Creating a 9.2.2 startup/install CD

Hi, Steve. A bootable CD that contains the OS 9.2.2 updater would also have to contain a functional System Folder, stripped down and perhaps specially configured so that nothing in it would need to write any data to the boot disk (which, being a CD, would be read-only and not amenable to any such need.) I don't know what must be included in or excluded from such a System Folder.

Without a third-party application, you can't burn a bootable CD at all. Toast can burn bootable CDs, if you follow its instructions carefully, and it may be able to make a bootable duplicate of a bootable CD.

The OS 9.2.2 updater itself requires OS 9.2.1 to be installed previously: it won't update 9.0.x, 9.1, or 9.2. So you might be able to make a bootable updater CD, but it wouldn't be a full installer, and it probably wouldn't boot into 9.2.2. The information I have at hand indicates that your eMac requires OS 9.2.2 to boot, so (for example) making a bootable duplicate of a retail 9.2.1 installer and then adding the 9.2.2 updater to it would do you no good.

Apple never released a retail OS 9.2.2 installer disk (which, if it existed, would install a working OS 9.2.2 on any 9.2.2-compatible Mac's blank hard drive, or clean-install it on a HD with any other OS already installed, or update any earlier version of OS 9.x). And I'm not aware of any bootable CD that will update an existing OS 9.x to 9.2.2. There are direct installer disks for OS 9.2.2, but they are all machine-specific and won't work on most (and some won't work on any) machines other than the one they were shipped with. I have such an installer disk for my Titanium Powerbook, which (like your eMac) can't boot to a retail OS 9.2.1 installer. So my TiBook-specific CD is the only one I can use to reinstall OS 9.2.2. As you can imagine, I take very good care of it.

Steve,

I think eww's said it, use the OS9.2.2 install cd that came with your eMac. This is not the Restore CD that came with the Mac.

But I suspect that you don't have the original disks - which is why you're asking us.

You should be able to use Toast to burn a bootable OS9.2.2 CD from a working OS9.2.2 system folder. Toast Help gives very good instructions on how to do this - assuming you have the full version of Toast and not Toast Lite.

I'll admit i'm lazy, and when i reformat and reinstall on my titanium PBG4 i don't use the original os9.1 install disk it came with, but the os9.2.2 install disk that came with my PMG4. (now, i'm not so sure which system the PBG4 came with since the install cd hasn't been out for so long).

Have we understood you right ?

Hi, Steve. Do you have the original Installer CD that came with the iBook, and is it an OS 9.0.4 installer? Or do you have a retail installer for any later version of OS 9? If either of the above is true, you can erase the iBook's hard drive, use that CD to install whatever OS 9 version is on it, and then use the downloadable updaters to update it to 9.2.2. That will give you a pristine installation of 9.2.2, unadulterated with any third-party software. Then you can install Panther. And no, your firmware will not be reset to the original. As this chart shows, your firmware v. 4.1.7 is up to date and OS X-ready.

A word of warning, though: if your old iBook has a 3.2GB or 6GB hard drive, it isn't big enough. You won't be able to install Panther on a 3.2GB drive, and if you are able to install it on a 6GB drive, you will immediately or very soon be hampered by insufficient disk space for normal operation. Even a 10GB drive is marginal if you have a bunch of big applications and want to save space-hungry digital images, music, or worst of all, video. Be sure to keep a bare minimum of 2-3GB of space on your hard drive free and available at all times — Panther needs it for swapfiles and caches.