Radeon 9200 shows Gray on OS 9 Boot

[ScottB]

OS 9 by itself doesn't work anyway, but I've heard rumors of a patched OS 9 that works on "unsupported G4s" by this community. I found a version of it on Macintosh Garden (unsure if it's the latest or not) and burned it. Gray screen. It's just gray. It sits there showing gray. That's it. No CD access, no HDD access, just gray. As I said, I have the last model of eMac ever made. Not the last eMac, but the last model. What can I do?

EDIT: changed the title from "eMac (last model ever) refuses to boot OS 9" to "Radeon 9200 shows Gray on OS 9 Boot"

[GaryN]

It's downright amazing how fast info flies around the net. it's even more amazing how much it gets distorted, corrupted, misinterpreted, exaggerated etc.

We have had some success getting unsupported G4 Mac to boot OS9 with variable results. The word on the net seems to be that we can boot any old Mac - even G5's !

Just like Trump's crowd size, this is an exaggeration.

Your last-model eMac 6,4 has not, to my knowledge been successfully added to the bootable list yet.
That doesn't mean it won't ever work. It means there aren't that many folks trying because there just aren't that many floating around.
Also, the general opinion around here seems to be that the eMac just ain't that great for audio anyway, so nobody's really trying.
You might (stress might) succeed with an Open Firmware hack to get the model to appear on the "supported" list at boot but it's pretty much uncharted territory. Feel like a pioneer?

You might want to read this thread and contact this guy. He seems to have gotten close.

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,3554.0.html

[ScottB]

I think the best I can do now is just change the firmware to an older version. or the iMac G3 firmware.
Is that possible?

EDIT: The only problem is actually the Graphics Card, otherwise, it would be fine. So, I did technically boot into OS9, but the Radeon needs to shoot itself.

[GaryN]

Here's a dumb question: If all you've got is a gray screen, how do you know you've actually booted OS9?
Back-dating firmware is not likely to make or break the relationship with the video card.