on 6/9/00 12:19 PM, moskimus at moskimus@mac.com wrote something like:

> The day I messed it up I had been modifying OF settings all morning
> via serial console.  (And what a thrill it was when I found that
> using the first serial cable I found to hook to systems together
> worked for this. I was expecting to have to get a null modem or use
> phone-net or something.)  So I had been poking around the OF and
> rebooting and poking some more when I decided that the page I was
> reading was telling me to change that value.  I guess if that was the
> right thing to do then maybe the ofwboot file that I had in place was
> the wrong version or I installed it incorrectly.

    It may simply be that your input/output device settings are pointing to
something invalid or non-existent. I believe I got into this same bind on my
Beige G3, but reseting the PRAM (cmd-opt-P-R *four times or more in a row*)
fixed it. 
 
> At any rate, I couldn't get back to OF no matter what I did.  I tried
> all the different timings when holding keys down.  Along with trying
> to zap the pram and get into OF, I tried booting to cd by holding
> down 'c', I tried forcing it to use a different drive with
> cmd-opt-shft-del, I even tried pulling the power and pattery and
> looking for any jumper that might clear things.  The machine wouldn't
> do anything. ctrl-opt-restart also had no effect.

    If OF can't open the i and/or o device, it will probably just die and
default to the MacOS ROM.

> But now I have sent it off to be fixed by someone else.  I haven't
> heard back from them on it yet so I may be able to suggest ways for
> them to fix it if there is something that I didn't try.

    If resetting the PRAM 5 times or more in a row doesn't fix it, you could
try removing the clock/PRAM battery for a few hours and then try booting
without it installed. If you get a black screen, reseting the PRAM once
should clear things to default settings. Then you can reinstall the clock
battery and go from there.


    Chris