Breakthrough!

[CC_333]

This photo is real! It's one of my 12" PowerBook G4s running OS 9 for the first time!

So far, everything seems operational except video and AirPort (now that OS 9 on unsupported machines is a real possibility, someone has to modify the AirPort drivers to include support for the newer cards). System profiler identifies everything correctly (except for the model, it just lists the identifier, PowerBook6,4).

One caveat, however: I have to enter some commands at the OF prompt every time I boot it up, otherwise it just sits at a grey screen indefinitely.

WOW!

c

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Which model is that?

 

[CC_333]

It's a 2004 PowerBook G4 12" running at 1.33 GHz with 1.25 GB of RAM.

c

 

[galgot]

Wow! So you have the fastest powerbook running OS9 ! Congrats

Do you think it could be doable on a 15" or 17" 1,67Ghz ?

 

[CC_333]

Don't know. I suppose I'll have to give it a try

c

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

This would make my 12" PBG4 more useful than it is with Tiger, lol.

 

[CC_333]

Well, the A1106 PowerBook G4 with 1.67 GHz processor works, sort of:



Except that it keeps bombing out:



It's probably something minor, because if it gets this far, it's obviously bootable. I have the full 2 GB of RAM in here, so I have a theory that maybe if I remove some, it'll work. I'll try it and see.

c

 

[galgot]

Cool !! Just finished cleaning one A1106 i got recently, with an empty drive.

Was wondering watch to install ...

Now if you manage to do it, i'll try

 

[CC_333]

Well, it's still bombing out, even with 1 GB RAM, so something else must be going on. It's beyond my abilities for the moment, so I'll let it be for now. It should still be possible eventually, though.

Check out this thread for the full story (it's a continuation of the same thread here).

c

 

[uniserver]

super awesome!

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Question is, will it work reliably on slower 15 and 17" models?

 

[CC_333]

Yes, I think it will:





This is an A1052 PowerBook G4 17" with specs similar to the 12" I tested earlier.

And something of interest to Hap:



Unbeknownst to me, this machine is apparently a DVT prototype (how else can I explain the weird serial number with "DVT" at the end?) The logic board and much of the internals are original, and thus still DVT, but the outer casing has been completely replaced with production parts (which probably reduces it's value somewhat, but oh, well). That explains why it came with a DVT battery, anyway!

c

 

[Elfen]

Congrats.

 

[Brooklyn]

What did you do in order to make it work??

 

[CC_333]

Not much, really. it was iMic over at TC that did most of the work of hacking the Mac OS ROM file and such, I'm simply testing it out on the various machines I have.

But basically, I managed to get OS 9 working on an external FireWire drive, and I simply plug it into a given machine, adjust the OF if neccessary, and go to the disk selector to select the OS 9 disk.

c

 

[CC_333]

I was informed that my link to the "main" thread was incorrect: https://www.thinkclassic.org/viewtopic.php?pid=3570#p3570

Sorry for any confusion!

c

 

[NJRoadfan]

Hmm, I have a 1.33Ghz 15" 2003 Albook here. I might just give this a shot.

 

[SuperToaster]

May be a fun project to try on my 1.42 GHz iBook G4 this weekend.

 

[commodorejohn]

Now we just need WPA/WPA2 for OS9 wifi and we'd be set