My father runs a business using primarily OS 9. He will not (and I don't think that he can) use OS X.

PowerMac G3 B&W 400MHz
Powerbook G3 400MHz

He needs to have special software installed to use his printer, fax, CD-RW, scanner, and (for OS 9.1) external Hard Drive on both computers.

In 2005, his Powerbook refused to boot up... gave an error -127 message after the "Starting up" screen. We had to do an archive & install to get a new system folder. This was the first time that such a problem had been experienced, and he had been using OS 9.2 on that machine for over two years. This problem did not seem to appear on his PowerMac.

After doing an erase & install later, he reinstalled his software for OS 9.2.1 (or 9.2.2, doesn't seem to make a difference), then installed the software for his printer, fax, CD-RW, and scanner. The machine system crashed again (gave the -127 error).

We've also noticed that the problem does not occur (as frequently) when OS 9.1 is installed.

But then, in early 2006, the PowerMac started doing the exact same thing!! Exact same problems, exact same -127 error. It now happens with both computers. It doesn't even seem to matter if we do an archive & install or a full erase and install, then reinstall all of his software. We MUST have all of this software on BOTH computers, but we need to use OS 9.2.x to do so, and that means that we will have to reinstall all of our data again every time we install the drivers for all of this software.

Just today, his Powerbook crashed (-127) spontaneously.

I've searched through the whole entire internet twice before and have not found anything remotely close to a solution anywhere ever.

I'm getting sick and tired of having to troubleshoot his stupid computer problems every two months! It's making us both angry. This conflict a problem that has been going on for a full year. My father claims that it's a problem with OS 9.2.x, and he's absolutely panicky about installing any new software on either computer for life for the likelihood of another system crash. What the hell is going on?! This is a critical issue and must be dealt with soon.

[seanc]

Jobs put OS 9 to bed for a reason.

Have you tried booting with extensions off?

Does he have any need for OS 9? You could see what happens with 8.6.

I looked up your error in here Mac OS System Error Codes: 0 to -261

127 fsDSIntErr Internal file system error

OR

127 dsHMenuFindErr Could not find HMenu's parent in MenuKey

Tried a new hard drive? Tried disk first aid? Tried disabling some extensions?

[mduell]

Are there any S.M.A.R.T. utilities for OS9? It would be a good idea to check the parameter values.

[Sherman Homan]

If I remember correctly, System 9.1 is about as far as you need to go on those machines. System 9.2 was really about laying the foundation for installing OS X. Why do you need 9.2? Do you have a peripheral that requires it?

[JKT]

Sherman is right - there is no need to upgrade to 9.2.x if you are not using OS X. Just stick with OS 9.1.x if it is working OK.

He needs to have special software installed to use his printer, fax, CD-RW, scanner, and (for OS 9.1) external Hard Drive on both computers.

You could find out if he would need that "special" software installed if he upgraded to OS X 10.3. The PowerMac could be used as the test bed. Even if he needs OS 9 for specific software, he could find it is much easier to use it via Classic in OS X (because, if it crashes, at least OS X keeps running) than it is to stick with OS 9.

[Big Mac]

You could invest a lot of time into making his computer work again, or you could do him a favor and get him to upgrade to OS X, as others have stated. What is the "special software" that he uses on OS 9?

[fisherKing]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

You could invest a lot of time into making his computer work again, or you could do him a favor and get him to upgrade to OS X, as others have stated. What is the "special software" that he uses on OS 9?

am in agreement; time to move to os x. what app is holding him back??

[ibook_steve]

OS X will make life much easier (I'll bet money there are drivers for the devices needed), but there's a very good chance that there's a hard drive issue here. I'd replace it before reinstalling OS 9 or installing OS X.

Steve

I have no idea how to do a parameter test for S.M.A.R.T. disks in OS 9...

Yeah, I'd like to have him use only OS 9.1. I don't recall the application/driver that he said needs 9.2. He's resistant to using OS X altogether, but I'll see if I can get him to run classic instead.

[Oneota]

Tell him he needs to get out of his comfort zone for the 20 minutes it'll take him to learn OS X and have him make the switch. Within an hour he'll be good-to-go and won't want to look back.

BTW: We've run all sorts of disk utilities, from the basic stuff to Norton, and, for the most part, he's not had any disk errors returned to him from running the programs. He thus claims that it's not a hard drive problem and still a software conflict.

[Big Mac]

Do you experience that 127 bomb when you startup with extensions off? If not, do you experience it when you startup with only Apple extensions (using Extensions Manager control panel to select OS 9 Base)?

[Powerbook]

Originally Posted by Andrej 

BTW: We've run all sorts of disk utilities, from the basic stuff to Norton, and, for the most part, he's not had any disk errors returned to him from running the programs. He thus claims that it's not a hard drive problem and still a software conflict.

That doesn't mean anything. Get a new harddisk and see what's happening. IIRC you can see the s.m.a.r.t. status in Apple's HD Tool (at least in OS X).
Oh, and Classic can absolutely be the Trojan into OSX.

Regards
PB.

[SierraDragon]

Your dad is using hardware/OS that is too old for cost-effective professional use. The time that you and he are spending - and will spend in the future - coping with truly antique (for a "business owner") hardware/software would be much better spent in getting current with modern hardware and OS.

Sorry, but that is the facts of (computer) life. A Macbook Pro (or even a Macbook) with 2 GB RAM will replace both of his existing dinosaurs, and he can still use his existing monitor. If he really needs OS 9 because of some enterprise-critical app he can buy the last of the G-series dual processor towers that boots OS 9 or a G5 that runs Classic.

-Allen Wicks

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by seanc 

Does he have any need for OS 9? You could see what happens with 8.6.

Powerbook G3 won't boot in 8.6. Mine came with 9.0.2

[zehspoon1]

Have you tried to zap the PRAM? (Command-Option-R-P when booting up) Have you tried to boot from the original cd's/disks that came with the computers and then try to rebuild the desktop file on the computers hard drive?

Try these and see what happens

[parsec_kadets]

Considering I switched back in the 10.0 days because OS X was Unix, I'm not the most knowledgeable about OS 9 trouble shooting. But I would like to point out that maybe you should convince your dad to try a little experiment next time you decide you need to do a clean install. Ask him which he thinks would be a bigger headache at this point, dealing with this unknown error every two months until he retires, or taking a few weeks to learn the most recent Mac OS. If he's anywhere as frustrated as you are, I'm betting he'll be willing to try it on one of the systems as a test bed. Once he sees that he can still run all the same software that he could in OS 9, without buying new versions, I bet he'll start to come around.

But, I do understand his resistance as well. If this is really a hard drive issue, as others have suggested, then upgrading to OS X won't solve that and you'll continue to have problems. You need to consider which is more likely, a hard drive issue or a software issue. Once you make that decision, go from there.

[SierraDragon]

Really old hardware and old OS versions are fine for hobbyists where the pleasure is in taking the time to find and implement all the little tweaks that will make the old setups do real work. However it is an inappropriate way to approach real work.

I have an orange-grower friend who maintains an old (Model A Ford genre) truck complete with old orange crates. Runs ok and it is great for parades but she would not dream of trying to haul oranges to market with it every day.

I am still going through the process of upgrading my 86 year old dad's business computer usage to MacIntel, so I do understand the issues in upgrading. However when we do not upgrade in a planned fashion, sooner or later we have to deal with enterprise critical failure of some kind.

-Allen Wicks