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[alexshendi]

Hi folks,

So after much effort, I have given up on preserving my Mac OS X partition and after backing everything up, I initialized the disk and made 2 partitions (20 and 95 GB).

I installed Mac OS 9 on the first and so far everything works fine, except for the display resolution.
This seems to be fixed at 1024x768@256 colors. Also there is a "frame" around the portion of the screen that is actually used. See the attached picture.  The machine is a 14" iBook G4.

So how can I fix that? Thanks for any hints.

[joevt]

What GPU does the iBook G4 have?

Does Mac OS 9 have drivers for that GPU?

If there's no Mac OS 9 driver, then you can't change the resolution or color depth. You are stuck with whatever frame buffer Open Firmware provides.

Did you go into Open Firmware to see if the display node has an option to change the display mode?

What version of Open Firmware does your iBook G4 have?

[alexshendi]

I investigated further and found out the following:
* Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9200
* The active screen resolution is 640x480, 1024x768 would be the native resolution. That explains  the unused border around the display area
* System Profiler doesn't seem  to know about the GPU
* Didn't investigate Open Firmware settings yet.

[joevt]

There's an extensive list of ATI drivers at https://gona.mactar.hu/ATI_Mac/

You'll want to click on the last two items and read what they have to say:
ATI RADEON 9200 Mac Edition July 2004      OS 9.2 - 9.2.2      ATI chips supports up to Radeon 9200
ATI OS 9 Mac Software Update January 2005      OS 9.2 - 9.2.2      ATI chips supports up to Radeon 9200

See if they match the items from Macintosh Repository:
 https://www.macintoshrepository.org/1357-ati-os-9-drivers-january-2005-
 https://www.macintoshrepository.org/1352-ati-os-9-drivers-for-radeon-9200-dvi-i-

Verify dates and version numbers of apps and extensions and control panels etc.

[alexshendi]

Hi,

I've investigated further:
* Resolution in OFW: 400x300. I'm assuming these are hex values, so 1024x768 decimal
* Booting:
   - Happy Mac in full resolution (1024x768)
   - "Welcome to MacOS 9" in full resolution
   - While initialising the desktop, resolution switches to 640x480
   - OFW also uses the full screen
* I tried several versions of the Radeon 9200 drivers, situation unchanged
* In the "Monitors" control panel 2 screen are shown: 1: 1024x768, 2: 640x480

Any hints are welcome. ATM I would be content, if I could use the full resolution without 2D or 3D acceleration.
Can I somehow disable the auxiliary output.

Many thanks in advance.

[ssp3]

I think you need a modified ATI driver(s) for your iBook.
For a starter, here are a couple of links for you to read.

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=7310.0

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=7447.0

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=1174.msg10546#msg10546

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=4277.0

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=7048.msg54360#msg54360

[alexshendi]

Look, Ma! 1024x768!

[smilesdavis]

so can we summarize this in a single line: for this model A1234 you need to install this driver XXX available here.

[alexshendi]

No new driver needed. The 9.2.2 CDROM for unsupported Macs works as is.
Just need to disable display mirroring by using the "Monitors" control panel an pressing Cmd+F7  and dragging the second screen to the right.

Disclaimer: Didn't really check if 2D/3D acceleration works.

(Edit:
  Have to to the following dance in OFW beforehand:

  > select-dev " /"
  > 00000008 " graphic-options" get-my-property 2drop !
)

[joevt]

Does it think there are two displays connected when only the laptop display exists?

[alexshendi]

Apparently, yes. Don't know why

[ssp3]

(Edit:
  Have to to the following dance in OFW beforehand:

  > select-dev " /"
  > 00000008 " graphic-options" get-my-property 2drop !
)

Why this masochism? What's wrong with this one?
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-922-boot-file-ibook-g4

[smilesdavis]

thank you for the link, now i gotta install a mac os 9 on a few ibook g4s.

[alexshendi]

(Edit:
  Have to to the following dance in OFW beforehand:

  > select-dev " /"
  > 00000008 " graphic-options" get-my-property 2drop !
)

Why this masochism? What's wrong with this one?
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-922-boot-file-ibook-g4

I used exactly this CD (DL Link #3). Apparently the above is still necessary. Don't ask me why, though.