Serial console of open firmware on G4 dual-500

I have a powermac g4 dual-500 with gigibit ethernet, and I want to setup a serial console on another machine for debugging the firmware and kernel bootup. I cannot find a serial port (the 9pin and 25pin) one? how should I do this? seems that the scca is a serial output, what is this device, the mondem (but I cannot find the mondem)?
I have a PCI serial card and plugged in, but i am not sure that it is supported by the firmware. how to enable such card if it is posibble?
Thanks very much!
Noah
PowerBook G4 533MHz Digital Audio

What that is, is a kernel panic, which can be caused by a variety of issues as my FAQ* explains:
http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html
* Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Similar Messages

Console Mode with third-party PCI card w/ open firmware bios,Open Boot Info

PPC macs used open firmware to boot, and their videocards contained forth code in their rom. There are even custom roms for PC video cards which contain code for the PPC mac open firmware.
Could such a card be initialized as the primary display device on an Ultra 5?
I'm betting I'm going to be answered with 'use a sun branded card'. I can't imagine the rom on these cards is so much different than that used on the PPC mac?
What exactly does Open Boot do to find a videocard? Are there any documents on this? I assume it finds some forth routine in the cards rom and runs that to initialize it and identify it's capabilities? Again, I would really appreciate some direction on where to look for docs.
I'm confused on the difference between openfirmware (apparently a spec), and open boot (sun's implementation? Are all implementations compatible with eachother?)
http://www.openbios.org/Welcome_to_OpenBIOS
"Open Firmware is found on many servers and workstations and there are several commercial implementations from SUN, Firmworks, CodeGen, Apple, IBM and others."
Additionaly, what is the sun4u architecture? sun4v architecture? Which workstations are which? System handbook doesn't seem to say under 'hardware specs'.
So, if all else fails and using a card with an openfirmware rom doesn't help me, how do I go about doing this myself?
I know how to work VGA console mode via the stardard vga registers, Is there a way to get open boot to do exactly what I tell it in terms of registers and addresses?
Can I get an uncompiled form of my Open Boot Prom for my Ultra 5?
All I'm really looking for is good docs/source on how Open Boot/ Open Firmware work, specificly conerning PCI video devices.
Thanks for any tips.

I haven't looked at anything beyond the OpenBoot level.
I've been neglecting this project for some time.
I just wanted to let anyone else in my situation know that the sun OpenBoot documentation was very helpfull in my sucessfully setting a mode with the card.
I don't know how the OS and later OpenWidows interact with the card, or with the information OpenBoot has about it, and it's current mode.
I hadn't really looked at any of that yet. Though this information will probably show up as soon as I bother to look for it, it'd be nice if some one recommends a specific doc, or has a short answer about the topic.
There happens to be an open source driver for my card, for XFree86 and Xorg, however, I've had enough of a challenge merely using OpenWindows.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/XFree86.conf
Where are simmilar files for OpenWindows? Again, it's probably in some docs I haven't bothered to read yet.
Sparcy: Weird that the card has Fcode and OpenBoot doesn't add it's package to the device tree. I assume it treats it like a non Fcode PCI card? Does it recognize the contents of the PCI base address registers? Try proding it's PCI registers and see if they behave as expected.
If the card is actually working and you can read the expansion rom I don't see why the Fcode didn't work. Maybe it has a later incompatible Fcode revision? Open boot 4.x 5.x? sun4u as opposed to something else? Or maybe the Fcode was designed to lock the card to a certain type of system (I doubt that).
http://www.sunshack.org/data/bootroms.html
Newer versions of openboot, and new hardware series listed at that link. Where's a more complete list?
Oh well, I guess I should bother to read up on this more thoroughly and finish the job.
Let me know if you find out what the problem was, or if you try that MAC card. Thanks.

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.

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.

Console keeps opening

I have a Macbook Air with Mavericks. When I startup from shutdown or sleep mode, the Console application opens up. Is there a way for this not to occur?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Serial Console for VM Manager not working

I can't seem to connect to an SPARC VM created via the Oracle VM Manager. The serial console opens and appears to connect to a port on my local desktop machine from which I'm running my browser but fails to connect. I'm assuming VM Manager serial console uses a tunneling technology? Is there anything anyone can think of that would help me debug this session? I've turned off the firewall on my desktop and turned off iptables
My VM's don't have IP's yet, so I can't directly ssh to them. There's a chance my VM's are bad, but I really don't know how to troubleshoot since I can't get a console. (I created these VM's from the Oracle provided templates.)
Does anyone have any troubleshooting tips?

