Hello folks I am having problems in installing OS 9 on G3 B&W. All I get when I boot the CD is a white folder with a question mark and then it freezes up. Now this G3 had OS-X on it but I need to install 9 to get classic support. Oh yeah the cd for OS 9 is labeled Imac and I was wondering if this was the problem or does this not make a difference ? Is there any kind of work around I could use to get classic support ?
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Need help with a G3 B&W and OS 9
- Thread starter Drift3r
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I don't think the fact that the CD is for the iMac makes a difference. I've never run into a problem using CD restore discs on different Macs. You might not have OS 9 drivers installed on your hard drive. If you still can boot in OS X, go to Disk Utility in Applications > Utilities. Click on the drive, and select Info. Look down the list to see if Mac OS 9 drivers are installed. If they are not, you need to reformat the drive, and select to install the drivers. To do this, boot off the OS X CD and go to one of the menus and find Disk Utility.
It's quite likely that your computer knows it's not an iMac. Those restore disks are good about knowing when they're on the wrong computer.
Nah, I used an Panther eMac restore DVD on a Pismo a couple days ago. Try the OS 9 drivers, and if you've swapped out your standard CD drive for another, that might be the problem as well (from experience).
Actually I did do this. I had to replace the drive because it was broken/malfunctioning with another one from a PC. If this is the problem is there a work around this ?
Are you using a true OS9 CD, or are you using a Software Restore CD labeled as OS9 and for an iMac? There is a difference when using the older Restore CDs. I don't know about the OSX restore CDs since I haven't tried that, but I do know there are fundamental differences in how AppleSoftware Restore works for OS9 vs. OSX. The CDs that shipped as Restore CDs were many times machine specific, and the folder/question mark indicates that it can't find a system folder to boot from. What color is the CD you're using? It is probably white or grey. If I'm right and you are using a CD that says Software Restore, you need to try and find the one labeled Software Install. Even if labeled for an iMac it should have an OS installer on it.
Another alternative would be to borrow the software restore CDs from a friend with a relatively new mac (shipped with OSX10.2 or 10.3) and follow the instructions in Apple knowledge base article #107383.
You can also download OS9 if you don't mind the wait. You need to download 9.1 first, then update if you wish to 9.2.2 (there may be some intermediate updates required.)
Another alternative would be to borrow the software restore CDs from a friend with a relatively new mac (shipped with OSX10.2 or 10.3) and follow the instructions in Apple knowledge base article #107383.
You can also download OS9 if you don't mind the wait. You need to download 9.1 first, then update if you wish to 9.2.2 (there may be some intermediate updates required.)
Where can I download OS 9 from Apples website ? I have cable so I it won't be to much of a wait. I could then could burn it onto a disc on my PC and take it to work and try it out on the G3 there. I would burn it on the G3 but A.) It does not have a cd-burner and B.) there is no internet connection in the room it's in at my job.
I'm about 95% certain you can't download OS 9. You can download the OS 9 updates--so if you had 9.0 you could upgrade to 9.1 or 9.22. I think I tried to do that once.
My mistake on the download option. You do need 9.0 first. I saw 9.1 and didn't notice it was and update, not a full install.
Do you have access to any other restore/system CDs from another machine? Everything on Apple's site indicates you need either a retail version of the OS9 CD, or a set of restore CDs from a machine that shipped with OS9 or later. (Even the newest machines with Panther include the OS9 software for Classic, and there are instructions on Apple's site for installing OS9 from Panther restore DVDs.) So if you don't have access to either of the above you may be out of luck.
Apparently the CD drive worked fine since he was able to install OSX. I know from experience with the first systems that started coming with "restore" CDs that having a compatible CD is critical. The CD he has that is labeled iMac may be specific to iMac hardware. It wasn't until OSX came along that bootable CDs were more machine independent, but even then there are issues, although they are usually if you are trying to boot a machine that is newer than the one the CD shipped with.
Just ran across this while looking for something else:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/pdf/MacOS_9.2_Upgrade_Form_v3.pdf
You need a retail version of Panther to allow you to purchase OS9 from Apple for $20. Seems like they should offer it for nothing more than the cost of the CD and shipping, since without OS9 you can't use Classic. A machine such as the B&W G3 did not ship with 9 (I think it shipped with OS8.5), so how are you supposed to get 9 to go along with OSX? But that is the Apple way.
You can also check out this discussion on Apple's boards - there is some discussion there of the CD compatibility issue as well as suggestions for sites where you can purchase a retail copy of OS9.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?128@89.ycffaoBbaRP.4@.599ebf92
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/pdf/MacOS_9.2_Upgrade_Form_v3.pdf
You need a retail version of Panther to allow you to purchase OS9 from Apple for $20. Seems like they should offer it for nothing more than the cost of the CD and shipping, since without OS9 you can't use Classic. A machine such as the B&W G3 did not ship with 9 (I think it shipped with OS8.5), so how are you supposed to get 9 to go along with OSX? But that is the Apple way.
You can also check out this discussion on Apple's boards - there is some discussion there of the CD compatibility issue as well as suggestions for sites where you can purchase a retail copy of OS9.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?128@89.ycffaoBbaRP.4@.599ebf92
One more possibility to try and boot from the CD. Boot to OSX, insert the CD from the iMac, and go to the Startup Disk preference pane. If you can see the CD/OS9 as an option, try selecting it an restarting. If not, it is not a bootable CD for that system.
Mine will boot from any OS X disc (CD, DVD, or HDD) perfectly fine too, but when I want to use OS 9 I have to swap out the burner (Dell OEM) for the Apple OEM I pulled. I don't know why it happens.
I should read posts more carefully - I thought it was the hard drive that drift3r replaced, and missed the fact that it was now a PC CD drive. So it may be worthwhile trying to get an Apple drive back in there. The reason it would make a difference is the same reason you can't always use an external drive to boot. When the system boots in 9, it reads some of the firmware from ROM, then loads the remaining firmware from a file in the System Folder. So it needs to have a system folder to completely load the firmware. The firmware in ROM knows enough about standard Apple hardware to load drivers and access drives before it even begins to load the OS. But it can't recognize the PC CD drive, and can't find OS9 on the hard drive since it isn't yet installed. (Although at that point it should boot in X.)
Thinking along those lines, does the G3 have an Apple keyboard? I have a third party keyboard, and I cannot use keyboard commands at startup. So in my case I can't boot from a CD unless I specify it in the Startup Disk control panel.
Depending on what specific CD drift3r is using, it still may not be capable of booting a B&W G3 even if the CD drive and keyboard are Apple.