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How long does OS9 take to boot for you?

Themk

Well-known member
I have my Quicksilver G4 here, and I installed 9.2.2 on it a little while ago. It has a problem that's been bothering me, and now finally enough to post on it. How long does OS9 take to boot up for you? I think there is something broken with my install. I get the bong, then the happy mac, then the "Welcome to Mac OS" screen, and it starts to load. Then, it will hang during the middle of the loading for quite a long time, before finally finishing and dumping me int the Finder. I don't think it's supposed to take this long to boot up, even my Quadra with System 8.1 is faster than the G4! Anybody else have similiar experiences?

EDIT: OOPS, should have been OS9 not System 9.

 
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bunnspecial

Well-known member
It depends on the computer, the amount of RAM, and the extensions installed.

A stock OS 9 install has a lot of extensions that you probably don't need. I tend to trim down most of what I don't need(i.e. a lot of printers and the like), and can usually get a moderately fast G4 to boot in a minute and a half or so. If you have extensions to support a 3rd party processor, those can take a minute or two by themselves to load.

 

sstaylor

Well-known member
It may be looking for a network connection or a specific server until it times out and can continue, often without an error message.

Booting with extensions off can help, or try turning off networking.

 

Themk

Well-known member
The general consensus is extensions, which would make sense. I'll try an extensions disabled boot tomorrow.

 

register

Well-known member
You may consider to disable RAM tests on startup: open the Memory control panel with Cmd-Option keys depressed, and the additional option to disable Startup Memory Tests is available for your choice. The impact on startup time depends to the amount of RAM installed in your computer. I experienced great improvement with a maxed out beige G3. Please look up additional information at HappyMacs blog.

 

Dog Cow

Well-known member
then the "Welcome to Mac OS" screen, and it starts to load. Then, it will hang during the middle of the loading for quite a long time, before finally finishing and dumping me int the Finder. I don't think it's supposed to take this long to boot up, even my Quadra with System 8.1 is faster than the G4! Anybody else have similiar experiences?
I remember having this same problem on a b&w G3 with 9.2.2. There is some Control Panel or Extension that's waiting too long. I eventually narrowed it down and eliminated it with Extensions Manager, but it's been so long that I forget what it was.

The problem is probably NOT memory tests, as someone suggested. But you will find the extension with some trial.


 

Themk

Well-known member
By the time you get the MacOS splash screen, the memory test has finished. I see the MacOS splash screen fairly quickly, it just hangs while loading. I'm inclined to think extensions. Thanks.

 
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Danamania

Official 68k Muse
Wasn't there a delay if you had once mounted a server (or tried to mount one incorrectly) and it was no longer on the network you're on, and you could delete a file in the system folder that'd fix that?

It's one of those files I always *always* forget the name of, and have to go on a google hunt to re-discover. Clearly I have a hole in my memory that the facts fall into.

Happens for me every few years on my (few) OS9 machines. It takes a boot from ~40-50s to several minutes, sometimes.

 

TheWhiteFalcon

Well-known member
Took my 500MHz TiBook 1:28 to boot into 9.2.1 cold, 5400RPM spinner.

About 28 seconds to get the "Welcome to Mac OS" page, then 20 more seconds to get the menu bar loaded. 

 

Johnnya101

Well-known member
Mine takes a few minutes to even get to the mac screen, because I forgot how to disable the memory check! its a G3 tower, 800 MHz, with 768 MB. Once its past that its like instant.

 

Scott Baret

Well-known member
Memory tests occur at the very beginning of the boot sequence. Having more RAM does make this slower on classic Macs, particularly the oldest ones.

There are two main components to a startup: initialization and system startup. This is clearly a system startup problem, and extensions are almost always the culprit.

All recent versions of Classic Mac OS come with the Extensions Manager. Use it to uncheck the extensions you think could be causing problems. (It could, of course, also be a control panel device).

 

Innes

Well-known member
Just tried my 400mhz Powerbook G3 gets to a useable desktop in approx 75 seconds. Stock extentions plus a handful more

The annoying bit if having to hold the little reset button for 10ish seconds, it wont boot unless thats done.

Amusingly enough, my 1ghz TiBook takes 98 seconds to do it, same amount of RAM, less extentions

 

trag

Well-known member
If you have some SCSI cards that can slow things down too.  I'm not 100% on whether that would be before or after the splash screen though.    At some point(s) in the process, the Mac and possibly some extensions will poll every SCSI address.   If you have a dual wide SCSI card installed, that's 30 SCSI addresses to check and wait for response.   Trying that on an old PCI PowerMac is fun, because the two built in busses add more addresses.

ATA cards also add to teh delay because the Mac sees them as SCSI cards and will check SCSI addresses even though only 2 or 4 of them can be populated.

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
I had this same issue on my PT Pro under 8.6, and yes, it was a network-based extension and probably related to mounting servers, etc, as has been mentioned.
 

Crutch

Well-known member
Yep network stuff, network stuff is the answer …

My SE/30 under 7.5.5 with Open Transport does this if I start it up with the connected Wifi router turned off. It hangs for a long time after finishing the boot sequence and drawing the menu bar, but before showing any windows or Finder icons.
 

Bartman

Member
TAM Boot time (128 MB RAM, Crescendo G3 Sonnet 400 MHz Upgrade, 80 GB PATA 5400 Disk)

Cold Boot boot time (Startup RAM test enabled)


Time in total to boot is about 3 minutes and 35 seconds (sometimes a bit less or more). Here are the details from a cold boot sequence:

Happy Mac appears after power on: after about 18 seconds
Welcome to Mac OS 9.1 screen is shown: after about 1 minute 54 seconds
Starting Mac OS 9.1 boot activity bar screen is shown: after about 2 minutes 18 seconds
Finder fully loaded and HD Symbol shown: 3 minutes 35 seconds

Restart boot time (Startup RAM test enabled)

Fun fact, the boot time to restart is about 2 minutes 8 seconds, much shorter. This is what happens after Restart has been confirmed:

Happy Mac appears after power on: after about 21 seconds
Welcome to Mac OS 9.1 screen is shown: after about 26 seconds
Starting Mac OS 9.1 boot activity bar screen is shown: after about 51 seconds
Finder fully loaded and HD Symbol shown: after 2 minutes 8 seconds

Cold boot boot (with Startup RAM test disabled)

I also tested the boot time with the Startup RAM test disabled, I could not see any difference.

The TAM in my configuration takes also about 3 minutes 35 seconds to boot from power on.
 
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