PowerBook Central: Lombard and NewWorld ROM

"Prior to the iMac, all Macintosh computers required a ROM component that contained many components of the Mac OS software. The NewWorld approach sidesteps this requirement by copying an image of the Mac OS ROM into RAM before the Mac OS begins operation. Once the Mac OS begins operation, a Mac OS ROM image in RAM and an actual Mac OS ROM behave in the same way. No new or different software interfaces are directly accessible from the Mac OS. During the boot process, software contained in the Mac OS ROM file communicates with Open Firmware to collect information about the hardware, using the Open Firmware Client Interface."

That's great. NewWorld ROM promises increased performance over Macs with the older ROM architecture at the expense of an increased system memory footprint (3 MB). Oh, and the fact that every now and then, during the start up routine, the system software is unable to find a boot device that contains a valid Mac OS ROM file. The resulting display on your screen is a "small folder which has an alternating flashing question mark and the Mac OS smiley face inside." Excuse me? The dreaded flashing question mark? Yep, apparently it's a "common problem," quoting Apple, on machines with NewWorld ROM.

The fix? Well, according to Apple, you must boot from the original system disk, and either select your hard disk from the Startup Disk control panel or reinstall your system software.

This past Saturday, your fearless webmaster turned on his PowerBook G3/400 only to be greeted by the "small folder which has an alternating flashing question mark and the Mac OS smiley face inside," nearly causing a heart attack on the spot. Past history has proved that the flashing question mark at start up would guarantee a blown Saturday. But on a brand new PowerBook? Fortunately, I still had my PowerBook 1400c on hand, so I surfed over to Apple's Tech Info Library to look for a solution. As luck would have it, Apple posted a TIL on this very subject. The TIL explains that "this appears at startup because the system software is unable to find a boot device (either locally or on a network volume) that contains a valid Mac OS ROM file. Either the ROM file has become damaged, is missing completely, or has been moved from the system folder." And their solution, as stated above, is to select your disk from the Startup Disk control panel or reinstall your system folder.

After booting from my original system disk, I tried the first step, which didn't do any good, then reinstalled the system software, which cured the problem. And by the way, make sure you use an original system disk, because older disks won't work. It took me several hours to locate my original system disk (my 17 month old likes to hide things like CD's...), and in the meantime, I tried booting from a Power Mac G3 disk, Mac OS 8 disk, and System 7.5.3 disk, none of which worked. I also tried booting from an external hard drive that I use to backup my entire internal hard drive. My external drive interfaces with the PowerBook via a PC card - but it seems that you can't boot the new PowerBooks from PC card devices.

Apple claims that this is a "common problem." So am I to assume that I'm going to have to completely reinstall my system software, then move all my third party extensions, once every three weeks (which is how long I've had my machine)? Apple, you and I have to have a serious talk. I was never forced to reinstall the system software on my 1400c in the 3 years I've owned it. But I really do love my new PowerBook G3/400...can this problem be cured with a software update? Hello, Apple?

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Stephen Hildreth has been the Editor-in-Chief of PowerBook Central since its inception in 1996. When not working on his Mac, he shares his love of the outdoors with his family and can be found biking, snow skiing, or educating students on the internal & external processes of our planet.