Boot without the "Mac OS 9 Drivers"

[vaccinemedia]

I ran python ataboot.py -h and got:
File “ataboot.py’, line 29
If code[i:1+2] == b’ER’:

[vaccinemedia]

I can see I need pip but how can I install pip on os 10.4 or 10.5?

[vaccinemedia]

Ok so I installed python 3 as per the installer from the python website and used pip to install the required tbxi module. Ran the python command on the os9 Mac OS Rom file and now the os9 install does not show when holding down the alt key on powering on the Mac

[IIO]

glad you got it working. maybe now you can write down a quick tutorial for noobs?

[vaccinemedia]

Will do! I just need to figure out how to get the disk to show up when holding down the alt key during power on after applying the patch 

[IIO]

normally removing the finder or ROM file from a systemfolder and replacing it with another copy should not unbless the systemfolder. but otoh it is hard to imagine that it could be something else.

did you try yet to use the startup controlpanel in OSX instead of the bootmanager?

[vaccinemedia]

Thanks for the reply I've just had a look at the startup folder prefs pane and it's not showing up in the list (there's tiger, sorbet and grub showing). Looking at the ROM file it looks generic and does not have the mac computer icon like the copy I made of it (see attached screen grab). I used the ataboot.py in 10.5 Sorbet Leopard after installing Python 3 from the installer on the Python.org website which comes with PIP bundled with it. I couldn't get pip to work on Tiger because the latest python you can get is 3.2 which I couldn't get pip to install onto.

[IIO]

oh ok when the ROM already does not have the correct icon (while in the system folder), then @ELN is your adress.

[joevt]

Does the rom file have the correct file type?

Code: (bash) [Select]

getfileinfo /Volumes/Classic/System\ Folder/Mac\ OS\ ROM
file: "/Volumes/Classic/System Folder/Mac OS ROM"
type: "tbxi"
creator: "chrp"
attributes: avBStclInmedz
created: 04/03/2003 12:00:00
modified: 04/03/2003 12:00:00

xattr -l /Volumes/Classic/System\ Folder/Mac\ OS\ ROM
com.apple.FinderInfo: tbxichrp1

bless --info /Volumes/Classic


[IIO]

or what about the version? wasnt the tbxi project for 9.6.1 only? so that it maybe causes havoc with a 10.x versioned system?

[vaccinemedia]

I'm afraid there's no version and I can only run the info from the finder, not the commandline version as it only comes with commandline tools installed. I may see if I can find where to get that from for Sorbet leopard though as it will probably come in handy at some other point in time. It appears as a blank sort of "file" of no description with no creator or version. I'm going to try extracting it all to a folder, then running the patch on the folder and then recreating the file that way as running the patch on the existing ROM creates a file 1MB smaller then the original too. BTW if this matters I'm trying to patch the ROM file which comes with the OS9Lives for Previously Unsupported Hardware and not the one for the Mac Mini

[vaccinemedia]

@joevt I tried getfileinfo but got command not found in Tiger. I'm attaching the info from OS9 for the file which just shows as a "document" even after trying to "bless" it. I did manage to install Python3 though on Tiger using Tigerbrew as per the instructions here: https://github.com/mistydemeo/tigerbrew to patch the ROM file using Tiger instead of Leopard so if anyone wants to know how to install Python3 on Tiger please follow the instructions in the link!

[joevt]

@joevt I tried getfileinfo but got command not found in Tiger. I'm attaching the info from OS9 for the file which just shows as a "document" even after trying to "bless" it. I did manage to install Python3 though on Tiger using Tigerbrew as per the instructions here: https://github.com/mistydemeo/tigerbrew to patch the ROM file using Tiger instead of Leopard so if anyone wants to know how to install Python3 on Tiger please follow the instructions in the link!

In early macOS (Jaguar, Panther, Tiger), the command is at /Developer/Tools/GetFileInfo but you need to install Xcode or developer tools.

MPW also has a GetFileInfo command (for classic Mac OS).

There are other apps that can get and set file type and creator such as ResEdit, Resorcerer, etc which may work in Mac OS 9.

In Mac OS 9, I had an extension or something that adds type and creator to the Get Info window in the Finder. I forget the name.

[vaccinemedia]

ResEdit! Now THAT takes me back! Good times I'll grab a copy of that and the other apps you mentioned and hope that it's just the resource filetype that's the issue. I did notice that the machine booted no problem when I had OS9 drivers installed and had made a copy of the rom so it was "Mac OS ROM copy" and the patched one was called "Mac OS ROM". I then removed the copy and it failed to boot. So this tells me that the filename of the ROM doesn't matter perhaps? And it simply needs to be of the correct file type / show the correct version in the finder with the correct icon showing?

