On Sep 9, 2009, at 2:27 PM, Lawrence David Eden wrote: > When I try to use the OS 9.2.2 installation disk, I hit a dead end. > The Mac wants an OS 9 System Folder to launch the installer....
Assuming the OS 9 drivers were installed when the HD was initially partitioned, you should be able to install OS 9. There weren't any 9.2.2 installation discs, so I assume you mean 9.2.1 or 9.1? You need to boot from the disc by holding the "C" key, and then you may be able to install if the OS 9 drivers were installed when the HD was formatted. Other options would include installing OS 9 onto a USB flash drive, although that would be a little slower since you're limited to USB 1.1 on these old iMacs. You could also install OS 9 onto any external Firewire HD for higher speed and complete boot support. A power USB external will also boot, but like the flash drive option, very slowly. You'd need to use the Option key at startup to select a USB drive. If the HD doesn't have the OS 9 drivers, I don't think there is an easy way to add them without reformatting the HD. There is a slim chance you could "add" OS 9 drivers to an existing HD by booting an OS 9 install CD and going to Utilities Folder>Drive Setup and highlighting the HD and using the option "Upgrade HDD drivers", which IF AVAILABLE, will give a warning "the existing HDD driver is newer than the one you are installing, are you sure you want to proceed", in which case you'll want to say "yes", but, you'd better have a good backup because I've never done this and I'm not certain it works without ruining the OS X System? Also, sometimes when OS 9 is installed 2nd onto the same partition as OS X you end up with a non-bootable OS 9 System which only functions as a "Classic" emulation under OS X. This is a good reason to keep OS 9 and OS X on separate partitions or separate drives if possible. If you can get along with Classic emulation, I've even read that some people have been able to successfully run Classic from a CD. It's not the install CD, but rather a special CD that has a clone of an installed System on it. That's handy because then to run Classic you simply place the CD into the drive, go to OS X's System Preferences>Classic and point it at the CD. You'd need to Google some for better instructions on using a CD as Classic. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
