[Josh Reid]

Here's my problem..

I'm selling my iMac, in which I installed a new hard drive. (It's a DV SE).

I started installing the OS using the original Software Restore discs and then I used my original OS 9 disc to upgrade that.

Then I installed OS 10.2, and I want to restart the machine in OS 9 to do further updates. However, when I boot from an OS 9 CD and go to the Starup Disk Control Panel, unlike in OS 10, rather than showing the option of starting in 9 or 10, it only shows the option of starting with the Hard Disk or Mac OS CD. Also when I hold the option key at startup and choose the hard disk, it boots into 10.

Until I create a user account, it will not let me access OS 10 enough that I can get to the System Prefs. There is still updating I need to do in OS 9, and when I ship the computer out to a buyer, I'd prefer it to boot in 9.

I know this has to be possible, as when I sold my old iBook I had both 9 & 10 on there, had it boot into 9, and I did not have to create a user account.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Josh

[BJPirt]

you need to use a more up to date os9 boot cd if you want to select from multiple system folders on one partition. I think this feature first made it into the startup disk control panel in 9.1 (IIRC)

Does the OS X installer not make you create a user account anyway though?

BJPirt

[superlarry]

Originally posted by BJPirt:

Does the OS X installer not make you create a user account anyway though?

BJPirt

you can quit the installer at the part where it has you enter your user info. this shuts down the computer, and it still opens to it on the next startup (the groovy Welcome to Macintosh video).
I agree about the system 9 cd - i think you'll need to find a newer one because, like your firmware, older versions can't choose between multiple partitions on the same drive.

[Josh Reid]

Ok, what I'm doing then, is booting using my System CD from my Late 2001 iBook. I didn't realize that that was an option because when I tried to do a clean install on and older iMac using my iMac DV CDs, it wouldn't let me since it wasn't the proper system software. I didn't consider that even though I wouldn't be able to use my iBook CD to restore the iMac, I can use it to boot and select a hard drive.

Oh and as far as OS X forcing me to create a user account upon startup, I'm not worried about that. I plan on shipping the computer to boot in OS 9, and if the buyer chooses to boot into 10, then it will be all ready for them to create an account. The only problem with that is OS X has you enter information to register the computer, which obviously a second-owner won't be able to do..

Thanks for the help!

Josh

[Truepop]

Better late then never.

bare with me I am new here.

You could boot to a cd (OS 9 disc or one made with BootCD) and change the boot options there. then restart.

[starman]

Do what I did - ask the person what they want the login/pass to be.

Mike

[Angus_D]

Or just leave the HD uninitialized and make them install it. Like what Apple does with Software Restore CDs and modern macs

[JB72]

Or just make the password "password" with a sticky note advising him to change it ASAP. Of course you'd still have to know what he wanted for a user name.

Good questions though. I've thought about this a bit myself.

[Brass]

There is actually a way of deleting all users in Mac OS X, and setting the initial-install welcome screen to appear after reboot. I did it for a friend's computer when he sold it.

i can't quite remember the procedure, but I found it on this forum. So search for it here.

[Brass]

Originally posted by Brass:
There is actually a way of deleting all users in Mac OS X, and setting the initial-install welcome screen to appear after reboot. I did it for a friend's computer when he sold it.

i can't quite remember the procedure, but I found it on this forum. So search for it here.

aha, found it here:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=131553

See the second post. These instruction work like a charm.

[vasu]

Back in the old days, the computer didn't come with the OS installed.

I remember turning on my IIsi, a naive computer user at the time, and being confused by the flashing disk icon.

-vasu

[superlarry]

Originally posted by superlarry:
you can quit the installer at the part where it has you enter your user info. this shuts down the computer, and it still opens to it on the next startup (the groovy Welcome to Macintosh video).

this is the easiest way - you either hit command-q or the power button (i forget which) before you enter any registration information, and it'll ask if you're sure you want to quit. next time you turn the computer on, it'll go to the registration screen again.

[piracy]

Is the OS 9 system folder blessed? (Does it have the normal icon of a system folder visible when you boot off the OS 9 CD?)

If not, you might have to just open, then close, the Mac OS 9 system folder, which "blesses" it. After this, it should show up as a boot option in the OS 9 CD's startup disk control panel regardless.

Otherwise, you can certainly boot into X and have it go through the setup assistant again by booting into single user mode,
and deleting the file

/var/db/.AppleSetupDone

This causes the setup assistant to run again.

But the only reason X's startup disk prefpane would find the OS 9 system is because it manually searches for, and blesses, valid systems itself. As it is right now, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to boot into 9 unless:

1. The drive was improperly formatted, in which case X won't even allow this, or

2. The System Folder isn't blessed.

Good luck.

[Josh Reid]

Hello All..

My main problem of not being able to boot back into 9 was solved with the help of others, but I've thought of another question...

To the folks that are saying that after installing OS X, that if you shut down without creating a user account, that when it restarts it shows the setup assistant again....well that's fine, but what about this...I installed 10.2 on the iMac I'm selling, but would like to update it to 10.2.4, as well as the updated iTunes, iPhoto, etc before I sell it....This is impossible without creating a user account. That is my complaint, that with OS X, you can only do a simple install from CD and no more unless you create an account. In OS 9, you can make changes or updates to the system without it forcing you to create an account...

Anyhow, not much we can do about it, but I just thought I'd clear up my problem/complaint.

-Josh

[Brass]

Originally posted by Josh Reid:
Hello All..

My main problem of not being able to boot back into 9 was solved with the help of others, but I've thought of another question...

To the folks that are saying that after installing OS X, that if you shut down without creating a user account, that when it restarts it shows the setup assistant again....well that's fine, but what about this...I installed 10.2 on the iMac I'm selling, but would like to update it to 10.2.4, as well as the updated iTunes, iPhoto, etc before I sell it....This is impossible without creating a user account. That is my complaint, that with OS X, you can only do a simple install from CD and no more unless you create an account. In OS 9, you can make changes or updates to the system without it forcing you to create an account...

Anyhow, not much we can do about it, but I just thought I'd clear up my problem/complaint.

-Josh

See my earlier post (above) and the thread at:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=131553

This explains clearly how to do whatever you want to your Mac OS X installatino, and then delete all user accounts and have it boot back to the original welcome screen.

Actually, let me spell it out here, to save you clicking to the other thread...

Delete all the users on the system.

Boot into single user mode.

mount -uw /
rm everything from /Library
rm everything except Shared from /Users
rm everything from /var/db/netinfo
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone

Does this solve your problem?

[mark9939]

Originally posted by starman:
Do what I did - ask the person what they want the login/pass to be.

Mike

Yeah, that's what I did too. It's a lot less of a hassle than figuring out boot stuff.