To the Collective Genius: I really appreciate your thoughts and input into getting this beast up and going. In fact, you've given me so much information, that I have to send this reply in multiple parts to get past the 10 kb limit on this list. I've had some doubts regarding the value of all this time and effort for a 5 - 6 year old computer, but as I already own a C-500, I'm already attached to the SuperMacs. I have to confess the challenge just adds to the fun. Below I'll refer to several of your questions and suggestions:
>From Jeff Walther "If there is no other bootable volume connected to the computer, the machine should find the CD-ROM drive whether you hold down any keys or not. Is the machine starting to boot and then freezing? That is, does the flashing question mark give way to a happy mac icon for a moment before the freeze? One thing you might try, if you're not sure of the answer to the above question is to boot up with the CDROM empty, wait for the flashing ? Floppy icon, then insert your install CD-ROM and close the drive. See what happens. The machine should find the disk and boot from it." The computer doesn't freeze until I try to load the CD. I've tried both booting with the "C" key held down (frozen screen) and booting without the CD (happy mac with a ?), then loading the CD (frozen screen). - Scott "Possibilities that I can think of: 1) You're trying to boot OS9.1 or 8.6 or some similar memory hog and the machine has only the 16 MB of RAM soldered to the motherboard, so it's running out of memory during the boot process." I've added 4 X 128 meg FP DRAM in slots A1, A2, B1 & B2 in addition to the 88 meg that came on the computer - Scott "2) There's a problem in the SCSI chain configuration, such as no termination or termination in the wrong place and the errors are piling up." What I don't know about termination could probably fill some text books. This is a distinct possibility. Wine & beer production I understand pretty well, but this is a little out of my league. - Scott "3) The install CDROM you're using is machine specific (iMac, e.g.) and doesn't work on an S900." I don't think this is the case, as I believe the OS is a "generic" OS 9.1, 9.0, and 8.5 (I've got all three). However, we ran into this problem with my C-500 a while back,so I know this can be an issue. - Scott "4) The hard drive is damaged in the electronics and interfering with the SCSI chain. This is very unlikely as hard drives rarely fail in this manner. It is also easy to test. Remove the SCSI cable from the harddrive. Be sure that the CDROM drive is at the end of the SCSI cable (the other end from the motherboard) and has termination enabled, if you do this." I've ordered a 19 gig Seagate scsi hard drive ($10 for a factory rebuild plus another $10 for the 80 pin to 50 pin adapter), so hopefully we can pull the Hard Drive out of the equation. Of course, now I have to consider thejumper & termination settings on the new hard drive. . . .BTW How do you enable termination on the CD-ROM? Just put a jumper on the two pins? - Scott "If you don't understand SCSI termination, ask. Someone will explain it.There are probably folks with archived explanations that can be reposted. Also, see <http:/./www.scsifaq.org> and there are some good help pages on Adaptec's web site, but they can be hard to find." If anyone could set me straight on termination, I would be obliged.- Scott ------------------------------ P.S. Thanks, part one! - Scott -- SuperMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | Service & Replacement Parts [EMAIL PROTECTED] | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> SuperMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/supermacs/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/supermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
