Am I f----d?

[ScottB]

I wanted to reinstall Mac OS 9.1 to my Performa 638CD. So, I downloaded it and installed.

Then I realised that I downloaded and installed Mac OS 7.1.  :I   Now I get the following error message:

(Approximation using MS Paint, It's a pysical machine... :O )

The floppy disk drive is broken (unfortanatly) :scrambled: , so I would, but can't use my USB Floppy Drive plus HFVExplorer to create a startup disk. After I got the ACTUAL 9.1, during the Install it says something like "There was a problem reading 'Big System Morsels'. Installation cannot continue."

Any Ideas?  I don't want mine to be a xx(

 

[bse5150]

I don't think you can install 9.1 to your 638CD.   If I'm not mistaken, and I'm fairly sure that I'm not, 9.1 requires a PPC and your 638CD is a 68k Mac.

Try System 7.5.5 on your Mac.   It's easy to find and it's free.   Maybe somebody here could burn you a bootable CD from which you can install 7.5.

 

[techknight]

yea you cant run anything past Mac OS 8.1

 

[ScottB]

I said 'reinstall'. Ovvy. I meant it was ALREADY installed.

 

[ScottB]

OMG let me look @ my model # again...

 

[ScottB]

O.K. I have confirmed that it IS a 638CD that CAN run 9.1 somehow.

 

[bse5150]

troll!!

 

[ScottB]

I bought it from Craigslist and when I turned it on it was running Mac OS 9.1!

 

[IPalindromeI]

Possibly a PPC upgrade is installed, though if I remember, it's tricky to get 9.x working on such upgraded 68ks.

 

[johnklos]

Sorry, but you're going to have to clear things up. A Performa 638 cannot run Mac OS 9.1. Either you have a newer motherboard in an older case or you're not running Mac OS 9.1.

If the floppy drive is broken, then find a boot CD.

 

[Juror22]

You can always pop out the motherboard and check for the CPU, memory, etc, that might help with any determination of what should be running on it.

 

[Bunsen]

Keep it family-friendly around here please folks.

 

[Elfen]

Tying to quote but it is not working....
OK then.... Safari 4 can only work so far.
 
ScottB - A lot  machines between the 68K and PowerPC separation had several 68K machines that could be upgraded to PowerPC with a Logic Board or CPU Swap. In the PowerBooks - the 500 and 190 series PowerBooks were upgradable to PowerPC with a Logic Board Swap. So were many 620/630 68K systems to 6200/6300 PPC systems. Yours might be one of those that had been upgraded.
 
You would need to pull out the logic board and see. The 68K logic board may have a heatsink to the 68K CPU or may not, but this heatsink if it is there would be a castle like metal black block glued onto the CPU. The PowerPC logic board will (or should) have a heatsink, that is usually gold or gold-like in color that looks like a square pan with slots and 4 legs at the corners that reach out to holes in the logic board to hold it down.
 
Try booting from a CD from System 7.5.5, 7.6 or System 8.1 and go down the Apple Menu to "About this Mac" and see what it comes up with.
 
Whether you want OS 9.1 or not is on you. OS9.1 is best under a G3 and not a 600-Series PowerPC (though they are all PowerPC Chips). OS8 in my opinion would be better for your machine.

 

[BadGoldEagle]

When I tried installing OS9.1 on a Sheepshaver-emulated machine, I had the same problem: it couldn't read Big System Morsels.

What I ended up doing to make it work: I copied the Big System Morsels file from the CD (or emulated CD in mycase) to the HD on which you're installing 9.1. Then try to install it again. It should be fine.

Of course you'll need a good partition first !

There is a bug with Sheepshaver and OS9. I guess that since your machine was not "properly" designed to use OS9, the bug also happens on physical machines...

You should definitely try that. It's not difficult.

Keep us posted

PS: You must have one of those PPC upgrade cards installed, because the 638CD can't run OS9 natively without one.

PS2: The problem is that you must have tossed all your drivers when your reformatted the HD. I don't know if it will still boot up without the drivers. I hope it does.

 

[Schmoburger]

THis thread gave me a headache by the time i got to the bottom... But yes, I am going to say your machine likely has either a PPC upgrade or has a 6200 logic board in it.

I will award points for style and commitment for the MSPaint replica of an error window.

 

[Macdrone]

I would love to see a power pc upgrade for a performa, rather than a board swap.  That would be pretty unique.

 

[Floofies]

Pull the logic board out the back and take some photos for us!

 

[Schmoburger]

I would love to see a power pc upgrade for a performa, rather than a board swap.  That would be pretty unique.

I thought one or two did exist back in the days of the early 601 machines... would have been fairly easy to implement givn they were architecturally rather similar.  That said, in the presence of factory boards that slot straight in, I assume the market would have been  limited.

 

[tanuki65]

If your machine is 68k, use 7.5.4. (Max1zzz's server) If its PPC, use 7.5.5 or 8.1