OK, I was given an iBook 9.2 OS. I was not given any disks or any backup for the Mac. I can play CDs but not DVDs. When I put a DVD, it wants to initialize it, but that would erase it so I don't know what to do? That's not the real problem. The users that were left were extremly limited and I don't have the password for administration. I can't really do anything at all. I tried installing iLife and it said it wouldn't because I didn't have enough priviliges, so I'm f***** (watch the language - tomlevens). That's what it says about almost everything. I'm begging anyone that can help me. I'm guessing I need to reboot the entire drive to start off as a new mac. I just don't know how to do it without anything. I know someone out there can figure out a way. Help me out...
Anonymous
User login
Please support the defense of Ukraine.
Direct or via Unclutter App
Active forum topics
Recent content
Navigation
No Ads.
No Trackers.
No Social Media.
All Content Locally Hosted.
Built on Free Software.
We have complied with zero government requests for information.
1. Watch the language.
2. You cannot erase a DVD unless it is a DVD-RW.
3. What model iBook is this? - I have a blue clamshell 333MHz, this model only came with a CD ROM, later models came with DVD drives. Are you sure your model has a DVD drive?
4. If you do have any Classic OS install disks you can rebuild your hard drive if that is what you mean. Just boot from that disk and do a clean install.
5. You can always boot and go right into Extension Manager - it should be the shift key held in during boot up. You will want to disable mutliple user things. Better yet, select your start up set to be 'Mac OS 9.2 Base'. Doing this will allow you to get in and do what you need. You will also need to wipe out the Mutli-user stuff in the Preferences folder. Probally not a bad idea to simply copy this folder and put it aside then delete everything in the original. You cold also boot with no extensions by holding in the space bar, that should get you around the user stuff.
--DDTM
My main concern is if it's running Mac OS 9.2, how are you going to install iLife (which requires OS X)?
um ... ok, what OS is installed on this machine (is it OS 9 or OS X) ... if it is OS 9 (as your post suggests) then iLife WILL NOT run (iLife requires OS X) ... if you are running OS X then you can reset the admin password as follows:
1) boot up the computer holding down [command] (thats the one with the apple on it) and [s]
2) type /sbin/fsck -y
3) type /sbin/mount -wu /
4) type /sbin/SystemStarter
5) type passwd [username] (the admin username on the comp)
6) type the new password you want twice
7) type reboot
you should now be able to log in with the admin username ... you can then go to the Accounts prefs pane and set up the users how you want them ...
if you are running OS 9 then it is harder ... more info would help!
TOM
I am going to read everything u guys have said more carefully but more importantly i'm going to say thank you for helping out. A friend of mine has the X disk so I was going to install it but I first have to do everything to the mac to fix it or to redo everything...someone help me!! lol thanks again and please be patient with my ibook ignorance. if u are here now and read this...i'm here waiting for replies and have my ibook with me right now...so anything i should do to be more specific about my problem? update...i went to system profiler and i have 366 MHz and i'm not sure if it has a dvd rom but it has a dvd player installed even though it doesn't work...???
I held down the shift key as it was restarting and now i'm at a screen where i must add the multiple users password which i do not have...this is where my problem is...the silly password. i dont know what to do
re-read one of the above post, it tells you how to reset the password.
OK so since you have OS9 toms idea wont work. Probably the best thing to do is boot up off a norton disk which you can probably find cheap for os9 somwhere and boot from that. If you do that you should have access to all the parts of the HD. From there I would get rid of the multi user extentions prefs and folders and you should be ready to go! IF that doesnt sound lik your cup of tea then just boot off the OSX disk you have and reformat.
Anymore Questions feal free to email me at bcohen5055@comcast.net or I might be on AIM at skibum5055
actually he could just boot up off his friends OS X disk and do a clean erase of the HD ... then install X and 9!
TOM
You don't have a DVD drive of any sort.
...on the machine is meaningless. It was probally installed as part of the original set. I have a similar program on my Rev A iMac, which does not have a DVD player. I installed it from an OS 9 CD because I planned to use it for DVDs connected to my iMac, but never bought a USB DVD player and never uninstalled the software.
--DDTM
If yes, then it does support DVD playback though it didn't ship with a DVD drive. You can install just about any slim DVD drive but the original iBook faceplate probably won't fit properly.
If no FW port then it cannot play DVDs with Apple's DVD Player as the video subsystem doesn't support DVD playback. No, the video cannot be upgraded.
I'm still looking for info on whether a non-FW clamshell can play DVDs with a 3rd party player. Eh??
dan k
Um.... NOT true. Macs don't need the hardware DVD-encoding now for the most part (depending on OS and updates). MANY pre-firewire macs play DVDs just fine. and 3rd party isn't even the issue. It is whether that specific drive firmware is supported by the OS.
Don't listen to this guy... I have learned to just not argue with him and let him live in his own world.
Not to go too fqar off track...
I am limited on my hardware, so my experience on this reflects in my question to you:
When I connect my Rev A or clamshell (via my home network) to another computer with a DVD drive (a flatpanel iMac), I can read the files on the DVD, but cannot play the DVD as a movie with any application, even when executing a program via program linking. Is this expected? Can it be corrected? Is the above remarks limited to DVD drives DIRECTLY connected to the computer in question?
