed that if I connect my second screen live, the system detects it automatically. I guess this is new to Tiger? Anyway, the strange behavior is that the computer then asks me if I want to sleep, restart or shutdown my pb, as if I had pressed the power button. But I did not press this button when I connected the dvi connector >:-o
    Many thank

    Hi Scott!
    Almost every time the PowerBook woke after sleep, I got the 'Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now...' message.
    I get this message upon wake only rarely, but every time I plug or unplug a display live.
    The strange behaviour was tolerable, so I've lived with it for several months. But then when checking out the PowerBook discussions, I read about the failing lower RAM slot problems, and just out of interest, checked out my System Profiler....
    Ok, so the good news is that my pb may continue to work for several months
    My lower RAM slot appears to be ok for now.
    Interestingly, I'm sure that the start-up problems began when I started using my PowerBook with a 23" Apple Cinema Display (a pink hued one, but that's another on-going saga) - and you too have mentioned that you use an external display, so I wonder if that's part of the cause of our start-up problems.
    Yes, I've noticed the 'Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now...' message just a few days before noticing the strange boot problem (not sure if the machine booted in between). I use ViewSonic displays (one at home and one at the office), and several different projectors in different class rooms. From what I read, it is plausible that there is a link between this problem and the dvi port. Could it be that the boot sequence of mb is affected by a hardware problem on the dvi port? But not when a press the command key?!
    Anyway, my machine is no longer under warranty, so I intend to live with the problem for as long as possible...
    But I've been doing more regular backups since then.
    Best wishes to you and your (almost) new machine!
    Marc.

  • Any one know how to reset the open firmware password?

    iBook G4. 1.33ghz. 1GB RAM.30 or 40GB HDD. Running 10.5.8
    I got this from a friend, who got it from a friend. And its acting funny. It works. But a lot of options are missing from the System Preferences pane. And another friend said to reset the NVRAM and all the setting in the open firmware. Only no one seems to know the open firmware password. And I can't seem to find how you'd reset all the setting in the open firmware. I'm working on locating the installation disks for this iBook. But will that even help me with this resetting open firmware business?

    I did a google search and here is one link that might have some helpful information -
    http://www.macforensicslab.com/ProductsAndServices/index.php?mainpage=document_general_info&productsid=69&zenid=74f4076fb96074db45dc274f7de86bc6

  • Possible to read file from HD in open firmware?

    So we have this ancient iBook whose 40GB hard drive is pretty frotzed (won't boot, Disk Utility says that keys in the catalog are out of order, Disk Warrior sits there forever).
    If I come up in Open Firmware I can see at least many of the files on the hard disk, using "dir hd:\" and so on. So -something- is still there.
    There's one text file that I can see via the OF "dir" word, and I'd really really like to see the content of the file. Is there some way to do that? The "load" word in OF will load boot-comand-file-things, but when I try to use it to read this file it says "unrecognized client program format" or something, presumably because it's just a text file and not a boot command file thing.
    Is there any way at all to get the OF environment to load this file's contents into memory so I can dump them? Just being able to read the words in the file would be extremely helpful.
    (In the longer term, there are a few unbackedup mp3 files and so on that I'd also like to be able to somehow copy off; but for today if I could just dump the words in this one text file to the screen I would be ecstatic!)
    Thanks for any help!

    +So we have this ancient iBook whose 40GB hard drive is pretty frotzed (won't boot, Disk Utility says that keys in the catalog are out of order, Disk Warrior sits there forever).+
    +If I come up in Open Firmware I can see at least many of the files on the hard disk, using "dir hd:\" and so on. So -something- is still there.+
    +There's one text file that I can see via the OF "dir" word, and I'd really really like to see the content of the file. Is there some way to do that? The "load" word in OF will load boot-comand-file-things, but when I try to use it to read this file it says "unrecognized client program format" or something, presumably because it's just a text file and not a boot command file thing.+
    +Is there any way at all to get the OF environment to load this file's contents into memory so I can dump them? Just being able to read the words in the file would be extremely helpful.+
    +(In the longer term, there are a few unbackedup mp3 files and so on that I'd also like to be able to somehow copy off; but for today if I could just dump the words in this one text file to the screen I would be ecstatic!)+
    +Thanks for any help!+
    Above is your original post. Where exactly in that is the word 'Forth?'

