Mac OS 9 booting on: PowerBook G4 17" Aluminum 5,1 (Detailed Posts)

[DieHard]

The Absolute Best Laptop that will Boot natively to Mac OS 9.2.2
Apple PowerBook G4 1.0 Ghz 17" Aluminum
Model M8793LL/A - PowerBook5,1 - A1013



From wikipedia.org... PROVED FALSE IN 2017

The 1 GHz 15" version of the Titanium PowerBook G4 is the last, and fastest, PowerBook which could natively run Mac OS 9 (version 9.2.2)

HAHAHA.... NOT !  The 17" Aluminum now wins hands down 14 Years Later

OK... so first we take notice to critical info on the Hardware...

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/specs/powerbook_g4_1.0_17.html

1) The PowerBook G4/1.0 17" (Al) features a 1.0 GHz PowerPC 7455 (G4) processor with the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit, 256k on chip level 2 cache, and 1.0 MB level 3 cache

2) NVIDIA GeForce4 440 graphics with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM in an attractive aluminum alloy case with a 17" widescreen TFT display (1440x900 resolution)

3) System Bus Speed: 167 MHz, Cache Bus Speed: 1.0 GHz (Built-in) 256 L2, 1 MB L3

4) PC2700 DDR SDRAM (Min. RAM Speed: 333 MHz), 2 GB Max

So in Theory, and as previously reported by mrhappy (BB for short), this baby boots with the modified iMic ROM natively to Mac OS 9.2.2 and has some VERY Compatible and lightning fast Mac OS 9 hardware.  In fact, there are only 2 PowerBook G4 Aluminum models with possible full graphics support in Mac OS 9.2.2; the Apple PowerBook G4 867 12" with GeForce4 420 Go (4X AGP) and the PowerBook G4 1.0 Ghz 17" Aluminum with NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go (4X AGP). We know the models with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 (4X AGP) will NOT give us full graphics support in Mac OS 9.

So first we buy up 3 on ebay (Approx $60 each, plus $20 Shipping each) so we have enough units to verify results from user mrhappy and also dive a little deeper.

Of course we take out an OWC Legacy SSD 120GB from stock and install it into the PB G4 17 because we hate slow booting G4s

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/powerbook-g4-aluminum

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Disclaimer: Pics done with iPhone... sorry

So we put our first victim in FW (FireWire) target mode connect it to a working TI Powerbook G4, and run the famous "Diehard Instant DAW" Apple recovery (available right here from our site); and in less that 10 minutes we have a restored PowerBook G4 with an entire recording studio DAW ready to record music with...

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But alas it is NOT ready yet, we then copy (before rebooting) the famous iMic ROM into the new system folder

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OK ready to Boot !  I am so excited I can barely take it... WTF, what is this crap.... is this error real or an anomaly from booting to OS 9 ?

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So, We now boot to an external FW hard drive that has OS X and see about the cache memory, remember this is NOT the main system memory, but memory on the logic board that cannot be changed by the user.





Hmmm.... no error pop up, but we notice NO L3 Cache is listed (even in OS X)

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So ebay strikes again... we run a diags and indeed the cache fails diagnostics and we remove the SSD and put it in Unit 2.  Unit 1 boots to OS9, but the bad cache will slow down the DAW speed tests I want to do later

Ahh... Unit 2



Now to Boot...





What, another error...Nope.
I expected to see this message and it is not really an error at all
User mrhappy said this would pop up... probably the cardbus or something that OS 9 does not recognize. 
After you clear the message, everything runs perfectly...  including graphics acceleration !

Also, the reported sound issue has been verified;  the internal speakers only work if you plug a 1/8" jack in the audio out port. 
FW400 works (I will check FW800 soon).

This unit is Much faster than my TI 1 Ghz in Cubase !

OK, so to summarize:
We have certified that the Apple PowerBook G4 1.0 17" (Identifiers: 17-Inch - M8793LL/A - PowerBook5,1 - A1013)
Boots and runs OS 9 perfectly (using the iMic ROM), no other modifications or open firmware commands are needed !

