OK, this one seems hopeless...

I too have been a Mac guy for over 10
years, and have prided myself on always
being able to get a Mac on a network
easily. At my home office, my Imac
G3/350 suddenly cannot get on my
network any llonger. After the normal
troubleshooting routines of checking the
Cat 5 cable out, Zapping my P Ram, blah
blah bla, etc, I decided that i might try
reloading OS9 or even putting OSX on it. I
cannot seem to get it to start up from any
of my Mac OS installer CD's (even older
ones) but it will actually start up off an old
Norton CD. I've been told by 2 pretty
reputable sources that the firmware might
be updated to a point where it will not
start up off of system CD's anymore -
weird. This cannot be a dead end.

Can someone think of something that I'm
missing here. I have an old 3Com
superstack 10 base T hub (or switch, I
think) that takes all of my other
connections (both my other Mac's as well
as my PC) easily as plug and play. I've
tried going straight from the cable
modem into the Imac, and no luck. I reall
think that it might be the ethernet card
that's bad, but it looks like it's a whole
board to replace. Before I go any further,
can someone shed some light???

Clockwork? How about you? Can I pick
your brain?

Firmware updated to a point that it will no longer
allow system boot CDs? That sounds very queer to
me, especially since it will boot off of an old Norton
CD. Have you tried physically zapping the PRAM via
the logic board button? Also, have you swapped the
old battery for a new one?

About the ethernet port itself - does Apple System
Profiler find it? Also .. I had this problem, one which
confused me for a while ... look that port itself with a
good flashlight. Are any of the pins bent or broken?

----paxcirc.a-

Se7en,

Yes - you can pick my brain - it's the one on the
right side of the butcher window marked : Special!
Rare Iguanna Sweet Meat for one quarter the
summer time Mexican price!

OK - starts with questions - lots of questions to
wittle away through logical ellimination - certain
ones that ----paxcirc.a- has already objectively
been drawn to.

1. Does the Ethernet Card show up in the Apple
System Profiler? (Go to rainbow Apple Menu >>
scroll down to "Apple System Profiler" >> look in
"System Profile" [first tab] under "Network
overview" - and below that it should say: Ethernet
built-in - Link up). Does it say anything remotely
like this?

2. The iMac in question is a slot-loader, right?

3. Is it currently running Mac OS 9.2.2 or Mac OS
X?

4. Open the Norton CD you have been booting off
and find out what version OS that CD's System
Folder is using - and tell me please?

5. If it is connected to an ethernet switch, (I'm
unfamiliar with the model you've mentioned) -
does it light up when you plug the troubled iMac's
ethernet cable into it - and if it does, does it light
up like the others?

6. Go to your Control Panels - open TCP/IP - get
it's IP address, and try pinging it from one of your
PCs - is a signal going through?

Alternately - download "MacTCP Ping":
http://www.8052.com/tcpip/Files/
MacTCP%20Ping.sit.hqx

or visit:

http://www.8052.com/tcpip/compiling.phtml

and click on the "here" link just under heading :
Macintosh - just above the section on Linux/Unix.

Use MacTCP Ping by entering troubled iMac's IP
address from another Mac and hit "Ping" button.

Is it pinging?

7. Can you attach a single Ethernet Cross-Over
cable from the troubled iMac to another Mac in
your office in order to get a Mac to see the iMac -
one to one?

8. Are your current "File Sharing" Control Panels
setup correctly - including its "User Priviledges"?
What does it say in File Sharing? Owner? Guest?

9. With File Sharing turned "on", click once on you
HD to make it go dark. Then press "Apple-
Command" + "i" keys on your keyboard in that
order and in conjunction, in order to bring up the
Info box. Click on "General" and scroll down to
"Sharing".
Is there a tick in the "Share this item and it's
contents" box? Do the Privileges for "Owner",
"User/Group", and "Everyone" have a 'specticles &
pencil' symbol (read and write symbol) next to
each of the three?

10. Odd question - but - could you please tell me
what kind of keyboard and mouse you are
currently using - eg: one of Apple's first nasty little
plastic jobs for first iMac - the Apple USB
Keyboard - and its round "hockey-puk" mouse - or
the later Apple Pro Keyboard and Apple Pro
Mouse - or something else altogether?

Finally - could you do your best to answer
questions 1 through 10 - numbering each answer
as you go?

Too many questions?

cheers & hear from you soon Se7en

clockwork

11. What are your current AppleTalk settings?

cw