Stuck in OSX. Can anyone help?
Hi everyone,
I apologize in advance for any dumb questions I may ask, but as you'll soon be able to tell, I'm very new to this. I'll try to keep it as short as I can.
I recently purchased a DP G4/450 with 256MB of RAM at auction (used). It came with a few programs loaded such as Illustrator 9.0 and PhotoShop 6.0, and also an OSX CD but no OS9 CD (OS9.1 was already installed).
Since I still had my old G3/266 DT (OS8.6), with all my stuff on it, I thought, "What the heck, I'll install OSX on the G4". I know, I know, I should have informed myself more before proceeding, but I was excited to see it up and running.
My problem is that, after backing up everything that was on the new G4, I put in the OSX CD and installed it. After restart, OSX launched, and I can navigate around a bit and open folders, but cannot launch any applications -- absolutely nothing opens. I had thought that if I tried to open an application that I used in OS9.1, that Classic would launch it -- it didn't.
I didn't get an OS9 CD to boot from, and it won't let me open the "Startup Disk" in System Preferences to change it (I click on the System Preferences folder in the dock and nothing happens. Sherlock and Quicktime are also dormant). So, is there anyway to get this G4 back into OS9 without needing the OS9 CD to boot from?
I would really appreciated any help offered.
Thanks
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P.S. After installing from the OSX CD it did not ask for me to create an account.
I apologize in advance for any dumb questions I may ask, but as you'll soon be able to tell, I'm very new to this. I'll try to keep it as short as I can.
I recently purchased a DP G4/450 with 256MB of RAM at auction (used). It came with a few programs loaded such as Illustrator 9.0 and PhotoShop 6.0, and also an OSX CD but no OS9 CD (OS9.1 was already installed).
Since I still had my old G3/266 DT (OS8.6), with all my stuff on it, I thought, "What the heck, I'll install OSX on the G4". I know, I know, I should have informed myself more before proceeding, but I was excited to see it up and running.
My problem is that, after backing up everything that was on the new G4, I put in the OSX CD and installed it. After restart, OSX launched, and I can navigate around a bit and open folders, but cannot launch any applications -- absolutely nothing opens. I had thought that if I tried to open an application that I used in OS9.1, that Classic would launch it -- it didn't.
I didn't get an OS9 CD to boot from, and it won't let me open the "Startup Disk" in System Preferences to change it (I click on the System Preferences folder in the dock and nothing happens. Sherlock and Quicktime are also dormant). So, is there anyway to get this G4 back into OS9 without needing the OS9 CD to boot from?
I would really appreciated any help offered.
Thanks
(P.S. After installing from the OSX CD it did not ask for me to create an account.
Comments
If you don't need the data on the G4, the easiest fix would be to wipe the drive and reinstall X from scratch. You can do this from the OS X CD.
<strong>Did you try rebooting with the option key down? That should tell you if a 9 system is even recognized by the machine.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yep, I did reboot with the option key held down, but it only OSX showed up. Why do you think it wouldn't recognize OS9? I did not partition the drive so OSX and OS9 are on the same disk.
<strong>It sounds like whoever you bought the G4 from had X on it and didn't remove it properly.
I bought it at auction and it came from a company that went belly-up so I think it was basically snatched away from the previous user post haste.
If you don't need the data on the G4, the easiest fix would be to wipe the drive and reinstall X from scratch. You can do this from the OS X CD.</strong><hr></blockquote>
While I don't need the data on the G4, but would like to try out a couple of tha apps it was running prior to OSX installation, I was hoping that there was a way to boot into OS9 without having the OS9 CD (all I have is the OSX CD). Would booting from an OS9 CD (assuming I had one) give me access to everything that was on the drive before I installed OSX?
<strong>Did you try rebooting with the option key down? That should tell you if a 9 system is even recognized by the machine.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yep, I did reboot with the option key held down, but it only OSX showed up. Why do you think it wouldn't recognize OS9? I did not partition the drive so OSX and OS9 are on the same disk.
<strong>
While I don't need the data on the G4, but would like to try out a couple of tha apps it was running prior to OSX installation, I was hoping that there was a way to boot into OS9 without having the OS9 CD (all I have is the OSX CD). Would booting from an OS9 CD (assuming I had one) give me access to everything that was on the drive before I installed OSX?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, it should give you access to everything.
<strong>
Yep, I did reboot with the option key held down, but it only OSX showed up. Why do you think it wouldn't recognize OS9? I did not partition the drive so OSX and OS9 are on the same disk.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Sounds like a hosed installation. Sorry.
In order to salvage your applications you'll have to boot from a 9 CD, if you can locate one. You are definitely entitled to one, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over copying someone's. Eventually, though, you'll probably have to wipe and re-install. You can do this with a X CD, but X without classic is pretty useless, so you'll have to get 9 from somewhere.
<strong>
Sounds like a hosed installation. Sorry.
In order to salvage your applications you'll have to boot from a 9 CD, if you can locate one.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks for your suggestuins everyone! I've got my feelers out for a OS9 CD at this very moment. I feel much better knowing that I may not have to re-format the drive and lose everything that's currently on it.
I have soooooo learned from my impatience.
I just found this forum last night and I'm impressed -- you guys are great!
Humbly,
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