Cracked folder icon on grey screen--help!

[bryanambition]

I was running an iMac G4 with OS X 10.5.8 Leopard and, since it was slow, booted it up using an older OS X CD-ROM (10.1, I believe) to see if the older version would be faster. The installation seemed to go fine, however after it restarted, it stopped on the grey screen you see (attached image) with the cracked file icon over the central apple and a rainbow pinwheel in the upper left corner.

From this point I can’t do anything. I’ve attempted a safe reboot, which didn’t work. I reset the NVRAM and PRAM, which didn’t work. I can’t even find any record of this cracked file symbol on the internet. The CD-ROM is still stuck inside the machine, and I’m afraid I’ve broken it.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? Thanks! ;-)

 

[3lectr1c]

I've heard of that broken folder icon before, it just means you're system folder is damaged. Does your iMac officially support 10.1? No iMac G4 that officially supported Leopard also supported 10.1, although someone could have installed it anyway as it will run fine on an 800MHz system. Finally, is the disc known to work?

 

[bryanambition]

I've heard of that broken folder icon before, it just means you're system folder is damaged. Does your iMac officially support 10.1? No iMac G4 that officially supported Leopard also supported 10.1, although someone could have installed it anyway as it will run fine on an 800MHz system. Finally, is the disc known to work?

Hey there! To answer your question, I'm a noob and assumed since it's an older Mac that it would've supported 10.1. It seemed to be fine for the entire installation--no errors or anything. I also assume since the installation went OK, the disc worked, but here I am, stuck. I did manage to the get CD-ROM out by holding in the mouse upon startup, but I still get the broken folder icon.
Can you recommend any way to fix the system folder at this stage? Holding Shift at startup doesn't work, so I can' t even get a safe boot.
Thanks! ;-)

 

[3lectr1c]

First off, what model of iMac G4 do you have? Somewhere on the back of the bottom should be a model number starting with either M or A followed by 4 numbers. Post that here and I'll check what Operating Systems you can run on it.

If you hold down the alt/option key on startup, it will pull up the boot picker and allow you to select a boot device, including the CD-ROM. You can also hold down the C key on boot to startup from the CD.

 

[bryanambition]

First off, what model of iMac G4 do you have? Somewhere on the back of the bottom should be a model number starting with either M or A followed by 4 numbers. Post that here and I'll check what Operating Systems you can run on it.

If you hold down the alt/option key on startup, it will pull up the boot picker and allow you to select a boot device, including the CD-ROM. You can also hold down the C key on boot to startup from the CD.

Awesome--the only info I can get from the bottom (pic attached) is the serial number--does that help? Also, I tried restarting with Alt+Option but nothing happened--just went to the same old broken file screen.
I don't have any other OS X CDs, however it looks like I may have to start scouting for one if I plan to get this babe working again!

 

[3lectr1c]

The model number should be part of the text that's going around the edge of the base. 800MHz means you may or may not be able to run Puma, later model 800MHz iMacs shipped with Jaguar, which performs better than Puma anyways. I'd recommend burning a set of Jaguar discs, hold C down to boot from them and install. the broken folder is a software issue, not a hardware problem. Not sure why option isn't working, are you holding it down for the entire boot until you either see the picker or the folder?

 

[bryanambition]

First off, thank you SO much for taking this time to help! I may be new, but I'm learning through my mistakes.
Update: model number is M6498.
I actually just pressed Option upon the boot and got the screen where I can choose just the Macintosh HD, however it goes to the grey screen with the cracked folder--the spinning pinwheel in the corner is now grey too, not rainbow (not sure if that makes a difference).
I will take your advice and get the Jaguar CDs--fingers crossed they're on ebay and affordable!

 

[3lectr1c]

No worries about the help, that's what these forums are for.

You don't need to get yourself original discs off eBay, you can burn a copy yourself using a different system and some blank discs. Make sure you set the burn speed really low, or the discs may have trouble reading in the iMac's optical drive.

Link to the disc images: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-osx-mac-os-10-ppc

As for the model number, it seems the first few iMac G4s all used it, and unfortunately that includes both models that will run 10.1 and ones that won't. Either way, I'd try to start over and attempt to install 10.1 again, wiping the drive first in the disk utility on the CD-ROM. Worst that can happen is that it won't work.

Good luck!