Mac OS 8.6 goes Titanium

[Amethyst1]

I've been wanting to try this for quite some time...

It's an original 500 MHz model. I used the 8.6 image for the Sawtooth, copied in the ATI and FireWire kexts from the stock 9.1 volume and did the OF trickery to spoof a PowerBook2,1. I've only played with it for a couple of minutes but it feels very responsive. I'm going to monitor CPU temps as @AphoticD had thermal problems with 8.6 on his Pismo.

Next step is to use the modified Mac OS ROM @LightBulbFun made so no OF trickery is required. Another nod to @LightBulbFun as his 8.6-on-Pismo thread inspired me to try this. 🙂

So, do I have the world's sexiest OS 8.6 machine? 😀

 

[MBAir2010]

keep us posted as far as productivity and other fun stuff you can do on that mac.
i'm looking into reviving an older imac that needs a new logic board.

 

[LightBulbFun]

Awesome stuff, pretty cool to see it working on more machines 🙂

(hopefully my modded TBXI ROM works for you too 🙂 )

 

[timidpimpin]

Best classic OS IMO. I and many others I knew ran 8.6 over 9 back then. I have a Sawtooth 450MHz setup as an OS 8.6 machine.

 

[ziggy29]

Best classic OS IMO. I and many others I knew ran 8.6 over 9 back then. I have a Sawtooth 450MHz setup as an OS 8.6 machine.

Generally my favorite, too. As long as I'm going to be playing around with apps that run under 8.6, it's my go-to when I can. It's a little slimmer and snappier than OS 9 and very stable. It's also the earliest version that fully supports USB well and also has some FW support.

When I play with my old, pretty much maxed-out 7600 which has seven different systems installed from 7.6.1 to Tiger, 8.6 is the one I use most, followed by 9.1. (It has 7.6.1, 8.1, 8.6, 9.1, 9.2.2, 10.3.9 and 10.4.11. It needs XPostFacto for running OS X, of course. It's almost decent in OS X with the full 1 GB of RAM -- 8 x 128MB -- and a Sonnet 1 GHz G4 card.)

 

[Amethyst1]

When I play with my old, pretty much maxed-out 7600 which has seven different systems installed from 7.6.1 to Tiger, 8.6 is the one I use most, followed by 9.1. (It has 7.6.1, 8.1, 8.6, 9.1, 9.2.2, 10.3.9 and 10.4.11. It needs XPostFacto for running OS X, of course. It's almost decent in OS X with the full 1 GB of RAM -- 8 x 128MB -- and a Sonnet 1 GHz G4 card.)

I imagine 7.6.1 must be fast on that 1 GHz G4. 😀

If you don't mind me asking, how do 8.1 and 8.6 compare in terms of performance/snappiness on the machine? Is 8.1 noticeably faster?

 

[Project Alice]

Awesome stuff, pretty cool to see it working on more machines 🙂

(hopefully my modded TBXI ROM works for you too 🙂 )

I just read through your original thread on the Pismo. I am going to try this out on a slot loading iMac G3, 400Mhz that I believe shipped with 9.0.4. How exactly would I modify the ROM? I assume you only changed the models that you have for the powerbook and MDD, so I would either have to keep the OF trick or add the iMac into the rom.

 

[LightBulbFun]

the modified ROM I provided should be "bootable" on any PPC Mac 🙂 (does not necessarily mean it will boot, just that OF will make an attempt at loading it)

its worth noting that I tested it out on my Early 2001 iMac, PowerMac2,2 where it sadly did not work

however some earlier slot loading iMacs, PowerMac2,1 did ship with 8.6 natively so i imagine those would work, and work quite well at that

 

[alectrona6400]

mac os 7.6.1 goes bondi blue when

 

[ziggy29]

I imagine 7.6.1 must be fast on that 1 GHz G4. 😀

If you don't mind me asking, how do 8.1 and 8.6 compare in terms of performance/snappiness on the machine? Is 8.1 noticeably faster?

Not really. With a processor that far advanced of the software, it's almost like trying to clock the speed of sound from 50 feet away compared to, say, 80 feet away. There is probably a difference, but all are fast enough that the absolute difference is too small to really notice.

I do notice a little bit of slowdown in 9.2.2 compared to 8.6, though. Not much, but I feel it. (And a lot, of course, when running Tiger.)

The thing about 7.6.1 is that I have to pull out my ADB keyboard and mouse, which can be kinda fun in an old school/retro way some times. I can reliably use USB for I/O devices in 8.1, but USB storage devices don't work for me until 8.6. And, of course, in 7.6.1 I can't read the HFS+ partitions where the other systems are installed.

In 7.6.1, I have

 

[galgot]

I've been wanting to try this for quite some time...

View attachment 825510

View attachment 825511

View attachment 825512

It's an original 500 MHz model. I used the 8.6 image for the Sawtooth, copied in the ATI and FireWire kexts from the stock 9.1 volume and did the OF trickery to spoof a PowerBook2,1. I've only played with it for a couple of minutes but it feels very responsive. I'm going to monitor CPU temps as @AphoticD had thermal problems with 8.6 on his Pismo.

Next step is to use the modified Mac OS ROM @LightBulbFun made so no OF trickery is required. Another nod to @LightBulbFun as his 8.6-on-Pismo thread inspired me to try this. 🙂

So, do I have the world's sexiest OS 8.6 machine? 😀

Sorry for unearthing this thread, but where can I find that modified ROM ?
I think installing 8.6 (my favorite) on a 500Mhz Ti will be one of my next project .

 

[Amethyst1]

Sorry for unearthing this thread, but where can I find that modified ROM ?

#7

 

[galgot]

#7

Thank you Sir.