Reported Notes:
1) "Unsupported USB" error initially on Boot (easily cleared)
2) Internal Speakers will only work if 1/8" adapter or external speaker jack is plugged into headphone jack and then BOTH speakers and Line out work simultaneously
3) On shutdown only... strange LCD flashing and graphic patterns
4) Both USBs Work 100%
5) FW800 works like a FW400 Port, FW400 is "dead"
6) nVidia Graphic Acceleration Works !
7) Ethernet Works ! (see fix)
Cardbus Appears "dead"

[IIO]

awesome, thanks for sharing.

so what about my 1,67 aluminium?

[DieHard]

I am guessing, for your unit, the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (4X AGP) is a real problem, also the 7447a will need OF patch... it also has .5MB cache... so the G4 1.0 17" is by far an easier, almost as fast overall (with slower CPU and more cache); and faster graphics (in OS 9) make it a better choice

[IIO]

so, similar issue as with the minis :/

[IIO]

how easy is it to remove the monitor? and if you do, how can you control operation mode?
did you check connecting an external monitor? (yeah i know the latter most likely works..)

[IIO]

i am thinking of running machines like that headless (think "synthesizer", "effect", "render cluster")

maybe there is a way how to get rid of the GPU components, by deregistering it somehow? or by building a little fake driver which doesnt really do anything eycept pretending it would work?

as we know OS9 wont boot correctly when the GPU isnt supported. but maybe one can deinstall/destroy/ignore it totally and then the OS could boot and operate.

in these days i am playing through various scenarios where i am using Xserves and minis as a standalone-something in both, OSX and OS9.

the two main problems with that are:

 - how to set the accounts for the remote software (in firewire mode)

 - OR: how to get at aleast one useful screen resolution in order to be at least partially able to remote the machine.

 - the possible need of an OSX-reinstall (for OS9-only i could use clone images like you do)

these aluminium powerbooks would be just perfect to rip off the mainboards and put 8 of them in a big rackmount enclosure for the ultimative OS9 server farm.

[FdB]

Oh ya, sure. (Just my Luck.) Recently acquired a near-immaculate Aluminum 5,5 PowerBook G4 17" 1.5GHz (No L3 cache), 2GB RAM. It's really pretty... but so what. And yup, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700. No OS 9... so what indeed is the point of living?

Time to get the cocoanut halves and horsey gallop, in search of a shrubbery. (Enveloped in envy.)

[IIO]

you can use it for something which is OSX PPC exclusive. that is not much... but if you try hard... and the G4 minis and powerbooks have a built-in audio IO.

Spear? Artmatic Voyager? Powercore Firewire with Noveltech Character? (Wolfenstein ET? )

[FdB]

Gosh IIO, you've saved me. (Gets down off chair, removes noose from around neck.) IT DOES HAVE WOLFENSTEIN!

[IIO]

[Aurora]

I also have one of those beauties and it runs Mac OS 9.2.2 really well!

As a word of advice, you have to first restore your hacked OS9 image to a USB pendrive and format the internal drive from there in order to be able to format drives that are larger than 128GB.

I don't get the USB message on my PowerBook but I have noticed that neither AirPort Extreme (it shouldn't work anyway) or Ethernet are working. Mac OS 9 detects that there's Ethernet connected but you can't access anything on the internet :/ (I'm sure the Ethernet port works as it functions fine on OS X 10.5).

Just wondering, have you found a way to only use external headphones while not having sound being blurted out from the internal speakers too? The best workaround I've found is to lower the volume of the speakers/earphones I use so that I can hear audio from my earphones but not the speakers.

[IIO]

no ethernet would be bad news, since its required for some copy protection schemes and OSC.

[MacOS Plus]

  The "Unknown" USB device, if present, would most likely be Bluetooth, as this is the same error that appears on the G4 FW800 if the bluetooth module is present.  Internally it is a USB device on a dedicated port.  If the module is disconnected the error goes away.

  I'd be interested in buying one of these laptops if the remaining compatibility issue can be sorted out regarding the audio (and the ethernet if that's true).  Has anyone tried this machine with a Cardbus-to-PCI expander?

[Aurora]

I'm ready to do any testing required if someone comes up with a fix for audio/ethernet.

I'll post a picture with what I get with an Ethernet cable attached. OS9 knows there's an Ethernet cable connected but it doesn't do more than that. If you have any suggestions regarding Ethernet, I'll be happy to try them out

(Quite mind-blowing how well it works on OS 9.2 and OS X 10.5.8 - on OS X 10.5.8 you could watch 360p YouTube with LWK without any frame drops)

I'm using the Well-tampered with version of 2013 of OS 9.2.2 btw.

