Apple Software Restore fails to restore MacOS9Lives.img

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I'm trying to install OS 9.2.2 onto a G4 400 (AGP) using the Mac OS 9.2.2 Universal Install. I burned it to a CD using Burn as described here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/burning-bootable-cd-for-imac-g3-system-7-8-9.2226403/

First problem: The CD shows up in Startup Disk, but when I reboot, all I get is a blank, black screen and nothing happens. To get around that, I hooked up the G4 to an iMac G4 with a Firewire cable and target disk mode.

Second problem: When I try to use the iMac to install OS 9 onto the G4, I get these error messages when I run Apple Software Restore.

1) When selecting "Restore in Place": "The startup file could not be written." "The restore failed. The volume "Macintosh HD" may be unusable."

2) When selecting "Erase "Macintosh HD": "Unable to erase volume "Macintosh HD."" "The restore failed. The volume "Macintosh HD" may be unusable."

Any ideas on what the problem might be? Thank you!!

[FBz]

With the 9.2.2 Universal Install disc in the tray, restart the machine and then
hold down the option key until you see a screen with choice of boot sources
(the 9.2.2 disc being the one that you want).
If this fails, post back and we’ll proceed from there.

*You may want to reformat and or partition your drive
if it boots from the 9.2.2 CD.

What OS is currently on your internal HD?

You’re attempting to “Restore”?
Or… a new, fresh “clean” installation?

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Hi, thanks for the guidance!

I booted up while pressing the option key, and the screen with choices of boot sources came up. The MacOS9Lives CD was one of the options, so I clicked the next arrow. Then the screen went blank.

Maybe it doesn't like my Apple Studio Display?

OS X 10.3 (Panther) is currently installed on my internal HD, and I guess I'm trying to do a "clean" installation. I re-partitioned the hard drive (I used to have two, now it's just one), and installed Panther before I tried to install OS 9.

I really only need OS 9, but I get the feeling it won't work. It needs the OS 9 drivers that you can install from OS X's Disk Utility, right?

[Mat]

I'd suggest to unplug all internal mass storage, try to boot the CD, by holding down the "C" key and see if the machine comes up. If it works replug the hard disks and boot again from CD by holding "C" while booting.

[FBz]

Have you disconnected all unnecessary peripheral devices,
internal add-on/in cards, etc. from the AGP before attempting
the 9.2.2 installation on the AGP? NO aftermarket devices,
non-Apple mice / keyboard, ethernet connections, etc.

Is your G4 iMac OS 9 friendly / bootable?
If so, test your 9.2.2 install disc in it, as if you were going to install…
to see if that install disc gives you the same blank screen there.
If so, then download and burn another 9.2.2 image.

You might even try MacTron’s Emergency disk…
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,3177.0.html

What video card is in the AGP? Which Apple Studio Display?

AGP still currently boots Panther fine(?).
Internal hard drive appears to be functional.

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Back from the holidays!

I removed the SCSI card (Adaptec 2906) and unplugged the IDE cable from the hard drive (no Ethernet or other non-Apple keyboard/mice), then restarted and held down the Option key, then selected the MacOS9Lives CD. It didn't boot, and I got the same grey screen then blank screen as before.

It's the Apple Power Macintosh G4 400 (AGP), which can boot in OS 9. The video card is the original ATI Rage 128. The monitor is the Apple 17" Studio Display (LCD/ADC), plugged in with a DVI to ADC adapter. And it boots Panther fine.

Next, I'll give the Mactron Bootable Rescue CD a try! Maybe I'm just not burning it correctly.

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YES!

It was the Studio Display. I dug around in the garage for an old monitor (KDS Avitron AV-7TF), plugged it in, and I was finally able to boot from the Mactron Bootable Rescue CD (which I burned using Burn the same way as before). Installing OS 9.2.2 seems to have gone fine, though when I first booted up, it crashed when I got to the swoopy welcome screens where it asked if I wanted to sign up for their mailing lists. Now when I boot up, I get the system folder with a blinking question mark for a second before it moves on to finish booting successfully.

