OS 10.4 Tiger and Classic

[Soton Speed]

I have just purchased a copy of Tiger and was wondering what classic support there is? Having just done a quick search of the net, it seems that the classic enviroment is there but not necessarily the ability to boot into OS 9.2 - which I need (don't ask!).

The situation at the moment is that I have an eMac with 10.2.8 and I want to do a clean install of Tiger. Will the classic files/drivers come from the Tiger DVD or will I have to go back to the Jaguar disks that came with the computer?

Thanks in advance,

Soton.

 

[eva01]

unless your eMac came originally with os 9 it cannot boot into 9 no matter what.

If you mean running classic then it is on the install DVD but does not auto install you have to custom install then you have classic ability.

 

[yippy]

The ability to boot OS 9 is determined by your computer hardware, not what operating system you are running on it currently. The retail Tiger disks have Tiger and only Tiger on them, they don't even have a lot of the preinstalled apps that came with your computer. To get them and classic you will have to pull out the original Jaguar restore disks that came in the box with your computer. That said, Tiger is completely compatible with classic and allows you to change the booting to OS 9 as long as your computer supports it.

 

[ahunter3]

According to MacTracker, the last eMac that could boot OS 9 natively was the model codenamed "Northern Lights", released May 2003. The CPU was either 800 MHz or 1 GHz. MacTracker lists it as being discontinued in October 2003 and replaced with a model that seems identical in every way except that it optionally contained a SuperDrive instead of a Combo Drive and it shipped with 10.3 preinstalled; this model may conceivably also boot OS 9 (can't tell from the way the entry is worded). This model was discontinued in April 2004. They have the same Machine ID (PowerMac4,4). This site seems to indicate that if the eMac has a SuperDrive, it won't boot OS 9.

The next model, introduced April '04, has a different Machine ID (PowerMac6,4) and came with 10.3.3 preinstalled.



Both sources indicate that the last eMacs that would boot OS 9 would only be able to use the version that shipped with the hardware, not over-the-counter retail copies of OS 9.2.2

 

[IJ Reilly]

Why do a clean install in the first place?

This question makes a perfect case for why they should only be performed when absolutely necessary -- which is rarely. Otherwise, clean installs are simply needless disruptions.

 

[Soton Speed]

Ok. Thaks for the quick replies so far.

My eMac was one of the original (700Mhz G4) ones. It can boot in OS 9 because I did that earlier today.

By the sounds of things I should just go ahead and install Tiger straight with no messing with wiping the harddrive, though I am still tempted as this will force me to do a proper backup, plus the computer is 4 years old now and a clean slate looks tempting.

Soton.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Resist temptation.

Seriously, if you can't, go for an archive and install. You'll get the fresh OS installation without disrupting your users, applications, or the Classic environment.