Can I run MacOS 8.6 on my PowerBase 180? I currently use 7.5.5.

[weric]

I think it will work. Currently, I am runing a PowerBase 240 MT and MacOS 9. I haven't had any problems (yet), and I don't think there are that many differences between the 180 and 240.

Eric Tyson http://thelee.simplenet.com/

Most Definitely!!
8.6 is a great version of MacOS and runs beautifully on the PowerBase 180...I've used it on my PB 180 since it came out and find it to be rock-solid and packed with neat-o features. You'll probably need to transfer your original CD-ROM driver into the new Extensions folder though; this is the only iffy part of going to 8.6.
Incidently, I'm running a PowerLogix G3 card in my PB 180 now, also with MacOS 8.6, a Maxtor 8.4-gig hard drive, and a VooDoo3 video card -- the old PB 180 can absorb a lot hot-rodding!!!

I believe the concern here is not that the OS won't work, but that the disk driver installed by Drive Setup is incompatible unless you completely backup and wipe the drive ahead of time. That would be your safest procedure...

Machaus: I didn't have to do that to install 8.6, but I had traversed through 7.3.x -> 7.5.x -> 7.6 -> 8.0 -> 8.1 -> 8.5 before getting to 8.6. It is important to do the driver updates. Another issue is that the PB 180 doesn't like to boot off 8.x System CDs, so you need to keep an old 7.x System CD in case you NEED a CD boot (or an 8.6 System backup on Zip or a floppy boot disk.) Also be sure to do a Clean Install.

[bryanb]

it may work, but its one of those things that Apple says you can't do. System 8.5 through 9.0 are not certified for use on any of the clones.

I have a Powerbase 180 that I upgraded with a PowerLogix G3 card and a Grappler 940UW Ultra Wide SCSI card. I have in the past run 8.6 fine and now run MacOS 9 okay too. Grappler card a little slow on startup, but after that the speed up is great. Keep the PC Input control panel if you use or plan to use a PS2 style keyboard (I use the Logitech wireless type). PCC's screensaver also still works. My microphone is not working, but that may be hardware related and not MacOS. Haven't looked into it. Can't say about 8.6 without the PowerForce G3 card, but otherwise I am fine.

Rick

Funny, I have not had the problem booting from any of the MacOS CD's using the command option control delete (I believe that is right) keystroke at startup. Prehaps it is because I got the SCSI disk option when I purchased it. It is a SCSI CD. Or it might be because I have upgraded FWB CD Toolkit (be sure to get the Philips driver if you do).

Rick

We have 20 PowerBase 180 systems. I was having lots of problems with 8.6 on these, so I backed them up to 8.5.1. Since that time I have seen some things that lead me to believe that 8.6 wasn't the problem at all, but I only have a couple of systems running 8.6 now, and it's too soon to tell if the problems are fixed. They seem pretty stable, though.

Just so you know, I always do a low-level format on the drives of these machines with HDT 3.0.2 before installing the system. This seems to help a lot with stability.

Also, regarding the CD-ROM booting problem: I also have this problem (unable to boot from a CD) on SOME, but not all, of the PBase 180s by holding down the "C" key at startup. It seems to have to do with the manufacturer of the CD-ROM drive. We bought the computers in two different batches, and Power Computing changed vendors in between. The older machines have problems, where the newer ones are more likely to work. The only truly reliable method, though, is to bypass the startup disk (option-command-shift-delete).


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Steve Reubart
Information Systems Manager
North Central Association of Colleges & Schools

[ferg]

Anyone Know about OS9 on a UMAX c600x?

What about a G3 upgrade for these machines?