I do not have first-hand experience with Mac OS 8. IIRC, I read that Mac OS 8.6 better supports USB storage than does OS 8.5. I had no trouble at all using USB storage (block storage magnetic disc of 512-octet sectors, Stick flashdisc, or optical/CD) with Mac OS 9.
What CD-ROM drive is in your iMac? I had a rev A, a rev D, and another (either rev C or D, I do not remember which).
My rev A contained Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries, LTD. CR-173-D (a.k.a. MKE CR-173, a.k.a. Panasonic CR-173). CR-173 does not read CD-RW. CR-173 does not read CD-R very well. If you have CR-173, then do not bother trying burning some CD-R. It is only good at reading pressed discs, not recorded/written CD-R.
My rev D contained MKE CR-175-D, which could read all of my CD-R and CD-RW discs.
I believe all MKE CR-173, CR-175, CR-176, CR-177 are interchangeable: they should have same design, share same door/panel/bezel/cover/face/faceplate. Mac OS can use any 12.7 mm PATA drive in iMac G3, but firmware will only boot from correct device configuration (whether that is master or slave, I do not remember).
Summary: Apple CR-175-D is safest bet.
Go ahead and scavenge/reuse whatever drive you can find locally, if you enjoy tinkering. The Earth you save may be your own.
See also:
edit: I hate this implementation of bbcode.
What CD-ROM drive is in your iMac? I had a rev A, a rev D, and another (either rev C or D, I do not remember which).
My rev A contained Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries, LTD. CR-173-D (a.k.a. MKE CR-173, a.k.a. Panasonic CR-173). CR-173 does not read CD-RW. CR-173 does not read CD-R very well. If you have CR-173, then do not bother trying burning some CD-R. It is only good at reading pressed discs, not recorded/written CD-R.
My rev D contained MKE CR-175-D, which could read all of my CD-R and CD-RW discs.
I believe all MKE CR-173, CR-175, CR-176, CR-177 are interchangeable: they should have same design, share same door/panel/bezel/cover/face/faceplate. Mac OS can use any 12.7 mm PATA drive in iMac G3, but firmware will only boot from correct device configuration (whether that is master or slave, I do not remember).
Summary: Apple CR-175-D is safest bet.
Go ahead and scavenge/reuse whatever drive you can find locally, if you enjoy tinkering. The Earth you save may be your own.
See also:
- Apple Support Communities / Desktop Computers / iMac (PPC) : replacement cd for iMac 233mhz
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/203547
- _opticaldrivesmatrix.pdf
title: Optical Drives Matrix
page footer: Apple Confidential (Do Not Distribute) Optical - Zip Matrix
producer: Mac OS X 10.3.6 Quartz PDFContext
edit: I hate this implementation of bbcode.