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

[SDG]

so the scenario in the future is the following:

 - we have a mini OS, which does need an OS9 driver to be on the disk.

 - someone has a mac mini G4 with - of course - no OS9 driver on the disk.

 - now he wants to put OS9 on his mini without loosing his files.

how does the updaters, which requires a previous version of the image, which requires to reformat, help in this case?

If someone wants to boot OS9 from the Mini, it will need to have the OS9 drivers on the hard disk otherwise OS9 will simply not boot. The only way to do this non-destructively (i.e. wiping and repartioning the disk) is to add the OS9 drivers using iPartition. You will need to create a bootable Tiger DVD with iPartition on it or run iPartition from a bootable external FW drive. The way to do this is not intuitive so there are a couple of steps starting with adding the HFS wrapper and after that checking a couple of tickboxes.

I have done it myself and it does work and is the only way I know that avoids wiping and reinstalling. Otherwise, youwould have to back up your entire OSX volume and restore it after repartitioning. You can grab iPartition at the Macintoshgarden.

[Remy]

I've been running v8 for almost a year with no problems. Updated to v9 via in-place updater and rebooted. As a result system remained without hardware acceleration graphic! Had to reinstall v8 from the cd! Now my mini is functioning again ( with 3D accel. gr. !)

[RossDarker]

Cheers I'll take another look at it to see if I missed anything.

[RossDarker]

Oh I see what I’ve done now, need to type the word “disk” a few more times in the script.

[RossDarker]

Alright here's a new v9 updater sit which actually works this time and have tested it properly, sorry about that!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dbfZEfYgbhWLGK2JY_xbGjlxrvzzWdSX/view?usp=sharing

[Remy]

Thank you for the quick reply and help! And for your work! I'll try it tomorrow!

[IIO]

If someone wants to boot OS9 from the Mini, it will need to have the OS9 drivers on the hard disk otherwise OS9 will simply not boot.

that it can boot without OS9 drivers is the main feature of v9.

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,5162.0.html


see this is what i mean ross, new users think you have to reformat because the iso suggest to.

btw it is great to have the combo updater right on the CD this time. what is it doing with the old items? overwrite or trash?

[RossDarker]

First it copies a small file to the extension folder of the disk you enter to check the disk exists, is RW and has Mac OS 9 on (this then gets deleted).
Then for each individual file, it tries to move the old one to the trash, then tries to put the new one in its place. That’s for the extensions, DVD player related stuff and the ROM. Then at the end it blesses the system folder just in case. After the restart the old stuff is all in the trash which you can empty.

[DieHard]

First it copies a small file to the extension folder of the disk you enter to check the disk exists, is RW and has Mac OS 9 on (this then gets deleted).
Then for each individual file, it tries to move the old one to the trash, then tries to put the new one in its place. That’s for the extensions, DVD player related stuff and the ROM. Then at the end it blesses the system folder just in case. After the restart the old stuff is all in the trash which you can empty.

As always, excellent work !  And thank you, RossDarker, for your time and effort !

IMO, we should NOT overthink every scenario, the main purpose of the v9 ISO is for people to do a nice clean install/format and have all the best drivers, ROM, and files to turn a PPC G4 mini into an OS9 powerhouse. 

At this point any existing users of old versions can either manually patch and track the changes since their version or use the new SIT.  But, I think we are working Ross a bit hard to create these SIT Updates; I would say, if the SIT does not do the trick, just run a new v9 ASR. At any rate, CA lockdown sucks, but I finally have time to do a few house-cleaning things on the site and also use v9 on the Minis that have been patiently waiting for it.

[IIO]

the updater app is great for people who are new to OS9 (but otoh if you dont know it, you usually also do not need to copy your personal system) - for experienced OS9 users just a handful of files would be also enough i think (for example to make your personal boot CD, which is what i am always doing. some of my controlpanels and preferences files date back 1996 )

[Roman323]

the updater app is great for people who are new to OS9 (but otoh if you dont know it, you usually also do not need to copy your personal system) - for experienced OS9 users just a handful of files would be also enough i think (for example to make your personal boot CD, which is what i am always doing. some of my controlpanels and preferences files date back 1996 )

Hello,

I apologize if this is a very late post. I have a PowerBook G4 5,9 17 inch DLSD - the only PowerPC G4 in my arsenal, though I have a PowerBook G4 550 Pismo. Will the modded 9.2.2 work on the this last Powerbook G4 ? It would be nice if someone can let me know, as it gives me something to do while I await going back to work due to COVID19. Stay safe and please let me know.

