Mac OS 9 Lives

Mac OS 9 Discussion => Mac OS 9, Hacks & Upgrades => Topic started by: Protools5LEGuy on January 22, 2014, 11:54:48 PM

Title: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on January 22, 2014, 11:54:48 PM: Let's make an active topic about minimal extensions needed for every DAW. ;)
It is know that a system with less extensions boots faster and runs faster. Let´s get rid of garbage!
For example, one ati user should take off Nvidia extensions.
If you are not using a Iomega Superdisk or a Rio Mp3...
It also could be interesting to compare DAE versions with DSI(?) for swingers ;D (maybe too much Protools biased)
Also in some extensions the latest is not the more stable one.
There was some talk about firewire extensions, but it is open to CarbonLib version prefered (on a particular DAW setup)

DieHard say what not to use and MacTron what he uses both approaches are cool!
Title: Re: Extensions on Mac Os 9
Post by: MacTron on January 23, 2014, 01:17:36 PM: I use to keep a very small amount of system extensions in my Macs, but this may be a complex topic because each hardware/software combination needs his own combination of system extensions and, furthermore some are dependant of others.

Apple Audio Extension by example is needed in MDD but no in Sawtoth. Sound Manager is needed for QuickTime 6, which also need OpenTransport (I think).
I use to start with empty extensions folder and I go adding extensions as hardware and software require it. To keep the things more clean, I use to put most of the shared libs on the folder of the app that uses it (if is possible).
This is what I use to have on the extensions folder:

Network related extensions:
Apple Enet 2.4.5, AppleShare 3.9.4, Open Transport 2.8.3, Open Transport ASLM Modules 2.8.3, Shared Library Manager PPC 2.0.2, Internet Config Extension 2.0.7

USB/FireWire related extensions:
FireWire Enabler 2.8.7, FireWire Support 2.8.7, HID Library 1.5.9, USB Device Extension 1.5.9

QuickTime And Sound Manager related extensions:
Apple Audio Extension 2.4, Sound Manager 3.7.1, QuickTime Extensions, QuickTime 6.0.3, QuickTime Musical Instruments 6.0.2, QuickTime PowerPlug 6.0.3

OpenG related extensions:
OpenGLEngine 1.2.4, OpenGLLibrary 1.2.5, OpenGLMemory 1.2.4, OpenGLRenderer 1.2.4, OpenGLUtility 1.2.4

Video card related extensions:
NVIDIA 2D Acceleration 3.5.2, NVIDIA Drive 3.5.2, NVIDIA DVD Accelerator 3.5.2, NVIDIA Engine 3.5.2, NVIDIA OpenGL 3.5.2, NVIDIA Video Accelerator 3.5.2

Other Extensions:
DrawSprocketLib 1.7.8, InputSprocket Extension 1.7.3, Time Synchronizer 8.3.3, Contextual Menu Extension 1.0.2, Joliet Volume Access 2.1b5,
Text Encoding Converter 1.6, Apple CD/DVD Driver 1.4.8, DVD Region Manager 1.1, CarbonLib 1.6.1, Multiprocessing

Control Panels:
Joliet Control 2.1b5,USB Overdrive 1.4,Appearance 1.1.4,Date & Time 8.3.3, Energy Saver 3.0.5,File Exchange 3.0.5, General Controls 8.0.3, Internet 1.0.3, Keyboard 8.6.2,Memory 8.1.3,Monitors 7.5.6, Numbers7.1,QuickTime Settings 6.0.2, Sound 8.5.8, Startup Disk 9.2.6,TCP/IP 2.5,Text 8.0

As I am a "Cubase only guy" In my system there isn't a lot of DAW related extensions, Rewire is usually in the trash can (I never liked it), OMS is optional in cubase (I never liked it, too) as Cubase can handle the serial ports for MIDI by it self.

Edited to add version numbers as requested by Protools5LEGuy. Control Panels also added.
Title: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: DieHard on January 23, 2014, 09:37:39 PM: I will not explain the function of every control panel and extension here, you can google something if you are curious or use this as a quick start guide and take the advice on pure faith...

1) INITIAL TWEAKS

- Memory ControlPanel
From the Apple Menu, choose the “Control Panels” pop-up, and click MEMORY
Turn Virtual Memory OFF
Be Sure RAM DISK is OFF.

- Energy Saver Control Panel
From the Apple Menu, choose the “Control Panels” pop-up, and click ENERGY SAVER
In the SLEEP SETUP page, set “Put the system to sleep” at NEVER.
(It is also recommended that the SLEEP command not be used from the "Special" menu)

- Disable Appletalk
From the Apple Menu, click CHOOSER
Click INACTIVE in next to the Appletalk option at the bottom right corner of the window.

