(Oh God) An OS 9 hardware question for ya:

dstranathandstranathan
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
OK, its been a while since I have used or supported OS 9 Macs. I am rusty on the topic of OS 9's System enablers, etc. Check this out:



I have a legacy OS 9 based slot-loading iMac G3 running ASIP Print Services via AppleTalk. Why? Long story - never mind the ugly history of this.



Anyway, I want to move the print server from the iMac G3 to a duel G4 533 tower. I am hoping I can just rip the IDE drive out of the iMac and pop it into the G4 and be done. If I was dealing with OS X I would have no concerns, but since this Mac is running OS 9, I am wondering if I will have any issues regarding System enablers, G4 specific libraries, or other hradware related problems. If the iMac wasnt so much of a pain in the ass to open up (compared to the sexy G4 "El Captitan" case), I'd just test it on my own, but I would prefer a heads-up warning before I start cracking that damn iMac open.



Any ideas?



PS: Once I get the hard drive moved to the G4 tower, I plan on replacing ASIP Print Services with OS X 10.4 - eventually. But I cant upgrade the OS for a few months and I REALLY want to kill off that G3 iMac ASAP (its such a slow crappy computer)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    whyatt thrashwhyatt thrash Posts: 421member
    I personally don't see that there should be a problem. My experience with OS 9 is that it sometimes came with a somewhat custom install of the OS, and if it did we're talking things like updated ATI drivers to get full speed out of the graphics card, etc. If the OS 9 on the iMac is the latest latest version (9.4, was it? Or 9.2?), I don't see that there should be any problems at all with getting full speed out of your G4... Running OS 9 that is...



    But don't just take my word for it, better hear some confirmation from other users that this really is the case.



    Good luck!
  • Reply 2 of 4
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Whyatt Thrash

    I personally don't see that there should be a problem. My experience with OS 9 is that it sometimes came with a somewhat custom install of the OS, and if it did we're talking things like updated ATI drivers to get full speed out of the graphics card, etc. If the OS 9 on the iMac is the latest latest version (9.4, was it? Or 9.2?), I don't see that there should be any problems at all with getting full speed out of your G4... Running OS 9 that is...



    But don't just take my word for it, better hear some confirmation from other users that this really is the case.



    Good luck!



    The most recent standalone version of MacOS 9 is MacOS 9.2.2. MacOS 9.2.1 shipped with MacOS X 10.1 or as a standalone product. This OS should boot a dual 533 MHz G4 without enablers. This computer shipped with MacOS 9.1. The enablers would have been required to boot MacOS 9.1. MacOS 9.2 should incorporate these enablers are part of the base OS.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    If the print server software were multithreaded to take advantage of Dual chips, then the enablers for the G4 Dual might be an issue, but I don't think it should be a deal-breaker... might not be max performance, but you can always check the CPU loads during its first run to see.

  • Reply 4 of 4
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by curiousuburb

    If the print server software were multithreaded to take advantage of Dual chips, then the enablers for the G4 Dual might be an issue, but I don't think it should be a deal-breaker... might not be max performance, but you can always check the CPU loads during its first run to see.



    No, dual processors would not be an issue. MacOS 9.2 was the first full point release following the introduction of the release of the dual G4. MacOS 9.2 was a hardware compatibility upgrade, not a feature upgrade. Removing support for the dual G4 would have been a hardware compatibility downgrade for a recently new model.
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