Problem with Mac OS 9.2.1 on PowerMac G4

[sega dude]

I just got a PowerMac G4 Sawtooth (more on that here) that had an install of 10.4 Tiger along with Mac OS 9.0.4. I wanted to update the Mac OS 9 install to 9.2.2, so I installed the OS 9.1 update. That went flawlessly, no problems there. But after installing the OS 9.2.1 update it hangs after it gets the desktop and opens the Mac OS Setup Assistant. I can move the cursor, but that's it. If I boot with extensions off, it works fine, but doesn't bring up the setup assistant, so there must be an extension that's causing a problem. What do I do? Do I need a speical version of OS 9.2.x for my G4 Sawtooth?

 

[MikeatOSX]

Maybe you'll find the solution here:

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-904-power-mac-g4-agp-graphics

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-922-universal

 

[Strimkind]

I suspect that there are some extensions that are not compatible with 9.2.1 that were with 9.0.4.  A fresh install using a 9.x disk would fix the issue.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I believe you have to go to 9.1 and then 9.2. I don't think you can go from 9.0.4 to 9.2 on an upgrade. Clean install, yes.

With OS9 you can reinstall the OS without a format.

 

[sega dude]

I tried my OS 9.0 CD, but it hung at the happy Mac screen and the disc stopped spinning after a short while. It's a CD-R I burnt at 8x on my MacBook from an image of my original disk I made with Disk Utility awhile back. Not sure where my original is right now.

 

[Strimkind]

I have had best experience with burning at 4x on newer burners.  Anything faster doesn't seem to work on older hardware.

 

[AichEss]

Many, many moons ago Apple taught us

OS 9.0.x --> 9.1 --> 9.2.1 --> 9.2.2. Any other upgrade path and you are toast.

Retail versions - SEE THE BRIGHT ORANGE 9 ON THE CD - work best. Gray, machine-specific OS 9.x.x CDs are not "universal". Read the label.

This all works optimally with original media. You know what you have. Burnt offerings are, at best, unpredictable - you get maybe what others (skill level unknown, machine undefined, sobriety questionable) say they made to work. 

FWIW

AichEss

 

[sega dude]

Sorry to revive this old topic, but I finally found my original Mac OS 9.0 CD and did a clean install of Mac OS 9 on the the G4 Sawtooth. Updated it from 9.0 to 9.0.4 no problem, then from 9.0.4 to 9.1, also without issue. But as soon as I updated from 9.1 to 9.2.1, the freeze problem returned. I went and disabled all of the ATI extensions, and the machine boots into OS 9.2.1 without freezing. However, this doesn't resolve the problem as I need those ATI Extensions since the machine has an ATI Radeon 7500. What should I do now?

 

[Unknown_K]

I think you need newer OS 9 era drivers for ATI cards. Look for Radeon-0210.hqx (or email me and I will send it). You need it in OS 9.2.1 or higher with a radeon 7xxx or better chip. The supplied drivers on the OS 9 cd are for rage era chips.

 

[sega dude]

I seemed to have fixed the problem. I updated from 9.2.1 to 9.2.2 with the all of the ATI extensions turned off. After successfully upgrading to 9.2.2, I re-enabled all of the ATI extensions (with the exception of the Rage 128 accelerator) and it now boots to the desktop without freezing.