EDIT: It also complains about missing software when going to sleep.

My Internet setup works just fine with OS 9.0.4 (or is it 9.1/9.2?) on my PowerMac G4 Sawtooth.

[DieHard]

Performance/Hardware Test (Updates 08/11/2017)

1) OK... as stated by other members, strange Ethernet TCP/IP Issues (No Internet, No Intranet)

Confirmed, Ethernet will show "linked" when TCP/IP is set to DHCP or manual, but local network cannot ping and internet is unreachable

*** UPDATE: Ethernet WORKS!!!!... Go to "Chooser" Make "AppleTalk" Active then Inactive... this stump starts the TCP/IP and it then works 100%... Local Ping Works and Insternet Browsers are all OK

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2) Firewire 400/800 Test...

FW800 Port work 100% as a FW400 Port



FW400 Port is "Dead" and External HD does not show up at all

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3) QuickBench Test Results

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4) CineBench Graphics Acceleration Test Results

CINEBENCH 2003 v1
****************************************************
Number of CPUs   : 1

Rendering (Single   CPU): 92 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): --- CB-CPU

Shading (CINEMA 4D)                : 120 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 374 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 505 CB-GFX (Impressive)

OpenGL Speedup: 4.21
****************************************************

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5) USB Ports

Work Flawlessly with no issues

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6) Internal Speakers

No Sound unless 1/8" jack is plugged in then BOTH internal Speakers and Line out work simultaneously

[IIO]

*** UPDATE: Ethernet WORKS!!!!... Go to "Chooser" Make "AppleTalk" Active then Inactive... this stump starts the TCP/IP and it then works 100%... Local Ping Works and Insternet Browsers are all OK

great.

this could eventually be included in the next OS release, isnt it? halfautomatic, by an applescript placed on the desktop.

...applescript/apple events anyone?

(it will remain in a working condition after a reboot, right? maybe it is enough to place a modified prefs file for appletalk or networking?)

[MacOS Plus]

Wow, that's weird.  Nice to know it works though.  Does this only have to be done the first time or on every boot?

[DieHard]

No upon Restart it is "Dead" again

Also Stuck at 10mb and Half Duplex" very weird when it works.

CardSlot (Cardbus) also appears to be "Dead"

[MacOS Plus]

Lack of CardBus support would kinda kill my interest in this model.  I've made extensive use of CardBus in my TiBooks, including PCI expansion.

[Rin Elyran]

Just out of curiosity, I'll see if I can do this with my 15" aluminum PowerBook G4, model A1106, as I have an 8 GB partition with 10.4.11 installed on it that I'm willing to sacrifice. If it doesn't work, no big deal.

[Aurora]

Don't forget that you need to have OS 9 drivers installed on your HDD before doing anything. Also, I have my doubts if it'll work on your machine and even if it does, you'll get no graphics acceleration

[johnie89]

After you clear the message, everything runs perfectly...  including graphics acceleration !

I'm having an issue where it will only display 256 colours - even though earlier I had 1 million when running the Mac OS 9.2.2 Easy Install for Unsupported G4s - ISO CD Image.

Also, sleep isn't working.  I'm running this on the same model as used in the guide (17" G4 5,1)

Anyone have any ideas?

[IIO]

for all things sleep you might want to downgrade to the orginal powerbook sleep controlpanel, as it differs. you might also want to add the battery controlpanel and remove dual processing.

i recently had drag and drop not working on a QS after installing our "universal" with imic ROM (and appletalk was turned on once, but that might have been caused by a different language/prefs file.)

will see what up with that.

[Syntho]

I mistakenly bought an 867 Aluminum Powerbook G4 instead of the Ti   

Has anyone gotten the wireless working on it? Does OS9 even work with wireless? If I can't get that working, I'm screwed. Having wireless in OS9 was the entire point of buying the thing. I hate losing money.

EDIT: the curse of the G4 will never end, I swear. DH knows about the hell I went through a few years back trying to get a 1.25ghz MDD to work. I spent weeks on it and it was always unstable no matter what. My fingers and knuckles were so bloody from tearing shit out of it that it was unforgivable. I eventually trashed it and bought another, exact duplicate off Ebay, and guess what? It was DOA and wouldn't even power up. I got so sick of it that I swore off G4s and started using 9600s (which have never once failed me to this day!).

