Can't install Mac OS 9.2.2 on PowerBook G4 1GHz (Ti)

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Level 1

59 points

Can't install Mac OS 9.2.2 on PowerBook G4 1GHz (Ti)

Currently I have Mac OS X 10.5.8 running on this PB G4 (1Ghz G4, 1 firewall 400 port, 768MB RAM, 60MB HD). I know Classic is not supported, but I still wanted to run Mac OS 9 sometimes.

So I can boot off this "PowerBook G4 Mac OS9 Install" CD just fine.

Yet, when I try to install Mac OS 9 from its installer, I get error saying "Software cannot be installed on this computer."

Why? Could it be because it sees Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) on the HD and refuses to install? Or some other reason?

I dont want to test this theory by reformatting the HD to blank and trying to install Mac OS 9 on a blank HD...

Thoughts?

Mac mini Core Solo 1.5GHz stock, iMac DV 400MHz, Beige G3, Power Mac G4/350 AGP, Mac OS X (10.5), Mini has 512MB RAM, 60GB HD

Posted on Jul 2, 2016 9:17 PM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,296 points

Jul 3, 2016 7:39 AM in response to be236

I'm not sure either but I have a couple of observations;

1) Part of setting up a disk for OS9 is to install OS9 drivers using Disk Utility. Obviously that entails reformatting and probably partitioning of the disks. I partitioned all our dual-boot PowerPC Macs with OSX in one partition and OS9 in the other. That way, one system crashing big-time still allowed booting from the other partition.

2) I'm not sure if this applies to the PowerBook G4 but other PowerMacs of that era that were dual-boot (notable the PowerMac G4 MDD 1.25Ghz SP) required a special version of OS9 available only on the system install/restore disk that came with the computer. A disk from a similar computer or a retail install disk was not good enough. If the disk you are trying did not ship with your PB, that could be an issue.

Just to help us see all possible options, can you please provide you model's Machine Identifier code shown in System Profiler? SP should be in Applications > Utilities. When you open it, the first screen will be "Hardware Overview." The second line is either "Machine Model" or "Model Identifier" and will contain a code. For a PowerBook that code will take the format "PowerMacX,X" were the Xs are numbers. That will make sure we are all talking about the same submodel.

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Answer 2

be236 Author

Level 1

59 points

Jul 3, 2016 10:59 AM in response to Allan Jones

Hi,

My Hardware ID is: PowerBook3,5 (S/N QT3241PDN4M).

1. I think when I booted off Mac OS 9 CD, and ran Disk Utility it gave me a choice to install/update disk driver, but it said my HD had a higher version, so I didn't want to update.. I assume this is Mac OS 9 driver? Is there any way to tell if my HD currently has Mac OS 9 driver? I am guess that when I installed Leopard on here, I formatted it by default and since Leopard doesn't support Classic, likely it didn't install OS 9 drivers?

2. I prefer to have just one partition with Mac OS 9 and OS X, so that it can share one large hard drive space...

3. I do believe the Power Mac G4 Install CD is for this PowerBook G4.

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Answer 3

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

24,235 points

Jul 4, 2016 1:44 AM in response to be236

Since you do not wish to reformat the existing hard drive, another experiment could perhaps be of interest (make sure that you have backup copies of important files first). The PowerBook in question has a PC Card (CardBus) slot. With access to a simple and inexpensive PC Card adapter for CompactFlash, it is possible to read/write CompactFlash memory cards in PC Card slots of PowerBook computers. A CF card can (often) even be made bootable, providing that the card (normally PC-formatted) has been reformatted to Mac and contains a valid system folder. You may want to check whether the PowerBook G4 Mac OS 9 install disc (with a Drive Setup disk utility?) could be used to locate and reformat an appropriate CF card in the PC Card slot, and to install a working Mac OS 9.x system onto that card.

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Answer 4

be236 Author

Level 1

59 points

Jul 4, 2016 9:03 AM in response to Jan Hedlund

Well, as a last resort, I am willing to reformat and install Mac OS 9 first, then re-install Mac OS X 10.5 afterwards.. it's just a pain to re-install and do all those various system updates...etc...

In the meantime, I do have a CF card that is formatted Mac OS HFS that Mac OS X can see and I have put files in there as well..

I can try to install Mac OS 9 on that CF card and see if that works... in any case, it seems like I'll have to format the hard drive still so I can get can the best of both worlds (OS 9 and OS X).

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Answer 5

be236 Author

Level 1

59 points

Jul 4, 2016 8:47 PM in response to be236

Turns out that when I run the Mac OS 9 installer, it immediately tells me "this software cannot be installed on this computer."

It doesn't get far enough to even ask which HD or CF HD to install too. nor give a chance to reformat the HD..

So, I can only guess that either: (1) Mac OS just can't be installed on this PB G4.. or somehow it detects the HD doesn't have Mac OS 9 driver and just quits.

I just don't want to reformat the PB and find out that it is due to (1) above and waste all my time...

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Answer 6

Jeff

Level 6

12,328 points

Jul 5, 2016 10:00 PM in response to be236

Does the disk that you're attempting to use ("PowerBook G4 Mac OS9 Install") have the OS version "9.2.2" printed on its label? When new, the pre-installed OS versions on your PowerBook were 10.2.1 and 9.2.2. This means that the correct Restore disk has an OS 9.2.2 software build that's designed to support the hardware contained in the PowerBook. An installer disk with any other version of OS 9.x won't be supported. Finding a retail/universal installer disk of OS 9.2.2 may be difficult now.

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Answer 7

be236 Author

Level 1

59 points

Jul 5, 2016 10:16 PM in response to Jeff

All I have is this one Mac OS 9 Install CD.. and yes, it does show version 9.2.2 on the CD label.

What I can only guess is that: 1. The installer detects the main HD is not correctly formatted and just gives that error immediately. (When I boot into Mac OS X 10.5, Disk Utility has the checkmark next to "Mac OS 9 driver.")

Anyways, the Mac OS 9 Installer doesn't give me an option to re-format...I would have to do that manually using Drive Setup.

I was able to manually copy a Mac OS 9 System Folder into the hard drive and boot from this hard drive, but now I feel it's a "Frankenstein/hacked" Mac OS 9. I really want a genuine Mac OS 9 clean install...

I guess I only have two options.. 1. Format the HD using Mac OS 9 Drive Setup and try to install ..... or find a spare HD and put it in there and see what happens...

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