- Disable Font Smoothing
From the Apple Menu, choose the “Control Panels” pop-up, and click APPEARANCE
Click the FONTS tab inside the Appearance window.
Disable the option “SMOOTH ALL FONTS”

2) VIDEO CARD INFORMATION (needed for later on)
From the Apple Menu, click "Apple System Profiler"
Select the Second Tab at the top "Devices and Volumes"
Under the PCI, Slot-1, AGP section, click the blue triangle to the left of "Display Card" to open the Video card info. write down the card Manufacturer

3) EXTENSIONS AND CONTROL PANELS
Trim your Extensions & Controls Panels to help performance and prevent possible extension conflicts; if you are a Newbie to OS 9, when in doubt, don't turn off an extension unless you are sure you don't need it, the amount of RAM saved is not worth the headache you are going to have if you inadvertently turned off something you need and don't realize it...if you want to experiment, you can use this guide first as a baseline and then pick "Duplicate Set" and try variations of your initial modified setup, that way, you can easily switch back if you make a mistake

From the Apple Menu, choose the “Control Panels” pop-up, and click EXTENSIONS MANAGER..
Click “Duplicate Set” at the bottom right corner of the Extensions Manager window. Name the duplicate set when prompted… something like "Recording Studio Mac" or your name as an Artist or Production Company

Sort First... it will make the below list much easier !
Click on the word "Package" at the top of the Package column to immediate sort the Control Panels and Extensions, this will immediately give you a bird's eye view of which packages belong together

- Control Panels to turn off

If you don't intend on using a dial-up telephone modem..
Remove the X from
DialAssist
Modem
Remote Access

Also, Remove the X from
Location Manager
Multiple Users (assuming you are the only user, you better be, don'y let anyone use your Music Mac)
Software Update
USB Printer Sharing (who likes to share anyway)
Web Sharing

- Extensions to turn off

If you don't have an Airport Wireless Card Installed...
Remove the X from
Airport AP
Airport AP Support
Airport Driver

If you don't access your Mac remotely...
Remove the X from
OpenTpt Remote Access
OpenTpt Serial Arbitrator
Remote Only

If you don't Voice Control your Mac...
Remove the X from
Speech Recognition

If you use iTunes, but don't own a Nomad, SoundSpace, or Rio (I don't think you own any of these)...
Remove the X from
Nomad II USB Driver
Nomad MG USB Driver
Nomad USB shim
NomadJukeboxLib
SoundSpace2Lib
NomadJukeboxLib Driver
USBRioDriver
USBSoundSpace2 Driver

To turn off hard drive file indexing (trust me, you want it off)
Remove the X from
FBC Indexing Scheduler

No Zip or Jaz drive ?
Remove the X from
Iomega Drive

Some to trust me on... unless you know otherwise
Remove the X from
Location Manager Extension
Multi-User Startup
Serial Tool
Software Update Engine
Software Update Scheduler
Voice Verification
VT102 Tool
XMODEM Tool
Web Sharing Extension
Setup Assistant API
Setup Assistant Launcher
Setup Info Dispatcher
Setup Internet Support
Setup Modem Selector

To turn off un-needed video extensions (remember you found out your video card in Step 2
If you have an nVidia Card
Remove the X from
All Extensions with "ATI" in them

If you have an ATI Card
Remove the X from
All Extensions with "nVidia" in them

4) ADVANCED TRICKS & TIPS:
After an Initial Mac OS 9 Install navigate to the Extensions folder in the System Folder, select all the files (hold down Command/Apple and press 'A'), and label them with a color. This way, any third-party extensions added subsequently are easy to spot since they will appear with a different color to the original set and these colours will be visible in Extensions Manager!. Remember to load your mac up to 1 GB of RAM and allocate to the Host DAW Application as much as possible (Get info, Command-I on the Application, switch to "Memory" and set both memory values to 400,000 or more for your main Application if it hosts many plugins).
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: supernova777 on January 24, 2014, 09:35:11 AM: great info here.. thanks for adding ;) i will see about testing these settings for improved performance on my machines shortly!
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Jakl on March 10, 2014, 08:42:39 PM: If you don't access your Mac remotely...
Remove the X from
OpenTpt Remote Access
OpenTpt Serial Arbitrator
Remote Only

If you use Recycle up to version 1.x - 2.0 for macos 8.6-9.2.2 one of these Open Transport extensions is needed... not quite sure which one - I'll have to make the error happen again(after almost 14 years).
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on August 19, 2014, 01:38:53 AM: i go contrary: leave everything in. :)

most extensions just patch the system, they dont use any CPU cycles, and the RAM they use is minimal.