Ok, so I have this other cheap 867 G4 QS I bought last year to see if my curse was over. Well, I just booted it up and it's got a time/network error so it probably needs a new battery, it says that there's some kind of weird memory issue going when OS9 starts up, sometimes it makes weird beeping and flashing, the freakin' startup chime isn't a chime half the time and is nothing but a long burst of nasty white noise/distortion, and sometimes it just hangs and won't boot up at all.

....and now I have a POS Aluminum Powerbook that I'm not even gonna use because the wireless won't work in it among other things.

Money down the drain constantly, and nothing but headaches on ALL G4 machines. It never ends!

 

PS: I do have a dual cpu QS machine that DH gave me, but I need to try it. If I boot it up and it has problems too, I'm probably going to kill myself. I'd rather an OS9 laptop more than anything right now but funds are running low. And so is my luck and tolerance.

[madalynmcworm]

I mistakenly bought an 867 Aluminum Powerbook G4 instead of the Ti   

Has anyone gotten the wireless working on it? Does OS9 even work with wireless? If I can't get that working, I'm screwed. Having wireless in OS9 was the entire point of buying the thing. I hate losing money.

EDIT: the curse of the G4 will never end, I swear. DH knows about the hell I went through a few years back trying to get a 1.25ghz MDD to work. I spent weeks on it and it was always unstable no matter what. My fingers and knuckles were so bloody from tearing shit out of it that it was unforgivable. I eventually trashed it and bought another, exact duplicate off Ebay, and guess what? It was DOA and wouldn't even power up. I got so sick of it that I swore off G4s and started using 9600s (which have never once failed me to this day!).

Ok, so I have this other cheap 867 G4 QS I bought last year to see if my curse was over. Well, I just booted it up and it's got a time/network error so it probably needs a new battery, it says that there's some kind of weird memory issue going when OS9 starts up, sometimes it makes weird beeping and flashing, the freakin' startup chime isn't a chime half the time and is nothing but a long burst of nasty white noise/distortion, and sometimes it just hangs and won't boot up at all.

....and now I have a POS Aluminum Powerbook that I'm not even gonna use because the wireless won't work in it among other things.

Money down the drain constantly, and nothing but headaches on ALL G4 machines. It never ends!

 

PS: I do have a dual cpu QS machine that DH gave me, but I need to try it. If I boot it up and it has problems too, I'm probably going to kill myself. I'd rather an OS9 laptop more than anything right now but funds are running low. And so is my luck and tolerance.

I found the wireless only works in WEP mode. Not sure where you are located, but I purchased a linksys AP from a thrift store for $6, put it in 'B' only mode, and turned on WEP encryption (which sucks, but it is better than just open network).

Alternatively, there are many usb powered "travel routers". If you read the modes on them, some allow you to use the wired connection as your ethernet connection and they make the wifi connection for you.

Good luck!

[GaryN]

EDIT: the curse of the G4 will never end, I swear. DH knows about the hell I went through a few years back trying to get a 1.25ghz MDD to work. I spent weeks on it and it was always unstable no matter what. My fingers and knuckles were so bloody from tearing shit out of it that it was unforgivable.

…and here I am, happily using my MDD which, except for a couple of glitches which were eventually proven to be software problems, starts up every time, and hasn't crashed or panic-ed since like, forever.

I eventually trashed it and bought another, exact duplicate off Ebay, and guess what? It was DOA and wouldn't even power up.

You were lucky. Most of the big desktop computers bought on ebay arrive smashed to bits.

I mistakenly bought an 867 Aluminum Powerbook G4 instead of the Ti   
Has anyone gotten the wireless working on it? Does OS9 even work with wireless? If I can't get that working, I'm screwed. Having wireless in OS9 was the entire point of buying the thing. I hate losing money.

