Fixing OS 9 under OS X

dodginess

dodginess

Registered
Hi All,

I'm using an eMac that I bought a couple of years ago that came with a dual-boot install (just before they were phased out) and have just started having a lot of problems with OS 9 after copying some old software to the machine.

I think the problem was created after I rebuilt the desktop and the normal file type mappings for QuickTime, Acrobat and SimpleText were reassigned to the old versions that had inadvertently sneaked their way in with the old software. As a consequence, I now get a lot of error code 3 and 10 messages, and BBEdit comes up with a message about being unable to purge a block (presumably something to do with the memory). Most of the carbon applications I have installed also crash, though not in OS X.

So - on to the OS X bit - is there a way to reinstall OS 9 from the dual-boot install disks? These disks install both systems at the same time then automatically boots up into OS X on completion, but I can't find any obvious way to just reinstall OS 9.

So, any advice anyone?

Many Thanks,

dodginess
 
From the lack of responese, it looks like there is no way to do what you want to do. So why not try copying all the important files and information from both Operating Systems onto a seperate drive and reinstalling your boot combo disk thingie. Basically you'de be doing a reformat. It's going to sting, but it looks like it has to be done.

Good Luck! :)
 
I'm pretty sure you can't install Mac OS 9 on a partition if it already has a Mac OS X installation.

To fix your problem, you'd need to format the partition, install Mac OS 9, then install Mac OS X after 9. This should fix the problem.
 
Hi All,

Thanks for the help everyone - I finally managed to get everything back in order thanks to the trusty Software Restore disks (after some interesting diversions into the heady world of installation packages and Pacifist...).

For anyone else with the same problem, bobw's link is the one to go for. However, I also have some additional points that might be of use:

1) Despite initial appearances, the Software Restore process isn't quite as worrying as it looks - I say this because for the first part of the installation process it goes through the usual "copying to drive..." and "optimising..." dialogues without actually telling you what software it's (re)installing - in truth, it hasn't really installed anything at this point and it's when you get to the second installer that you can then choose which components (four options in total, including OS 9) to reinstall.

2) Before you do any of this, make sure you've also looked at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60847 which is pretty much the worse case scenario - everything on the partition gets lost. The difference here is that this procedure is for OS 10.1 users with bootable OS 9 Software Restore disks (which mine isn't - fortunately!) which, to my mind, is a pretty crummy way to do things, given the alternative offered to 10.2 users onwards. In this case *don't* run the Software Restore before you've got everything important off of your system or you'll live to regret it... :( On that note, does anyone know if there is a 'safe' version of this Software Restore that can be run from within OS X - rather than booting from the disk?

3) Before you even run Software Restore (and you're booted into OS X) make sure you rename or move your OS 9 System Folder - you'll almost certainly need to change the permissions on the folder to do this. I don't know whether the Software Restore procedure renames it anyway but I wouldn't like to take that chance.

4) Assuming that OS 9 is now reinstalled, your system may not quite be ready to start using it yet. Firstly, you need to go into the System Preferences, choose the Classic option, stop the Classic environment then select your new OS 9 folder. Then, close the System Preferences, go back into them then start Classic as normal.

5) Finally, looking at the folder views you'll notice that the new OS 9 system folder probably isn't 'blessed' (or designated as the active one). To correct this, change the startup disk in the System Preferences to the old/renamed OS 9 folder, then restart. Now go to the startup disk preferences in the old OS 9 control panel and select the new OS 9 system folder. When restarted, the new OS 9 system will then be 'blessed' and you'll have to go through the initial registration process again on startup. At this point, you can then boot back into OS X and start putting your old OS 9 file preferences and fonts into the new OS 9 system folder.

Phew - I think that's got everything covered for now - perhaps! :)

Many Thanks,

dodginess
 
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