of course i agree with the list given above (software update and modem drivers is really not something one would need today), but the biggest handbrake at startup is something else: the apple menu!
so, general rule: dont put bigger archives with thousands of items (for example complete harddisks) into your applemenu. if you want to have something like that, use some third party menu which does not scan the files live at startup.

what can also help (and all of this has probably been discussed already somewhere here):
– use a modern SSD as boot drive
– use a smaller partition with more or less only the OS9 system folder on it
– use the startup doubler controlpanel

p.s. i also agree about disabling any energy saving shit including the default software by apple. (for audio work, that is. for a file server which runs 24/7 i would turn it on even in OS9.) energy saving can cause a lot of trouble especially with CRT monitors, SATA controllers, or certain software.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: DieHard on August 19, 2014, 08:39:15 AM: Quote
most extensions just patch the system, they dont use any CPU cycles, and the RAM they use is minimal.

Well, that is true, however the main reason is not to tweek just so save a tiny bit of RAM... remember OS 9 does NOT utilize memory protection and when you load all the extensions you have, this will multiple exponentially your chances of having extensions conflict and either not load or crash the system; you can trouble shoot this scenario, but we are trying to keep the newbies up and running easily, if they load everything they may decide to scrap OS 9 before they even get a chance to use it, when frustration sets in... lastly, things like the hard drive indexing and ruining a multi-track DAW session is a nightmare.

Quote
but the biggest handbrake at startup is something else: the apple menu!
Newbies can explore other menus / system utilities after they get going (I like Action Go-mac)

Quote
so, general rule: dont put bigger archives with thousands of items (for example complete harddisks) into your applemenu. if you want to have something like that, use some third party menu which does not scan the files live at startup.

Again, I really like Go-Mac,, you can check or uncheck all preferences, like "Drives" and other preferences

Quote
use a smaller partition with more or less only the OS9 system folder on it
Yes and remember to copy the System folder to at least 1 other volume so you can boot to that volume also, this provides the means to maintain and repair your default system volume
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on August 19, 2014, 08:59:51 AM: i concur, if our goal is to assemble the ultimate audio OS9, everything not needed for that purpose should not be included, and if it is only for the sake of our perfectionism.

but my personal installs looks a bit different, they are in use for some other things, too.

once i stood in a place with a system with no appletalk, serial switcher, and stuff it engine and was really f*cked. since that day i gave up to "optimise" by deleting .
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: DieHard on August 19, 2014, 03:47:19 PM: Well let's not "delete"... the beauty of Mac OS 9 is the ability to have many different "extensions sets"

Just so the Newbies understand, you can have different sets that simple "turn off" the extensions that you do not need for your current workflow; save the set as a different name, and reboot.... for musicians the very basic mode would be 2 sets to choose from, "DAW Mode" with the tweeks mentioned above and "Non-DAW mode" maybe with almost all extensions turned on.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on August 19, 2014, 04:08:00 PM: sets ... nah ... better ... 2 different system folders. :)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on September 29, 2014, 08:27:36 PM: Quote from: IIO on August 19, 2014, 08:59:51 AM

i concur, if our goal is to assemble the ultimate audio OS9, everything not needed for that purpose should not be included, and if it is only for the sake of our perfectionism.

but my personal installs looks a bit different, they are in use for some other things, too.

once i stood in a place with a system with no appletalk, serial switcher, and stuff it engine and was really f*cked. since that day i gave up to "optimise" by deleting .

Quote from: DieHard on August 19, 2014, 03:47:19 PM
Well let's not "delete"... the beauty of Mac OS 9 is the ability to have many different "extensions sets"

Just so the Newbies understand, you can have different sets that simple "turn off" the extensions that you do not need for your current workflow; save the set as a different name, and reboot.... for musicians the very basic mode would be 2 sets to choose from, "DAW Mode" with the tweeks mentioned above and "Non-DAW mode" maybe with almost all extensions turned on.

Quote from: IIO on August 19, 2014, 04:08:00 PM
sets ... nah ... better ... 2 different system folders. :)

Let`s make the cleaning!

Whatever method used, there should be some extensions chosen. IIO, would you be a lamb and told us yours chosen ones? And please indicate too the machine used and the DAW, synth chosen if it needs extensions.
Quote
just for the sake of our perfectionism
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: supernova777 on September 29, 2014, 08:33:20 PM: what if u were to install more then 1gb ram and allocate all the space above 1gb as a ram disk?
could there be made a script (applescript?) on boot, to copy your favourite apps + plugins to this disk?
would the computer behave as though it only had 1gb installed (ie: logic 4.x still works?)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on October 06, 2014, 01:35:00 AM: what my configuration looks like?

as far as i remember i haven not removed anything. i use a machine specific 922, without bullshit like "maps" and without user&groups and keychain (i cant really tell if those are in a standard install or not), plus the latest updates for quicktime, nividia and ati, and plus some 20 third party extensions in addition.

this is, like i said before, because my audio machine is not used for audio only, so i can hardly "optimize" for that purpose.

if i could, i´d really like to remove the appearance manager ("themes"), and - most of the time - navigation services, but thats not possible after OS850. :) the latter can be trap-patched, but i havent found a good solution yet ...
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on October 06, 2014, 01:37:43 AM: btw., if you want to find me between the other lambs, thats easy: i am the black one.

