How to enable OS Classic mode?

There are a few links to Support and other related topic pages available via this search result:

In Mac OS X, what is the Classic environment, and how do I ...

... Classic environment involves Mac OS 9 ... run the Classic environment, you must have

Mac OS 9.1 or later installed on your computer and selected in the Mac OS X ...

https://kb.iu.edu/d/ajel

"To run the Classic environment, you must have Mac OS 9.1 or later installed on your computer and selected in the Mac OS X

Classic

1. Log into Mac OS X.
2. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences....
3. In System Preferences, from the View menu, select Classic.
4. In the

   Classic

   system preference window, click the Start/Stop tab.
5. If no system folder is selected, under "Select a system folder for Classic:", choose your Mac OS 9 system folder.
6. If you would like Classic to start automatically when you log into your account, check Start Classic when you login.

Once you have set up the Classic environment, you can start it by clicking Start." -- from linked site above.

My G4 PPC Macs which either shipped with Tiger 10.4.11, or saw upgrade to there from older

all could use Classic mode; even ones where I brought in a copy of System 9 from dual boot

X and 9 configurations. Although at that point, the copy would only work as Classic via 10.4.x}

Good luck & happy trails! 🙂

PS: Glad to see image of this configuration with original box + accessories in another thread.

Because those model era computers cannot boot to older System9.2.2 & Before,

they can only use Classic Mode from within the Tiger 10.4.x system as directed in

the remaining link within my above reply.

Further ideas were in this other link I included yet someone chose to edit/remove:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=How+to+install+and+Launch+Classic+9+OS+in+Mac+OS+X+Tiger%3F&t=ffsb&ia=web

It has more details across other source site. The good about duckduck search

is that you are not tracked ~ although final sites may cookie or track you then.

And the earlier answer is what issue remained with the iMac G4 1.0GHz model

you had attempted to install a boot system 9.1 or 9.2 pre-X system on partition

in hopes of triple boot Leopard/Tiger and install unsupported MacOS 9.x boot.

The 'Classic Mode' only works under Tiger so there is no original macos system9

running; it only allows a means to run specific early pre-X applications. Hardware

in the later model iMac G4 and other Macs of that transition, cannot boot system9.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

"Classic Mode" is not a fully boot-capable system onto itself...

As such it relies heavily on a host Mac OS X 10.4(.11) to work

and its sole purpose in the configuration so intended is to run

older Mac system software, that otherwise would not run on

the later hardware, in the later modern operating system.

Those models who were older, yet could be upgraded to Tiger

OS X 10.4(.11) can {if original software disc with System 9.1/.2}

were included, would still be able to dual-boot and see the full

and real earlier Mac OS pre-X system, as a complete system.

The control panels and other parts of original system 9.2/9.1

aren't activated when Tiger OS X 10.4.11 'sees' Classic Mode.

I've had a few (dozen) Macs that dual-boot older/newer systems.

But Classic Mode itself, in the last incarnate which is not supported

by OS X 10.5.8 Leopard (due to hardware change) was to allow a

transition Mac to still access earlier pre-X applications in then/new

hardware. This was done to allow invested users of older software

a chance to later upgrade their software to newer OS X applications.

And some confusion exists even now, when some have not fully

explained the original situation, and/or interchanged terms when

they actually have different meaning. "Classic" prior to OS X was

more likely to apply to an early model all-in-one Macintosh, than

to a pre-X system. The advent of later OS X and reference to the

before system 10 system and applications, led to another meaning.

And so did the lapse of Mac hardware ability to start up in pre-X

operating systems, which could not natively run older Mac apps.

"Classic" is not "Classic Mode", much like neither of these is a

vintage collectable all-in-one Macintosh pre-G 68000 CPU.

Suggested reading may include some pages on wikipedia site.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

One of these?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Classic

You seem to have a broad definition of what 'Classic' OS is.

Classic is not 'just any OS before OS X', that Mac Classic is probably running Mac OS 6 or Mac OS 7. That is many years before OS 9 & OS X.

When OS X was released people still wanted to run OS 9 applications but the OS's were so different that Apple had to make the Classic environment to run them inside OS X.

Classic OS really only covers OS 9, please read up on it if you are interested…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Mac_OS

Apple have reused terms that can make it confusing but there is a lot of info available if you really want to learn your history.

Archival information from various sources still exist online; one such w/ details:

• Macintosh Classic -- from the Mac 512.com

http://www.mac512.com/macwebpages/classic.htm

• Mac Classic - Low End Mac:

http://lowendmac.com/1990/mac-classic/

Had & used several of these early models; even the Color Classic/II though

a winter storm bounced a few trees off the utility lines and it didn't like the

surges; & also burned out a Tripp-Lite 'UPS' backup battery power supply.

There are still a few good sources online; some are hidden in the archives

of wayback machine, captured some time ago by their crawlers.

Good luck & happy trails! 🙂