Members Introduction... time to reflect on our past that got us here :)

[DieHard]

Loaded it up with 9.2.2 from the Universal Installer disc, and planning on installing both Gentoo Linux and MorphOS (I just like the tinkering involved)

Definitely sounds like time will be well spent

[smilesdavis]

bought 4 powerbooks ti today

🤣

[sos_mac]

Thought I'd better say a quick "hello", since someone (not unreasonably perhaps!) thought my first post was a 'bot' post
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=6426.msg48149#msg48149

Been a long time Apple user, since my grandma bought home an Apple IIe from her school back in the early 80's. "What an cool, amazing piece of tech" we all thought as we loaded up Transylvania on the monochrome green monitor.

A few years later my dad bought a Mac 512Ke back from the USA (to NZ), complete with heavy step down power transformer (to convert 230 manly NZ volts to 110 of your anaemic American volts). Having developed 'disc swap elbow', after a couple more years, we got a Mac SE 1/20, and at last, we could play the digitised star trek theme that my friend had been able to play because his Mac SE had 1MB of RAM.

Fast forward, and over the years I then owned a Mac IIsi as a uni student, a Quadra 840AV as a second hand purchase - both long since gone...somewhere, I can't remember where.

Nowadays, I'm in the position of being able to collect a bunch of Macs that we could never afford when new. So, I've got an SE w/4MB of RAM and a 40GB compact flash drive, an SE/30 with a 200GB SATA drive and 20MB of RAM, a Powerbook 1400cs, a G4 Titanium Powerbook, a G5 Dual 2.3, and - my latest acquisition purely to boot OS9 - an MDD G4 1Ghz FW800.

I also enjoy tinkering and fixing 'em: the SE/30 has a recapped logic board, a modern 200w mini ATX power supply, and a SilenX fan, for example. My G5 has a 120GB SSD, as does my new G4 (250GB SSD thanks to the 'bibge' adapter, with OS 9.2.2, Tiger and Sorbet Leopard partitions).

Finally, I'm running an AMD 3700x 'hackintosh', with Monterey 12.5 and am looking forward to installing Ventura in a few weeks.

Anyway, I hope that puts to rest 'bot' speculations

[Blackthorne]

Hello! I'm Pete from finland. I've been an mac user since 1990s. I just sold away my Macintosh G3/266 and Macintosh SE/4MB. I Have now only two G4 QuickSilver computers. My favourite games are GliderPRO and Marathon Infinity.

[smilesdavis]

add

2x 7100/80AV
1x 7600/120
3  mac mini g4

to that

[smilesdavis]

add marathon powerrack with sonnet to that

[nateman831]

I've been wanting to introduce myself for probably at least a year now, but every time I've tried to do it, it just hasn't happened....

First I want to say that "grateful" is probably the best word to describe how I feel about this place. I've been reading here since Spring 2019, and there is so much I've learned here - and not going too far to say its probably the biggest reason why I own ANY OS 9 computers today - or rather 3 of them!

DieHard, the other admins, and pretty much everyone in the gold and platinum posters have all helped me connect some dots as I "resurrect" my own knowledge of the classic mac OS - so thank you to everyone that's contributed!

Some of my interests: Photography. Macs. Computer audio. Low-latency computing. Computers with long lifespans...

Skip to your favorite section below:


Macintoshes

I have a long history with "Macintoshes" and got into them as a kid. Sometime between 1987-89, my Dad brought home either an SE/30 or one of its predecessors.  Seeing one of these as a kid was definitely a light bulb moment

*There was a seed planted that "computer-audio" was a thing, as he also brought home ConcertWare (early midi application), a Yamaha synth, and midi connectors that could connect to the SE/30 via serial ports!

My dad's own career was spent managing teams of software engineers in Silicon Valley, so over the years, we had too many Macs to list, but a couple notable ones were the Macintosh Portable, and a pre-production G3 Gossamer. My dad told me the G3 chip was the future for Apple...

But around the Windows NT era, our household began to "diversify" into Windows machines, which is pretty much where I've been ever since - slowly plotting my eventual return to Macs. And installing Hackintoshes, or using emulators.

Finally, about a year ago, I started acquiring OS 9 computers - and I'm slowly figuring out whats possible on these machines today...

I'm trying to figure out whether music production is something I can do and enjoy in OS 9 specifically...


