[birdman]

I recently got an iMac DV that came with OS 9 pre-installed. Now I'm at college, and for some reason OS 9 does not work with our AppleTalk network (it can't find any zones to connect to). Our tech people have said that people have been having problems with the new iMacs (and OS 9). I was going to try to downgrade to OS 8.6 on my second hard drive partition (so I could still have OS 9 on the first partition), but the 8.6 CD will not let me run the installer. I can't even boot from the 8.6 CD or copy the system folder and startup from there.

Why can't I install 8.6? For now, I'm stuck with OS 9 and no internet connection on my computer (I'm using my roommate's right now). Other people who have older iMacs here with 8.6 are having no problems at all.

You are not alone! I am a Mac technician and I have come across the same situation (with 8.6 not booting iMac DV's). When the DV's were first released, they came with 8.6 installed, but it was an updated CD version (fine print on the CD below the boot instructions). Unfortunately, I don't remember the version needed to boot your machine. All we have in the warehouse now is OS 9, so I have nothing to reference. Hopefully, someone here can provide the correct 8.6 version.

[Misha]

Can't you use the system restore CD that came with your iMac to boot from and install 8.6?

[birdman]

No, my iMac DV came with an OS 9 CD, so I can't get 8.6 to install on my computer (I'm guessing for the reason mentioned above by someone else). However, I'm thinking that the reason I can't connect to the internet is because my college's network is old.

You cannot load an OS on ANY Mac that was made before your Mac was made: your Mac apparently needs OS 9 or up. This has been the case with Macs since the system 7 days. You MUST have OS 9 for your Mac because the ROMs on the motherboard were written for OS 9 or up ONLY, NO EXCEPTIONS.

------------------
Get your b&w mac on teh web:
http://www.eden.com/~arena/jagshouse/jagshouseone.html

[birdman]

Thank you everyone for your help and input. I have found two auctions on eBay where people are selling OS 8.6 CDs, and I have written to them to see if they are the old or new iMac versions. Hopefully, 8.6 will allow me to connect to my college's old network. (If not, I'll always have OS 9 on my other hard drive partition, so nothing lost.)

[lehman]

OS 8.6 WILL run on it. What you have to do is put in your 8.6 CD, restart the machine, while the machine is restarting hold down "c" on you key board until it says OS 8.6 and the CD background is on. Worked for me.

[birdman]

Depending on the ROM version that's on the OS 8.6 CD, it will only work with slot-loading or non-slot-loading iMacs. As has been discussed here, the very first slot-loading iMacs (the three models currently shipping, including DV models) shipped WITH 8.6, and apparently those 8.6 CDs had the newer ROM version on them (which was written in fine print on the disc). All non-slot-loading iMacs can use the older 8.6 CDs.

I have tried using an 8.6 CD from an older iMac, and it does not install or boot up on my iMac DV (whether with the Startup Disk control panel or holding down "c" during startup). Apparently what I need to get is one of the 8.6 CDs that shipped with slot-loading iMacs and try installing that.

However, there is still no guarantee that it will work with my school's network (labeled "old" by Apple), which was just upgraded last year at a millions-of-dollars expense, and probably will not be upgraded again soon. Meanwhile, my school's tech people are still trying to find a solution. Unfortunately, there may not be one, and Apple's dream of integrating the internet into the OS may fail in this case -- at an educational institution no less! Is mine the only college having this problem?

As I mentioned above, I have found two OS 8.6 CDs on eBay, but one person wrote back saying that there is no "fine print" on the CD designating it as being for the new iMac. I may have to just call Apple and ask for a slot-loading iMac 8.6 CD.

[Misha]

I believe that the iMacs came with a special version of Mac OS 8.6 for allowing the OS to run on the new iMacs. As such, retails copies of OS 8.6 most likely won't function on your new iMac.

Misha, you are correct. If the 8.6 CD's for sale are the retail versions, they will not work with the iMac DV.

Birdamn: See if there is any way to confirm that these CD's are retail versions or not. If they are not, hopefully they will be the correct version for your machine. Unfortunately, I am thinking they are the retail CD's. I don't know why anyone would be selling the original system disks that came with their machine so soon. Of course, if they jumped on the OS 9 bandwagon early and are not having any problems...

[birdman]

Bluefire 529:

Both people I found who were auctioning OS 8.6 CDs on eBay wrote back saying that they are the older version, and don't have anything with them that says they are for the slot-loading iMacs.

The good news is, someone has told me that my college's computer network people may have developed a patch that will allow OS 9 to work with our network, so maybe I'll get internet access after all! However, as of yet I have not received a call from them.

Here's hoping...

Best of luck to you. I will keep an eye open for something around here for you, if you would like.

I had an interesting idea...I have never tried it myself so I am not sure if it will work or not, but here it is: copy everything on the old 8.6 CD to your second hard drive. Then replace the ROM file on the "CD" on your second HD with your current ROM file. Then try booting off of this disk to install a full version of the MacOS.
Hope this works

Hey, Klin:

Are the ROM files not OS-dependant? I figured that a ROM file for OS 9 was not backward compatible (that it would make some calls to the new OS). Just curious...

[Keda]

I was working with an iBook (OS9) and networking to my G3266(8.6). The iBook would put an error saying 'The NSL plug-in "SLP Plug-in" could not be loaded' I called Apple, and they said that OS9 uses some new networking components in AppleTalk. They said that this could lead to problems conecting to older versions of the OS.

I have a color classic and I had been using a newer version f appletalk on it before I upgraded the OS to 7.5.5.

This is just an idea, but could you possibly use an older version of AppleTalk (and its components) w/OS9?

bluefire:
I am not really sure because I have a 7600/132 upgraded to G3, which doesn't use ROM files. This is why I said I wasn't sure it would work. I just thought it was worth a try.

bluefire:
I am not really sure because I have a 7600/132 upgraded to G3, which doesn't use ROM files. This is why I said I wasn't sure it would work. I just thought it was worth a try.

[birdman]

Once again, thank you all for helping me out with this situation. I'm typing this now from MY iMac, WITH an internet conncetion! Apparently the problem is with DHCP (an ethernet option which assigns IP addresses at our school--look in your TCP/IP control panel, it's there). I'm still not sure exactly why DHCP won't work... but our networking consultant assigned me an IP address, and I entered it manually into the TCP/IP control panel, and everything works now.

So really, I have no reason to downgrade to OS 8.6 now, unless something else goes wrong (considering not all software is exactly what I'd call "stable" under OS 9 yet).

[This message has been edited by birdman (edited 01-16-2000).]

hey birdman,

glad you're working, but just a word of caution, now that you have a permanent ip address, remember to turn off file sharing unless you need it. Or at least turn off guest access. Without a changing ip address you are vulnerable to access by anyone that can sniff your address and log in to your machine. This is the same with any long term or permanent ip address.

Mark

[birdman]

Thanks for the reminder. Yes, I have guest access turned off. I still have the TCP sharing turn on though, in case I ever need to connect from home on the weekend or so that my friends elsewhere can access my shared files (I added them to a special group that has access priviledges with a password).