Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Classic Macs and Mac OS > Is there _anyway_ to boot OS9 on new macs?

Is there _anyway_ to boot OS9 on new macs?
Thread Tools
xfesty
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2004, 05:27 AM
 
Hi,

Understand why the new macs won't boot OS9, but is there any way to do it (neat hacks or tricks to fake the missing bits)?

I've got some applications (inc. some games) that don't run well under Classic, but worked nicely under OS9 on my old G4 400. I can't use them at all now on my G4 1.25. D'oh.
     
MacMatt
Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Tennessee
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2004, 01:44 PM
 
Originally posted by xfesty:
Hi,

Understand why the new macs won't boot OS9, but is there any way to do it (neat hacks or tricks to fake the missing bits)?

I've got some applications (inc. some games) that don't run well under Classic, but worked nicely under OS9 on my old G4 400. I can't use them at all now on my G4 1.25. D'oh.
I just got a new G4/1.25/MDD model...it came with OS9.2.2 installed along with OSX.2.7. I immediately upgraded OSX to 10.3.5. My G4 will let me boot in either OSX or OS9. Will not yours do the same?

I wanted to be able to boot OS9 from a partition on another HD...The new computer would not do this with an existing secondary HD with OS9.2.2 I had used on another G4.

So I replaced the System Folder on the second HD with a copy of the System Folder from the new G4...The second HD then booted okay...only problem was getting preferences, extensions, etc. set up to run the applications. This took a little while but I can now boot from the second HD and run all the apps I had installed there.

If I remember correctly, I copied the System Folder while booted in the new computer and it kept the blessed smiley face.

Matt
     
JMHammer
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: New York City
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2004, 02:31 PM
 
MacMatt-

The newer Mac models do not include the ROMs necessary to boot into Mac OS 9. A Mac which does have the required ROMs and has a properly formatted hard drive and a properly configured System Folder will be able to boot into Mac OS 9, as you discovered. Unfortunately, xfesty's Mac doesn't have the ROMs.

I'm not aware of any hacks that emulate those ROMs. And it's very possible that, even with the ROMs, Mac OS 9 could not properly drive the new hardware and it would simply fail to boot � or give you so many problems you'll wish it hadn't booted.

Best wishes,
John H
     
nJm
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2004, 10:23 PM
 
I'd like to be able to boot OS 9 on my iBook G4. I have some software that will only run directly in OS9, not classic, and I no longer have any other Macs in the house (well other than a 7200/120, but that doesn't really count).
MBP 2.16ghz 15"
iMac G5 1.6Ghz 17"
Powermac 7200/120
     
Big Mac
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 11, 2004, 08:26 AM
 
AFAIK, it is not that new Macs lack something required by OS 9 to boot. It certainly is not ROMs - new world Macs (G3s and higher) don't even include traditional Mac ROMs. Rather, it is that the new Macs have new hardware that OS 9 does not support. Every time even a minor upgrade to a Mac came out, modification of OS 9 was required. The newer Macs have newer processors and motherboards, and it would take work for Apple to update OS 9 to run on them. Apple officially buried OS 9, which was a pretty strong sign that the OS was dead in all but its Classic form. The Mac OS is dead. Long live Mac OS X!

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
bowwowman
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 27, 2004, 09:42 AM
 
AFAIK, it is not that new Macs lack something required by OS 9 to boot.
It is not that they "lack" anything, but they do "include" firmware that blocks them from booting any Mac OS that is older than the one they shipped with....

It certainly is not ROMs - new world Macs (G3s and higher) don't even include traditional Mac ROMs.
They dont include "traditional" roms, but they most certainly DO include "new world" roms....
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
Eriamjh
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: BFE
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 27, 2004, 05:06 PM
 
Don't you people understand the concept of "not supported"?

G5s won't boot OS9 any more than you can run OS8 on a 68030, or OS8.5 on a 68040.

The software was simply not written to support those machines. It was left out. Sometimes, Apple chooses not to support machines even though the code is there for those machines to work. The web site OS9Forever.com has some tips on how to get OS9.2.2 running on "unsupported" machines.