Now I can see if I can reinstall Photoshop 6.0 and get a Leafscan 45 going again. =)

Thanks for your help, FBz and Mat! Happy New Year!

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Spoke too soon. 

As soon as I try to do anything (open a CD, use a dropdown menu, etc.), there's a hiss of white noise and the computer freezes.

[FBz]

Still have the Adaptec SCSI card out
AND nothing other than the bare essentials connected?

Might try zapping the PRAM / rebuilding the desktop… etc. and then try-try again.

Something’s definitely hokey.

The “simples”…
• Fresh or definitely good-tested battery?
• All internal dust removed?
• No frayed or damaged mouse cord / connections?
*All the above rather moot if Panther works without fail.

HD partitioned into two partitions from the Emergency disk - one for Panther
and one for OS 9? Installing OS 9 first until stable / successful - AND THEN
installing Panther on the second partition.

If you can’t get this done, I’ve an AGP here that I might go through a similar
installation on to see if there’s some “little thing” I’m missing (or have forgotten)
in this type of install. Could be as simple as some extension or video driver that
needs excluding / removal. (It’s been awhile, here.) Check all of the above
“simples” and then will consider possible Conflicts.

Try booting with all extensions off. (Cold Boot, holding down the shift key.) If it
boots and mouse / menu functions then work without a freeze…
then your detective work truly begins.

*Likely a simple matter of turning off some extension(s).

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So I just tried it after removing the SCSI card, and only the old monitor and keyboard are plugged in. It crashed after a few seconds of perusing the dropdown menus.

Can you tell I'm a noob? The date has been resetting to 1968 or whatever this whole time, and I didn't know that was caused by the PRAM battery being dead. I ordered a new one (ER14250) and I'll report back when it arrives!

The insides and cables are otherwise ok. I dusted it earlier, too.

Ugh, I hope there aren't any extension or driver conflicts!

Thanks for your help, FBz, and Happy New Year!

[DieHard]

'm trying to install OS 9.2.2 onto a G4 400 (AGP)

BEFORE installing any OS on machines this old, it is critical the hardware diagnostic CD is booted and ran.

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/board,33.0.html

This is a fundamental step and seems to get overlooked.  After you have a system that passes, then it's OS install time

For a yikes or AGP G4, the DA diagnostics may be too new, so try the Apple Care Techtools version here:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,813.0.html

Remember, RAM that is on it's way out, will often still chime and boot, so it's always best to run a complete diag

Also as a side note: you may want to install the 9.1 Universal here:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,807.0.html

And then run the small 9.2.1 Patch, and then the 9.2.2 patch:
https://www.macintoshrepository.org/814-mac-os-9-updaters-us-english-

If that works, let us know and I will move those patches to our downloads also

[MasterGun]

Might be a problem with CD Drive. It sounds like it only reads the disk at the start, loads os into the ram of the mac, and then can't read the data of the CD or there can be a driver conflict for example. But I think you would want to try to do something, before doing anything with CD Drive.

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The PRAM battery finally arrived and is installed, so that's something.

First thing I did was burn the TechTools 2.5.6 CD, but when I try to boot up from it, the computer freezes during when the progress bar is at the 15% mark or so. Maybe I didn't burn the CD correctly in Toast? I went to Copy, picked Image File from the dropdown menu at top left, selected TechtoolV256.toast (unzipped), selected CD from the dropdown menu at bottom left, and then Copy. Or maybe my CD-ROM drive is dying?

I was able to boot again from the MacTron Bootable Rescue CD and run TechTool Pro 3.0.9. I ran a diagnostic and it found an invalid bundle bit (files about languages), date, and custom icon setting. The components, performance, and media passed, and it repaired a problem in the Files category. Nothing about a dying CD-ROM drive.

I decided to try installing OS 9.1. I used Toast to burn the 9.1 Universal Install CD, and while it does show up as a bootable disk when I press the Option key on startup, it won't boot. I get a grey screen and nothing happens. I tried using Burn for the second attempt at making a bootable CD, but I got the same grey screen.

