System 9 on newer PPC

Why? Apple quit updating OS 9 prior to machines equipped with the "Intrepid" motherboard chipset shipping. It's a sharp line: Machines with DDR RAM sockets (The most obvious way to tell if a machine is Intrepid-powered) don't run OS 9, period. I don't think there's any exception to this rule.

I'm sure writing the driver support for these machines would of been trivial if Apple had been interested, but they weren't. They probably fired the last programmers that knew OS 9 a few weeks after 9.2.2 came out to make *sure* it never happened.

--Peace

I read that one of the last OS 9 based macTest CDs had an updated ROM file, and it *Might* be possible to boot the 867mhz Powerbook G4 12". It was designed for an iMac, but rules were made to be broken. Now we just need to find someone with a copy of it to test it.

-digital

I'll try to remember this next year when I repeat the same thoughts of how neat it would be if I could run OS 9 w/ say, Pro Tools 3.4 AND Pro Tools FREE 5.1 on a 1GHz PowerBook.

so... PCI Graphics & AGPs will still boot 9, yeah? Well, performance should still be pretty insane on those...

but... that's like half a thing there digital...
Where'd you hear this?

it's been flying around the internet since 2003.

Here is a forum topic about it: http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Number=128961

I hope it's true.

-digital

why not pick up a 1ghz tibook on ebay? yea not cheap, and they have the hinge issues, but those were the fastest macs ever to run os 9. easy to mod too.

Jeezlouis I wonder if there's any apple specialists and/or apple techs that might go take a look and confirm that this does, indeed, not exist (so I can get on with my life).

googled it ... have hoping to see if a dev.apple link popped up with "download" in the description

It doesn't work. The discs will only boot certain machines. As for the OS 9 cut off - any mac introduced in January of 03 or later is incapable of booting OS 9. (pretty much anything with bluetooth or airport extreme from the factory). There has been the odd eMac from 03 that will run OS 9, but I don't believe that full functionality of the hardware was enabled in os 9.

As for the fastest machines that can run OS 9 natively - the 1ghz tibook is the last and fastest powerbook to be capable, and the MDD Power Mac G4's that do NOT have fw800 are capable of booting into OS 9 (I believe that a dual 1.25 ghz was the top model).

For OS 9, I keep 2000/2001 vintage machines around for when I get so much as an inkling that I want to do something in it.

All iBook G3's can boot OS 9, but none of the iBook G4's
All TiBooks can boot OS 9, but none of the AiBooks
All PM G4's that did not have FW800 from the factory can boot OS 9.

The hardware consistent on machines not capable of booting OS 9 is below
- bluetooth
- airport extreme
- fw800 (not all machines not capable of handling OS 9 have this, but a good number do)

If I recall correctly, due to the backlash of no OS 9 support on the fw800 PM G4's and the G5's, Apple re-released the fw400 MDD G4 so folks could have an OS 9 bootable machine in mid 2003 - it was a reissue of the 2002 model.

In most cases Airport Extreme is a reliable indicator of OS X only machines, but the first generation "ATI Graphics" eMacs are the *one* counterexample. They're the only machines Apple made that had SDRAM sockets (UNI-N memory controller) *and* an AirPort Extreme socket on the motherboard. Which means they boot OS 9, but the Airport Extreme doesn't work. (I.E., that's the "unsupported" hardware.)

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107440

--Peace

the first MDDs had DDR RAM and they did run OS 9.

You're right. Apparently in the desktop machines they had *yet another* memory controller called "U2".

So, basically, there's no bloody way to tell. USB 2.0 or Firewire 800 on the motherboard makes it a definate *no*, Airport Extreme or DDR RAM means "Probably not", but there's still a grey area.

Anyway. Why anyone would want to run OS 9 anymore is another question entirely, but...

--Peace

one good reason why i still run os9. Tomb Raider!