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Free Legal Way to Install Classic Without Disc

N

n0cus

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
340
1
Hey Everyone,

Recently I was looking for a way to install Classic to play around with some OS 9 apps. I came across this article. It turns out, Apple is hosting the OS 9 System Folder on their website, it just requires a little looking. I have tried this myself, and can individually confirm that this does work. Some on this forum might know about this, but I figured it would be helpful for someone. All you have to do is extract the OS 9 system folder from this file on Apple's website, put it on your Macintosh HD, and you should be set to go.

Have some fun with some OS 9 apps!
 
Last edited:
poiihy said:
Can it be run in a virtual box in an intel mac?
Click to expand...

Like Intell said, no. This is just the system folder. You would need an iso for VirtualBox. However like the article mentions, it is possible to directly boot into OS 9 if your machine supports it.
 
n0cus said:
Like Intell said, no. This is just the system folder. You would need an iso for VirtualBox. However like the article mentions, it is possible to directly boot into OS 9 if your machine supports it.
Click to expand...

Even with a proper emulator, it is not possible. Currently there is no Intell emulator that supports booting into Mac OS 9.2.2.
 
ctmpkmlec4 said:
Look in the original post for the hyperlink.
Click to expand...

White-Green colour blindness does me no favours in discerning between black and dark blue text on an iPhone screen I'm afraid! :p

Somebody kindly posted the link anyway.

Interesting, I always thought it was Apple's policy to give away all its System 7 and older software and that system 8+ stuff was still technically under licensing.
 
Intell said:
Even with a proper emulator, it is not possible. Currently there is no Intell emulator that supports booting into Mac OS 9.2.2.
Click to expand...

I was unaware of this. Thanks for the tip, Intell.

----------
tevion5 said:
White-Green colour blindness does me no favours in discerning between black and dark blue text on an iPhone screen I'm afraid! :p

Somebody kindly posted the link anyway.

Interesting, I always thought it was Apple's policy to give away all its System 7 and older software and that system 8+ stuff was still technically under licensing.
Click to expand...

I thought that too. Apple obviously didn't intend NetBoot to be used this way, but it does work, and sense Apple has it on its website, I figure it is legal.
 
Intell said:
Even with a proper emulator, it is not possible. Currently there is no Intell emulator that supports booting into Mac OS 9.2.2.
Click to expand...

Not quite. SheepShaver runs on Intel OS X, and emulates a PowerPC Mac. But it only supports up to Mac OS 9.0.4.

Then there is PearPC, which has a port that runs on Intel OS X, and emulates a PowerPC sufficient to load Mac OS X for PowerPC (but not the Classic Mac OS.) So you can run your old PPC-only Mac OS X apps in a modern OS X, if you want.

Finally, QEMU can emulate a PowerPC system sufficiently to run Mac OS X, but not Classic Mac OS. And it has an OS X/Intel port.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
Not quite. SheepShaver runs on Intel OS X, and emulates a PowerPC Mac. But it only supports up to Mac OS 9.0.4.

Then there is PearPC, which has a port that runs on Intel OS X, and emulates a PowerPC sufficient to load Mac OS X for PowerPC (but not the Classic Mac OS.) So you can run your old PPC-only Mac OS X apps in a modern OS X, if you want.

Finally, QEMU can emulate a PowerPC system sufficiently to run Mac OS X, but not Classic Mac OS. And it has an OS X/Intel port.
Click to expand...

My original statement is still wholly accurate. None of those emulators can emulate Mac OS 9.2.2.
 
Intell said:
My original statement is still wholly accurate. None of those emulators can emulate Mac OS 9.2.2.
Click to expand...

Intell said:
Even with a proper emulator, it is not possible. Currently there is no Intell emulator that supports booting into Mac OS 9.2.2.
Click to expand...

You are correct, you have not made any emulators that support booting in to Mac OS 9.2.2.

I was going by the fact that you originally said just OS 9, not 9.2.2. (I see you have edited your original post.)
 
tevion5 said:
White-Green colour blindness does me no favours in discerning between black and dark blue text on an iPhone screen I'm afraid! :p

Somebody kindly posted the link anyway.

Interesting, I always thought it was Apple's policy to give away all its System 7 and older software and that system 8+ stuff was still technically under licensing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, chief. I had no idea. I hope I didn't come across as a smart-ass. I will admit that I'm not always sensitive to others' needs.
 
This is how to extract the System Folder from it

First open the disk image and select your language
Right-click NetBoot.pkg and show package contents
Extract NetBoot.pax.gz to Desktop
Select the folder "NetBootInstallation" and Get Info. Modify the permissions to allow yourself to read and write.
Open NetBoot HD.img (you may need to convert it; to do this open Disk Utility, drag in the image to the sidebar and select it, and click Convert.)
Viola!

There is nothing in "Applications HD.img" so don't bother with that.
 
Ok so I installed this on my beige G3 and booted into it. Guess what? It is not free. It has some Macintosh Manager software and you cannot get to the Finder without entering some username and password for something! There is no way to escape and you cannot even set the startup disk!!! Now I am stuck in this locked OS 9 and I cannot get into OS X! Now I am stuck at square 1! Thanks a lot for bricking my machine! You should've at least put a warning or something! :mad:
 
poiihy said:
Ok so I installed this on my beige G3 and booted into it. Guess what? It is not free. It has some Macintosh Manager software and you cannot get to the Finder without entering some username and password for something! There is no way to escape and you cannot even set the startup disk!!! Now I am stuck in this locked OS 9 and I cannot get into OS X! Now I am stuck at square 1! Thanks a lot for bricking my machine! You should've at least put a warning or something! :mad:
Click to expand...

You've tried the user and password as advised in the article?

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/macos9/nR2QQCKaCFA
 
There's actually a simpler way to avoid the user name and password than what is described in the above link. Boot the computer into something other than the OS 9 system folder on the drive(OS X will work, as will an OS 9 install disk). Then, go into the OS 9 system folder and find the Preferences folder. There should be a file in this folder called "Multi-User Prefs." Drag this to the trash, and empty the trash.

When you boot into OS 9 again, it should boot directly to the finder and not give any prompt for a user name or password.
 
Perhaps just booting into OS9 and holding the space bar down opens the Extensions Manager where you can disable the offending extension.
 
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