Install OS X on iMac 2001

[puercaeli]

My friend was kind enough to dump me original iMac 2001 with 500Mhz G3. I had a poke around but it appears CD-ROM drive is not working so...

a) Is there any other way of installing OS X without using CD-ROM(I am using Jaguar disc btw)

b) What is the cheapest(does not have to be slot loading) optical drive that is compatible with this machine?

Regards,

 

[Rodus]

If I remember rightly then you should be able to do a remote install onto it from another mac on the same network, or you can pick up an external drive pretty easily.
OS X Tiger (10.4) is the highest you can go on a G3 and it runs surprisingly well as long as you give it enough RAM, ideally 1GB, just don't expect it to handle modern apps, flash etc to well. Cheeta and Jaguar (10.1 -10.2) are both pretty horrible and Tiger runs better then Panther.
The big issue here is the amount it would cost to get the machine to OS X readiness. Tiger still costs a fair amount on ebay and you have to factor in the extra RAM and maybe an external optical drive, frankly you may well be better off selling the machine and using the money you've saved on upgrades to get a better second hand Mac.

 

[puercaeli]

If I remember rightly then you should be able to do a remote install onto it from another mac on the same network, or you can pick up an external drive pretty easily.
OS X Tiger (10.4) is the highest you can go on a G3 and it runs surprisingly well as long as you give it enough RAM, ideally 1GB, just don't expect it to handle modern apps, flash etc to well. Cheeta and Jaguar (10.1 -10.2) are both pretty horrible and Tiger runs better then Panther.
The big issue here is the amount it would cost to get the machine to OS X readiness. Tiger still costs a fair amount on ebay and you have to factor in the extra RAM and maybe an external optical drive, frankly you may well be better off selling the machine and using the money you've saved on upgrades to get a better second hand Mac.

Oh I did not realise Jaguar was that bad... I must have been disillusioned by furry X logo...

In terms of RAM it has 512 + 128MB and seems to be recognised quite well. Also HDD is 80GB. So I think it is quite capable at the moment. And I dont really need have it run well cause this is just my hobby project. I never owned 'transparent design' era Mac so I just want to make it run and experience what it is like to use Mac from this era...

About the external optical drives, does old Macs like iMac 2001 support booting from USB optical drive(any garden variety)? or do I have to have FW one? Coz link you gave me seems to have USB optical drive as well but I thought USB is not really bootable in these Macs... I am not so good with booting side of the Mac as I am a fairly recent Mac convert....