--DDTM
The files on a DVD are stored in a filesystem called "UDF". On most commercial DVDs, the files themselves are encrypted based on a "CSS" key, which at runtime is negotiated between the drive and the player. So... no, you can't play DVDs over the network by sharing the files.
You could use a "ripper" to yank the files off the disk, decrypting them at the same time, and then share the result.
Just to note, I did once connect a DVD drive to the primary IDE channel on a Rev. B (Rage Pro) iMac's motherboard, just out of curiosity. Using "Videolan" as the player, I achieved something like 1-2 frames per second. In other words, pretty darn unwatchable. So don't get your hopes up. (Remember that the Rev. B's video is somewhat faster then the A's.)
--Peace
NaturGirl opined:
"Um…. NOT true. Macs don’t need the hardware DVD-encoding now for the most part (depending on OS and updates). MANY pre-firewire macs play DVDs just fine. and 3rd party isn’t even the issue. It is whether that specific drive firmware is supported by the OS."
Well, I'll sure be pleased if anyone can show me an example of Apple's DVD Player working in any OS on unsupported Apple portable hardware. For example, my Blueberry iBook for the life of it couldn't be induced to play DVDs under any OS with which I tried it, using a DVD drive pulled from a Pismo's EBM. Oh, and it's "decoding" BTW, not "encoding".
I eagerly look forward to learning what I was doing wrong.
In the meantime, here's a list of DVD Player supported PowerBooks:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/macdan/pb_video.html
I know there are tons of users who'd love to hear NaturGirl's method of getting DVD Player working on their hitherto unsupported Lombards. Which BTW share the same basic video hardware with 1st gen iBooks.
NaturGirl also gratutously took a swipe at me:
"Don’t listen to this guy… I have learned to just not argue with him and let him live in his own world."
Um, OK.
Oh yeah, iBookMeSs just wanted to access his HD as a full-privs user under 9. You have to boot from a CD or other volume to access the internal HD. For example, put the bootable CD into the drive and (re)boot holding down the "C" key. If that doesn't work, reboot holding down cmd-opt-shift-delete, which forces the designated startup device to not mount. Once the 'Book begins to boot from the CD, let go of the keys.
hth,
dan k
I just wanted to thank everybody for helping me out...you guys are awesome and I will read all these posts and try to fix everything and i'll keep you all posted on how it goes...ummm the reason i need the ibook is mainly for garageband...i'm in a band and i think it might help get my music down...hopefully i can use iLife and can install OSX but like i said i will keep you all posted...once again, thank you!
If he can get os X installed, and if the clam has enough horsepower after that, the dvd player on osX will play the files off a dvd. You can drag the entire contents of the disk to your hd and play it just as it was on a disk. Since you aren't breaking any encryption or reencoding it is also leagle in the us.
Okay, just looked up your laptop. It will run the most current version of 10. Apple says it can be upgraded to 320MB of ram. If you know anybody who has a laptop with a 512MB pc 100 so-dimm you could give it a try, it will use it if it's compatable, so you could upgrade the ram to about 576MB. What color is it? That will help us out with the rest.
blue...and i do know someone with a macintosh laptop...same person who's gonna let me use the osX disk and iLife disks...how do u upgrade RAM? seems crazy lol
If 366 as previously mentioned, then this is almost certainly a gen 2 clamshell with FireWire. It can play DVDs from an internal DVD drive though it came with only a CD drive. I dunno if the iLife version you have includes GarageBand, if so GB will work (under X of course) but don't expect a speedy experience.
To add ram, Apple has instructions here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=26244
dan k
If you hold down the "T" key and you see an image of the Y-like symbol, then you have firewire. If your friend has firewire, you can wipe the disk using his Mac, and put os X on from his computer while he/she boots into the OS X disks. A firewire cable can run anywhere from $12 - $20 USD. connect the macs, and yours should show up as a harddrive. I might not be correct, but if your computer sees the DVD disc at all, then it is a DVD drive. With my Rev. 2 FW iBook, my computer spins the drive up, but doesn't even display a message about formating a disk at all. your ibook User Permissions may prevent it from reading DVD's. also, if a screen with a white background shows up and asks for password, hold down "apple key - Option-"P"-"R" " , that should reset the Open Firmware.
I have the installed the OSX 9 on my computer and now I had to start a new user and password with all the old information i originally had on my computer ripped away. I cant find the Limewire, Flash, microsoft office, adobephoto shop or any of my other stuff. I was wondering if anyone know of a way i can restore the computer to a previous date so is that i can restore the information i had. I have a dell inspirion and i was able to restore to a previous date when i lost information once so I hope i can to the same with this Ibook. Please help me.
When you installed X, did you use the "archive and install" option? If so, everything that was on the 'book before is still there, just moved into a folder [i forget the name of the folder]. If you did not use that option, you've erased everything.
Macs dont have a way to 'restore to an earlier date' like windows does.
Flash can be downloaded for free. To get Microsoft Office and Photoshop back, you will need to reinstall them from the origional installer disks.