(http://www.tricycle.com/sites/default/files/images/blog/blacksheep.jpg)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on October 06, 2014, 04:24:21 AM: Quote from: IIO on October 06, 2014, 01:37:43 AM

btw., if you want to find me between the other lambs, thats easy: i am the black one.

That explain lots of things.... LOL ;D

Quote from: IIO on October 06, 2014, 01:35:00 AM
I haven not removed anything. i use a machine specific 922, without bullshit like "maps" and without user&groups and keychain (i cant really tell if those are in a standard install or not), plus the latest updates for quicktime, nividia and ati, and plus some 20 third party extensions in addition.

this is, like i said before, because my audio machine is not used for audio only, so i can hardly "optimize" for that purpose.

Is your Install MAX focused or multimedia focused? Or Office ?

Quote from: IIO on October 06, 2014, 01:35:00 AM

if i could, i´d really like to remove the appearance manager ("themes"), and - most of the time - navigation services, but thats not possible after OS850. :) the latter can be trap-patched, but i havent found a good solution yet ...

I use A-dock as "appearance manager" and recommend it for any previous OSX user new to OS9. http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/a-dock-301 (http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/a-dock-301)

Also Greg Browser is recommended for any previous OSX user new to OS9 http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/browser.html (http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/browser.html)

With these 2 any OSX user can use OS9!
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on October 06, 2014, 05:59:14 AM: Quote from: Protools5LEGuy on October 06, 2014, 04:24:21 AM
Is your Install MAX focused or multimedia focused? Or Office ?

i do audio, graphics and video in OS9 (video is of course a joke on a G4, but for prototyping applications and DSP it is fine)

it is more a philosophical question wether you are going to remove components from the standard install or not.

sure, you can remove the startup disk controlpanel on a machine which is used for cubase only. but what if you one day need to boot from an other disk and you dont have a keyboard connected in that moment because it has been stolen by aliens?

Quote
With these 2 any OSX user can use OS9!

installing new tools in addition to the apple components will not make the system faster.

what had to be removed is the requirement of these stupid "themes" so that you could go back to the AM extension. eventually i just have not tried hard enough, maybe it is possible. :)

another thing where OS9 is pretty slow with is copying files. finding where to write files to should work atomar since HFS+, just like on OSX, but in practice it is 2 times slower.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: mrhappy on February 28, 2015, 11:00:55 PM: So I was 'mucking' about in my system folder and wound up having some problems with my Pro tools... so I decided to start fresh again... installed a fresh 9.2.2 using DieHard's "Drag Install", which worked great! I also used the 'D.H.T' (DieHard Tweaks) to my extensions... I LOVE the 'colored extensions' trick... that's a GREAT idea and it's already come in handy! Happy to report that things are running MUCH better now! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on March 01, 2015, 03:31:14 PM: haha, i just downloaded DH´s systemfolder and see that he actually has some 15 extensions in it.

in my extension folder in my main computer there are more than 300 extensions. :)

i think it is proven that you can have a wide variety of extensions set: you can remove almost everything, but you can also install hundreds of add-ons for two different sorts of working systems.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Super Joe on March 01, 2015, 05:56:49 PM: what is the advantage of having the virtual memory off?
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on March 02, 2015, 03:22:07 AM: Quote from: joeyblue27 on March 01, 2015, 05:56:49 PM
what is the advantage of having the virtual memory off?
I am not an expert, but using virtual memory means using the hard drive as memory, and that is a bottleneck as the hard drive is MUCH slower than the memory. Only using SSD the performance of the virtual memory on could be acceptable.

When using virtual mem. off you told OS9 to use only the memory, and that is quicker for lots of apps. You just have to click on app with right click-(control+click) to see ... Memory and told OS9 to use more memory. Normally, in that way, the apps runs better/quicker. At least on DAWs.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: mrhappy on March 02, 2015, 10:41:36 AM: I think I'm developing a 'virtual memory'... as I can't remember 'virtually' ANYTHING these days!! ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on March 02, 2015, 11:39:39 AM: Quote from: mrhappy on March 02, 2015, 10:41:36 AM
I think I'm developing a 'virtual memory'... as I can't remember 'virtually' ANYTHING these days!! ;D ;D
Old school notepad never run off batteries.
(http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/notepad-pen-5178178.jpg)

Quote from: IIO on March 01, 2015, 03:31:14 PM
haha, i just downloaded DH´s systemfolder and see that he actually has some 15 extensions in it.

in my extension folder in my main computer there are more than 300 extensions. :)

i think it is proven that you can have a wide variety of extensions set: you can remove almost everything, but you can also install hundreds of add-ons for two different sorts of working systems.