OS9 wireless is WEP only. So, yes it works and yes it's a pain in the ass to set up if you have newer equipment on the same router. Will it work on the 867 Pbook? Maybe…probably…not… Sure, if you trade it for a Ti…

[macStuff]

I mistakenly bought an 867 Aluminum Powerbook G4 instead of the Ti   

Has anyone gotten the wireless working on it? Does OS9 even work with wireless? If I can't get that working, I'm screwed. Having wireless in OS9 was the entire point of buying the thing. I hate losing money.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Wireless-WiFi-Network-Dongle-Bridge-RJ45-Ethernet-Port-2-4GHz-Adapter-Cable-/382019136249?epid=1100056572&hash=item58f21d6af9:g:Us4AAOSwB-1Y2Usx

[mrhappy]

CardSlot (Cardbus) also appears to be "Dead"

That's kind of a drag... I bought a fancy Cardbus interface to use in this machine but was unable to get it working... I guess that explains it! Plan 'B' I guess!

[FdB]

I've got two wifi cards that worked in my G3 Lombard and Gary's absolutely correct... both slow, and a total pain in the arse  to set up and use. So much so, that I don't use either one anymore and the Lombard has been "dedicated OS 9" since last used, period. (And direct wired via ethernet when only absolutely necessary.) The AeroCard worked with OS 9 and the NetGear worked with OS X. (Never liked the Lombard running OS X.)

[FdB]

Hmmm, images a little large there... wise guy.

[macStuff]

gigabit ethernet > wireless

[DieHard]

No (Ethernet) upon Restart it is "Dead" again

Also Stuck at 10mb and Half Duplex" very weird when it works.

CardSlot (Cardbus) also appears to be "Dead"

Unfortunately Built in Ethernet is Dead

[macStuff]

hmmm
isnt cardbus basically the same as pci slots?

isnt it likely that these peripherals may just be located in a different address in the OpenFirmware device tree?
might any openfirmware wizard take a look at writing a script to modify the devicetree?

i think its probably pretty easy to take the closest "os9-supported" model and compare the device tree in openfirmware to the 17"  one that is having the anomalies? noting the differences may be a good place to start debugging this?

heres a link to the last time that devicetree was posted - that had a happy ending didnt it? who says lightning doesnt strike twice... *shrug* never know
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,762.msg3395.html#msg3395

"dev / ls"

[Astroman]

I had no problems booting the 'Holy Grail' reliably over a couple of days with just the modified 10.2.1 Rom and use Sonicworx and Bias.

Differences to the process described in the start post:
no error messages about memory and USB
no graphic accelleration
booth firewire ports dead
PCMCI dead

yet the thing was usable, but didn't reveal groundbreaking performance compared to a BW G3 450 MHz.
Sonicworx calculations scored about 30% higher than on the G3

After exchanging the Rom to version 10.2.1v1 it hangs on the grey screen after attempting to boot. Any clues ? In particular the differences mentioned above puzzle me...

[DieHard]

Is your unit...
Apple PowerBook G4 1.0 Ghz 17" Aluminum
Model M8793LL/A - PowerBook5,1 - A1013

if not, please give serial number

[Astroman]

System Profiler writes: ID406, Powerbook 5,2 serial V73384P2NRV
graphic is idententified as ATI, Jasper_A
resolution 1280x854
btw sound is flawless with internal speakers and headphones

ps: well, my eyes betrayed me... what I considered 17" is 15" indeed   
and one model of that series came with ATI instead of Nvidea graphics.

[DieHard]

System Profiler writes: ID406, Powerbook 5,2 serial V73384P2NRV

and one model of that series came with ATI instead of Nvidea graphics.

Yes, I kinda had a feeling it was a totally different model, since the results above have been verified on more than 1 unit; the 5,2 will like likely have no Video support (for acceleration), which is IMO the most important feature

[Astroman]

yeah, pretty wiered stuff - that latest iMic Rom doesn't seem to work here, so I exchanged it by the version that succeeded and I replaced the System folder by the one from the 'unsupported G4 ISO' to have a more comparable setup.
Booted in full screen, but then switched back to small and remained like that, regardless of what the control panel indicated (it identfied the resolution properly).
Solved by adding the monitor panel which has those plugin additions in the Extensions folder, there's a button 'default' that immediately switches to full screen.

There is some graphic accelleration active now as the waveform drawing in Peak is much more snappy than before. No complaints at all about it's performance.

