Running OS 9 on a Powermac G5?

Question

Running OS 9 on a Powermac G5?

I have an old G3 beige; though the computer works pretty well, the monitor is slowly dying. It runs OS 9.2.2.

Anyway, I recently bought a Powermac G5 with dual 2.7 GHz processors. When I got it, I added a second hard drive then wiped both disks and did a clean install of Tiger. I love this machine -- it's blazingly fast!

The problem is that I bought a PowerMac instead of an Intel machine because I wanted to be able to transfer documents and programs to the new computer. Alas, the G5 won't boot from a retail disk of OS 9.2.

Is there any way to install "Classic" on this computer, then? Since the original disks didn't come with the computer, I don't know if there was a disk for this computer that will let me install and run "Classic". If there is, maybe I could find it on ebay or some such place?

I have lots of old word-processing documents that I'm slowly in the process of converting. Since Corel's Wordperfect (what I used on the G3) doesn't work with OS X, I went ahead and bought Microsoft Word for the new computer. But that means I have to go through the tedious process of converting probably a few thousand documents. It'd be a lot simpler if I could just run Wordperfect and Word on the same machine.

Besides, I'd hate to think that I won't be able to play X-Wing, TIE Fighter, or Escape Velocity on the new machine!

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

-- Michael

Powermac G5, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Nov 21, 2007 1:44 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 21, 2007 2:00 PM in response to The Lone Ranger

Hi, loneranger1701 -

Welcome to Apple's Discussions.

No G5 Mac can boot to any version of OS 9; they can use OS 9 (9.1 or later) as Classic, but not as a boot OS.

The ideal way to install Classic is from the original disk set that came with the machine when it was new. It is customary for those disks to be included when a machine is resold - you might check with the seller, maybe even push a bit.

Otherwise, you should be able to use an OS 9.1 or later (9.2.1 or 9.2.2 is better) working System Folder copied from another Mac, as Classic. This means you should be able to copy the OS 9.2.2 System Folder from your G3 to the G5 and have it work as Classic.

You need not use a cloning utility to perform this copy - a Finder copy (drag and drop) process should work well.

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Answer 2

Nov 21, 2007 2:08 PM in response to Don Archibald

Thanks! I'll try copying from the old machine when I get home tonight. Hopefully, that will solve the problem. I'll also contact the seller of the new machine and see if I can get the original disks from him, in case they might be needed in the future.

Cheers,

Michael

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Answer 3

CEB II

Level 2

475 points

Nov 21, 2007 4:13 PM in response to The Lone Ranger

While you should have great success using WordPerfect for Mac in Classic (I do), don't hold out a lot of hope for using OS 9 games in Classic. I've found that only the older, crude games worked well in Classic. Any of the more advanced OS 9 games (e.g., Madden football) just didn't function in Classic. YMMV

Carl B.

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Answer 4

Nov 22, 2007 1:06 PM in response to CEB II

Unfortunately, it looks like you're right, Carl.

I copied the System folder from my old machine last night and put it on the new machine. Classic would open word-processing documents, but I tried 3 different games and none of them would work worth a darn. Sigh

Oh well, it's not that big a loss. I'm not so much a fan of TIE Fighter that it's worth buying a new monitor for the old computer just so I can hang onto it and play the old games.

So, I'm in the process of converting my old WordPerfect programs. Once that's done, I'll probably just get rid of the old machine. I can't really complain; it has served faithfully and well for many years.

Cheers,

Michael

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Answer 5

CEB II

Level 2

475 points

Nov 23, 2007 2:59 PM in response to The Lone Ranger

Since WordPerfect worked for you in Classic, I hope you plan to keep your WordPerfect files and work them with WP in Classic. Converting them to MS Word will inherently result in some lost or changed formating and WP is a much easier to use word processing application than is Word.

Carl B.

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Answer 6

Nov 28, 2007 8:58 PM in response to Don Archibald

G5's seriously can't boot OS9?!

Man I even set up a partition for it since Leopard doesn't have "Classic"

I love my computer a little less now.

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Answer 7

Nov 29, 2007 12:48 AM in response to Max Berocay

Hi, Max -

That's correct, no G5 can boot to OS 9.

Since you've already set up a partition, you can install a version of OSX (one appropriate for your model) earlier than Leopard on that partition along with OS 9 - by rebooting into the pre-Leopard OSX, you can then use Classic again.

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