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DoraExplorer · 10:15 PM

I bought an old Bondi iMac (233 w/64MB) for my 1st grade classroom - just for the kids to use. No internet, nothing except kid software.

It had 8.5 on it, and I'm downloading 8.6 to upgrade. But I noticed that I have an unused 9.2.1 disk from a new eMac that I bought. Can I use that disk to upgrade the Bondi? Is 9.2 too much for it?

A lot of the kids' software is 8.6 compatible, but a lot require 9 (with a 266). If I CAN use the 9.2.1 disk I have, is it worth it?

Thanks!

Jacke · Mar 13, 2004, 09:08 PM

Originally posted by DoraExplorer:

It had 8.5 on it, and I'm downloading 8.6 to upgrade. But I noticed that I have an unused 9.0 disk from a new eMac that I bought. Can I use that disk to upgrade the Bondi? Is 9.0 too much for it?

9.0 is definitely not too much for it (I've had 9.x on a bondi iMac myself), but what you need to keep in mind that it may not be possible to install from that CD. The installation CDs that come with the computer are usually hardware-specific, meaning that even if you can install, there's a risk that important software doesn't get installed.

I have a good example: I had borrowed an iMac Mac OS 9 installation CD from a friend. As I was going to install it on an iMac, I didn't think it would matter that the CD had come with another model of iMac. I installed it and it seemed to work fine, up until I was going to dial-up to connect to the internet; it just wouldn't do it. I did everything I could with it, checking Appletalk settings, cables etc. but to no awail. Then I started looking at the extensions and discovered that an extension controlling the built-in modem present in the old System folder was missing in the new System folder. I was able to solve it by simply adding the extension to the new System folder, but if stuff gets changed around like that between different models of iMacs, I'd be extra careful with using eMac install CDs on an old iMac, if it works at all.

DoraExplorer · Mar 13, 2004, 10:17 PM

Originally posted by Jacke:
but what you need to keep in mind that it may not be possible to install from that CD. The installation CDs that come with the computer are usually hardware-specific, meaning that even if you can install, there's a risk that important software doesn't get installed.

Thanks for the warning, Jacke. I was afraid that it might not work.

Eriamjh · Mar 14, 2004, 09:40 PM

Use a retail copy of 9.2.X and you'll be fine.

philzilla · Mar 15, 2004, 07:55 PM

check ebay for it? you could definitely do with running 9.1, at least, in case CarbonLib is required by any of the software you want to install.

cenutrio · Mar 19, 2004, 04:15 PM

OS9 works fine in the bondi. I even upgraded my bondi to Panther and was impressed with performance.

DoraExplorer · Mar 30, 2004, 11:22 PM

Originally posted by philzilla:
check ebay for it? you could definitely do with running 9.1, at least, in case CarbonLib is required by any of the software you want to install.

oK, now I'm getting confused. I did check eBay. But the CDs they show look just like the one I have from my eMac! How do I know if I'm getting the right version?

Jacke · Mar 31, 2004, 07:10 AM

Originally posted by DoraExplorer:
oK, now I'm getting confused. I did check eBay. But the CDs they show look just like the one I have from my eMac! How do I know if I'm getting the right version?

If it's an eMac only CD it will be written on it "eMac install CD" or something similar (not sure as only have localized versions). When you insert it into the computer it will also be called "eMac install". But I could be wrong about it, it's been a while since I had a need to use OS 9 CDs...
If it's the full OS 9 it should be named "Mac OS 9" (the CD, that is).

If you're feeling experimental you could just try to install from that CD and see what happens, just remember to back up your important stuff.

indigoimac · Apr 6, 2004, 06:12 PM

I have found that the instal cds are generally not hardware specific, they're just OEM
thus you should have no problems put it in and boot up with the c key pressed down and it should work w/o a problem!

goMac · Apr 6, 2004, 07:32 PM

I don't think you'll have a problem using the emac install cd.

swichd · May 2, 2004, 10:12 PM

Originally posted by indigoimac:
I have found that the instal cds are generally not hardware specific, they're just OEM
thus you should have no problems put it in and boot up with the c key pressed down and it should work w/o a problem!