PCMCIA slot still dead, but the Firewire port is at least shown now by System Profiler.
USB works flawless, so the system is usable 

[DieHard]

Wow... I am Surprised   Check ethernet please

[Astroman]

yes, that's on schedule as well. I revitalized my classic MacOS skills only recently since I got a Pro Tools TDM rig el cheapo and I do a lot of recording with an iPad, but there's also a few apps on Windoze that I rely on.
Networking would be more convenient than connecting/disconnecting pendrives or external disks.
The graphics accelerator is definitely not active (icon slashed on boot), but there may be different drawing routines active in the 2nd system setup. It's a very obvious improvement in performance.
AFP connection with a MacMini running Yosemite failed with an error, likely protocol/security based.

ps: Ethernet works and transmits between the MacBook and the BW G3 twice as fast as USB, 500 MB (disk image) is almost exactly 5 minutes.

pps: after reactivating my Synology NAS with services for Macintosh I repeated the same operation and yielded a 5 times higher data rate, oops... same 500 MB in just 1 Minute.
System Profiler reported the MacBook's ethernet as 10 half duplex, which I considered just a fake value, as it should be at least 100Mbit according to specs.
Added here just for completeness, as I have the 'wrong' model anyway.
(while not perfect, it's quite usable in it's current state)

[jeremywork]

When booting from the os9 unsupported CD for the first time on my FW800 1.42 DP I got the same message you did about there being a problem with the cache, followed by no longer having any L3 cache under OS X. It definitely did work before, and I'm extremely hesitant to try on my second FW800 1.42 DP. On my single 1.0 FW400 model (which is supported) the unsupported disk does not produce this error. The second USB device error seems to be in regards to the bluetooth controller, and can be ignored safely. Have you had any luck reviving your L3 Cache? PRAM reset hasn't done the trick. Plenty more to try... Hopefully OS9 compatibility doesn't require a permanent sacrifice of L3 Cache...

The Absolute Best Laptop that will Boot natively to Mac OS 9.2.2
Apple PowerBook G4 1.0 Ghz 17" Aluminum
Model M8793LL/A - PowerBook5,1 - A1013

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OK ready to Boot !  I am so excited I can barely take it... WTF, what is this crap.... is this error real or an anomaly from booting to OS 9 ?

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So, We now boot to an external FW hard drive that has OS X and see about the cache memory, remember this is NOT the main system memory, but memory on the logic board that cannot be changed by the user.





Hmmm.... no error pop up, but we notice NO L3 Cache is listed (even in OS X)

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So ebay strikes again... we run a diags and indeed the cache fails diagnostics and we remove the SSD and put it in Unit 2.  Unit 1 boots to OS9, but the bad cache will slow down the DAW speed tests I want to do later

[/size]

[lartch]

FYI there's lots of machines faster than that PB 1.0 but they just require hacks to boot (PBG4 1.5, prolly 1.67, dual 1.42 MDD, 1.42 mac mini)

[IIO]

what do you mean by "just hacks"? the mini requires almost the same modificiations as the alu powerbooks. and the 1.5 and 1.67 are on the to-do list.

[mietek]

What about the NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 in the G4/1.5 12"?

[labbdos]

Hi, I have a 17" 1Ghz PB G4 and a 15" 1.67Ghz PB G4 that I would like to run OS 9 on, but I can´t download the fixed ISOs. Not allowed because of capacity/no premium account. Are these ISOs available anywhere else?

[DieHard]

Hi, I have a 17" 1Ghz PB G4 and a 15" 1.67Ghz PB G4 that I would like to run OS 9 on, but I can´t download the fixed ISOs. Not allowed because of capacity/no premium account. Are these ISOs available anywhere else?

This has been an issue only as of lately, just make a "free" account on Adrive, we are working on this

[Protools5LEGuy]

A few weeks ago I took an offer of this machine with 1 Gig of RAM for 70 bucks and I took it.

Tested the machine with the original 60Gb 4200rpm drive and worked really slow on Tiger+Leopard, but fast on Panther.

I ordered 2 Gigs of RAM and the feeling were the same, only a little faster on Panther, but the drive were starting to give troubles.

So I decided to get the best 44 pins to mSATA adapter + a 240 mSATA drive. Total 33 Euros for the adaptor + 57 for the mSATA.

[Protools5LEGuy]

I have inserted a cardbus USB 2.0 card with NEC Chipset. I will report back if it works or not.

2 Things:

Where can I find iMic ROM file?

Should there be an order in the partitioning of a drive for a system to be the first chosen after a Apple+Alt+P+R

I am going to multiboot Mac OS 9 + Panther + Tiger and Leopard and enjoy it with a original M-Box with Protools and Logic in Mind.

