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Installing OS9 onto G4 Digital Audio

Hi,


I was directed here to get better help with this topic. As the title says, I want to install OS9 onto my Digital Audio G4 tower but having little success. I have ttried various discs (9.0, 9.1, 9.2) and none let me install the OS. The best I can get is the "Welcome to Mac OS 9.1" before the bomb screen shows saying there was an unimplemented trap problem. To get that far I have to boot off of a 9.0 disc to get the Floppy and ? error before I change to a 9.1/9.2 disc to start the installer. If I try to boot from the 9.1 or 9.2 discs directly, my Mac complains that there's no bootable medium. I have tried various images and even retail discs (including one that came with the original OSX package) to no avail.


Is there anyone that can help?


Thanks,

Naoki

Power Macintosh G4 Digital Audio-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Mar 22, 2012 8:32 AM

Reply
19 replies

Mar 22, 2012 8:52 AM in response to NaokiS

Make sure your 1/2 AA 3.6V PRAM battery is under 4 years old. Make sure you are in fact using a Digital Audio:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3082

The Digital Audio never officially supported 10.5. If you used LeopardAssist to install 10.5 on it, double check with LeopardAssist's author that didn't affect your ability to use 9 with it, since 10.5 is not compatible with Classic, but is compatible with dual booting into Classic.

If the Mac has a third party processor upgrade, the firmware may have affected its ability to use 9.

Use this article to determine which versions of 9 CD can work with your Mac, once you have identified your Mac accurately with HT3082:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2191

Make sure your 9 retail copy says in black text the version of 9 that is newer than the minimum shown in the article:

9(.0), 9.0.2, 9.0.4, 9.1, 9.2.1 are all retail releases in the sequence of release.

The 9 CD has an orange 9 logo with a white background, and does not Upgrade, or Dropin on it, or any Mac model on it. Lastly, verify the startup manager can see the 9 CD after being inserted:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA27043

And the curly arrow is clicked on it. If it doesn't see the CD, then it is not compatible.

Mar 23, 2012 8:57 PM in response to NaokiS

Changing the battery is a troubleshooting step. It's really tough(or at least slow) to diagnose issues over the internet to begin with. An old computer could have a dead battery - if the battery is bad, all bets are off. There could certaily be other issues, and replacing the battery may do no good at all, but you have to eliminate all possible pints of failure, and the battery is certainly a possiibility,


If you do get OS 9 to work, you're not giong to be very happy with the results, unless there is an old app you need to use.

Web surfing, and the internet in general, will not be fun. There are no modern browsers that I know of for OS 9, and most web sites are desogned for modern browsers.


using OS 9, at this point, is sort of like using an old car, but not as much fun. You'll spend time and money making it work, and you do it just because you can and you want to. With an old car, you can still get where you're going, and enjoy doing it. With an old computer, you can make it work, but you may not get anywhere, and you may not enjoy it. Both wil cost you more money that it''s worth.

Installing OS9 onto G4 Digital Audio

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