Installing os 9 retail disc on G3 Clamshell - won't boot to CD

[morrysillusion]

Hi, so i am very new to any kind of old mac related repair stuff (been a windows person mostly) but i got this lime green G3 Clamshell mac recently because i always loved the look. however what i didnt realize, was that it had 9.2.2 and its... in german. If someone wants to correct me now feel free, but as i know you can't just change the system language, and need to do a full reinstall of the OS. Which I kind of want to do anyways...

So I got a os 9 retail disc real cheap off ebay- the white one with the orange 9 on it. I started up the computer as normal to see if it was read, and it is. The folder comes up showing all the disc install contents. But when I restart and hold "c", nothing happens. I can hear the CD roaring as its trying to be read, but it starts as normal. But still, it is being read on the computer!

I held down "alt" to see if i could choose it, but the only thing showing is the existing HDD that has the os installed already.

Help is appreciated. Annoyingly all the threads I have found especially related to this computer, dont have any solutions/dont exactly apply to me.

[DrNo7]

Hi Morry,

Welcome to the happy world of almost :p

I did a quick search and except if you have the very first generation of clamshell, it will require a bit more than 9.0 (second gen: http://apple-history.com/ibookse). Usually, you have 2 types of disks: the hardware specific ones that will be bundled and are usually gray, and the retails like the one you have that are colorful.

The simplest would be to check exactly the model and cross reference with the like above what is the minimum version supported.
Then, either you really want to go retail and you must grab one for the next version (if it says 9.0.4 you will be okay with 9.1 onwards but cannot tell if the 9.0.4 retail will contain the right hardware support).
Another way would be to get the macos9lives image or an image on the Mac Garden and burn it to boot on it.

Your initial boot testing was the right validation : for retail disks in good shape, it confirms if they contain the proper hardware support. And for burned disks, it confirms also if they were burned correctly.

[ovalking]

Can you select the CD in the Startup Disk Control Panel? This would be a good clue as to its suitability.

[morrysillusion]

I did a quick search and except if you have the very first generation of clamshell, it will require a bit more than 9.0 (second gen: http://apple-history.com/ibookse). Usually, you have 2 types of disks: the hardware specific ones that will be bundled and are usually gray, and the retails like the one you have that are colorful.

The simplest would be to check exactly the model and cross reference with the like above what is the minimum version supported.
Then, either you really want to go retail and you must grab one for the next version (if it says 9.0.4 you will be okay with 9.1 onwards but cannot tell if the 9.0.4 retail will contain the right hardware support).
Another way would be to get the macos9lives image or an image on the Mac Garden and burn it to boot on it.

Your initial boot testing was the right validation : for retail disks in good shape, it confirms if they contain the proper hardware support. And for burned disks, it confirms also if they were burned correctly.

yes it looks as i have the G3 clamshell- thats second gen? (that naming of "G3"... very confusing. makes me want to say generation 3 lol.) so in this case i would need that grey disc? is the white one with a 9 useless then? thought i had read an article stating thats what youd need but, perhaps it was too general and didnt apply to my situation without realizing.

i w2ill take a look at an image from macos9lives probably, instead of buying a retail disc and finding it doesnt work again lol.

[DrNo7]

If the white disk is a pure 9.0, it will be useless (except for the satisfaction that you have a legitimate copy of Mac OS 9 :p) except if you can use another Mac to install the OS on the clamshell HDD in target mode (but the initial models did not have firewire).

Let us know how it goes with the macos9lives image.

If you need/want Mac OS in another language than English, then you will need to track a 9.1 or newer CD or image :p

[smilesdavis]

and its... in german.

Thats weird i cant find clams cheap atm had to get one for 20 eurs recetly — inflation

German? Its a feature , not a bug