It sounds like you've installed the JTA package on the system running the manager - that's a necessary first step. The other things that can affect this include enabling popups (sounds like you have that correct too) and the combination of browser, JVM on client, and OS. I've had the best results with JVM 6 or with the very latest JVM 7 (build 21). Hope this helps, Jeff

Can't open CDs in Open Firmware

I'm working on a dual boot setup for my laptop, and I have run into an interesting problem: I cannot boot from CDs. If I boot into Open Firmware, and try booting the CD from there, it says that it can't. Entering dir cd:\ in the OF prompt tells me that it can't open cd. Which leads me to believe that there may be a driver problem. I can boot the OS X Leopard DVD fine though. At any rate, it would be nice to know if it's possible to get new drivers, or if there is any way around this. Thanks.

VaultOfThrones wrote:
I'm working on a dual boot setup for my laptop, and I have run into an interesting problem: I cannot boot from CDs. If I boot into Open Firmware, and try booting the CD from there, it says that it can't. Entering dir cd:\ in the OF prompt tells me that it can't open cd.
Why is there a colon in that cd command? Is this some PC thing?
And why "dir" and not "ls"?? And what's with the backwards slash?
If cd is a directory the command would be ls /cd or something like that.
What does the command ls show is in the directory? Is cd even a directory?
Usually cds are usually mounted in /dev under disk. I have never seen a cd mountpoint labeled cd.
cd seems to be a very confusing name since it's also a command.
Message was edited by: nerowolfe

Original iMac locks up in open firmware

I have a Rev A. original Bondi Blue iMac. 1.2 firmware updater has been applied. New larger hard drive in place. My ultimate goal is to get 9.2.2, 10.4.6 and Linux installed and bootable on this. Why? Because I like a challenge, and I can learn. I downloaded and burned Open Suse 10.1 discs (they just resumed PPC support) and powered on the old iMac for the first time in a couple months. It boots to 9.2.2 fine, and works. I've confirmed the firmware update has been applied, as well as the CD firmware update. It currently has 160 MB of memory.
When booting, I can old down "C" and it will boot from CD. I get the yaboot prompt (or whatever the boot loader is), but it accepts no further keyboard input. I either have to pull the power cord or hit the reset button. Similarly, I can hold down alt-splat-O-F and boot to open firmware. But once I'm there the system does not recognize any keyboard input. At least in open firmware, I can use the front panel power button to restart.
I have a third-party USB keyboard (Macally iKey) and I also have a small Apple USB keyboard from my dual-G5. Same failure with either.
What to do?
Jim
Bondi Blue iMac Rev A., 233 MHz, tray loading Mac OS 9.2.x

I let it sit for a while (days) and it started working. I didn't do anything explicit to fix it, but had tried lots of tricks and nothing worked at the time. So now it boots on the OS9 disc, OSX disc or Yellow Dog disc. The Open Suse disc has problems booting, but the computer is usable and I can proceed in my experiments.
Jim

ATI X800 Launches open firmware at startup ?!?

I've just installed my new graphics card, and whenever I boot the machine, I get an unfamiliar beep, a longish pause with a black screen, and then the open firmware screen. From here, I'm prompted to type "mac-boot," and once I do, the machine seems to start up normally.
Is it supposed to do that? I'm pretty sure I've got the most up-to-date driver (the August 2005 update from ATI) and the most recent ATI Displays utility...
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance...
PowerMac G5 Dual 2 Ghz (June 2004) Mac OS X (10.4.3) 3gb RAM, ATI x 800 XT Mac Edition

That figures (re:ATI tech support). I was surprised that I couldn't find any other posts about this problem on the web. I hadn't installed the card until after I'd already done the 10.4.4 upgrade, so I was guessing it was a new problem with 10.4.4, but I see you're still running 10.4.3. I don't hold out much hope for repair/replacement since we're seeing the exact same problem, on essentially the exact same computer (June '04 2x2 G5, 3.5 GB ram in mine, 3 in yours). I'll post back here if I learn anything new.
-Ed

Apple Hardware Test launches Open Firmware window

At work, I have a 2.3 GHz Dual-Core G5. When I run Apple Hardware Test [Extended], it generates an Open Firmware window in the lower-left corner at 11 minutes.
Has anyone else seen this?

I DID read the link - you should re-read my post. I have a G5 [the article refers to G4's] and a later version of AHT [which the article recommends updating to]. As soon as I removed the questionable RAM, the problem went away.

G5 Boots to Open firmware on Startup every time.

