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99RedSi · Dec 31, 2003, 08:16 PM

I have a Power Mac 5500/250 that I'm trying to install 9.1 on and for some reason, my 250MB HD with 7.6.1 gives me a message that 9.1 "can't be installed on this computer" when I attempt to run it from the CD (not boot from the CD).

I read somewhere on Apple's website that you have to go from a minimum of 8.5 in order to get to 9.1. Is this true?

If so, can I go from 7.5.5 (another hard drive) or 7.6.1 straight to 8.5 and then to 9.1 from there?

HELP!

Thanks

Eriamjh · Dec 31, 2003, 08:53 PM

It has nothing to do with going from 7.5 to 9.1. It might be because you are trying to install 9.2.1 or 9.2.2. According to Apple, 9.1 is supported on the 5500.

There are versions of 9.1 that are only for G3 or G3 upgraded machines. Do you have the full retail version of 9.1?

There is no minimum OS to upgrade from because every retail OS system is a full install. There are upgrade OS CDs put out by apple that require usually a X.0 system to start with.

Verify what you are installing.

Lateralus · Jan 1, 2004, 01:21 AM

You cannot do an install of OS 9 on a machine running any less than 8.6 (8.5, maybe) as I recall. Mostly because the Finder itself in System/OS 7.x is so different that it is not capable of handling the install functions required by the installer.

So, essentially, you need to boot from your OS 9.1 CD to install. If you still get an error, it may be because of your RAM. I believe OS 9 requires 32MBs as a minium, or, it may be your available disk space. I know for a fact that 9.2.2 requires well over 250MBs of disk space, but the 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 updates are so large in size that they make 9.2.2 about 2x the size of OS 9.1.

So, to recap:

1) Boot from your CD.
2) Make sure you have enough RAM.
3) Make sure you have enough disk space.

Good luck.

Eriamjh · Jan 1, 2004, 10:38 AM

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
You cannot do an install of OS 9 on a machine running any less than 8.6 (8.5, maybe) as I recall. Mostly because the Finder itself in System/OS 7.x is so different that it is not capable of handling the install functions required by the installer.

What about a clean install?

Lateralus · Jan 1, 2004, 02:30 PM

Oh yeah, a clean install should work just fine I would imagine, the 5500 is a fully supported machine.

Just that he would need to back up any preferences or extentions that he wants to keep that are already in the current System Folder.