  • Beige G3 boot from **** problem; open firmware issues; bad motherboard?

    Dear all,
    I'm having huge boot/startup problems with my beige G3 that had been happily running OSX 10.3.9, but for purposes of this discussion we can (mostly) revert to OS 9. Originally, the machine was a G3 @300; was upgraded more than a year ago to a ZIF G4 @500.
    To make a long story short, it won't boot from any hard drives, will not boot from any OS X CD, and will only occasionally boot from a 9.x startup CD (whether Apple or Norton Utilities). I think it's an open firmware issue, possibly caused by a bad motherboard (rev. 2).
    All this started happening after I used techtool pro, but I think that's coincidence (even though I acknowledge that, for cops and computer users, there are no coincidences.) Also, as discussed below, I'm having the same problems with an HD that wasn't even in the computer when all these things began.
    Here are some of the things I've done.
    --repeatedly reset PRAM, both with key combinations and removing battery. The only time it will boot from a 9.x CD is after resetting PRAM.
    --removed all add-on PCI cards.
    --removed additional VRAM
    --removed all memory cards and tried replacing one at a time.
    --disconnected both existing hard drives and replaced with an older OS 9.x hard drive (approx 60 mb) that I'd used before. Also tried different ribbon cables.
    --unplugged floppy drive
    --disconnected PCI ATA disk controller that I'd been using for running a large (1.8 gb) hard drive.
    --regarding open firmware: readenv usually shows totally normal default AND installed settings. Using reset-all works fine -- at least it makes the machine reboot, but doesn't solve the problem. reset-nvram does NOT work -- says it's an "unknown word."
    --using startup keys like holding down the option key, or shift key, or X key or cmd-option plus two others I can't remember, has no effect. Again, after I've tried any kind of reboot, the ONLY way to get the C-key at startup to boot the CD is by resetting the pram (key combination). Otherwise, the usual result of these experiments is a dark screen on startup -- nothing at all (and the LCD monitor tells me "no input.")
    --regarding OSX: sometimes (and I emphasize sometimes) I can get the machine to start booting from an OSX 10.2 CD, but it won't complete the process. Sometimes I get a "prohibited" (as in no-parking, no-smoking) icon; sometimes it will start booting (grey screen, OS X Apple icon), then crash (horizontal grey and white jagged bars); sometimes it will show the OS 9 start icon (the tiny smiling Mac SE), but not boot at all.
    --when I get the mac successfully booted with an OS 9.x CD (again, this works sometimes, but not always), the old hard drive with two partitions does show on the desktop and can be accessed. Using either disk repair or Norton Utilities shows the 9.2 system partition on the hard drive to be fine. But if I go to the startup disk control panel, confidently set the 9.2 partition as my startup disk, then reboot, there's no change. It won't boot and I'm back at square one.
    --even when I do get successfully booted with 9.x, the machine will still occasionally crash for no reason -- ie when I'm moving a Window.
    --the only thing I haven't done is slowed down the processor. It's a ZIF G4 bought more than a year ago from XLR8 your Mac. I'm running at the default 500 mhz, and it's never given me any trouble.
    So I think it's a bad motherboard or ROM. Thoughts?
    Thanks.

    The beige Mac is now operating happily again. My original tentative diagnosis remains the same (although still tentative): corrupted PRAM from bad battery, compounded by bad cables that wrote corrupted data to hard drives, and also (possibly) allowing Tech Tool Pro (a utility that I now regard with deep suspicion) to create a "virtual" startup partition.
    A few things I've learned along the way that hopefully may be useful:
    --remember that the Ex Post Facto utility can be used to help OS X startup, not just installation. This applies to hard drives, emergency CDs, installation CDs, etc. If you can boot into any working hard drive partition (OS 9 or a backup OS 10), then run Ex Post Facto (same program runs on either OS 9 or X -- don't ask me how) and tell it what system you want to start up from. Also, the utility has sometimes told me that the startup extensions on the disc that I wanted to boot up from were bad, and offered to fix them (which works).
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