I have a 2004 model Dual 1.8GHz 2.2Gbs RAM. The problem is that it keeps booting into Open Firmware. Once it gets to Open Firmware and i can mac-boot and start up off the Tiger disc, but I can't get it to find an external firewire OS. I don't have a hard drive in there at the moment but that should not effect this issue, Although I can see the firewire 800 in disk utilities but not on the Firewire 400. And still no Start up folder when i go to startup disk 800 or 400. If I put a hard drive in which i will when the new one arrives I believe i will be able to start up with it but I still think that it might boot into Open Firmware again. (I think a bus is bad maybe the Firewire bus if it is can't I bypass it somehow? so that is won't boot into Open Firmware.
Note: everything passes Hardware Test
I have Reset PRAM and NVRAM Rest all

(Sorry this is in here twice - I'm pretty experienced with Macs and PCs but a little new at message boards - pls forgive)
Had the same problem. I took mine into a "Mac Genius" at the retail store and he thought he had fixed it by rebuilding the directory. It booted and shut down perfectly while in the store. When I got home it was went right back to booting into open firmware.
I figured out by accident that the reason it was booting fine in the store was because he was using a cheap SVGA monitor on the DVI output - not the ADB connector I use with my older Apple monitor. Note that Apple has phased these type of connectors out. It gave me a great excuse to upgrade my monitor to a 20" cinema display and everything is working great (can't believe how I've deprived myself all these years).
If you have an older monitor that uses an ADB connector, try a different monitor that uses the DVI output on your video card. Even a DVI-VGA adapter (one probably came with your computer) with a VGA monitor is sufficient for testing. If your computer boots up, it's either the older monitor, or the ADB output on the video card that is bad. There is no easy way to know where the actual problem resides (the Geniuses couldn't tell me - they have no monitors in the store with ADB connectors), but I can tell you that my computer is working fine now. I do know that the ADB connector ran power, USB and video all together and that seems to be the reason they quit using them. The newer desktops have only 2 DVI outputs (instead of 1 ADB + 1 DVI), while the new monitors run power, USB and video separately.
Hope that helps,
Jeff

Tried to install OS X on my G4 and it is now stuck on Open Firmware screen

I have a powermac g4, with dual 450 processors. Bought in 2000 - After buying a brand new G5 last year I recently tried to install my OS X Tiger I got with the G5 onto the G4. Initially it all booted up fine. However when I turned it back on instead of booting up it made a long tone and then went to an Open Firmware screen with the prompts to type ‘shut-down’ or ‘reset-all’
Neither prompt works and this happens every time I turn it on. I have tried holding ‘c’ with original CD I got with the G4 to bring it back, I have tried holding ‘c’ with the OS X cd, I have tried to re-set Pram by holding down the appropriate keys but nothing works it just always makes the long tone noise and goes to the Open Firmware screen.
I have also been informed about updating the Frimware -i now have the software on a CD but cannot get the system back to be able to do this
Can anyone help me bring the G4 back to life?
G4 Powermac Have a G5 too

Hi
You could order the Full Retail Version of OS X (Black DVD with a silver X on it). Regarding always starting up in Open Firmware, in this thread a bloke had the same problem until he disconnected his peripherals before restarting. See if the entire thread helps:
http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB13&Number=2 43591&Main=243591
Steve

Open Firmware Password Setup without installation dvd?

An early 2009 macbook didn't come with a dvd when purchased. How do I setup Open Firmware Password, without an OS installation dvd? Can I download the utility or do I need to buy the dvd?

The utility only works on a DVD (I tried already). In fact, you can't open it unless it's on the DVD AND you are booting from the DVD (I tried already).
So no, you cannot download it. If you have the serial number Apple should supply the recovery discs, though.

PowerMac G5 not showing boot manager or open firmware

I recently got a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.5 GHz (7,3) from a friend of mine, and I would like to dual-boot it between Tiger (or Leopard) and Debian PPC. However, every time I try to bring up the boot menu (hold ALT/option at boot before chime) there is simply a black screen. Same happens when I try to boot to Open Firmware (hold CMD-ALT-O-F); just a blank screen. When I try to boot from the Debian CD, it's almost as though it is ignored, as I am put straight to OS X, but I can boot from the Panther/Tiger DVDs. I have tried resetting the PRAM, the SMU via the button on the board, and I left it unplugged overnight, to no avail. Can anyone help?

It's acting like there is a firmware password in some respects. It should be asking for your firmware password when a firmware password was configured but it doesn't seem to be. I've never used a firmware password, so I have no direct experince with it.
1) Might try the hardware reset. I'd try this first. You will have to search around to find where the hardware reset button is on your machine. BDAQUA help?
2) Might try the procedure to delete firmware password. I'd try it. Don't think it can hurt!
Maybe your are getting the firmware password? Do you see this image?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57521667-263/use-the-calculator-to-reveal-a -macs-firmware-password/
Remove one memory stick. Then do as BD suggests.
BDAqua reminds me:
Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + p + r).
http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwarepasswordprotection.php
You machine does boot to one partition always. Could install a linux boot manager in that partition. Yaboot on a ppc
The mac startup manager is installed in firmware cannot touch it. Linux boot manager is install on hd.

Serial console of open firmware on G4 dual-500

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