[FdB]

Ninester and I were just checking this mSATA + adapter scenario out today and considering same for a Mac mini. After viewing this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T35isLn-OhQ and noting the “doesn’t work” report in the comments, coupled with the fact that there was no follow-up video of the thing actually working… well, kinda-sorta nixxed the idea. BUT, do please report your success as the OWC, I assume 44 pin IDE SSDs - - (yes Mr. Happy, I remember) are a bit more expensive… and quite possibly… slower.

[IIO]

would there be DOM / flash drives which fit into the HD slot of am mini? the kingspec stuff for example is not higher than a 40 pin IDE plug is.

[FdB]

Interesting, 110.
Moved comments/response to General Hardware
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4435.msg31470/topicseen.html#new

[Protools5LEGuy]

Back to Powerbook 5.1 17", everymac have removed the wayback machine links for disassembling the machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20100413102532/http://www.ifixit.com:80/Guide/Repair/Installing-PowerBook-G4-Aluminum-17-Inch-1-1-67-GHz-Hard-Drive-Replacement/246/1

[DieHard]

Ninester and I were just checking this mSATA + adapter scenario out today and considering same for a Mac mini. After viewing this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T35isLn-OhQ and noting the “doesn’t work” report in the comments, coupled with the fact that there was no follow-up video of the thing actually working… well, kinda-sorta nixxed the idea. BUT, do please report your success as the OWC, I assume 44 pin IDE SSDs - - (yes Mr. Happy, I remember) are a bit more expensive… and quite possibly… slower.

As I have mentioned, the OWC Legacy IDE Drives are simply an mSata with an adapter in a pretty package, I am not sure what chipset is used... I imagine the adapter and mSata that PT5 is testing should work 100%... if not, we will have to hunt down the chipset used in the OWC or if they have made some modification

[Protools5LEGuy]

So I decided to get the best 44 pins to mSATA adapter + a 240 mSATA drive. Total 33 Euros for the adaptor + 57 for the mSATA.

It is more like the best adaptor plus the cheapest >128G drive. I hope it to be working. Most drive should saturate the ATA 100 bus.

[IIO]

Interesting, 110.
Moved comments/response to General Hardware
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,4435.msg31470/topicseen.html#new

unfortunately it mighzt be that i am wrong. both models i could find on ebay have a power connector which is some 2 mm higher than the rest of the thing. it might still fit into a G4 mini with some trickery.

[Protools5LEGuy]

The adapter is working, but it came as cable-select as default and in that way TDM was not working, even from the Mac OS X control panel / Target Disk Mode option. Without that pin connected, it acts as master and works flawless.

My mSATA disk specs in Amperes are even better than suspect.  DC +3.3 450 mA

[IIO]

damn, i didnt even notice that this is the unsupported powerbook thread. we should really come back to topic here.

[Protools5LEGuy]

When booting from the os9 unsupported CD for the first time on my FW800 1.42 DP I got the same message you did about there being a problem with the cache, followed by no longer having any L3 cache under OS X. It definitely did work before, and I'm extremely hesitant to try on my second FW800 1.42 DP. On my single 1.0 FW400 model (which is supported) the unsupported disk does not produce this error. The second USB device error seems to be in regards to the bluetooth controller, and can be ignored safely. Have you had any luck reviving your L3 Cache? PRAM reset hasn't done the trick. Plenty more to try... Hopefully OS9 compatibility doesn't require a permanent sacrifice of L3 Cache...

First time I rebooted the machine after opening it, my L3 cache went. "DieHard Syndrome"? I opened it again to make the Cable select to Master SSD drive converter change and I noticed the 2 memory chips of the L3 cache are heatsinked thru the keyboard!!

Then I put more presure to the keyboard screws, and Voila! , the L3 cache came back.

[Protools5LEGuy]

Performance/Hardware Test (Updates 08/11/2017)

3) QuickBench Test Results

QuickBench 1.5?

Pictures 1 to 7 MacBench 3 results

Picture 8 and 10 (no 9) MacBench 5

[Protools5LEGuy]

Is My math right?

MBytes are KBytes/1024

Then, if I compare MB 3 and 5 results with QB 1.5 results the chinese 240GBytes drive is lightly faster than the 120 GB OWC Golden solution.

