Booting Mac OS 9 on New iMac

D

Dris

The Benevolent
Okay, I'm not sure how this problem works.

I just bought a new iMac, and I want to boot it up in Mac OS 9. It comes with Mac OS X.2.6, and Classic works just fine. I've got a Mac OS 9 system folder in my hard drive. However, when I go to the Startup Disk preference pane, the Mac OS 9 startup is not visible.

I'm used to doing this from my older iMac. Worked just fine.

What do I have to do to get the thing to start up in Mac OS 9?

Thanks in advance!
 
Okay, I did a little more searching, and found that Apple disabled Mac OS 9 booting by modifying the ROM on 2003 iMacs.

The reason I want to boot into Mac OS 9 is solely performance. I remember using Mac OS 9 on CPU-intensive apps on my old iMacs, and the speed difference was noticeable (I like OS X better, but it's still not "up to speed" with OS 9).

So, my new question is, has anyone found out how to boot these machines into Mac OS 9, bypassing Apple's tinkering? I know there was a CD out there only available to Apple retailers that allowed it, and I'm sure it leaked, but before I go searching, does anyone know of a better (more legal) way?
 
Do you really want to risk voiding your warranty and damaging your machine just for a little performance boost?

I'd say, if you need to boot into 9, use your old iMac. I have a 400 Mhz iMac and it works quite well in 9. If you just want a little performance gain, you should just suck it up and get used to using Classic. It may be slow, but it should be fine for most of your purposes.

When Panther comes out, it should boast numerous speed enhancements, including Classic emulation. Hopefully you can regain some of that lost performance if you buy 10.3.
 
There probably is a hack, but I would not risk killing your warranty.
How much memory is on the new machine? Adding another 256MB will speed it up. You will notice a difference then.
 
Well, I still want to be able to boot into Mac OS 9 if I want to. I don't think it's that big a deal. The performance gain I noticed wasn't something petty. It really was quite substantial.

If I feel I'm not getting the most out of my computer, that's just how it is (hey, this runs alright in X, I wonder how much better it will run in 9). And since when have so many Mac users been so opposed to voiding their warranties?

Okay, I'm aware of the various risks involved, but I was just wanting to see my options. I wouldn't do something stupid.

Also, I think I was misunderstood. The programs I'm talking about aren't run in Classic, but they're Carbon apps that run in both X and 9.

Buy more RAM? I've already doubled it, and I'm not exactly in the situation where I can just run out and get it on a whim. If I were, I'd have myself a G5 in waiting. :D

Thanks for the suggestions though. I appreciate it. And I am hoping that 10.3 will be closer to pre-X performance.
 
I can well understand wanting to use some programs in OS 9 rather than the Classic environment or natively in OS X. Photoshop and Melody Assistant, for example, are both Carbon programs that function much better on my iMac in OS 9 than in OS X or the Classic environment (which is unusable due to the hole that no one seems to know how to fix...).

Many Mac users are against voiding their warranty because they want to be able to count on Apple's tech support if an emergency occurs. Many users do go around the rules and perform hacks and cracks on their Macs that Apple lacks the policy to support (who, rhyme-mania there!), but they often don't depend on their machine to make a living (often, not always; some professionals do hack their machines, but not many, in this manner).

I know it's frustrating to have less power than you're used to, but think of it as the price to pay for stability, multitasking and preemptive memory (I find it quite annoying when something freezes my iMac and I have to restart it, which happens all too frequently).
 
Indeed, I would take Mac OS X over Classic any day. :D However, I do think Panther will come quite close to making things comparable to Mac OS 9. We'll just have to wait and see.
 
I'd really like it if Panther could emulate every piece of Mac OS 9, so programs that previously wouldn't boot into Classic would now work flawlessly. That would make my day so well.
 
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