[Ron the Geek]

Ah, this is my first post in the Macintosh area. I'm almost always working on PCs for resale but I have an older Imac that I've got problems with. Apparently, the operating system isn't on the harddrive or has been corrupted as I only get the flashing "mac guy/question mark" folder in the center of the screen when I turn it on. I found a CD that I thought might be the OS or a boot disk and put it into the drive. It's not the right disk. How can I get it out? There is no "eject" button that I can find. Is there anyway to get this out and can someone give me a little background on this machine? I've used many macs at print shops but have rarely needed to work on them. Thanks!

 

[MSM Hobbes]

Greetings. Can you specify as to which iMac this is?

Have you looked at these tips?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106752
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106882
http://www.osxfaq.com/dailytips/02-2002/02-27.ws
http://forums.osxfaq.com/viewtopic.php?t=2259

 

[Ron the Geek]

I reviewed the articles you linked and, unfortunatley, none helped. I'm guessing this machine is running OS 8.x but I 'm not sure. I don't whether this will help but it's family number is M5521 and the copyright date on the machine is 1999... a considerably older Mac. Of course, it doesn't have the pin-hole ejector so unless I know the keys to hold down at boot or whatever, I guess it's just stuck...

 

[VegasACF]

For background on the machine, have you tried www.everymac.com? You might be able to peruse the listings in the class of machine you have until you find one that is similar in shape and color. This will give you some clue as to what the specs are.

As to how to get the disk out, there is usually a hole about the size of an unbent paperclip or unsafe safety pin into which you can insert one of the aforementioned implements which will force the disk out of the drive. This may not be the case with all machines and all drives, but it has been the case with all but my former PowerBook and the current MacBook Pro that I currently use. Look for a little hole. I hope it is there.

Should it not be there come back and let us know. We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

 

[shyataroo]

your iMac all-in one does have a pin hole ejector 2 acutally on either side of the slot loading drive inside the slot.

 

[Rastor9]

If the machine has a slot drive cdrom you can use a car key in the most extreme right hand internal portion of the slot. This will cause the computer to eject the drive.

To boot from any OS disk on a Mac you may need to press and hold the "c" key down if the computer does not automatically select the cd rom as the boot disk.

If you are looking for a Macintosh operating cd rom, check out ebay. For a Mac that old look for OS 8.6 (you might have to buy version 8.1 with an upgrade to 8.6). If you have at least 64 megs of ram, you can install OS 9.22. I wouldn't try using OS 10 on the system unless you have at least 128 megs of ram AND have made sure the firmware systems are all installed, which you have to use OS 9 to do.

 

[Ron the Geek]

I've got other machines on my bench right now; got frustrated with the iMac. But I will try all of your suggestions when I get the beast back up here. Thanks, everyone!