[IIO]

dont know offhand for the ROM, but both methods exist in OS9 (name counts, type counts), for some other things it does not matter at all.

strange enough (and offtopic here): INITs (such as a midi driver or the mouse control panel) will properly load from anywhere inside the systemfolder´s top level.

[ssp3]

In Mac OS 9, I had an extension or something that adds type and creator to the Get Info window in the Finder. I forget the name.

Snitch. It's a Control Panel. Been using it since OS7 days.
For OSX there's this: http://www.frederikseiffert.de/filetype/

[joevt]

Yes, Snitch. I have a 1.0.1 installer from 1996 on my hackintosh here. And 2.6.5 and 2.6.7 and a 2.6.6 updater.

[vaccinemedia]

Before I go down this rabbit hole even further (he says whilst patching the ROM again) has anyone here ever done this and it worked? I'm trying to install a bunch of operating systems on a PowerBook G4 5,4 for tinkering purposes and having a play around with them out of interest. In total there's: OS9, 10.4,10.5 (Sorbet), MorphOS because I used to own an Amiga, Debian 12 (because it's brand new for PPC), Adelie (because of watching Action Retro's videos), Lubuntu Remix (because it may be the best linux a PPC mac can get) and OpenBSD (because of Action Retro again and also because BSD is the subsystem of OSX).

IF I start from OS9Lives (for previously unsupported G4's http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,2143.0.html) and create 5 partitions I can get OS9 on partition 1, then 10.4, 10.5 but as soon as I install MorphOS it breaks the partition table and I can't install the others. IF I skip MorphOS I can install all the rest including OpenBSD. But then installing MorphOS at the end still messes up the partition table.

IF I start with Tiger and partition using that, installing MorphOS doesn't break anything, I am able to install the others but then OS9 can't boot. Which is what brought me to this thread

So what I'm currently doing to save time is keep everything simple and simply concentrate on getting OS9 to boot without drivers. I've used the Tiger installer to create a couple of partitions, one for 9 and one for 10.4. I can use Disk Utility to restore" the OS9Lives CD image to the first partition. When holding the alt key during power on I am able to see both systems on the early boot selector. Clicking on OS9 boots but has the floppy disk with the question mark on it.

Using Tiger Brew (https://github.com/mistydemeo/tigerbrew) i am able to patch the Mac OS ROM file using ataboot.py but then OS9 no longer shows when holding down the alt key during power on. I have tried blessing the system folder but that didn't work although I am unfamiliar with the bless command. At this point the rom file just shows up as a "document file" on Tiger so I have used Filetype (http://www.frederikseiffert.de/filetype/) to change the creator and type and it changes the icon to the ROM icon. But the OS9 still does not show when holding down the alt key.

That's where I'm at currently. So has anyone ever got this to work? Is it because I'm patching an already patched OS9Lives ROM which is "version 10.x"? If anyone has managed to get this one working OR knows where I can download a working ROM for a G4 which does not need to have OS9 drivers installed on the drive that would be amazing.

[vaccinemedia]

OK so after further tinkering I can see that I can get the OS9 system to show when holding down the alt key again if I use Suer ResEdit (https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/super-resedit-213) and load the ROM file from the OS9Lived installation (after making a backup of it after installing OS9) and copy and paste the resources to the ROM file generated by running ataboot.py and then also copying the getinfo data such as the file type and creator and clicking on the same checkboxes from the original ROM too and saving. This now brings me back to a situation where booting from the OS9 disk shows the floppy with the question mark.

I know now that the .hqx method of patching i.e. the one which generates a single file is not a proper ROM file and so I have stopped using this method of patching. I thought this was the correct method as it only generates a single file and not the 3 files which are generated by running ataboot.py without any further parameters.

I'm also assuming that copying and pasting the resources from the original OS9Lives ROM is basically overriding the patches which were applied by ataboot.py

I have learned through further research that the .idump and .rdump files created are the resources and the info data for the ROM.

So my question now is how do I create a bootable ROM file from these three individual files?

[vaccinemedia]

Quick update - I may be wrong so please correct me f I'm doing this incorrectly but I did some further digging and found that I can run the command "SimpleRez" to import the .rdump into the ROM file (https://github.com/elliotnunn/macresources) which possibly comes installed with tbxi as I already had it installed.

I ran: simplerez [path to .rdump file] -o [path to ROM file]/..namedfork/rsrc

And this appeared to import the resources. I then opened the file with Super ResEdit and the resources were indeed in there but the info had to be edited which I did and copied exactly what was on the info for the original MacOS9Lives G4 ROM.

This then showed the OS9 drive when holding the alt key down and when it booted for the briefest of milliseconds I saw a happy Mac face but then the dreaded floppy with a question mark on it showed and no further booting happened.