Mac OS 9 booting on: Mac mini G4 (Detailed Posts)

[Astroman]

You could build a custom case providing (possibly) better heat distribution for the ATI graphic chip on the backside and improve the CPU heatsink to run fanless.
Btw an original IBM Thinkpad PSU would make a great replacement for the original one.
(those go into standby low current mode automatically if the consuming device is turned off)

[MacTron]

Of course it does. If you consider that Mac OS 9 has virtually no multiprocessing support and doesn’t touch more than 1 GB of RAM

The same old myths again    ... this is not true, it was discussed a lot of times, just make a search please ...

[brirec]

Of course it does. If you consider that Mac OS 9 has virtually no multiprocessing support and doesn’t touch more than 1 GB of RAM

The same old myths again    ... this is not true, it was discussed a lot of times, just make a search please ...

Well, I see you’re right for sure! I meant 1.5 GB as that’s what I saw on my MDD, but it seems I was completely wrong on both counts!

Still, a G4 mini is definitely a great system to run Mac OS 9 on, and while I’m wrong about Mac OS 9 not being able to fully utilize the (mostly) better hardware of my MDD, there are certainly power and size benefits from 3-4 years of miniaturization!

[MacTron]

Of course it does. If you consider that Mac OS 9 has virtually no multiprocessing support and doesn’t touch more than 1 GB of RAM

The same old myths again    ... this is not true, it was discussed a lot of times, just make a search please ...

Well, I see you’re right for sure! I meant 1.5 GB as that’s what I saw on my MDD, but it seems I was completely wrong on both counts!

Yes, you are wrong about multiprocessing support too. The Mac Os 9 have multiprocessing support, but very few apps use it. If your work depends on one of them, it really worth for sure. Cubase 5 for example can increase up to 2X its CPU power with a dual CPU.

Still, a G4 mini is definitely a great system to run Mac OS 9 on

I'm agree with you.
But the 1Gb of RAM limit of this machine make it unusable for me.

mini means mini, always

[IIO]

but mactron, minis are so small, you could use 5 of them - and then you have 5 GB of RAM with OS9.

[brirec]

but mactron, minis are so small, you could use 5 of them - and then you have 5 GB of RAM with OS9.

indeed, I bet I could fit ten or more minis in the same amount of space my MDD takes up, they’d be using probably a similar amount of power, and now we’ve got ten CPUs and (up to) 10 GB of RAM!

[Metrophage]

I needed to check out some internals, and in the process give the Mini a good cleaning - probably its first. But now having put it all back together, I've borked it. I am quite experienced, having tinkered with Macs for about 20 years. But for the past five or so, everything I touch seems to turn to shit. I set up new systems, and within a couple of days/weeks they are dead. Minis give me some hope because they are cheap and plentiful, but I am way too broke to go through this every time.

[Astroman]

maybe you just ripped off the on-switch during reassembly - happened to me... 

[Metrophage]

No, but I broke something. Sometimes it starts to boot, and freezes - other times it emits the three "bad RAM" tones. Even for the stick that was working yesterday. So if I had to guess if the problem was all of my RAM or the Mini, the latter seems more probable.

[Daniel]

I really hope you can fix that, because my iBook G3 has the same problems. A pity, because it is the only Mac OS 9 laptop I have with a working battery.

On an unrelated note, there are so many posts here that I think we might need a new sub-forum entirely for the mini.

[FdB]

Well Sports Fans…

For those that have been using “Sleeper” on the Mac Minis, our good buddy Jon over @ St.Clair Software has provided us with our very own special username and registration number (in order to quell yet another bothersome, repetitive dialog box upon startup with the mini). Full copy of Jon’s (what-a-guy) communique follows… enjoy!

“I’ve created a serial number for MacOS9Lives folks (below). As I said before, it's pretty much "as-is" because I don't have a Mac OS 9 machine here that I can use to provide tech support. That said, the software's pretty bullet-proof - by version 3.5 I'd pretty much programmed help into it for most common problems.

Those were the good old days when I used to write OS patches in assembly language. Now we're stuck with layers upon layers of stuff in macOS, including yet more security hoops in 10.14 that both developers and users have to jump through. Anyway, here's a serial number. If folks in the community would like to say thanks and support a long-time indy software developer, they're welcome to PayPal donations to [email protected]

- Jon

Here is your Sleeper 3.5 registration information:

       Your Name:  Mac OS 9 Lives
       Registration Number:  5140

To remove the purchase reminders from Sleeper, follow these steps:

1. Open the Sleeper control panel
2. Click on the 'Register...' button
3. Click on the 'Enter registration code' button
4. In the fields provided, type in your name and registration number exactly as they appear above.  You may type any information you want into the 'Organization' field, such as your company or department name.”
(I added all the italics above.)

Soooo… PayPal Jon a buck (or five) or maybe just drop him a quick note of appreciation. Damned nice of him I’d say. Maybe let him know it is appreciated(?).

[IIO]

*like*

[Dogcow]

Wow that's a lot of comments! Amazing work, sorry didn't read all of 'em.
The few links I saw for an ISO are all dead. Is there a ready-to-go OS 9 installer for Mac mini?
Got a 1st gen 1.42GHz mini here that would be very happy on OS 9

[IIO]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RocAG5EizhVw_YjY4VlKi0OG4d7wQARj/view

burn, follow instructions, (eventually make sure to backup since it reinitialises your HD), enjoy!

[Dogcow]

Thanks a lot! Burning now

[Dogcow]

Thanks to everyone that made this possible, I now have the perfect Mac mini; one with OS 9 on it
Made a little video on it. Nothing new to the folks here of course but still figured I'd share.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt2AYXMLzgY&feature=youtu.be

[thatguychad]

So what inexpensive solutions are there to getting audio?

[brirec]

So what inexpensive solutions are there to getting audio?

Sabrent USB External Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac. Plug and play No drivers Needed. (AU-MMSA) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SdSTBbD8T28YY

I bought one of those. Worked, as it says, without installing anything. On Mac OS 9. But FYI, it seems a little flaky/strange at times, as it has some strange quirks. For example, the volume isn’t controllable.

[ELN]

Regarding the onboard chip: I had a few cracks at it, but honestly I don’t understand the native Sound Manager architecture or the hardware well enough to make much progress.

If anyone wants to have another shot, I can post my work on the Apple Audio Extension to GitHub.

[SabithaSuki]

Any chance for an upgrade package, so we dont have to wipe our HDD's with an earlier version (not to mention files and software)?