Computer Audio

Around 2014, I started getting into computer audio - on the listening side. I acquired a newer USB DAC, and it was revelation!

I had owned a Creative Audigy 2 - which was nice in the early 2000's. But the newer DACs had detail, staging, and tonality that the Audigy did not - and I was sucked in!

This also began a rabbit hole for me - the USB DAC always had some uncomfortable quality to it that I could never just enjoy the music.  There was some annoyance I was constantly trying to solve for. I made dedicated listening computers. I tried USB de-crapifiers.  I tried digital coaxial - but never properly! And I learned how to strip Windows to the bare essentials, and how to boot Windows from RAM.

All of these things helped, but eventually I implemented a proper coaxial connection to the DAC, and finally I was just enjoying the music again...

The more I enjoy this hobby, the more I think about getting into the music production side...


Low-latency computing

I never "meant" to get into this, but it happened over time as there kept being new reasons to get rid of unneeded software "overhead".

At first, it was useful so that Windows ran decently on older machines.
But it also it seemed to help make ANY machine quicker
Then it turned out to improve audio quality as well... Maybe not to all ears, but it does for mine...
Online gaming scores improved!
If I get into music production, it may help there as well.
It's turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving...

My own experience has typically been stripping Windows to the essentials. Then booting that from RAM. But I also learned to strip early versions of iOS as well...

...Yes, fringe interest, I know... But as it turns out, incredibly useful as well


Computers with long-lifespans

I've noticed that certain computers practically ship with obsolescence built in. Whereas others can be useful in many different directions...

I guess it comes down to expansion options, and what sort of software support exist for the hardware.

The Power Mac G3's and G4's are great examples since you potentially can run as early as OS 8, and as late as Leopard - or now Sorbet Leopard.

On the Windows side of things, if you buy a computer with a certain chipset, you can boot with FULL support for Windows XP all the way through Windows 11 - even though officially, it should support neither XP nor 11, but only everything inbetween...

Reasons its useful:
- sometimes I need to run something natively on an older OS
- You never know when something will run either optimally, or solely on an older OS
- Its MUCH cheaper when you have the option of buying older gear that can do what the newer gear does, but requires older hardware or software.


Alright, I've made this too long already, but hopefully some of the ideas in here resonate with others. I'm hoping to contribute to this place in one way or another as I'm very grateful for how its helped me.

Cheers!

[markmedia]

Hello!

Just got into Retro-Youtube and started picking up older G4 Hardware to learn more about 90's software

Powerbook G4 both the 15" and 17"
Looking at getting a Mini G4" later on ebay.

Part of the reason is to learn more about software development history and try out retro-games, music software, and learn about how they worked.
There is a whole community out there on Youtube that is really into retro-software, so that is how I found the macOSLives community!

[Architecture]

Welcome to Mac OS9 Lives. Without this site, I wouldn't be where I am with my Mac OS9 Production setup.

[Cobus]

Hello all of you, Mac OS 9 enthusiasts !


I am Cobus, from France.

The first computer I used on a regular basis was an Apple //e, in 1983.
My entrance in the Mac world was on a Macintosh XL, maybe in 1987. What a change !
In 1993, I owned my first computer : a Powerbook 160. Back then already, I thought that laptops were far more desirable than desktop computers.

Since then, all my personal computers have been Powerbooks or MacBook pros. 
In 1995-2005, Mac addicts were looked down upon. Now, if you are a Mac user, you are trendy.
But I must admit that I don't like what Apple has become. 
Everything is done to lock you into the Apple ecosystem.
You must purchase your apps in the Mac App Store, and use the Apple Cloud.
You must not put your fingers under the hood.
Anyway, you cannot upgrade memory / SSD / anything else anymore.
Neither can you fix your mac if any hardware breaks (iFixIt gave repairability scores of 1/10 to most recent MacBook Pros).

I have been loving macs for years, but sorry, this will be without me. 

My new personal computer will be a Frame.work laptop, with a Linux distro.
iFixIt gave it a repairability score of 9.7/10. Now THIS is repairable ! 
I may be disappointed by Linux compared to Mac OS, but I want to break free !


