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

[ToddH]

So I managed to get 1920x1080 working. It's weird though. I accidentally clicked on it again when messing with resolutions and got the out of range issue. I then shut the computer down manually. A couple of hours later I decided to turn it back on and it booted straight into 1920x1080. Now it's working like a charm. I even tried changing resolutions and color modes as well as rebooting again with no issues. No idea why it's now working but it is.

[bamdad]

So I managed to get 1920x1080 working. It's weird though. I accidentally clicked on it again when messing with resolutions and got the out of range issue. I then shut the computer down manually. A couple of hours later I decided to turn it back on and it booted straight into 1920x1080. Now it's working like a charm. I even tried changing resolutions and color modes as well as rebooting again with no issues. No idea why it's now working but it is.

there must be some way to get it working, because i'm dual-booting with morphos and it has no problem with full HD..

[ToddH]

Yeah it's strange. When I first installed OS 9 I could never even get to the installation screen on my 1080P monitor. I had to do it on an older monitor. And when I set it to 1080P after installation it gave me an out of range error and I had to reinstall. Now it's suddenly working. Very weird.

[ToddH]

Upgraded to 1 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD today. The old girl is really flying now. I can definitely tell the difference when it comes to hard drive performance.

[jmnewman]

Having no luck booting from CD; optical drive spins up but does not load, and mini boots into OS X.
Has anyone succeeded in installing from an external FireWire drive? If so, what is the procedure?

[FBz]

You’re using OS 9.2.2 (Mac Mini) Bootable ISO v.9?
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4365.msg30502.html#msg30502

With the v.9 CD in the drive, you’ve tried:
1. Booting while holding down the “C” key?
2. Booting while holding down the “option” key?
3. OR… try Open Firmware Boot mentioned here:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4658.msg33605.html#msg33605

Does your drive read other CDs okay?
If so, might be an improper burn of ISO.

[IIO]

1. Booting while holding down the “C” key?

actually "c". when caps lock is on, CD isnt found. once ran into this when OS 7.5 came out.

though i am not sure if c works for firewire on all models.(?)

[jmnewman]

"You’re using OS 9.2.2 (Mac Mini) Bootable ISO v.9?
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4365.msg30502.html#msg30502

"With the v.9 CD in the drive, you’ve tried:
1. Booting while holding down the “C” key?
2. Booting while holding down the “option” key?
3. OR… try Open Firmware Boot mentioned here:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4658.msg33605.html#msg33605"

Tried all of the above. Booting into Open Firmware produced this output: can't OPEN: cd:,\\:tbxi
Can't open device or file

Which seems weird because the disk mounts on the desktop and will open showing all the correct files.

I have now done 3 downloads and burns (two on my G4 Cube and one on the mini itself), but clearly there is a problem with the burn. I will try burning with Toast for a change, but I don't expect a different outcome. I must be overlooking some simple step in the process.

[macarone]

>on my G4 Cube and one on the mini itself

Try starting the Mini in "Target Mode" (boot with "T" key held down .

Boot the "Cube" normally, and connect the 2 computers with a FireWire cable.

Use Disk Utility to make sure the Mini HDD has OS 9 drivers installed. If they aren't, it needs to be reformatted with OS 9 drivers option checked.

 Insert the CD that you say does mount into the Cube, and just drag the OS 9 System over. Make sure you use one of the methods to "bless" it.

Hope this helps. It's what worked for me.

[Cube]

Transit should be here :

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4438.0.html

hi there,
I've had my Mac Mini 1.5 sitting in its box waiting for me to turn it into a Mac OS9 powermachine but just need clariifcation on the system sounds/audio issues I've been seeing here (and relation to the M Audio Transit adapter)...

Is it that the audio/system sounds don't work with Ross' install?

Does the M Audio adapter fix these issues?

Also would equivalent adapters (say Griffin iMic (USB)) work as well?

Any info greatly appreciated!

[IIO]

no personal opinion with the transit, but they say most of these devices will run with OS9´s undocumented pseudo generic audio device feature of USB 1.1.

or you invest 20 instead of 10 euro and get a "real" audiointerface, i.e. one with a OS9 USB device driver. those are 100% safe and have nothing to do with the macmini system audio issue.

[noway]

Hi everybody!

I mainly registered to download your awesome Ross CD V9 for Mac Mini G4 -
and to say thank you so much for resolving all those severe road blocks for having OS9 on the Mini.
Running your installer CD with the detailed instructions was easy as eating cake.

Great to see so many Mac geniuses working on OS9 at no charge.
Thanks a bunch!

[DieHard]

Running your installer CD with the detailed instructions was easy as eating cake.

Let me tell you these guys did mucho work making the cake, and they have fed so many, great job to all

[DarwinFish]

I successfully installed it on my Mac mini G4!Is there a way to change the language?  Please let me know if so,thanks!

[DieHard]

I successfully installed it on my Mac mini G4!Is there a way to change the language?  Please let me know if so,thanks!

Many have done that, search forum for info

[noway]

As everything is working well, I was wandering if I could use my German localized OS 9.1 CD and the incremental updaters (V7 to V9) to create another Mac Mini OS9 boot disk.
So far I got nowhere.
Made an uncompressed read/write .dmg from the CD and tried the V7 updater.
The updater tells there is no such CD, or its not writable etc.
How do I create a OS9 CD image the updaters will "like"?
Is a localized OS 9 CD updatable at all?

Thanks!

[Jubadub]

As everything is working well, I was wandering if I could use my German localized OS 9.1 CD and the incremental updaters (V7 to V9) to create another Mac Mini OS9 boot disk.
So far I got nowhere.
Made an uncompressed read/write .dmg from the CD and tried the V7 updater.
The updater tells there is no such CD, or its not writable etc.
How do I create a OS9 CD image the updaters will "like"?
Is a localized OS 9 CD updatable at all?

Thanks!

I forgot the exact page, but somewhere in this thread a user was able to update the mini OS 9 with Chinese version files/resources. It will require some digging and patience. Good luck!

[IIO]

How do I create a OS9 CD image the updaters will "like"?

 - take 922 golden master
 - replace the 4 or 5 components which are needed for the mini
 - if you want to go further you could also replace the one or other thing inside the finder

[MacGamer]

Hi:

I would appreciate help trying to get OS 9 running on a G4 Mac Mini.

I recently bought off eBay a G4 Mac Mini, here is what I ended up getting (not exactly as advertised, but can’t complain as it was better spec’d than what I ordered):

PowerMac10,2
PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Speed: 1.33 Ghz
Memory: 1 GB
Boot ROM version: 4.9.4f1
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9200
Graphics Chipset Model: ATY,RV280
VRAM: 32 MB

I was able to install via user's "mcmini" post ( http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,2408.msg43174.html#msg43174 ).

The resolutions work for 1280x960 @ 60Hz but no higher. If I try to do 1920x1080 @ 60Hz, I get distorted text. I am unsure how to correct this.

[IIO]

usually a problem with some monitor models. try both VGA and DVI connectivity if you havent yet.