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OS 9 Install Disc

O

OldTimey

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 5, 2004
105
0
Hi, is there somewhere other than eBay where I can find a System 9 install disc? I have a Rev B iMac that I'd like to refurbish and run OS9 on. I don't know the old user's password, and need a disc to reinstall the OS.
 
They have several versions of OS9 you can download free. It's all considered abandonware and it's legal.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Abandonware is not legal. Apple has released up to system 7 to the public domain and you can download that free from apple. Anything else is piracy, it does not matter that apple is not actively selling the product.

edit:
Apple still holds the copyright to OS9 and they are not releasing that OS yet, downloading from somewhere without their permission is still piracy.
 
thanks - i'm not looking to download the software. I need a system 9 install disc in order to reset the password on this machine and give it an overhaul. It's such a pretty little bugger, and would like to use it for my mp3 collection.

Any idea where i can find one for less than the 25$ they go for on ebay?
 
maflynn said:
Abandonware is not legal. Apple has released up to system 7 to the public domain and you can download that free from apple. Anything else is piracy, it does not matter that apple is not actively selling the product.
Click to expand...

I believe that it's legal to download the specific restore CD image that came with the machine because a non-transferrable OEM licence was included as part of the hardware purchase.

However, in this case, I'm pretty sure that OS 9 is newer than the hardware and is therefore not legal to download.
 
Nermal said:
I believe that it's legal to download the specific restore CD image that came with the machine because a non-transferrable OEM licence was included as part of the hardware purchase.

However, in this case, I'm pretty sure that OS 9 is newer than the hardware and is therefore not legal to download.
Click to expand...

That is correct. For this machine the only software you could legally obtain is a copy of the Mac OS 8.5.1/8.6 restore CDs.
 
Hi,

I've been looking for an OS9 install disk too, except that I need a very specific one: for the 2003 MDD G4 (single 1.25GHz G4). That's the last Mac that can run Classic natively.

I've not yet found a system which will allow installation on that machine. It always says needs a newer version or whatever. This was a special machine released late for those that needed native Classic, I understand.

A copy of the System Folder from my older Yikes G4 starts up, but I have never managed to get sound working in native Mac OS 9 on the 2003 MDD. (Sound does work fine in Mac OS X and in Classic applications within Mac OS X). No sound output hardware is available in the sound control panel. That's a shame because I would like to use this to play a few old games every now and then (they run crap under Classic mode in Mac OS X).

Any ideas? Maybe a Sound Manager INIT or something for that specific model...

Good luck with your search OldTimey.

Cheers,
A.
 
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