Anyway I am not here to promote Linux.
I own a business, where I continue to work with PowerMac G4s under Mac OS 9 on a daily basis. 
I have a Mac Mini G4 1.42 GHz, that I always wanted to convert to Mac OS 9.
One of my PowerMac G4s just died on me (probably a power supply issue).
Now is the right time to replace it with the Mac Mini, thanks to macos9lives !


Hardware things I did for Mac OS 9 computers :
- I replaced the CPU daughterboard of a PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet 400 MHz (motherboard running at 100 MHz) with a faster one from a PowerMac G4 533 MHz. I changed the motherboard speed to 120 MHz and the multiplicator factor. As a result, this computer still runs on a daily basis at 600 MHz !
- I replaced the dead power supply of a PowerMac G4 Quicksilver, with a PC power supply (home made wiring conversion based on informations found on the Web),
- I modified a PowerMac G4 Mirrored Drive Doors to silence it a little (it remains a bit noisy).

Cobus.

[TheHappyHacker]

I guess I've been a Happy Hacker since I was barely more than a child.

My first computer experience was when the company my father worked for brought a clattering Teletype and blazing 110 baud modem to my school and hooked us up to their computer room. I got to write my first program in BASIC when it was a very new language.

That launched me onto a path that involved a Monrobot XI (bet you never heard of that one), an IBM 1620, IBM mainframes in college, an EE degree (digital design), PDP-11 assembly language, Pascal, C, Linux, and a long career in embedded programming.

There were a few really wonderful formative experiences along the way. A friend gave me a PDP-8 Handbook, which took me out of the IBM world. Learning BSD Unix and C programming on a VAX.

And there was the first time I encountered a Macintosh.

Of course, there were some not so wonderful experiences, too. The Intel 8008 and 8086 (pretty pitiful architectures after DEC's minicomputers). MS-DOS (I had seen so much more done on so much less hardware). Windows 1.0 (which looked like someone had briefly glimpsed a Mac screen and cobbled together a cheesy implementation).

Now I've gotten to the point where my professional life has been dialed back to part-time, on call, and I have time for other activities.

So... there was this G4 tower that had been shoved under various tables at work, and finally moved to the "take it away or it's going to the recycler" pile. I brought it home and I'm trying to bring it back to life and install (of course) Mac OS 9.

I'm not a Mac expert, I imagine I'll have a lot of questions for folks here as I get into this.

[TheHappyHacker]

Well, that was easier than I expected.

My Mac turns out to be a 533 MHz G4 with 1 GB of RAM. It had a 320 GB hard disk in it that seems to be very near its end, it starts to boot Linux (Fedora 12) but that ends with a bunch of disk error messages.

There was another 20 GB drive mounted in the chassis, but not connected. I swapped over to that, booted up the MacOS9Lives! Universal Installer, and after a couple false starts had a successful installation. It's working well with an old Dell display at 1280x1024, using an analog VGA cable.

This machine has suffered a little from being kicked under a desk for years. The speaker output jack is mangled, which leads to complaints about an unrecognized device connected, and advice to unplug it and plug it back in. I'd do that, but the jack is crunched enough that a plug won't go into it.

It's a delightfully retro experience getting acquainted with MacOS 9. My last Mac was a Mac Plus, which I got rid of when I moved a few years ago. Seeing the Mac UI in color with all its new features feels new and old at the same time.

Not bad for free! I guess now I'll go out and spend for a new clock battery 

[SecondaryCell]

I'm glad that this site exists! I have many older Macs, and believe that no computer is completely worthless and should be thrown away. I even have a couple of Macintosh Classics running System 6 which I use as art pieces running a slide show of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. I have several Macs running OS9 including a B&W G3 and G4 Sawtooth, Digital Audio, and Quicksilver. Lots of other newer machines as well.

I found this site while searching for a 9.2.2 boot/installation disc - I only had 9.2.0 and I wanted to get the last version possible.

I'm also deep into figuring out video card flashing, in an effort to have three monitors running on the Quicksilver. It's an absolute nightmare with all of the various cards by different manufacturers, and finding compatible roms. I'll be posting some questions, and a few discoveries I'm sure.

[IIO]

(if you only want it to work asap you can use a specific mac card. there are not many, but something like a radeon 7000 PCI mac edition can be found for some 50 bucks and runs 1920*1200 perfectly for monitor #3.)

