Can't Boot into OS 9

[kb3wmh]

I have a Titanium PowerBook G4 that won't boot into Mac OS 9. Classic works fine, but I can't actually boot into it. When I choose the OS 9 system folder in the Startup Disks preference pane in Tiger and reboot, I get the folder with the question mark. To get back to Tiger, I have to use the Startup disk utility on the Tiger install disk. I installed OS 9 from the disk that came to the computer, but it has been upgraded to 9.2.2.

I'm suspecting this may be related to my recent installation of Lubuntu PowerPC. If anyone can give suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[just.in.time]

Are you tri-booting OS9/Tiger/Lubuntu?  That could be an issue.

However, never hurts to try some easy fixes first.

1)Drag the Finder or System file out of the System Folder to the root level of the hard drive and close the System Folder window.

2)The System Folder should now look generic.

3)Drag the Finder/System file back into the System Folder.

4)Open the folder, then close it.

5)This should re-bless the System Folder (at least, in OS 9 and below it does)

If that is a no-go, you can try the following command in Terminal:

bless -folder9 "/Volumes/HD Volume/System Folder"

where HD Volume is the name of the volume that your OS 9 System Folder is located on.  You may have to throw sudo at the front of that command.  I can't remember.

Another thing to note is volume size limitations.  How many gigs is your hard drive?  OS 9 supposedly has an addressable volume size limitation of 190GB.  This is volume, not drive limitation.  Should this be your problem (say, you have a 500gb drive), then breaking it up into multiple partitions of <190GB each may fix your issue.

 

[kb3wmh]

I figured it out. Installing Lubuntu screwed with the OS 9 disk driver, and I had to update it using Disk Setup on the install disk. Thanks for the help though.

 

[just.in.time]

Nice, glad you found a fix!

 

[mraroid]

I will try the above.  I also found this:

https://www.macintoshrepository.org/1307-mac-os-9-2-2-universal-2002-edition-

and this:

https://www.macintoshrepository.org/126-mac-os-9-2-2-universal-2013-edition-

Maybe something will work for me (Powerbook G4, A1095, Tigar, two GBs RAM, SSD.

Thanks for the above posts...

mraroid

 

[Cory5412]

The PowerBook A1095 will not boot Mac OS 9. There's been some efforts to make it happen, it might boot using one of their install disks or modifications to OpenFirmware, but it will not run well.

 

[mraroid]

Thank you Cory5412.  I tried for a day with different versions of 9.2.2.  Nothing worked.  I am giving up.

mraroid