Kirk Boragine
Level 3
(925 points)
Q: Stick with OS9 or Jump to Jaguar/Panther on a Wallstreet?
1. 233 G3 Wallstreet.
2. 512 MB RAM
3. Email/Web
4. Using Microsoft Office for Mac
I bought a new (old) Wallstreet off eBay. It will be here in a few days. Should I even bother putting OSX on it or stick with OS9? I really like OSX and the newer applications associated with it. I've been using Tiger on a TiBook and iBook since Tiger was born. Before that I used Panther. Before that I used Jaguar. I never really used OS9 except as a bootable option on the TiBook. Here's the million dollar question(s). Will the performance of Jaguar or Panther (with xpostfacto) stand up to the performance of OS9? I mean, will OSX be that much slower? This will be my main work/play machine.
2. 512 MB RAM
3. Email/Web
4. Using Microsoft Office for Mac
I bought a new (old) Wallstreet off eBay. It will be here in a few days. Should I even bother putting OSX on it or stick with OS9? I really like OSX and the newer applications associated with it. I've been using Tiger on a TiBook and iBook since Tiger was born. Before that I used Panther. Before that I used Jaguar. I never really used OS9 except as a bootable option on the TiBook. Here's the million dollar question(s). Will the performance of Jaguar or Panther (with xpostfacto) stand up to the performance of OS9? I mean, will OSX be that much slower? This will be my main work/play machine.
867 MHz TiBook, Mac OS X (10.4.8), 768 MB RAM, UNO, Belkin PCI 1410 ver. 02 Cardbus
by jpl,Solvedanswer
jpl
Level 7
(28,285 points)
Kirk,
I agree that OSX will certainly be a better OS for what you want to do, even running on the Wallstreet.
You are concerned about getting a working 9.x back on the Wallstreet's HD if the eMac disks don't perform as advertised. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution without a bootable 9.x CD.
You of course can copy your Wallstreet's 9.2.2 + the Applications folder to the Ti via your local Ethernet network between computers and place the items in a new folder somewhere in your Users folder. You will want the Wallstreet's OS since it will have the MS Office extensions and other items it may place in a Fonts folder and at the root level of the System Folder. I am not sure if your Ti will complain when copying over another working OS 9.2.2 since Apple only allows one OS/OSX per partition/volume. You can disable a working "Classic" OS by opening the System Folder, then dragging the Finder and System file (suitcase) to the Preferences folder, closing the System Folder and renaming it...maybe something like Disabled System Folder. However, you cannot do this while the Wallstreet is booted to 9.2.2.
Getting 9.2.2 back on the Wallstreet's HD will be a problem if its HD is corrupted and the Wallstreet will not boot. There are a few workarounds:
- Beg/borrow/buy a bootable 9.x CD so you can reinstall 9.x; then you can move any files you want back to the Wallstreet from the Ti including any application-specific extensions and control panels.
- Remove the Wallstreet's HD and use one of two devices:
1. A USB or FireWire 2.5" HD enclosure for the Wallstreet's HD, then connect it to the Ti and drag-copy your 9.2.2 + Applications folder to the external HD, then put the HD back in the Wallstreet. You will want to make sure the 9.2.2 System Folder you drag onto the external HD is "blessed" before you reinstall it in the Wallstreet. There is section in this article that describes this procedure:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
2. A universal HD adapter with power adapter for $9; just connect the bare drive to your Ti's USB port and perform the same procedure as above.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/bargains/
If you are successful in booting to the eMac Install Disk #1, and it sounds like you are, it may take 5-10 minutes to load, and possibly longer with only 96MB. Frankly, I would not attempt it until you get the additional RAM and a solution to reinstalling 9.x. However, if you wish to copy over the items I have mentioned to the Ti, give that a try. If the Ti does not balk at accepting the OS 9.2.2, immediately disable the one copied onto the Ti.