Thanks,
Romko

[FBz]

Hey Romko - you posted on the Mac Mini G4 thread. /But in answer to your question NO and especially NO with the Mac Mini’s beautifully hacked OS 9 install disk. (Get yourself a G4 Mac Mini maybe?) I too have a 17” monster like yours and have been waiting for the magician’s around here to announce that they’ve solved the OS 9 “Classic Only” on this specific PowerBook.

*Maybe they have and they’re just keeping it a secret from me? If so, I’m certain that someone will post to tell me that I’m wrong… and I could be.

Stay safe and healthy… yourself.

[IIO]

the day when my brandnew 1,67 book with 1680 screen can run OS9 will be a good day.

[xchris]

Hi,


I installed the latest upgrade (from .sit) but now the mouse freeze is worst than ever
The machine boots ok , displays a message from USB overdrive (expired or so)
after a couple of seconds the mouse stuck on right side and stays there forever no matter
how reboots I am doing - same result.

its the mac mini G4 1.4Ghz

darn.... the problem was the mouse... !! I can't believe it, it worked for years now this.
I put a new one and works well.

[Roman323]

Hey Romko - you posted on the Mac Mini G4 thread. /But in answer to your question NO and especially NO with the Mac Mini’s beautifully hacked OS 9 install disk. (Get yourself a G4 Mac Mini maybe?) I too have a 17” monster like yours and have been waiting for the magician’s around here to announce that they’ve solved the OS 9 “Classic Only” on this specific PowerBook.

*Maybe they have and they’re just keeping it a secret from me? If so, I’m certain that someone will post to tell me that I’m wrong… and I could be.

Stay safe and healthy… yourself.

Hi, sorry for the late response. I am trying to stay safe and healthy. Furloughed since April 6, 2020, but otherwise still going strong. The reason why I asked if the universal install was good for the Pismo is because I needed firewire 2.8.7 drivers, as OS 9.2.2 originally had only 2.8.5 or 2.8.3.

[Lixivial]

Been lurking and following this thread for quite awhile and it's amazing the amount of hard work that's been put in as well as the display of technical expertise. Thank you to everyone involved! It's super cool being able to boot Mac OS 9 in this form factor without paying an arm and a leg for something like a G4 Cube.

I had a question regarding audio -- I've been running v7, upgraded to v8 and now upgraded to v9. Since v7, I've been using one of these adapters, that I think was previously recommended in the thread:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRVQ0F8

With v9 my sound is distorted while using that adapter while in v7 and v8 it worked just fine. Looking over my install, it looks like I installed the m-audio drivers at some point trying to get audio to work. I've disabled those and I still have distorted audio. Reverting back to v8 works fine. Is there anything in the new ROM that might account for that? I've tried a variety of speakers and headphones and they all produce similar distortions.

[IIO]

omg. ATI, sound and mouse seems to be the bermuda triangle of the mac mini.

[Lixivial]

omg. ATI, sound and mouse seems to be the bermuda triangle of the mac mini.

haha. don't get me wrong, I'm not sold on my setup being in a perfect state here (due to having the m-audio drivers installed, though I don't know why they might cause this issue) or on the USB adapter I have. I'm definitely willing to find another audio adapter if need be. And also note that I'm not requesting any work be done at all to investigate it.

I was just checking if there's anything known that I should look out for, given the latest ROM changes, before I start swapping components out or doing a clean install. I also thought I'd ask considering others had stated they used the same adapter in the past. Basically, just checking to see that I didn't do something dumb on my end, haha.

EDIT: I'm also content with sitting on v8, since it's actually been working just fine for me and I'm happy just being able to run OS 9 on the mini in the first place.

[IIO]

sure, you will be fine with v8, but in case you are right about the sabrent we have to call houston.

[Jubadub]

It's super cool being able to boot Mac OS 9 in this form factor without paying an arm and a leg for something like a G4 Cube.

Actually, in this regard (form factor), the Mac mini G4 is about 4x superior than even the G4 Cube. I can and do fit my minis in corners between monitors that no G4 Cube could ever dream of being able to, even if sliced in half.

Also a cool side-note is that, despite the Cube's really good upgradeability, the mini still has much faster RAM (same RAM speed as MDD and PowerBook G4 1.67 Ghz) that the Cube can do nothing about (333 Mhz DDR1 on mini vs. 100 Mhz pre-DDR1 on Cube), which is a very welcome bonus in the mini's favor.

Both are very cool to have, but if form factor is not an issue, then I'd stick with an MDD in the first place. Personally, I have no use for a G4 Cube.

Edit: Just in case my message wasn't clear, all I mean to say is: rejoice your mini! On top of being cheaper, it has a much better and smaller form factor.