My Pismo doesn't want OS 9!

[bsod]

Hello all,

I'm having some trouble on installing Mac OS 9 on my Pismo. Recently I downgraded the thing from Tiger to Panther (it was dragging itself in every app, although it has 512 Megs of RAM...), but I wanted to install 9.2.2 too (on the same partition).

The problem is that the Pismo does not boot from the OS 9 CD. I've tried a few CD's, but no luck. And I know the problem is not the DVD drive, as it installed Panther, and also Tiger from there. Also, the OS 9 CDs work on a G3 iBook, which booted fine from them.

Also tried installing OS 9 from the iBook, using Target Disk Mode (mounted the Pismo drive on the iBook's desktop), but the installer stalled when checking the disk!

What can I do? The hard disk is working, as I installed a fresh copy of Panther in it. And the DVD drive works too. I'm guessing it's the computer itself which doesn't want OS 9!

Thanks for any help you might give!

 

[Franklinstein]

Did you try holding down Option after the machine was turned on/restarted with the CD in the drive? It should pop up with that menu that presents a choice between boot devices.

If that doesn't work, you could try resetting the PRAM and/or Power Manager.

If all else fails, try unplugging the hard drive before trying to boot from the CD.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Did you use the startup disk prefpane? Also try key combination Apple+option+shift+delete to ignore the internal HD at startup. Holding C often times doesn't work from my experience.

 

[sircabulon]

do your discs say "iBook" anywhere on them?

 

[bsod]

@sircabulon: no, my disks are retail versions, although one says "PowerMac G4 install", and the other "iMac install" on the volume name. But they installed perfectly on the G3 iBook!

@Boldt: yes, also tried that. The Pismo boots from the CD, I hear drive activity, then the floppy disk with the "?" appears, it is replaced by the Happy Mac, and it doesn't go any further.

@Franklinstein: also tried that, and it showed up randomly - sometimes the disc showed up, others it didn't. But clicking in it gave the same behaviour I described to Boldt.

Oh, and the hard disk is a Toshiba MK4025GAS, 40 GB. And I can also mention that this machine booted OS 9 from a "Classic install" I did when I had Tiger. But the install was all made inside OS X...

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Also tried installing OS 9 from the iBook, using Target Disk Mode (mounted the Pismo drive on the iBook's desktop), but the installer stalled when checking the disk!
What can I do? The hard disk is working...

Mac OS 9 could be checking (or "accessing") the drive in the same sort of way the installer does when you try to boot from a CD, causing a lock-up. Mac OS X may not do it this way and may be avoiding the problem.

Using Target Disk Mode again, you could try running Disk Utility on the Pismo's drive from the iBook and see if it finds anything. If not, you could take a drastic step and disconnect the HD inside the Pismo and see if it will boot from the CDs. If it does, the problem is with the HD and it may require reformatting.

 

[bsod]

Also tried installing OS 9 from the iBook, using Target Disk Mode (mounted the Pismo drive on the iBook's desktop), but the installer stalled when checking the disk!
What can I do? The hard disk is working...

Mac OS 9 could be checking (or "accessing") the drive in the same sort of way the installer does when you try to boot from a CD, causing a lock-up. Mac OS X may not do it this way and may be avoiding the problem.

Using Target Disk Mode again, you could try running Disk Utility on the Pismo's drive from the iBook and see if it finds anything. If not, you could take a drastic step and disconnect the HD inside the Pismo and see if it will boot from the CDs. If it does, the problem is with the HD and it may require reformatting.

Thanks! I'm going to try that. Actually... one of the reasons I downgraded from Tiger to Panther was because the disk was experiencing some problems. At some time, Tiger refused to boot, but when I ran Disk Utility (from the CD), the problem was solved.

Maybe the Panther installer only cleaned up the disk, but didn't format it...

 

[Dennis Nedry]

If you choose to format, you should also "zero all data" for a better format. I believe that this process maps out any new bad blocks that have appeared on the disk.