Installing OS 9 on a Dual G4 1.2 GHz?

dstranathandstranathan
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have a new dual 1.25 GHz (mirrored drive door) Mac. I erased the drive and tried to install OS 9 on it from an older 9.1 and 9.2 CD with no luck. For some reason my OS 9 CDs dont see the G4's internal drive, but my OS X disks do. I just realized that the G4 doesnt come with a OS 9 install CD anymore. How can I install OS 9 on it? I need a "real" OS 9 install, NOT a classic environment inside OS X. Any ideas?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    francisg3francisg3 Posts: 168member
    Install Tinkertool. Put on the setting "See invisible files." Then, look at the OS 9 install CD. You will see an "images" folder. There, is the OS 9 image. Drag that to your hard drive, and voila! You're in business.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    thunderpoitthunderpoit Posts: 709member
    when you erased, did you click the little checkbox that said "Install Mac OS 9 drivers"?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    On some machines (such as the G5) you can't install OS 9 directly on to the drive. You have to install OS X first, and then "restore" OS 9 and the apps on to your drive.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Can you definately boot into OS 9 from your machine? The second from last generation of MDDs could only boot into OS X.



    It may be that your machine requires OS 9.2.2 to boot, and an earlier version of OS 9 just won't cut it.



    Sorry, if you've checked out all of this already...
  • Reply 5 of 7
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    ThunderPoit is right, you needed to install OS 9 drivers when you formatted the drive. MDDs can boot in to OS 9 with no problems, but the fact that the OS 9 install CD can't find a drive to install onto leads me to believe that the drive has no OS 9 drivers. Don't even bother with 9.1 anymore either, just do 9.2, 9.1 will boot, but there is no reason to install it if you have 9.2.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    dstranathandstranathan Posts: 1,717member
    I can boot from an OS X CD and see the drive. I can reformat it and check the "Install OS 9 drivers" with no problems. BUT:



    When I boot from an OS 9 CD (to install OS 9 on the hard drive), I cant see the hard drive.



    Yes, the G4 can boot into OS 9 from a CD (various CDs seem to work fine), but OS 9 can't seem to see the internal drive at all, even with Apple's Disk Setup Utility or Disk First Aid (OS 9 versions).



    The internal drive is the OEM factory drive from Apple. Nothing 3rd party here...



    I have booted into OS X several times now from various CDs (Panther installer CD, etc) and they all see the internal hard drive just fine. I have ran the disk utilty from OS X CD, and it finds no problem with the hard drive. I have reformated the drive a few times, each time carefully selecting the "Install OS 9 drivers". No luck...





    I just tested this with an older dual 867 Mirrored Drive Door G4 and got the same results. It had OS X on the internal drive. I booted from an OS X CD, erased the internal drive (checked the "Install OS 9 drivers" box), and then tried to reboot from an OS 9.2 install CD. The G4 would boot from the 9.2 CD with no problem, but now it cant see the internal drive either. Thus, I can't install OS 9. But if I boot back from an OS X CD, I can see the internal drive with no problems...



    I have a few of these G4 Macs with OS X already on them that need to be reformatted for OS 9 (don't ask why please). But none of them seem to let me install OS 9 on them after OS X has been on them.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    buckeyebuckeye Posts: 358member
    I have 2 Dual 1.25Ghz sitting right in front of me. 1 can boot in 9 and the other cannot (I knew that when buying it). Are you sure you have one of the older ones that is Dual Boot?
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