Can't boot OS 9

[quinterro]

I'm trying to install MacOS 9 on my G4. I have added a 9GB hard disk as a slave to the 30GB drive that's already there.

When I put the MacOS 9 CD in the DVD drive and reboot, it ejects the disk and boots 10.4 from the 30B hard disk. I've also used Startup Disk and selected the CD with the same results. It does see the CD when it is inserted.

Any ideas on how to get this G4 to boot from CD?

 

[Quadraman]

Are you holding down "C" on the keyboard?

 

[quinterro]

Are you holding down "C" on the keyboard?

I did that too - same result. It ejects the disk and continues to boot Tiger.

 

[Quadraman]

Is this a white retail CD or one designed for a specific model of Mac??

 

[phreakout]

Quinterro, what is the color of the label on the OS9 CD? If it's white, it should work on most Macs. If it's grey or some other color, it could only be used for specific models. It could be that, or the disc is screwed up, or the OS version on track 0 is not meeting the minimum requirements supported by the machine. It's hard to say, but let's find out what color the discs are first.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention. Try having say about 64 MB of RAM installed when you boot off the CD. Also, try a different CD/DVD drive. It possibly could be that the drive is not spinning the disc or needs some cleaning or the laser isn't working. Just some additional thoughts.

73s 8)

 

[quinterro]

The CD I'm trying to boot from is a retail 9.0 CD. I bought it from Staples years ago.

The DVD-ROM drive in it is original to the G4 as far as I know. I have a CD-ROM from a Beige G3 and a Lite-ON CD-RW drive I can try.

 

[The Macster]

What type of G4 is it? Some of them came with OSes newer than 9.0.0 eg 9.0.4 or 9.1/9.2, which may be why you can't boot 9.0.0 if you have one of the later models of G4 (most Macs can't boot OS revisions older than that with which they originally shipped).

 

[quinterro]

It's a 400mhz Sawtooth.

 

[Quadraman]

Do you have another machine you can try booting it on? It could also be the CD is dirty or has a scratch.

 

[equill]

I'm trying to install MacOS 9 on my G4 ... When I put the MacOS 9 CD in the DVD drive and reboot, it ejects the disk and boots 10.4 from the 30B hard disk ...

The following assumes that your optical drive in the G4 is a combo CD/DVD drive. If it is not, there is your answer.

Which OS 9? OS 9.1 will not start up your Mac after you have installed OS 10.4.x. If the new 9GB drive has not yet been formatted, with OS 9 drivers installed, and if you did not set up the 30GB drive with OS 9 drivers (from within Disk Utility under Tiger, or from an OS 9.2.1 CD), you will also not be able to access either drive from an OS 9.2.1 Full Install CD.

Use Disk Utility::Erase, with Install OS 9 Drivers checked, to format the 9GB drive from the 30GB drive. You should then be able to boot from an OS 9.2.1 Full Install (white with amber 9) or a grey G4-specific CD with OS X/OS 9. If the latter has only OS 9.1, you will need to download and install the 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 updates from Apple, especially if you wish to use OS 9 in Classic Mode within OS 10.4.x.

de

 

[The Macster]

Why would it matter whether it's a CD or DVD drive though? Surely they will all boot the OS 9 CD? (at least the CD-DVD-RW one in my G3 does)

Also, did we ever get to the bottom of this issue of booting an older version of OS 9 after having installed Tiger - was that an issue on just one Mac or something that happens every time? I just can't really see what Tiger could do to stop older versions of 9 from booting. Also I definitely booted from a 9.1 CD after having completed the first half of the Tiger installation (the half that installs the core of the OS), though haven't tried since completing the installation.

 

[quinterro]

It was a 9.0 CD.

After removing the DVD-ROM drive and installing the Apple-logoed CD-ROM drive from a Beige G3, it would finally boot from CD. However the 9GB hard disk was bad.

It now has a 2GB hard disk for MacOS 9 and a 30GB for Tiger.

So far so good.

 

[equill]

Why would it matter whether it's a CD or DVD drive though? Surely they will all boot the OS 9 CD? (at least the CD-DVD-RW one in my G3 does).

You can easily check how well a DVD-ROM only drive reads CDs by trying it in, say, a DV-SE iMac with a 4x DVD-ROM drive.

Also, did we ever get to the bottom of this issue of booting an older version of OS 9 after having installed Tiger - was that an issue on just one Mac or something that happens every time? I just can't really see what Tiger could do to stop older versions of 9 from booting...

I discovered it the hard way. I can well believe that it is a function of the additions made to OS 9 by using the Classic Compatibility features of OS X when those are selected in System Preferences of Tiger. It happens in Panther, too, but not Jaguar, when Classic Mode is enabled, even if that is not active when the attempt is made to boot into OS 9.1. If you had not gone far enough with the installation to enable Classic Mode, that could be why you didn't see that OS 9.1 was disabled.

de

 

[The Macster]

Was the DVD drive not Apple-logoed then? I had assumed that it was given that you said it was original to the G4, and any Apple-logoed drive (CD or DVD) shouldn't have problems booting from a disc.

 

[quinterro]

Was the DVD drive not Apple-logoed then? I had assumed that it was given that you said it was original to the G4, and any Apple-logoed drive (CD or DVD) shouldn't have problems booting from a disc.

The DVD drive was Apple-logoed too. A genuine 6x model. I'll have to put it back in when installing Tiger, since I only have a DVD for it.

How do you boot from a USB CD-ROM drive on a Sawtooth?

 

[equill]

It was a 9.0 CD ... So far so good.

You will do yourself and the Mac a favour, from every point of view, by downloading and installing the 9.1 to 9.2.2 updates. Even if you stop at 9.1 it will be a vast improvement over 9.0 or 9.0.4.

de

 

[quinterro]

It was a 9.0 CD ... So far so good.

You will do yourself and the Mac a favour, from every point of view, by downloading and installing the 9.1 to 9.2.2 updates. Even if you stop at 9.1 it will be a vast improvement over 9.0 or 9.0.4.

de

It's up to 9.2.2 with Internet Explorer 5.1.7 and Quicktime 6. All of the updates were burned to CD some time ago. However until the Tiger side has MacOS 9 support I can't connect both hard disks as the same time. I get a really weird error when they are both running.

 

[TheDoctor]

I'm kind of wondering if it's not a jumper setting on the hard drive(s) that is causing your problem. I seem to recall having some weird problems on my DA the first time I put two hard drives in it. I'm trying to remember if I ended up going with cable select or just master/slave to take care of it.

 

[quinterro]

It was an older 10GB Fujitsu hard disk. I have no clue where it originally came from. It now has a 2GB Fujitsu for MacOS 9, but the Tiger side has been acting rather quirky since the wipe and reinstall.

Currently it randomly locks up with the multilingual message to hold down the power button or press reset. I'll remove the smaller drive and try again when I have the time.

My PC has been acting up too, so it now has Ubuntu 7.04 emulating Windows XP Pro under VirtualBox. So far it's pretty nice.