[IIO]

*1024

but yes, for transfer speed you usually use true numbers.

for storge size they use *1000 for gigabytes and up.

[Protools5LEGuy]

So I decided to get the best 44 pins to mSATA adapter + a 240 mSATA drive. Total 33 Euros for the adaptor + 57 for the mSATA.

My mSATA disk specs in Amperes are even better than suspect.  DC +3.3 450 mA

Performance/Hardware Test (Updates 08/11/2017)

3) QuickBench Test Results

[Protools5LEGuy]

Summary: Lightly better sequencial and lightly worst random.

Don’t know if PT5 used 1.92 or 2.1 to initialize his Zheino.

What a Journey! First the adapter were in cable select and that make me open the machine twice.

I connected the machine in TargetDiskMode to a Dual 867 MDD with instant DAW and from there I partitioned. Then had some errors choosing the right format for every system. Mac OS 9 loved HFS Extended , but all Mac OS X demanded somehow Journaling. A Tiger install on Mac OS Extended never let me dual boot without errors.

The PCMCIA/cardbus USB2.0 Nec chipset card is recognized and serves voltage, so you can only use it to charge the phone or a electric cigarrette... but nothing more

This machine needs some more love from Mac OS 9 hackers to make cardbus work, but otherwise a 1440x900 desktop is still awesome.

By the way, after restoring Instant DAW and dropping the unsupported MacOS ROM from the unsupported CD, you will need to take the M-Audio extension/Panel out on extension manager. Also deselect all ATI ones and choose the nVidia ones.

[FdB]

Congrats! One of the very few times I've ever read the instructions
(very small green sheet with the Zheino) and I caught the jumper
configs before just slapping it in there and all back together again.

Quote: "Master mode (Not Connect)."

Thanks for the QuickBench results!

[DieHard]

Please let us know the functionality with ProTools after you pull up a project or 2

[kondre2000]

can one still download the iMic Rom needed for this?  I have a AL5,1 sitting here screaming to run OS 9
thanks
Kevin

[kondre2000]

think I found it.

[PBComedy]

So where can I get the Mac Os 9.2.2 boot disc software so I can take my old G4 powerbook and turn it into an Only Mac OS 9 and no longer OS X

[panthera86]

Would a SCSI CARD work with this setup ?

[Protools5LEGuy]

Would a SCSI CARD work with this setup ?

AFAIK PCMCIA card doesnt work, at least my USB 2.0 card isnt recognized

My Powerbook is loosing the cache... 

Still is a GHz and 17"... 

[DieHard]

Heat sink pad on upper lid is critical, replace it and no CPU overheating and it will fix cache error

[Protools5LEGuy]

I once "repaired" it forcing more tension on the keyboard or memory screws.

Opening the Powerbook to try to repair/repaste is very, very,  very,  down in my list on TO DO things.

THanks for let me know that can still be recovered with some time.

Today, in my studio,  my PB 17 just works powered down as a Firewire Hub.    The Mac Pro on one side connected with a fw800 cable and the FW 400 on the PB connected to the Audiophile and that to a Hackintosh in Yosemite...

[Protools5LEGuy]

I had to use another configuration for the tests about the FW AP

A FW 800 to 400 cable as DieHard told us.

That config worked last year but after updating to latest Win 10 and MacTell have screwed the chance to run Mac OS 9 on it
 again.

[LarsG5]

Hello,
Any updates on fixing the issues?
I suppose the video glitches on shut down and FW issues aren't really fixable, BUT this "USB missing" alert on startup and sound issues seem to be an easy fix (please, forgive my ignorance if they're not).
Sleep mode seems to be doable as well, since this PB uses the 7455 CPU...
Also I'd die for a working Cardbus slot, but I suppose it's not a priority for the community and it's rather unlikely to ever be fixed...
Nonetheless, thank you all for making OS9 on this machine possible. You people are simply the best.

[GigaG]

Just got it running on my Aluminum G4!

I have a few questions though

1. Can I dual boot with Tiger?
2. To enable the speakers, does the device plugged into the headphone jack have to be a working device, or could I just cut the plug of a cheap garbage pair of earbuds and use that?
3. In System Profiler, my Cardbus slot is located under the PCI slot (I have a broken ethernet port on this machine, not sure if that affects the PCI bus at all), is there any possibility the slot might just work? (See attached for screenshot.)