Don330

Q: Is there anyway to add OS 9 over OS X?

I'm currently running 10.3.9 on my 300MHz iBook G3 Clamshell. I was wondering if there is any way to install OS 9 on it without having to erase 10.3. Thank you in advance.

iBook, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Feb 12, 2016 11:08 AM

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Q: Is there anyway to add OS 9 over OS X?

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  • by Don Archibald,Solvedanswer

    Don Archibald Don Archibald Feb 12, 2016 11:56 AM in response to Don330
    Level 10 (101,435 points)
    Feb 12, 2016 11:56 AM in response to Don330

    Yes.

     

    Since that machine model originally came with OS 8.6, you will need to use a retail OS 9 Install CD. The retail discs have a white label with a large gold 9 on them, and were available in versions OS 9.0, OS 9.0.4, OS 9.1, and OS 9.2.1. Since locating downloadable OS 9 updaters has become not easy (since Apple discontinued them from their site), it would be best to use a CD version as close as possible to the final version you want.

     

    All you should need to do is boot the machine to the OS 9 Install CD, then run the installer.

     

    Some items of consideration before doing this:

     

    • The hard drive must be formatted as Mac OS Extended (also called HFS+), not journaled.

     

    • There must be sufficient room on the hard drive for the additional install of OS 9. Remember to leave at least 10% of the drive unused.

     

    • If the hard drive is not original, it should be less than 200GB in size. If it is 200GB or larger, OS 9 can not use it as a boot volume. This issue can be addressed by partitioning the hard drive, making the partition for OS 9 smaller than 200GB.

     

    • If you elect to install OS 9.1 or earlier, the Startup Disk Control Panel included in those versions can not recognize any version of OS X as being a viable, hence selectable, OS. The solution is to download and install Startup Disk CP version 9.2, available here -

                  Startup Disk 9.2.1 Document and Software

     

    The Startup Disk CP that comes with OS 9.2.1 will recognize OS X as a viable and selectable OS.

     

    **********************

     

    Switching back and forth between OS X and OS 9 -

     

    • When OS X and OS 9 are on the same volume (partition), use Startup Disk (preference pane or control panel, as applicable).

     

    • When OS X and OS 9 are on different volumes (partitions), you can use Startup Manager or the preceding.

  • by Don330,

    Don330 Don330 Feb 18, 2016 2:57 PM in response to Don Archibald
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 2:57 PM in response to Don Archibald

    Hi, I got a OS 9.2.1 CD. I started it up and clicked Mac OS Install but it's giving me "This version of Mac OS 9.2.1 may not be installed over the system software on the currently selected volume. Press the "Options..." button to perform a clean installation." If I go ahead with clicking "Options..." and doing a clean install will it erase 10.3.9? Thank you for your help!

  • by Don330,

    Don330 Don330 Feb 18, 2016 3:53 PM in response to Don330
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 3:53 PM in response to Don330

    UPDATE: I made a clean install and OS 9 was put into a system folder 10.3 wasn't affected and all is well! Thanks again!

  • by Don Archibald,

    Don Archibald Don Archibald Feb 18, 2016 9:08 PM in response to Don330
    Level 10 (101,435 points)
    Feb 18, 2016 9:08 PM in response to Don330

    Good news!

     

    Thanks for taking the time to post back with your results.