I guess the best is to have more than 200 extensions ;D but only load a dozen... ;D One OS9 gamer would need a different set of extensions than a DAW user than a Graphic designer than a Video Editor...

There is the minimalistic approach (15 extensions) and the OS9candoitall approach with more than 300 extensions. IIO, how many extensions sets do you use? It can have sense to have 300 extensions but a set that loads a minimal ammount, because loading all them is against performance using DAWs. Please, share some other scenarios where you load a different extension set if using MAX vs using Cubase.

For me there should be some extensions set keeping aside OS9 base and OS9 all:

-Best Performance DAW A

-Best Performance DAW B

-Gaming

-Offimatic apps

-Offline use

-Online work

But the truth is I just use one extensions set for them all :D

We should have some perspective about:

-What is OS9 base extension set.

-What extensions are system specific.

-What extensions are needed for LAN support.

-What extensions are needed for Nvidia support.

-What extensions are needed for ATI support.

-What extensions are needed for Firewire support.

-What extensions are needed for USB Mass Storage.

-What extensions are needed for USB non Apple Keyboard/Mouse

IIO, the way MacTron and DH disect extensions on post 2 and 3 has really helped us. I cant see benefits on having an heavy extension folder. Please help us showing us some benefits of having all these 300 extensions.

At least the 5-10 more practical/most used/unknow to the masses ones. ;D
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on March 02, 2015, 12:10:45 PM: Quote from: Protools5LEGuy on March 02, 2015, 11:39:39 AM
There is the minimalistic approach (15 extensions) and the OS9candoitall approach with more than 300 extensions. IIO, how many extensions sets do you use?

none. :)

i dont want to waste too much time on "optimisation". i´ve been doing that when computer had 100 mhz and i was new to OS7 – but i dont do it in 2015.

Quote
It can have sense to have 300 extensions but a set that loads a minimal ammount, because loading all them is against performance using DAWs.

i dont care much about these things and have filed the CPU comsumption problem under "conspiration theories". all i do is that i try to remove things which dont work or cause conflicts.

Quote
We should have some perspective about:

-What is OS9 base extension set.

-What extensions are system specific.

-What extensions are needed for LAN support.

-What extensions are needed for Nvidia support.

-What extensions are needed for ATI support.

-What extensions are needed for Firewire support.

-What extensions are needed for USB Mass Storage.

-What extensions are needed for USB non Apple Keyboard/Mouse

there are different races of nerds and i dont belong to your race. i dont want a "DAW extension set" without network support, and i dont want to reboot in order to use firewire media. and i dont remove shared libraries in order to get more virtual überpower for realtime audio.

Quote
IIO, the way MacTron and DH disect extensions on post 2 and 3 has really helped us. I cant see benefits on having an heavy extension folder. Please help us showing us some benefits of having all these 300 extensions.

good point, yeah: it is for sure a useful thing to know what the minimal extension set should look like and a have a bootable drag install of that.

but it is impossible to work with a minimal install. because there are almost no audio programs which would not require any additional files going into the extensions folder.

imagine it is 1998 and you install cubase, sounddiver, unity, media cleaner and 3-4 other apps on your machine - then you already have 50 more items in /extensions. 100% libraries, btw., they are found in 0.3 seconds, they dont patch the system, and they dont eat cycles.

feel free to try to use cubase or protools with quicktime, usb support and navigation services disabled, if you have too much time.

Quote
At least the 5-10 more practical/most used/unknow to the masses ones. ;D

no idea what people know .. or want.

IMO the general strategy is:

- have a full install
- remove things you will definitly never need (like bluetooth support on a computer without bluetooth)
- add patches one by one, and remember them in case of conflicts (they´re mostly controlpanels)
- let programs instal what they want and never remove these things, unless you are sure you will need this program (say demo versions or programs incompatible with OS9)

everything else is ~~masturbation~~ philosophy.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on March 02, 2015, 12:13:38 PM: now i did not answer your question.
the benefit of not making sets is that you dont have to make sets. ;)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on March 02, 2015, 12:45:04 PM: Quote from: IIO
protools with navigation services disabled

oops, very bad example, i think it does not even use it (at least 4.0 didnt)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on March 02, 2015, 01:12:35 PM: this is from my current main computer, labeled yellow == releated to audio programs.

there is about two time more which is already deinstalled because it is not in use.

(note to self: time to remove paris.)

