I installed OS 9 on a 99 Bronze key PowerBook and it generally works well. However, I have two problems when trying to wake it from sleep mode. First, the sound output rarely works after sleep--I have to reboot to make it work again. Second, if it has been asleep for an extended period, I sometimes lose the finder when it wakes. Interestingly, the applications will still be present, but no finder icon. As I succesively quit the applications, I can sometimes have the finder reappear after I quit the last app, but it doesn't work. So, I have to reboot the entire system. I had been using Multiple Users and wondered if that was the culprit, but the same problem occurs even with that disabled.
This is distressingly like the old 7.6 problems. Any ideas?

[gtabbott]

I used to have all sorts of sleep problems with my Lombard 400. I got my PowerBook soon after they were released, so I kept waiting for Apple to release a fix.

Turns out the problem was the PB's ROM -- and a fix was on the Restore CD that came with the PowerBook! I ran the ROM updater, and sleep hasn't been a problem since (now running a very stable OS 9). I don't know if you have a later machine (that may have shipped with the update) or have performed the update, but it's worth a look.

Other than that, check your OS 9 installation. For the first few weeks, OS 9 was nothing but a headache--very unstable and unpredictable. I ended up backing up my drives, reinitializing them (in the process regaining the Gig I'd set up with linux), and then installing OS 9. It worked wonders and I've been a happy camper since.

I don't know whether either of these will solve your problem, but I thought I should mention them, just in case...

Tod Abbott.

Thanks. As long as I know that it can be stable, I will do what several have suggested: Reinitialize the hard drive and start with a clean install of OS9. It seems like a headache in the short run, but I am sure that it will save a lot of time in the future.