Working - Mac OS 9 on PowerBook G4 5,3 1.33Ghz 17"

[Greystash]

I managed to get Mac OS 9 installed on my 17" PowerBook G4 with the CD image located at http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,2143.0.html.

First you need to boot into open Firmware and enter the following:

Code: [Select]

nvedit

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0

80010201 encode-int " cpu-version" property

device-end

Now press Ctrl + C to exit the nvram editor.

Next type the following:

Code: [Select]

nvstore

setenv use-nvramrc? true

reset-all

The computer will now restart and you will need to boot from the CD image listed above.

Installation
After restoring the HD image from the CD you must remove the following from the Extensions folder (within System Folder).

    All ATI extensions
    HID Library
    The MultiProcessing folder

Now move the ATI Jasper driver (modified by Dathnvader) into the system folder, then restart the system.

Findings

Working:
- Sound, sound keys
- USB
- Video: Recognised as an ATI Jasper card with 64MB VRam. All screen resolutions, 256 grays - Millions of colours.
- Ethernet

Not Working:
- PCMCIA Slot: It's recognised as a CARDBUS slot but doesn't have the correct driver.
- Screen brightness adjustments and keys.
- Graphics Acceleration
- Keyboard illumination
- Sleep mode

Not Tested:
- Display ports
- Dial up port
- Firewire

Other
- There is no "Missing USB driver" prompt when loading the desktop which is nice.

This is by far the best unsupported Mac for OS9 that I have used so far!

[darthnVader]

Are the built-in speakers working?

How about the built-in Mic?

I can build you a Mac OS ROM that should get brightness control working, tho the buttons maybe reversed, +bright goes down -Bright goes up.

It would also fix the need to change the cpu-version via nvram.

[darthnVader]

Also, I think Apple laptops with CPU's that support frequency scaling boot at reduced CPU speeds, and OS 9 doesn't have the software to change it during boot up.

Only the G3 FX chips are supported.

I'm not 100% sure, but all my benchmarks say may 7447a's are only running at reduced speeds under OS 9.

[Greystash]

Built in speakers work great, no issues at all. That would be great thanks darthnVader I'd really appreciate that if you get a chance. I'll test the mic + firewire tonight.

That's a shame, either way it's still super fast. I haven't done much testing but it feels like it's at least the same speed (if not greater) than my 933mhz Quicksilver at doing general tasks (internet browsing, file transfers, software installs etc.). What program do you use for benchmarking?

[darthnVader]

Try this Mac OS ROM, it is encoded for the PowerBook5,3, and feature the Happy MacTron, with custom PRIM_INFO as well as enables NAP mode for the 4747a.

Use with Apple CPU Plugin, system will try to enter sleep, but crashes.

It has the backlight control, but if your backlight is inverted, the display will go dark after the Happy MacTron, because it thinks it's setting the display to full brightness, when it's really fully dim.

Wait for the desktop to load and press the -bright button to turn the display up, one you set it correct it will create a pref file so the display won't be dark on the next boot.

No way for me to know if your blacklight is inverted, you'll just have to test and see.

Also has the G4 Fix, so you shouldn't need the nvram script.

Testing, create a folder named "ppc" on the root of your OS 9 partition, place the file "tbxi18" in that folder, reboot to OF:

Code: [Select]

boot hd:,\ppc\tbxi18

[darthnVader]

Forgot the file.

[darthnVader]

Ok, I can say 100% for sure that the 7447a in iBooks starts up at reduced CPU speeds and only operates at that speed under OS 9.

I assume it's the same for Powerbooks, the Mini and the eMac would not be affected, tho the Silent Upgrade 1.5Ghz Mini can do DFS, it has no PRIM_INFO so you would have to spoof that or just set DFS mode using ReggieSE under OS X.

We don't have a tool for OS 9 to switch between DFS and full power mode, yet.

The PowerBook5,3 uses the 7447, not the A, so it wouldn't support DFS, so OS 9 should run at full speed.

BenchMarks in Fractional Demo Carbon( v1.3 ) and Cinnbench 2003 bear this out.

iMac G4 15" 1Ghz 7455

OS9: Fractional Demo 4.07 GFlops
OSX: 4.029 GFlops

OS9: CineBench 1 CPU Render 91
OSX: 88



Ibook G4 1.33Ghz 7447a R9200

OS9: Fractional Demo 2.77 GFlops
OSX: 4.97 GFlops

OS9: CineBench 63
OSX: 96

I also have the 1.33 Ghz iBook with the R9550 and it bears these same results out. I'm 110% sure of my findings, the fimware on 7447a portable models boots a reduced power mode( DFS ), and OS 9 has no software to switch it back to full power mode.

[Greystash]

Thanks darthnVader! I tried the ROM booting through the ppc folder/OF, it worked great and the brightness controls were perfect. By NAP mode do you mean sleep? This still didn't work.

