Where does one get OS 9?

Suggest you join LEM-Swap for buying & selling Mac stuff. http://groups.google.com/group/lemswap
After you join, post a WTB (want to buy). The retail OS 9 install CD is white with an orange 9. A gray installer from another model Mac might work, but a retail installer will always work.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

On your CL post you specify 9.2, but if your computer is currently running 8.6 then you can install any version of OS9 and use the free, downloadable updaters to take it to 9.1, 9.2.1 or 9.2.2. I'm just thinking that being willing to accept any version of OS9 makes the market a bit more open.

Hi there,

Sorry for hijacking this post, it's just that my question is pretty much the same. I have a Quicksilver machine with Tiger on it, but no Classic. I'd like to know how to get hold of a Restore CD with OS 9.2.2 on it... I'm in the UK so the LEM Swap board isn't much use to me unfortunately. Any ideas?

Thanks!

:-Joe

That's good. Shame Craigslist in the UK is not very good. Would be nice if Apple gave away Mac OS 9 since it is now obsolete! I'm specifically looking for the Software Restore CD because with that I am supposed to be able to install OS 9 onto an existing OS X machine. Do you have any advice?

Thanks!

Hi, Jowie -

Which specific model QuickSilver do you have?

The QS '01 models can use a retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD.

For booting purposes, the QS '02 models can use only the model-specific version of OS 9.2.2 that originally came with them.

For use as Classic, the QS '02 models can use a working (i.e., bootable) OS 9.2.x System Folder copied from another machine, but unless the source machine is a model from the same specific series as yours, this will not be bootable. Note that copying OS 9 is easy - a simple Finder copy (drag and drop) is sufficient; no need to use cloning software (just be sure that if an intermediate transport medium is used, such as a flash drive, that it has been formatted as Mac OS Extended or, if necessary, Mac OS Standard).

***

Would be nice if Apple gave away Mac OS 9 since it is now obsolete!

Probably it would be nice, but if OS 9 were that obsolete folk would not be looking for ways to get and install it. In any case, don't expect OS 9 to go free anytime soon - the latest complete OS Apple currently makes available for no-charge download is OS 7.5.3.

Don Archibald wrote:
Hi, Jowie -

Hi 🙂

Which specific model QuickSilver do you have?

From System Profiler:

Model Name: PowerMacG4AGP
Model Identifier: PowerMac3,1
Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (2.8)
Total Number Of Cores: 1
Processor Speed: 400 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 320 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 3.2.6f1

The QS '01 models can use a retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD.

Unfortunately this was blagged from work, so no install CDs. 😟

For booting purposes, the QS '02 models can use only the model-specific version of OS 9.2.2 that originally came with them.

Doh... How am I to get hold of them?

For use as Classic, the QS '02 models can use a working (i.e., bootable) OS 9.2.x System Folder copied from another machine, but unless the source machine is a model from the same specific series as yours, this will not be bootable. Note that copying OS 9 is easy - a simple Finder copy (drag and drop) is sufficient; no need to use cloning software (just be sure that if an intermediate transport medium is used, such as a flash drive, that it has been formatted as Mac OS Extended or, if necessary, Mac OS Standard).

Thanks... Well I do have what I think is a bootable OS 9 install CD, which I used and copied the System Folder from. Unfortunately Classic tries to boot and then I get the message along the lines of "this system is only bootable from the install CD and cannot be copied to the main drive". So that didn't work... So then I tried booting from the same CD and that's when my graphics cards started messing up. 😟

Would be nice if Apple gave away Mac OS 9 since it is now obsolete!

Probably it would be nice, but if OS 9 were that obsolete folk would not be looking for ways to get and install it. In any case, don't expect OS 9 to go free anytime soon - the latest complete OS Apple currently makes available for no-charge download is OS 7.5.3.

You say that, but where does Apple sell OS 9? If it still sold it then that would probably be my next port of call. So if they don't sell it, and don't give it away free, then what are people supposed to do?

So I guess my first task is to find out how to get my graphics cards working again before I think about buying OS 9 :-/

Thanks

:-Joe

Sorry I just realised that it's AGP and not Quicksilver :-/ ooops!

Hi, Jowie -

Since it's a G4 (AGP) model, that opens things up quite a bit.

You can use any retail (white label) OS 9 Install CD with that model - OS 9.0, 9.0.4, 9.1, or 9.2.1. You can then use download updaters to bring it up to the version you need -
Article #60791 - Mac OS 9.0.4 - Download and Info
Article #75103 - Mac OS 9.1 - Download and Info
Article #120030 - Mac OS 9.2.1 - Download and Info
Article #75186 - Mac OS 9.2.2 - Download and Info

Note that the preceding updaters must be installed in sequence. For example, if you use a retail OS 9.0.4 Install CD and want to end up at OS 9.2.2, you would need to apply the updates for OS 9.1, 9.2.1, and 9.2.2.

I referred to retail OS 9 Install CDs rather than original Software Install or Software Restore CDs because the original disks are extremely difficult to find. A Restore CD also is not easy to use - it is not difficult to accidentally erase the whole drive when using one of those. Also, it is very hard to get just the OS 9 install from one of the Restore CDs - they are designed to revert the drive to the original as-shipped configuration, including any additional software originally bundled with the machine.

