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User profile for user: markcantworkamac
markcantworkamac Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

3+69 icon in the top right of my Mac screen.

I recently acquired an older Power Mac 8.2 G5 all in one Mac and in the top right corner of the screen there is an icon with 3+69 in it, I dont know what its for but it stops me from reaching system pref's in the normal way.

The Mac is loaded with OSX 10.5.8 but it would have come originally with OSX 10.4, so 10.5.8 is an upgrade. It has a 150Gb HDD which I am suspicious of being a retrofit, I wonder if the 3+69 icon is to do with that?


It has no loading discs but I have that in hand. The system has two previous owner names on it so I dont have the permissions for half of the programs on the Mac. When I have my loading discs I will reload OSX 10.4 and return it to factory spec; I wont load the upgrade right away unless OSX 10.4 is too far out of date to operate. Other than that I may want to wait for a couple of weeks to let the Mac settle down.


I just dont know what the 3+69 icon is; it prevents me from finding sys pref in the normal way, everything has to go through 3+69.

Anyone have any ideas please?

iMac 21.5″

Posted on Sep 25, 2023 1:16 AM

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
245,483 points

Posted on Sep 25, 2023 6:14 AM

See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will still be there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
245,483 points

Sep 25, 2023 6:14 AM in response to markcantworkamac

See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will still be there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
245,483 points

Sep 25, 2023 6:18 AM in response to markcantworkamac

The G5 iMacs were prety short lived for the most part...


May 2005 Discontinued October 2005 Model Identifie rPowerMac8,2 Model NumberA1058EMC2055

Order NumberM9843LL/A (1.8 GHz), M9844LL/A (2.0 GHz) Initial Price$1,299 (1.8 GHz) $1,499 (2.0 GHz)

Support StatusObsolete Colors White Weight and Dimensions18.5 lbs., 16.9" H x 16.8" W x 6.8" D PROCESSOR

ProcessorPowerPC 970fx (G5) Processor Speed1.8 or 2.0 GHz Number of Cores1 Manufacturing Process90 nm Cache64 KB (instruction), 32 KB (data) L1, 512 KB backside (1:1) L2 System Bus600 or 667 MHz

STORAGE AND MEDIA...

Storage160, 250 or 400 GB 7200-rpm

MediaSlot-loading 8x24x8x24x DVD/CD-RW or 2.4x8x4x8x24x8x24x DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrivePERIPHERALS



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User profile for user: markcantworkamac
markcantworkamac Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Sep 25, 2023 10:27 AM in response to BDAqua

Great answer, Thank you; all attempts to get into any mode other than loading discs (which I cant do yet because I don't have them yet) has been a failure; but I didnt know about this! I keep my questions and answers in a folder in the Mac (another one - I now have 3!) so that I can refer to them when I need to.

So far when I've tried to get into system utility it always went back to the opening screen. I'll give it a whirl, Thanks. Mark.

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User profile for user: markcantworkamac
markcantworkamac Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Sep 25, 2023 10:31 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for your reply; yes, I dont see an awful lot about them compared to other models, so getting parts might be an issue in future; that said the key board came absolutely filthy and I decided to clean it before I used it, removed the keys and soaked them, cleaned out the board, but even after carefully cleaning it and drying the keys carefully It had missing keys and characters on screen. The mouse was falling apart too but I found another wired keyboard and mouse and its fine with those.

Thanks, Mark.

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3+69 icon in the top right of my Mac screen.

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