Q: Problem installing OS9 after OSX bugger up
Hey folks.
Ive got a G4 Tower that my brother got from his work. He wanted me to stick OSX on it which i did not realising you need to install the firmware update first. So ive tried to go reinstall OS9 on the drive in order to do this...herein lies the problem:
I havent seen my genuine OS9 discs for yonks, i have no idea where they are (plus they are the discs that came with my 400MHz iMac so they might not work anyhoo) so i opted for getting a copy through...questionable means. It all works fine, ive burnt the contents to a disc and can run the installer with no problems.
I connected the tower to my iBook using target mode and wiped the hard drive remotely using Disk Utility. There was no way i could use the drive otherwise, it just came up with the OSX boot screen then eventually the no entry sign. After wiping and reformatting the drive it comes up fine in target mode. I run the installer and it puts OS9 on the target disk with no problems, the installer finishes and everything. I went back into the the installer straight afterwards to confirm it worked and it said the version i had intalled was Z2-9.0.4 or something to that effect. When i restart the tower it comes up with the flashing folder that normally comes up when there is a system folder problem. I can access all the files on the drive when in target mode, but i cant boot up from the drive even though the OS installed with no problems.
Can anyone help with this problem, i know it was unethical to use a pirated copy but where else am i going to get a copy of OS9 these days?!
Ive got a G4 Tower that my brother got from his work. He wanted me to stick OSX on it which i did not realising you need to install the firmware update first. So ive tried to go reinstall OS9 on the drive in order to do this...herein lies the problem:
I havent seen my genuine OS9 discs for yonks, i have no idea where they are (plus they are the discs that came with my 400MHz iMac so they might not work anyhoo) so i opted for getting a copy through...questionable means. It all works fine, ive burnt the contents to a disc and can run the installer with no problems.
I connected the tower to my iBook using target mode and wiped the hard drive remotely using Disk Utility. There was no way i could use the drive otherwise, it just came up with the OSX boot screen then eventually the no entry sign. After wiping and reformatting the drive it comes up fine in target mode. I run the installer and it puts OS9 on the target disk with no problems, the installer finishes and everything. I went back into the the installer straight afterwards to confirm it worked and it said the version i had intalled was Z2-9.0.4 or something to that effect. When i restart the tower it comes up with the flashing folder that normally comes up when there is a system folder problem. I can access all the files on the drive when in target mode, but i cant boot up from the drive even though the OS installed with no problems.
Can anyone help with this problem, i know it was unethical to use a pirated copy but where else am i going to get a copy of OS9 these days?!
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2), eMac G4, iMac G4, iMac G3
Posted on Mar 7, 2010 2:56 PM
by Don Archibald,Solvedanswer
Hi, Aaron -
At this point I can't think of a reason why the machine would not be able to use that install.
You've invested quite a bit of time in trying to get a bootable OS 9 onto it. If I understand correctly, you need the OS 9 install only temporarily, in order to be able to update the machine's firmware, and will not need to have a bootable OS 9 after you install OSX.
If that is the case, I'd suggest you try borrowing a bootable OS 9 install CD, one valid for that machine. This can be one of two disks -
• a Software Install CD that originally shipped with that model. Perhaps your brother could borrow one from work?
• a retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD. Perhaps you could borrow one of those from a friend, or from someone at an Apple User Group - there's usually one in most large cities or universities.
http://www.apple.com/usergroups/
At this point I can't think of a reason why the machine would not be able to use that install.
You've invested quite a bit of time in trying to get a bootable OS 9 onto it. If I understand correctly, you need the OS 9 install only temporarily, in order to be able to update the machine's firmware, and will not need to have a bootable OS 9 after you install OSX.
If that is the case, I'd suggest you try borrowing a bootable OS 9 install CD, one valid for that machine. This can be one of two disks -
• a Software Install CD that originally shipped with that model. Perhaps your brother could borrow one from work?
• a retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD. Perhaps you could borrow one of those from a friend, or from someone at an Apple User Group - there's usually one in most large cities or universities.
http://www.apple.com/usergroups/
Posted on Mar 9, 2010 10:43 PM