Asio.DLL
Libdata.reg
RestorationLib 1.0
QuickTime™ MPEG Extension
QuickTimeHelper.DLL
ReWireMSP
ReWire-
Ren2Lib 2.0
N 4 ™ ®
ASIO Drivers
(ircam) DiphGui.DLL
Sonic Solutions
MP3 Exporter
ReWire
Tokio
Cleaner QT Export
WavesLib 3.5
MOTU 828mkII Enabler
MOTU
PARIS_StudioControlLibrary
SampleTank 2 Presets
REX Shared Library
Phrazer Library
Ogg Vorbis
Native Instruments
IODevice.DLL
Max/MSP Runtime Support
Delta 44 Driver.zip
QDesign Music 2 Pro
DirectConnectData
DirectConnect.DLL
Cleaner Support
PowerCore
Authorizer Library
Authorizer Classic Library
Modularing
East West
Dynamo 1.0.3 Shared Lib
SampleTank.vpa
TCPluginData
Tassman Library
MP3 Codec
ST2Image
ST2Effects
QuickTime FireWire DV Support
QuickTime FireWire DV Enabler
MidexMidiDriver
MidexFWLoaderDriver
TCPluginSupport
Midex8r2FWLoaderDriver
JMidiMRJ
OMSLibPPC.slb
Absynth Lib
BarbaBatch Extensions
AkaiDisk.DLL
(ircam) GenGui.DLL
D-Coder Library
CsoundLib
Mezzo System Monitor
DirectIO.DLL
Ableton Live Engine
MastersLib 3.5
TimeBandit.shlb
L2Lib 1.5
Open Music System
Opcode Folder
SoundManager.DLL
USB Emagic Dongle Driver
macdalib.lib
USB MPD16 Driver
(ircam) FiProtectShaLib.v7
WaveBarrier 1.1
WaveBarrier 1.0
InterLok® Engine
NI•MOTU/MAS.dll
WavesLib 3.2
optaltivecconvif.shlb
IrcamKernels
MOTU USB Driver
MOTU FireWire Audio Driver
USB iLok Driver
JPlayerMRJ
Voxware Sound Component v1.5
PARIS_SharedGestalt
PARIS_DriverLibrary
PARIS Driver
(ircam) Chant.DLL
MIDIClient.DLL
Digidesign® StreamManager
(ircam) Sdif.DLL
(ircam) Pm.DLL
STInstruments
ST2Pref
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: MacTron on March 02, 2015, 01:15:42 PM: My actual system folder contains 50 extensions plus a few extras for my scanner and printer and 19 control panels.
This system folder is used in ALL my G4 macs (from iMac TFT to MDDs) without a glitch for years. It is based on Mac Os 9.2.2 but contains parts from other system versions up to Mac Os 8.6.
With this system folder I have worked on Photo Editing (Photoshop), Graphic Edition ( Canvas, Illustrator, Pagemaker/Indesign), Video Editing (Premiere and Videoshop) ,Text Edition (MacWrite), Spreadsheet (Excel) and Codewarrior and a few games (Star Wars Racer, Medal of Honor, GLTron...).
It runs Cubase, Logic, Live, and Pro tools. And a selected collection of VST plugins. For Performer 3 needs an extra extension.
It has all the main functionality, Open Transport, Quick Time, Open GL, Apple Scrip, Java Runtime, etc
It runs the 95% of the software that can run on Mac Os 9.

Of course I haven't ever needed to use extension Manager.

With this system folder the Macs is fast, uses less RAM, and it is easy to find and repair any trouble.

The "minimal install" folder was based on my system folder. I had to remove the preferences folder and a few items more to let enought space to DieHard for adding the remaining CD content.
In fact I havent removed the startup screen, even later I have made this one: 8)

(http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2151.0;attach=1636)

To reflect the fact that this System folder is mainly intended for startup in a CD ROM.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on March 27, 2015, 05:23:00 PM: Quote from: MacTron on March 02, 2015, 01:15:42 PM
My actual system folder contains 50 extensions plus a few extras for my scanner and printer and 19 control panels.

Please, take a snapshot of that to take it as MacTron's List
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: MacTron on March 27, 2015, 06:30:29 PM: Quote from: Protools5LEGuy on March 27, 2015, 05:23:00 PM
Please, take a snapshot of that to take it as MacTron's List

Ok, here You have:

(http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=570.0;attach=2114)
The ATI or nVidia row aren't needed at the same time in the same computer, so one of the rows can be trashed.