I do have some bad news though.. After everything looked good I copied the ROM to the system folder, then cloned the partition to a bigger HD that I was going to put in the PowerBook. I shut everything down, replaced the hard drives very carefully and now it's not booting
All I get is a black screen, no chime but the HD spins up. So unfortunately there will be no more testing for now, I don't know what went wrong...

Maybe I'll look at it again next weekend or look out for another one

[darthnVader]

NAP mode isn't sleep, it's a power conservation mode that will allow the system to run cooler when not under load.

Sorry to hear about your hardware trouble.

[Greystash]

I did some testing last night after remembering your post "So you think you bricked it". I held down the command and power keys, got into OF and was able to boot OSX. It seems that the ROM where OF is held (EEPROM?) has somehow corrupted. The computer now freezes after a while, then won't boot (shows the same symptoms mentioned above) and I have to do the same boot command after removing the PRAM battery, and completely draining power for ~1hr, otherwise it won't work. When I do get into OF to reset NVRAM there have been several times where the text appears all jumbled up as soon as I type and the computer freezes, then the same happens.

Do you know if it's possible for it to be so corrupted it can't be reset?
The only other thing I can think of that could cause this would be bad RAM, which I'll try replacing tonight.

[Greystash]

The PowerBook will only boot if the battery and power are removed, and power is completely drained for at least 8hrs.
I can't boot into any system, or system discs, and this is where it panics in OSX.

I know it's a stretch asking for OSX help here but does anyone understand what this means?

[Astroman]

my humble guess is a cable connection problem during re-assemble of the Powerbook.
As the error points to USB check those ports and the trackpad in particular.
Best of luck and fingers crossed...

[darthnVader]

The PowerBook will only boot if the battery and power are removed, and power is completely drained for at least 8hrs.
I can't boot into any system, or system discs, and this is where it panics in OSX.

I know it's a stretch asking for OSX help here but does anyone understand what this means?

Something is wrong with the USB, as Astroman says, check all the connections.

[bellyface]

Hi Greystash, great guide. Got it up and running. Only issue I have is airport doesn't show installed. Wondering if you encountered that.

thanks again.

[Greystash]

Great to hear! Yeah I'm pretty sure the Airports are unsupported on all of these models unfortunately. I ended up getting another G4 17" 1.33 and using Darth's ROM, everything seems to be working perfectly except PCMCIA. I was going to put my wireless Cisco card in but the system doesn't recognise the PCMCIA slot. WiFi on OS9 is super convenient but a wired connection is so much faster so I just stick with that anyway. I was going to look at the comparing PCMCIA modules from some of the other supported G4s that do work, I'll let you know if I have any success.

You may also find this helpful, I found that this machine got quite hot since the fans don't power on at all on OS9. I wrote this boot script with the help of Daniel that sets the fan speed at boot and keeps everything cool:

Code: [Select]

\ comment
cr
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
80010201 encode-int " cpu-version" property
device-end
" fan" open-dev constant fan-ih
1 3B6 " set-speed" fan-ih $call-method
2 3B6 " set-speed" fan-ih $call-method
boot hd:,\\:tbxi


I put this in a SimpleText file called 'bootscript' which is kept at the root of my HD. This also includes the NVRAM info to allow OS9 to boot so it doesn't need to be specified in the NVRAM.
All you need to do is enter the following in Open Firmware to load the script at boot. It's much easier entering this one line rather than the all the NVRAM info if your machine loses power/NVRAM is reset etc.

Code: [Select]

setenv boot-device hd:\bootscript

[bellyface]

Oh wow! Great idea! Yeah I have a early 2003 PowerBook 17” 1ghz, I wonder if the airport module is compatible. I know this model could boot natively, I think.

So on the bootscript and boot rom, darths rom is great but how do I make it a permanent load?

[Greystash]

Nice! Any machine that could boot OS9 natively should have support. I'm not sure how to make it a permanent load with the ROM, Darth is the expert with that stuff. The boot script as it is is semi permanent, you will only need to set that boot command if the laptop loses 100% of power (battery removed/depleted, dead PRAM battery). To make the Rom permanent rename it to Mac OS ROM and replace it with the one in the system folder.

[bellyface]

So one thing I'm noticing, pretty loud fans

This is a total mind-blast! takes me back 20+ years when I was working at an ad agency in miami. We had 3 powermac 8600's and 2 powermac G3's. Obviously won't be using this in a professional environment, but it sure is awesome to revisit.

[Greystash]

Yeah it's fun right!? Such a great system on these machines

They do have very noisy fans, I wouldn't mind replacing mine with some quieter ones... You can use a hex converter to change the 3B6 value (950). I recommend doing this in small increments though, there were some values that it didn't like so the fan just didn't power on. When I first set it up I had a much slower speed and it was fine - kept it cool with non-intensive cpu tasks. The heat management on these is so much better than my lousy 2017 MBP.

[teroyk]

I'll test the mic + firewire tonight.

How about that firewire?