If you are still game at this point, boot to the eMac CD and see how it loads; the display should NOT be dark if you first start up in 9.x for the "fix", then start to the eMac disk. Just make sure you leave the power adapter connected and powered at all times to avoid this issue. Once the CD has loaded, go immediately to the menu bar and open Disk Utility, select the top name in the left column, then partition the HD plus install the MacOS9 HD Driver. The partition at the top of the partition window is the "first" partition reserved for OSX; you will be left with a ± 2GB partition in the lower window. Install...optimization at the end of the install will take forever...just wait, then click Restart. If like my Wallstreet, it kept restarting to the CD. If this is the case, use an opened paperclip pushed in the little hole next to the eject button as you restart the Wallstreet.
There are many limitations to the Wallstreet including the use of FireWire and USB PC cards. PC cards do not supply sufficient power to run a 2.5" FireWire or USB HD, nor can you boot through a PC card. So if you wanted a FireWire or USB HD, it would either have to have its own power supply, or you would buy an additional piece of hardware called a powered USB or FireWire hub that connects to the PC card. I mention this in the event you want a method of backing up your data when you start using Wallstreet. I would recommend FireWire over USB.
I agree that OSX will certainly be a better OS for what you want to do, even running on the Wallstreet.
You are concerned about getting a working 9.x back on the Wallstreet's HD if the eMac disks don't perform as advertised. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution without a bootable 9.x CD.
You of course can copy your Wallstreet's 9.2.2 + the Applications folder to the Ti via your local Ethernet network between computers and place the items in a new folder somewhere in your Users folder. You will want the Wallstreet's OS since it will have the MS Office extensions and other items it may place in a Fonts folder and at the root level of the System Folder. I am not sure if your Ti will complain when copying over another working OS 9.2.2 since Apple only allows one OS/OSX per partition/volume. You can disable a working "Classic" OS by opening the System Folder, then dragging the Finder and System file (suitcase) to the Preferences folder, closing the System Folder and renaming it...maybe something like Disabled System Folder. However, you cannot do this while the Wallstreet is booted to 9.2.2.
Getting 9.2.2 back on the Wallstreet's HD will be a problem if its HD is corrupted and the Wallstreet will not boot. There are a few workarounds:
- Beg/borrow/buy a bootable 9.x CD so you can reinstall 9.x; then you can move any files you want back to the Wallstreet from the Ti including any application-specific extensions and control panels.
- Remove the Wallstreet's HD and use one of two devices:
1. A USB or FireWire 2.5" HD enclosure for the Wallstreet's HD, then connect it to the Ti and drag-copy your 9.2.2 + Applications folder to the external HD, then put the HD back in the Wallstreet. You will want to make sure the 9.2.2 System Folder you drag onto the external HD is "blessed" before you reinstall it in the Wallstreet. There is section in this article that describes this procedure:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
2. A universal HD adapter with power adapter for $9; just connect the bare drive to your Ti's USB port and perform the same procedure as above.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/bargains/
If you are successful in booting to the eMac Install Disk #1, and it sounds like you are, it may take 5-10 minutes to load, and possibly longer with only 96MB. Frankly, I would not attempt it until you get the additional RAM and a solution to reinstalling 9.x. However, if you wish to copy over the items I have mentioned to the Ti, give that a try. If the Ti does not balk at accepting the OS 9.2.2, immediately disable the one copied onto the Ti.
If you are still game at this point, boot to the eMac CD and see how it loads; the display should NOT be dark if you first start up in 9.x for the "fix", then start to the eMac disk. Just make sure you leave the power adapter connected and powered at all times to avoid this issue. Once the CD has loaded, go immediately to the menu bar and open Disk Utility, select the top name in the left column, then partition the HD plus install the MacOS9 HD Driver. The partition at the top of the partition window is the "first" partition reserved for OSX; you will be left with a ± 2GB partition in the lower window. Install...optimization at the end of the install will take forever...just wait, then click Restart. If like my Wallstreet, it kept restarting to the CD. If this is the case, use an opened paperclip pushed in the little hole next to the eject button as you restart the Wallstreet.
There are many limitations to the Wallstreet including the use of FireWire and USB PC cards. PC cards do not supply sufficient power to run a 2.5" FireWire or USB HD, nor can you boot through a PC card. So if you wanted a FireWire or USB HD, it would either have to have its own power supply, or you would buy an additional piece of hardware called a powered USB or FireWire hub that connects to the PC card. I mention this in the event you want a method of backing up your data when you start using Wallstreet. I would recommend FireWire over USB.