(http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=570.0;attach=2112)
:) ;) :D ;D "Keep it simple and take it to the max" ;D :D ;) :)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on March 28, 2015, 12:04:27 AM: Quote from: MacTron on March 27, 2015, 06:30:29 PM
The ATI or nVidia row aren't needed at the same time in the same computer, so one of the rows can be trashed.

except when you have 2 different cards, like i do.

it seems that you are also doing audio without drivers for audio interfaces and protools without DAE. :D

btw, did you notice that time sychronisation goes hard on the system (it actually requests some process to be in foreground, i think i restarts the menu clock)? this can cause quite some troubles for realtime applications such as sequencing.
i still use it since many years, because it is still better than wrong time.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: Custos on January 04, 2016, 05:53:39 PM: Bumping this for myself and New users. 8)

Edit: just noticed it was made sticky. I followed it from a link in another post. Oh well lol.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: mrhappy on January 05, 2016, 06:08:17 AM: Quote from: custos on January 04, 2016, 05:53:39 PM
Bumping this for myself and New users. 8)

Edit: just noticed it was made sticky. I followed it from a link in another post. Oh well lol.

custos... this post is well worth the bump... even if it IS a sticky!!! ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: MacTron on June 22, 2016, 09:09:39 AM: As some have request, this are the main ATI and nVidia related extensions, with a brief explanation on to which one is intended for:
(http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=570.0;attach=3447)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: DieHard on June 22, 2016, 09:34:48 AM: Awesome breakdown ! Thank you so much !

As a last note, as some of you know, prior to Mac OS 9, the Original G3 B&W and Yikes had an MPEG decoder daughter card that's attached to the Apple ATI Rage 128 that was used for DVD playback. This was later done via software (see Mactron Info above).
https://eshop.macsales.com/Descriptions/appledvdbundle.html

I remember that the "Hardware" version on the old systems was very smooth even on a 300 MHz. B&W. Then the CPUs caught up and took over the job :)
Quote
...playing DVDs with the on-board Rage video is a surprise. While Apple moved the DVD decoding into OS 9 software (Altivec not required), supposedly a video card equivalent to the Apple Rage 128 (16 MB VRAM), found in B&W G3s and beyond, was required for the Apple DVD Player to function properly. For the Beige G3s that meant a Rage Orion or better. But, if it works off the on-board video, more power to you.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: MacOS Plus on June 23, 2016, 09:39:39 PM: This has to be the most clear and intuitive explanation I've ever seen of this. Thanks so much, MacTron! I can basically print this on one sheet of paper and keep it in my driver disc binder for reference. The only thing I'd add to mine is file version numbers so I can easily ensure I have everything up to date on every system.

Now I've just got to sort out if I have the last firmware on all of my cards.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on February 14, 2017, 12:28:12 PM: https://www.macintoshrepository.org/8223-system-extending-macos9plus-v1-0-extensions-and-control-panels-compilation-
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: MacOS Plus on February 17, 2017, 12:21:37 PM: I've gone through comparing against MacTron's list all video/display related support files that I have in my system (excluding ColorSync and a couple other minor things). For completeness' sake I'm posting a list with all the version numbers and what installer source they came from (installer in brackets). I'm not making any suggestions as to which files you should use or not, but I can say I'm having no problems with my systems when the entire list of files is loading with various ATI and nVidia cards installed. What I can say is that the default Rage driver installed by the 9.2.2 ASR universal installer caused a startup hang on my MDD FW800 with a Radeon variant installed. I've also copied over all these files to 9.1 and 8.6 OS drives on other machines and not had problems there either.

Please review my list below and let me know if there are any errors or later versions of the files or installer packages so that I can update the list (and my systems). Each section is sorted by alphabetical order. The ATI files came from multiple ATI installers and I can't remember which any longer. I know the ATI Displays control panel had to come from a version of the installer earlier than the final Radeon package:

