On my old iMac I could assign virtually anything to the function keys, [...] via the control panel Keyboard under Function Key Mappings. I can’t find anything similar in 10.7.1 – certainly not under Keyboard in Preferences. Does it exist? And if so, where?
Also nice little utilities such as KeyFinder (chart for all fonts) and Key Caps
I understand that the details have changed in Lion, but in Leopard you could add/change keyboard shortcuts via the homonymous tab on the
Keyboard & Mouse Preference (System Preferences, Hardware). Likewise, a Character Palette and Keyboard Viewer are available via the
Input Menu pane of the
International preference (System Prefs, Personal). The latter can be placed on the menu bar by selecting one or more languages from the same
Input Menu list. If you cannot find these options, others may be able to provide Lion-specific instructions.
Fixing a loose end: if Firewire Target Disk Mode didn't work for you it might have been because your iMac G3's Firewire is on the fritz, or its firmware wasn't v2.4
* or higher
as DK indicated. I have an identical iMac model on which TDM works just fine (albeit with firmware v4.19 installed). If yours doesn't and you'd like to update, you can find the updater here:
iMac Firmware Update 2.4: Document and Software. The latest firmware for the G3 iMac (including Firewire TDM improvements) is
v4.19, but it requires you to run
Mac OS 9.1 or higher to install.
*) As Jon suggested, you can find out about your G3's firmware on the
System Profile tab of
Apple System Profiler, under Product Information at the bottom of the pane and sort of hidden in the Boot ROM version string like this: $000
2.4f1.