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And then it wouldn't boot properly from the hard drive. I got the floppy disc with the blinking question mark, then the smiley computer screen came up and staid there.

I booted from the MacTron CD again, and there were warnings about the hard drive being damaged and it needing a disk repair utility. Disk First Aid found a problem but couldn't repair it. Disk Warrior 2.1.1 was able rebuild it, and now Disk First Aid says it's fine. But now when I reboot from the hard drive, it freezes right after it loads extensions but before the desktop fully loads (only thing on screen is the Picasso background pattern and time, which is correct now ).

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I installed OS X 10.3 to double check the hardware was still ok. I used the MacTron CD (Disk First Aid and Disk Warrior) to make sure all was fine, and I made sure to install the OS 9 drivers when I erased the hard drive before installing OS X. It works fine. No crashing or anything.

I tried booting from the OS 9.1 Universal Install CD and the Apple Care TechTools 2.5.6 CD, but they still didn't boot.

Is a driver conflict the most likely culprit now?

[FBz]

Hmm?
Sometimes we simply forget those old
processor upgrades (from all those years ago).

Why won’t my G4 400 AGP accept or boot
OS 9.2.2 - but still boots and runs w/o fail OS X?



Attempting to identify this processor upgrade &
determine which enabler or Firmware Update
might be necessary to actually run OS 9.2.2.




*Nice to discover that a 400 MHz AGP
…is actually a 1.5 GHz SCREAMER!

Ahh, hardware.

[IIO]

2 mb cache can only be sonnet or xlr8? both need extra software in classic.

[DieHard]

Hmm?
Sometimes we simply forget those old
processor upgrades (from all those years ago).

Why won’t my G4 400 AGP accept or boot
OS 9.2.2 - but still boots and runs w/o fail OS X?

2 mb cache can only be sonnet or xlr8? both need extra software in classic.

Wow, I did not even think to ask him speed, and he probably didn't realize it himself...

I starting to wonder about how many Upgraded G4 Monster towers and being scraped because they have "issues" loading the OS, when all they need is the CPU firmware patch software


Here is a great thread to re-read:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,271.0.html

... like all 7455 upgrades, It require no system firmware patch at all.  As Mactron has mentioned, 7447A, 7448 and 7457s are a different story.

Of, and I gotta bump this one: (because no firmware patch is needed)
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,3882.0.html

[FBz]

OP now currently attempting to determine mfg
of this processor upgrade. Hopefully hasn’t lost
the original CPU Firmware patch - OR his stock
processor (in case that needs installation first).

He’s looking for his original CPU & any patch that
he might still have.

In the meantime, those with possibly similar upgrades
… might recall and provide a suitable Firmware patch?
(As needed.)

AND with original CPU, basic functions with OS 9.2.2
can be tested - before moving forward with upgrade.

"Wow, I did not even think to ask him speed,
and he probably didn't realize it himself..."

  Me neither. Only after he mentioned a “bronze” heatsink
  did I go back and check the Hardware Overview he’d sent.
  Then… he forwarded pics of the processor.

[index]

Huge thanks to FBz for picking up on the new lead! I don't remember installing a new CPU in this computer. My brother had it for a while to do video editing, so that's probably where it came from.

No luck today looking in the garage for the original CPU (a 400 MHz PowerPC 7400 (G4), right?), but my bro might get lucky. At least I know what to shop for if needed.

So it's a Sonnet or XLR8? FBz sent a webpage of compatible chips (https://lowendmac.com/ppc/power-mac-g4-upgrade-guide.html). It looks like whatever Sonnet this is (1.8 GHz Encore/ST G4?): https://68kmla.org/forums/topic/31056-upgrading-a-g4-cube/?do=findComment&comment=338937

The only label is on the top (see attachment): 095-0015-03 REV:10/4/06 P301214 LN#:1 S/N:140. The support pages on Sonnet's site don't have any numbers like that, so I don't know what it is yet.

Stay tuned...