So, where to get retail OS 9 Install CDs....

When Apple stops selling a particular OS version (usually because that version has been replaced by a later version) they apparently sell off their stock of retail disks to 3rd-party vendors. These vendors still make them available. In the U.S., other than LEMSwap there are sources like this one -
http://hardcoremac.stores.yahoo.net/

I don't know whether that source, or others like it, will accept a purchase from buyers located in other than the U.S. - some sellers will, some won't.

You can also check with an Apple User Group for their suggestions - most big cities and universities have one. You can search for one near you here -
http://www.apple.com/usergroups/

EBay is another possibility, but be cautious - sometimes a seller there will describe a model-specific (gray or gray-blue label) disk as being suitable for any model MAC, when that is not true.

***

Another item to consider, perhaps. You're located in the U.K., so might need, or want, to acquire the International English version of the OS rather than the North American English version. Unlike OSX (whose install disks contain all available languages), OS 9 comes in one language version per disk - and there is no way to convert an installed OS 9 to a different language.

I'm not sure what all the differences are between the International Ennglish and the North American English versions, except that the download updater(s) used must match the language version of the installed OS 9.

One difference is in the keyboard layout - the Int'l English layout is a bit different that the NA English one, placing certain characters (such as the symbol for monetary pound) in more convenient locations. There is a choice of keyboard layouts in OS 9 - for example, a machine running NA English can be set to use the keyboard layout for Int'l English. Whether this would be sufficient, I don't know. Another reason to consult an Apple User Group, I imagine.

Hi Don,

Thanks for taking the time to write back in such detail. 🙂

Since I already have Tiger installed on the machine, doesn't that mean I need at least OS 9.1 in order to be compatible with Classic? So in order to install OS 9 at all on my machine won't I need the 9.1 CD at the very least?

Finding these disks is a real bind, I've been looking all over the place and the best I've found so far are people selling their old machine-specific restore discs. Guilty as charged, I managed to download a full 9.2.2 image and burn the DMG to a CD, but even still it won't boot. Is there any way of telling if a CD is bootable or not? Since I'm a little concerned that even if I do find and buy OS 9, that my machine won't accept the disk?

As for International English versions, sure it would be nice but I'm not too concerned... I've run US versions of the OS many times in the past and there are very few differences... "Trash" becomes "Wastebasket" etc, but even then in OS X they just started calling it Trash on the UK version also 🙂

Thanks

:-Joe

Hi, Jowie -

Yes, OS 9 needs to be at least OS 9.1 in order to be used as Classic under OSX; with OSX 10.4 and probably with OSX 10.3, OS 9.2.x works better.

However, that does not mean you need to start with a Classic-compatible version. Your G4 (AGP) can use any retail OS 9 Install CD - the fact that you already have OSX on the drive is not germane to installing OS 9. You can use a retail OS 9.0 Install CD, then apply the necessary download updaters to take that install up to the final version you want. Once you are done updating OS 9, then reboot the machine to OSX and set that OS 9 install up as Classic.

Is there any way of telling if a CD is bootable or not?

All retail (white label with a large gold 9) OS 9 Install CDs are suitable for your G4 (AGP).

Any CDs labelled Software Install or Software Restore are model-specific, and have a gray or blue-gray label color. If such is not specifically one which originally shipped with a G4 (AGP), it is doubtful that it would work.

Unfortunately there is no clear identification on the original disks as to exactly which model they are for. The ones used by the G4 (AGP) will state Power Mac G4, but so will ones intended for a G4 (PCI), a G4 (Gigabit Ethernet), or a G4 (Digital Audio) model.

To make it worse as far as disk identification goes, during the production life of the G4 (AGP) there were at least three different OS release versions that accompanied it - OS 8.6 for the early ones, OS 9.0.2 for the middle ones, and OS 9.0.4 for the late ones.

That is another reason why I've recommended focusing on getting a retail OS 9 Install CD - there is no ambiguity about being able to use one of those.

As far as making your own bootable install disk for OS 9, I've never done that. I know it is possible to use the OS 9 version of Toast to do that (Toast has a selectable feature to make a disk bootable), but I don't know whether that can be done in such a way that the result would be bootable on any model other than the one on which it was made. Plus, getting the installer app to behave might be tricky, since its scripts expect certain things to be in certain places.

For what it is worth, the System Folder on OS 9 Install CDs is not standard - it can be used for booting only when run from its original medium, meaning from the CD; a copy of such a System Folder will not work, not even as Classic.

One other thing, possibly - unless certain steps are taken, by default all OS 9 installs are specific to the model machine doing the install. It is possible to set the installer on any retail OS 9 Install CD and many OEM Software Install CDs for OS 9 (but not with any Software Restore CD for OS 9) to perform a Universal (boot any Mac) install, but setting that up is not obvious.

Hi all,

Just thought I'd say that I managed to get it sorted, thanks to NetBoot 9 🙂