If you can find a programmer who really knows OSes and Mac hardware, I'm sure he could write the necessary code to boot any Mac into OS9. But it would take a lot of work and time.

If you need OS9, but a machine that OS9 supports booting to OS9. Trying to run OS9 on a G5 is like trying to run System 7 on a G4. Old OSes do not support new hardware.

I'm a bird. I am the 1% (of pets).
     
Person Man
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Northwest Ohio
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 27, 2004, 05:49 PM
 
Originally posted by bowwowman:
It is not that they "lack" anything, but they do "include" firmware that blocks them from booting any Mac OS that is older than the one they shipped with....

They dont include "traditional" roms, but they most certainly DO include "new world" roms....
No, Apple has done NOTHING to intentionally block newer Macs from booting into OS 9. Rather, they are no longer updating OS 9 to support the new motherboards.

Each new motherboard has required a few changes to Mac OS 9 to support it and be able to boot it. Some of these changes have been included in the "Mac OS ROM" file, and some of them have been included in other files (such as the System suitcase, among other things).

Since Apple officially declared OS 9 dead, they are no longer putting forth the effort to write the new drivers for the motherboard. Since they are doing that, there is no need to write support for dual booting into the boot ROMS on the new machines.

There IS NO INTENTIONAL BLOCK, that if removed, would let the machines boot into OS 9.
     
Big Mac
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 28, 2004, 01:17 AM
 
Originally posted by bowwowman:
IThey dont include "traditional" roms, but they most certainly DO include "new world" roms....
Bowwowman, you make it sound as if you're contradicting me, but you're saying exactly what I said. A little annoying, I must say.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
bowwowman
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 28, 2004, 06:48 PM
 
Originally posted by Person Man:

There IS NO INTENTIONAL BLOCK, that if removed, would let the machines boot into OS 9.
The block IS intentional, but is NOT OS 9 specific and has been present since the B&W's came out. It will not allow a "new world" machine boot into an OS that is older than the one that was installed by apple.

ANYONE can write device/mobo drivers, given the proper tools and knowledge, but only A P P L E can write & retains 100% control over it's boot rom code. Seems pretty friggin "intentional" to me .....

Even the G5's don't ship with classic installed anymore. You have to go digging into the restore CD's to find & install it, after which you STILL can't boot directly into OS 9, only use it as a compatibility layer for older apps. I suppose you're gonna tell me this isn't intentional too

Face the facts folks, Apple wants everyone to buy shiny new G5's, thereby switching over to OS X, and leave OS 9 to collect dust & rot in it's coffin.........
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
Person Man
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Northwest Ohio
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 2, 2004, 01:16 PM
 
Originally posted by bowwowman:
The block IS intentional, but is NOT OS 9 specific and has been present since the B&W's came out. It will not allow a "new world" machine boot into an OS that is older than the one that was installed by apple.
No, the block IS NOT intentional. How many times do I have to say this? The reason newer computers cannot run the earlier operating systems is that Apple DID NOT UPDATE THE EARLIER VERSIONS TO RUN ON THE NEWER MACHINES, not the other way around (i.e. by your logic, all newer machines can run the older operating systems simply by removing the block).

What you are implying by saying that there is an "intentional block" is that the block can be removed. The fact that Apple is intentionally not updating older releases of the operating system IS NOT the same as Apple "intentionally blocking" the machine from running the older OS. The end result MIGHT be the same. But there is no "intentional block." Think of it more as intentionally ignoring earlier releases of the operating system when building new machines.

Saying that Apple "includes an intentional block" implys to less technical users that there is a way to "disable" said block. That cannot be done, so it is not an intentional block.

Bottom line... there is a BIG difference between intentionally blocking and intentionally ignoring something (to intentionally block something would mean devoting the resources to getting the older operating system to work on the newer machine and then disabling it in the firmware. To intentionally ignore means to devote no resources to the older operating system).
     
Eriamjh
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: BFE
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 6, 2004, 11:37 AM
 
I think it's time to say that OS9 is dead.

Now why can't I run OS8 on my G5?

I'm a bird. I am the 1% (of pets).
     
   
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:04 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,