[smilesdavis]

I'm glad that this site exists! I have many older Macs, and believe that no computer is completely worthless and should be thrown away. I even have a couple of Macintosh Classics running System 6 which I use as art pieces running a slide show of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. I have several Macs running OS9 including a B&W G3 and G4 Sawtooth, Digital Audio, and Quicksilver. Lots of other newer machines as well.

I found this site while searching for a 9.2.2 boot/installation disc - I only had 9.2.0 and I wanted to get the last version possible.

I'm also deep into figuring out video card flashing, in an effort to have three monitors running on the Quicksilver. It's an absolute nightmare with all of the various cards by different manufacturers, and finding compatible roms. I'll be posting some questions, and a few discoveries I'm sure.

thank you for posting your findings and welcome. the 2+ monitor market surely is small, especially in os9 lalaland.

[mopar300m]

Hello, it's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd give an update.  My Quicksilver sees several hours of use nearly every day and has been super reliable.  I replaced the main case fan last week because it was generating noise but that's literally been my only problem with the computer.  I've upgraded the video card to the Apple ti4600, added 64 bit Firewire, a 5 port USB card and a M-Audio Audiophile 2496.  The software I use most are Traktor DJ Studio 2, Spark XL and Digital Performer 3.  I've had maddening issues with MIDI.  I can't get a DJ controller or even a MIDI keyboard to work properly in OS 9.  I've gotten pretty good at controlling Traktor with the keyboard and mouse.

[smilesdavis]

Finally

ordered a emagic emi 26m to go with it

[chrisNova777]

Welcome to Mac OS9 Lives. Without this site, I wouldn't be where I am with my Mac OS9 Production setup.

gday mate!  throw another shrimp on the bar-b

[G40]

I wanted to say hello, and thanks for providing such an awesome resource.

I'm a long time enthusiast of "redundant" technologies and enjoy using all sorts of machines that other people would count as trash. My main interest in computers is for making music, and recently my studio has revolved around an Amiga 1200 running Octamed and a few older (Windows 98 era) PCs, mostly running old MIDI-only versions Cubase.

I stumbled across this site thanks to a recommendation from chrisnova777 when I posted on oldschooldaw.com - trying to set up my newly bought G4 DA to run PlayerPro.

This site has opened a rabbit hole for me and I have very quickly amassed a collection of 3 OS9 compatible macintosh machines, in addition to the G4 I now have a G3 imac and a blue and white G3.

This era is an evocative one for me as I started playing with MIDI and audio applications on a cheap PC in the late 90s - while I liked what I could do with the PC and Cakewalk, I was always painfully aware that a Mac was the way to go. I had frustrations with MIDI timing and never had any luck getting Cubase VST to work on properly my PC (although I had some midi-only fun with Cubase Audio XT) Since then I had brief dalliances with Ataris and older Macs, using Cubase, and finding it way more intuitive musical than Cakewalk.

I'm so far finding that Cubase 5.1 VST on the mac is a great way to work in a comfortable (and hopefully solid) MIDI environment with the added bonus of decent audio support, virtual instruments and fx. I haven't made much music yet but it feels right.

I'm also excited about learning how to use PlayerPro and  Studio Vision - they both seem to offer a unique take on music making. I'm hoping I'll be able to program my DX11 using Sound Diver (haven't managed to make it work yet) and wondering how long it is before I can no longer resist the temptation to have a proper play with classic Logic (I gave up on it years ago on PC as I could never get it to work).

I haven't yet found a replacement for Sound Forge for editing samples and audio files - I remember Bias Peak being completely unintuitive and that still seems to be the case, but I'm sure I'll find a way to achieve what I want to one way or another.

Anyway all very exciting to me - I feel like I am working with state-of-the art equipment and the age and £40 price tag is irrelevant. Or perhaps it's the appeal.

Anyway, I've got a new (old) RME multiface to set up, and a B&W g3 to test out, and loads of new software to install and learn...not to mention music to make... so I shouldn't ramble any more... but again, thank you and hello.

No doubt I'll be back with questions.

[BoneRoller]

Hello everyone,

 I recently purchased a Mac mini A1103 with OS 9 and while searching found this site. I'm really interested at this point on seeing how I can run some older programs designed to run on OS 7 & 8 on the mini. If that is possible that way or if I have to partition the drive and load the OS's.