Installing classic on OS 10.4.11

The MDDs require a later version, and the FW/800s won't boot OS9 at all.

For Classic though, an already installed OS9 System Folder of 9.1 or greater can just be copied to your HD, it can also be copied to an external HD.

If you have the FW/400 model that can boot OS9, and get the right version of OS9, then you just need to be sure to include the OS 9 drivers on the new HD if you wish to install and or boot it.

Sorry, MDD= Mirrored Drive Doors, in the middle of that model run they switched from FW/400 to FW/800 with USB2 & Airport extreme while dropping OS9 bootability...

http://support.apple.com/specs/powermac/PowerMac_G4_Mirrored_DriveDoors.html

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75343

Sorry, yes FW= Firewire.

So, are you saying that I can just drag a copy of the OS 9 Classic onto my harddrive?

Yes... caveats... not off the CD, must be 9.1 or greater, 9.2.1 or 9.2.2 preferred.

It will not bootup from the classic CD!

Correct, er well, except to avoid confusion, we'd say it doesn't boot from the OS9 CD... "Classic" being used for the Emulation of OS9 done while running OSX. 🙂

Sorry, caveats= A warning or caution, which is like what followed... not off the CD & such.

There are two ways to run OS9, one is booting into it as the Native Os, your FW/800 cannot do this.

The other way is OS9 emulation, which is normally called Classic under OSX, wherein it appears that both OSes can be used at once without rebooting., which is the way you would have done it on a FW/800 if you ever ran OS9 on it before.

Classic is OS9 running under OSX; you start OSX first and then OSX runs OS9. Classic is not running the computer the way it does when running as OS9, OSX is. Your computer is too new and OS9 is not capable of running your computer on its own, but OS9 will work if OSX is really running the computer and helping it.

Classic requires version 9.1 or greater. Many old CDs came as version 9.0.4 and won't work as Classic without an upgrade (free). If you have a CD you have to do two things. One is to get OS9 off the CD and onto the computer. With older G4s this is easy because you can put the CD in the computer, start the computer from the CD and then run the installer. Your computer is too new and won't do that. Even if you could, you would run into problem two which is you still need to run the updaters to get it to version 9.1 or greater.

One way to get around all this is to find a computer that has a copy of OS9.1 or greater on it and get a copy off that.

So the basic answer is, yes you can install, and your computer will run, Classic, but you don't really have the components at hand to easily get it installed on your machine.

(I hope this isn't a troll.)

Yes, you can install Classic. Well not install so much as run Classic once you get a good OS9 System Folder on it.

By emulation I mean it's not really booting into OS9, yet looks for the like it is running it... OSX is using all the OS9 files to make it act like it is running OS9. OS9 Applications will run in Classic Mode.

You cannot install OS9 or Classic use on it from an OS9 CD, you need to COPY an OS9 System Folder from a working OS9 install on another Mac, HD, etc.

Do you have another Mac that is running Os9? Do you know anybody that does?

Yes... we're almost there now!

Just make sure it's one that is at least 9.1.

Drag copy the Applications (OS9) folder while you're at it.

Then you should be able to choose it in Prefs>Classic, then start it.

Yes...

"you need to COPY an OS9 *System Folder* from a working OS9 install on another Mac, HD, etc."