Installing OS 9 on TiBook

[vlark]

So I have a TiBook G4 800Mhz DVI running 10.4.11. It can run Classic just fine (Mac OS 9.2.2 w/the special Classic updates that Mac OS X installs). But I select Mac OS 9.2.2 as the Startup Disk from the Startup Disk pref pane of Mac OS X, I get the blinking disk with a question mark on boot -- it can't find the drive or Mac OS X. If I do a forced shutdown and re-boot, I get the same thing -- it can't find a bootable system. If I hold the option key down on reboot, same thing -- no OS X system can be found. The only way to recover the system is to boot from the 10.4 install disk and bless the Mac OS X folder using the Startup Disk pref pane and reboot.

Any ideas of how I can get this system to recognize the Classic system as a bootable system? This machine should be able to boot from Mac OS 9.2.2.

 

[weckart]

It means that the OS9 hard disk drivers were not installed when the hard drive was partitioned and formatted under Tiger. Without those, the MacOS 9 kernel cannot see the hard drive hence the flashing icon. The only easy way to remedy this is to repartition and reinstall making sure the driver checkbox in Disk Utility is ticked.

 

[vlark]

Would I be able to create a clone of my TiBook OS installation, re-initialize the HD to install the OS 9 drivers, and then clone my installation back to the TiBook? Would that solve the problem? Or do I have to do a full reinstall?

Or. . . . if I can use Target Disk Mode to connect to an Intel Mac running 10.6.8, can I do a live partition and create a special boot volume just for OS 9?

 

[weckart]

Cloning works for OS9 and OSX. In fact, drag and drop works for both as long as you unhide the hidden OSX files so they don't get overlooked. You just need to bless both and maybe repair permissions on Tiger after copying back.
Another forum member mentioned in an earlier thread that there was a way of retroinstalling the OS9 HDD drivers via the Terminal but that it was not straightforward. You may want to google and try that if you are feeling adventurous.

 

[vlark]

Well, cloning didn't work. I had to completely wipe the drive and reinitialize the hard drive, making sure to tick the box to install OS 9 drivers. Then I partitioned the drive -- one partion for OS X, the other for OS 9. Then I had to do the long install and apply updaters dance. I opted to install 10.3.9 this go round, since I am only getting the TiBook back up and running so my kids can play some classic OS 9 games and edutainment titles. Plus I'm not planning on putting it on a network, so security isn't an issue.