Code: [Select]
ATI Extensions: ATI 3D Accelerator - 7.0.4 (ATI Installer) ATI 8500 3D Accelerator - 7.1.0 (ATI Installer) ATI Driver Update - 2.4.4 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9) ATI Extension - 2.9.0 (ATI Installer) ATI Graphics Accelerator - 5.7.0 (ATI Installer) ATI Monitor - 3.2.1 (ATI Installer) ATI MPP Manager - 1.2 (Mac OS 9.2.2) ATI Radeon 3D Accelerator - 6.4.7 (ATI Installer/Mac OS CPU Software 5.9) ATI Rage 128 3D Accelerator - 6.4.7 (ATI Installer/Mac OS CPU Software 5.9) ATI Resource Manager - 3.2.1 (ATI Installer) ATI ROM Xtender - 1.2 (ATI Installer) ATI Video Accelerator 4.9.1 (ATI Installer) ATI Video Digitizer - 4.3.7 (ATI Installer) *Not visible in Extensions Manager ATI Control Panels: ATI Displays - 3.2.1 (ATI Installer) nVidia Extensions: NVIDIA 2D Acceleration - 3.5.2 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9/nVidia 3.5.2 installer) NVIDIA DVD Accelerator - 3.5.2 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9/nVidia 3.5.2 installer) NVIDIA Driver - 3.5.2 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9/nVidia 3.5.2 installer) NVIDIA Engine - 3.5.2 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9/nVidia 3.5.2 installer) NVIDIA Open GL - 3.5.2 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9/nVidia 3.5.2 installer) NVIDIA Video Accelerator - 3.5.2 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.7/nVidia 3.5.2 installer) *Not visible in Extensions Manager OpenGL Extensions: OpenGLEngine - 1.2.4 (Mac OS 9.2.2) OpenGLLibrary - 1.2.5 (Mac OS 9.2.2 Extras 3.0) OpenGLMemory - 1.2.4 (Mac OS 9.2.2) OpenGLRenderer - 1.2.4 (Mac OS 9.2.2) OpenGLRendererATI - 1.3.5 (ATI Installer) OpenGLUtility - 1.2.4 (Mac OS 9.2.2) QuickTime Extensions: Apple QD3D HW Driver - 1.6 (QuickTime 6.0.3) Apple QD3D HW Plug-in - 1.6 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickDraw™ 3D - 1.6 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickDraw™ 3D IR - 1.6 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickDraw™ 3D RAVE - 1.8.1 (Mac OS 9.2.2 Extras 3.0) QuickDraw™ 3D Viewer - 1.6 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime FireWire DV Enabler - 2.3 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime FireWire DV Support - 2.3 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime™ - 6.0.3 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime™ MPEG Extension - 6.0.2 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime™ PowerPlug - 6.0.3 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime™ VR - 6.0.2 (QuickTime 6.0.3) Control Panels: QuickTime™ Settings - 6.0.2 (QuickTime 6.0.3) Application Folder: PictureViewer - 6.0.2 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime Player - 6.0.3 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTime Plugin - 6.0.2 (QuickTime 6.0.3) QuickTimePlugin.class - 6.0.2 (QuickTime 6.0.3) Apple DVD Player Extensions: DVDRuntimeLib - 2.7 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) DVD AutoLauncher - 1.1 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) DVD Navigation Manager ATI - 2.7 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) DVD Navigation Manager NV - 2.7 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) DVD Region Manager - 1.1 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) DVD Video Interface - 1.0 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) Applications: Apple DVD Player - 2.7 (Apple DVD Software 2.7v1.1) Game Sprockets Extensions: DrawSprocketLib - 1.7.8 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9) Apple System Files Extensions: Apple Monitor Plugins - 2.2.1 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9) Control Panels: Monitors - 8.6.4 (Mac OS CPU Software 5.9) SwitchRes Extensions: SwitchRes - 2.5.3 (SwitchRes 2.5.3) Control Panels: SwitchRes Control - 2.5.3 (SwitchRes 2.5.3) MacPortrait Extensions: MacPortrait Driver - 6.2.5 (MacPortrait 6.2.5) Control Panels: MacPortrait Controls - 6.2.5 (MacPortrait 6.2.5)
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: DieHard on February 22, 2017, 03:15:00 PM: Thanks MacOS Plus !

Another great reference resource for those who dig deep to find the gems...

I am starting to conclude that many online help sources (with this level of specifics) are rare and that our Core member base has helped many.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: tracks on August 24, 2017, 06:42:32 AM: hi all

brand new here and had serious troubles installing 9.2.2 on my G4 MDD
So glad to have found you and will install again soon with that image given by DieHard : thx so much

It's been almost 15 years that i haven't been using os9 with Pro Tools TDM HW but i do remember unchecking serialshimlib wich is causing me serious troubles actually.
but i do not remember wich other extension related to it to uncheck
any clues ?
best
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: adespoton on July 11, 2020, 12:22:24 PM: Here's a question: would it make sense for us to create some Extensions Manager or Conflict Catcher config files we can share, for different DAW setups? That way, it becomes really easy to load up someone else's list and see how it plays, and then restore our own after the fact.

I prefer Conflict Catcher because it lets me disable items in the Apple menu and third party tools' plugin folders as well, and save it all as a startup set. So if I'm switching DAW setups, I just load the startup set I know works well for the one I'm running.
Title: Re: Extensions, Control Panels, and General Tweaks for a Mac OS 9 D.A.W.
Post by: IIO on July 11, 2020, 04:56:10 PM: during the last 20 years i have tried some 350 controlpanels and i also have a bunch of audio apps installed.

the only incompatibilty i have ever found is between kaleidoscope and max/msp´s fullscreen mode. K2 somehow seems to steal the panel window mode from this app and then the whole window wont draw.:(