Downgrade from OSX Panther FR to OS8.6 US

[zerom]

Hello,

I've bought a PowerBook G3 Lombard with OSX 10.3.9 installed on it, that hopefully will arrive this week.
However I need specifically OS8 to run a software which runs only on that os, tested on os9 and it does not work.

The firmare boot room of the powerbook now is 2.1.0f1. I guess the f here stands for French, I have no clue. But the machine is French.

I couldn't find the OS8.6 French iso, so I got the Powerbook G3 series 8.6 US.

I have two questions:

- Can I do a clean install on the HDD, by booting into OS8.6 disk and erasing the hd? No firmware problems?

- If so, can I install a US version of 8.6 on the French firmware?


According to this page, https://support.apple.com/fr-fr/HT1395 , no firmware update was required to install OS X so I guess it's fine to downgrade, still the language problem remains.


thank you!

 

[Amethyst1]

Hi, yes to both of your questions. And the "f" indicates a final (production) firmware version.

 

[zerom]

Hi, yes to both of your questions. And the "f" indicates a final (production) firmware version.

Thank you very much! That's a relief.

 

[zerom]

Hi, yes to both of your questions. And the "f" indicates a final (production) firmware version.

Hey, I installed MacOS 8.6 correctly.

However upon restart this message appears:
"the built in memory test has detected a problem with cache memory."

With OSX this didn't pop up. Why now? Any clue?

thank you!

 

[Amethyst1]

Failed cache - common with Lombard CPU cards unfortunately.

 

[zerom]

Failed cache - common with Lombard CPU cards unfortunately.

yeah I've read on the net.

the powerbooks still boots though. since it has 320mb of ram and macOS 8.6, would be fine to run it with no cache?
I'm planning to use it just to scan negatives with a scanner that requires scsi.

I've read on the net someone used their Lombard for ages with no cache, other more serious stuff that using it with no cache will lead to a dead cpu.

Plus I cannot find any replacements... It boots now, sometimes I have to boot it twice but.
Hopefully I can use it for a while..