Very, true. I've used OS 9.1 cds from 500 Mhz imacs in all kinds of macs (5500/225, 5200/120?)

Saad · May 16, 2004, 06:19 PM

I think 9.2 was a bit faster than the other versions of 9.

Lateralus · May 17, 2004, 12:11 AM

I recommend 8.6. It is as feature rich as 9 is, but it is much less of a resource hog and it runs quite a bit faster on lower end G3s in my experience. 8.6 is my favorite pre-OS X Mac OS release to date.

So, unless, you actually need 9, I think you'd be more than happy with 8.6.

Saad · May 17, 2004, 12:39 PM

Yeah, you're right. 8.5 was carbonized, so you should be able to run most classic software.

mmintler · May 20, 2004, 10:43 PM

I just inherited an original imac also. I want to set it up for my 9 y/o niece-a great first computer.

However, I just turned it on for the first time and realized it has 8.1 installed. I ordered a bunch of education software from software-blowouts.com- and most of the software requires 9.0 and above.

I own a 9.0 (don't remember if I purchased it retail or it came with an older computer) and 9.2 CD's. I tried starting up from the 9.0 CD and it told me that I needed to update my computers firmware. I tried using the same CD and the update firmware app in the extras folder. I got an error saying that the update only works on G3 powermacs.

Not sure what to do next. I've searched apple's site for the firmware update but no luck so far.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Mark

bradoesch · May 22, 2004, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by Saad:
Yeah, you're right. 8.5 was carbonized, so you should be able to run most classic software.

I think you mean 8.6. Also, the operating system wasn't carbonized, there is a CarbonLib extension for 8.6-9.2.2 that allows those versions to run Carbonized software.

Originally posted by mmintler:
I just inherited an original imac also. I want to set it up for my 9 y/o niece-a great first computer.

However, I just turned it on for the first time and realized it has 8.1 installed. I ordered a bunch of education software from software-blowouts.com- and most of the software requires 9.0 and above.

I own a 9.0 (don't remember if I purchased it retail or it came with an older computer) and 9.2 CD's. I tried starting up from the 9.0 CD and it told me that I needed to update my computers firmware. I tried using the same CD and the update firmware app in the extras folder. I got an error saying that the update only works on G3 powermacs.

Not sure what to do next. I've searched apple's site for the firmware update but no luck so far.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Mark

I've posted a link to the firmware in 2 other threads, and I'm far too lazy to look it up again.

tooki · May 23, 2004, 09:15 PM

Originally posted by bradoesch:
I think you mean 8.6. Also, the operating system wasn't carbonized, there is a CarbonLib extension for 8.6-9.2.2 that allows those versions to run Carbonized software.

CarbonLib 1.0 shipped with Mac OS 8.1. Yes, 8.1.

Anyway, I honestly don't think there's any perceptible difference in speed between 8.6 and 9.x. Remember that 9.0 was originally going to be named 8.7.

As of Mac OS 9, it's also not true that the Mac OS install discs that ship with Macs are tied to that machine. A few earlier versions did (not all!), typically when there wasn't enough room on the disc for support for all models.

I routinely used Mac OS 9 install discs from various Power Macs, iMacs, and eMacs on all manner of Macs.

Now, I do have to point out that buying one of those discs from eBay isn't fully legal: they're just the media, and you're not buying the license! That said, I doubt Apple would make a fuss now about an OS they discontinued several years ago already.

tooki

nJm · Jun 13, 2004, 08:50 PM

I don't know if this is true of everyone elses experiences or not, but I have been playing around with my old PowerMac 7200/120 recently. Os 8.6 is REALLY slow. I used an unused iMac G3 400's OS9 restore CD. To get it to work I just mounted the harddrive.img file and copied its contents to the 7200's HD. Works like a dream. It is a little slow loading the OS compared to say 7.3.5, but everything else is quite nice to use. The biggest improvement from Os 8.6 is that Internet Explorer can actually load up webpages at a normal speed. This is all with 32mb of ram and 1mb video ram.