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[Jubadub]

Hi guys, I hope y'all are doing well.

In preparation for some fascinating discoveries I have made recently regarding the Mac mini G4, which I plan to share within a week's time, I was doing some research regarding the origin of the famous Mac OS ROM version 10.2.1 with CPU Software 5.9 (as opposed to 5.8), and, for the life of me, I can't find it.

All I know is that the famous, ultra-helpful, Mac OS 9 Lives! Mac OS 9.2.2 "Universal" CD for all officially-supported PowerMacs contains it, and that both @DieHard and @MacTron found the latest components and put together this super helpful disc.

It is also famously dated "3 April 2003" for both the "Created" and "Modified" dates, which is around the time Apple was trying to completely discontinue the actual Mac OS.

Thing is, does anyone know what CD, or what updater, or installer, or disk image, or whatever, this particular Mac OS ROM file and version came from?

All I can find is mentions of it from as far back as April 2014 posts here on Mac OS 9 Lives!, but I don't see any open discussion about its exact origin.

I don't know if @DieHard and/or @MacTron will see this, but does anyone at all know where exactly it came from? Was it from some MDD-related disc? It couldn't have been from the "OS9General.dmg" file, could it?

[joevt]

The info at https://archive.org/details/MacOS9.2.2-Drag_and_install_Universal says:

This archive was created from the original apple software that was included with an MDD 1.25 GHZ. FW400 G4 2003, the last official G4 tower that could boot directly to Mac OS 9.  With the original Apple OS X and OS 9 Restore CDs that came with it (Updated for the 2003 Model), a Dual Boot G4

An Apple product number (as printed on all Apple CDs) would be useful.

I found this number in the Apple Support forums in relation to "MDD Dual 1.25 G4 (2003)":
691-4872-A

That disk image is on Macintosh Repository which has links to mirrors on the Internet Archive.

In the first restore DVD, in the invisible ".images" folder, is a file "OS9General.dmg". It's an Apple Single file, so add ".as" as a filename extension and open with "Unarchiver.app". This produces a file "018-1133-2.dmg" which can be mounted by Mac OS X 10.5.8. The volume name is "OS 9 Content". It has a system folder with a "Mac OS ROM" file version "10.2.1, Copyright Apple Computer, Inc. 1983-2003 Mac OS CPU Software 5.9". With dates "April 3, 2003 at 8:00 PM".

The only difference that I can see between Mac OS ROM 10.2.1 from CPU Software 5.8 and Mac OS ROM 10.2.1 from CPU Software 5.9 is the version resource (using "tbxi dump" to extract all the parts and resources).

[Jubadub]

Thank you, @joevt! I believe you solved the mystery.

The Garden also seems to contain it, and it's probably where the Repository Suppository mirrored it from. The name is mentioned a few times throughout the Garden, too.

The archive.org link you found is this one, I believe?

Phew. Thank you again. I'm glad this search can now be put to rest.

[joevt]

Yes, that's the one.

So, what is the difference between CPU Software 5.8 and 5.9?