PowerMac G3 Can't Initialise Disk

[Dharumanyo]

Hi all,
I recently acquired a 300MHz Power Mac G3 (Blue & White), but it can't seem to format/initialise any of my hard drives when I try to install Mac OS. I've tried a few different UATA hard drives, since I assumed the one it came with may have been faulty, but I still get the same issue. I've tried partitioning, I've tried zeroing out the data, I've tried formatting the drive with a different computer, and I've tried using drive setup/disk utility in OS 8.6, 9.1, and 10.2, but nothing seems to work. Am I missing something with this? Sorry if it's something obvious, but this is my first time using a Power Mac G3.

When I got the Mac I had to do a PMU reset, and the previous owner seems to have modified the original battery holder to now hold a 3v CR2025 lithium battery. Would I be better off reversing this and using an original battery, or is it fine to leave it as it is?

 

[Slix]

Are you using the correct Master/Slave jumpers for the hard drive? I always get tripped up on this myself, but it's worth looking into. I think if you only have one it needs to be set to Master.

Someone with a little more knowledge might be able to correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[Dharumanyo]

Are you using the correct Master/Slave jumpers for the hard drive? I always get tripped up on this myself, but it's worth looking into. I think if you only have one it needs to be set to Master.

Yeah, I had to double check, but they're both set to master. I have gotten further into the installation, and successfully mounted and initialised the drive, but when I try to repair it I get the error "Problem: Invalid PEOF 18,2". Do any of the compatible OS X install discs allow access to the terminal? I can't get to it in Tiger or Jaguar to try using fsck. Maybe I'll try a Linux live CD.