I've updated the Mac mini 7.6.1 CD to Test Version 0.2.

You can download the iso from the Macintosh Garden if you want to try it out:
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-mini-g4-system-7

CD 0.1 had some incorrect icons; the System itself is unchanged from 0.1.
Also now just a 43 MB download.

I tried installing on my mac mini on a partition - have OS9 and OSX already and used the Apple System Restore on the cd in mac os 9 to install on to a spare partition.
OS7.6.1 is seen on the boot menu (when hold down option key at startup) but trying to boot just gives the floppy icon with a "?"

Unfortunately didn't work in my testing and lacks most of the features of Sector like editing existing disk images.

Edit: upon further research, I see there isn't an easy way to do this after OSX 10.4.11 (the capability to initialize HFS volumes was removed).

There is always a HFS Disk Maker utility by the author of Pacifist. 10.9 and up.
Available here:
https://www.emaculation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8337
And it's free

Great work, davecom!!!

Not an "emulation guy" myself, nonetheless, well done! I'm sure this will prove handy for some people. *thumbs up*

Yes, the point is this is a nice GUI for creating + editing raw HFS disk images for modern macOS not that nothing like this already exists in the form of a command-line app or Windows app.

Not to rain on your parade, but Apple already provided tools for this with the first release of OSX.
See the documentation for hdiutil including its create -srcfolder verb.

Edit: upon further research, I see there isn't an easy way to do this after OSX 10.4.11 (the capability to initialize HFS volumes was removed).

Hi All,

I have just released a small Mac app called Sector for modern macOS to edit HFS disk images for emulators and virtual disk devices (Blue SCSI, Floppy Emu, etc.).

For this community, this is most relevant if you are running Mac OS 9 in an emulator like SheepShaver. You may have a HFS (note, it does not work with HFS+) disk image you want to edit before mounting it in SheepShaver. Sector is tool for that. It can also create HFS disk images (although not bootable ones).

Here's a link to learn more about it:

https://oaksnow.com/sector/

And here are 5 promo codes for a free copy on the Mac App Store for this community:

E4XEKLH64MAJ
HKP6P4PA74YR
HJN634HJEMXM
WJRWLARMRRK6
47TLJN4A7X6Y

Best,
David

What did this move involve?

I echo what the others have said, everything seems to have gone well! Thanks for your work here!

There was talk of hacking together an ndrv based on the one for the regular GF5200 but there were setbacks.

Me, I rescued this powerbook from the trash and it's in insane shape. It's size and relative durability vs older plastic-shell systems would make it an ideal PPC-era retro Mac gaming laptop if it wasn't for the OS9 problem. Tons of these machines are being passed over because of this and I'd happily contribute to some crowdfunding effort to get someone to take a look at doing a hack or two.

Granted, reproducing the build environment for stuff like this has gotta suck, and not many people would contribute so it's probably not happening. Damn shame. I'll hand this machine over free to anyone willing to try regardless.