os9.0.4 install on a powerbook g3 series running os 8.1

hello all... my first post here. maybe you can help...

first, do i need an earlier version of 9.0 instead of 9.0.4 to upgrade from 8.1?

next, in the install instructions there seem to be a lot of different ways to have software or hardware conflicts. i'm not really a mac guru and just use this computer to play around with once in a while.

when i tried to install it said something to the effect of can not install... read documentation.
yeah, thanks. there's a lot of documentation!

also, it nearly crashed it in the process... i had to restart it a bunch of times before it would get past the pc puzzle piece during startup.

???????

if your system is at OS 8.1. Then you will need at copy of OS 9.0. 9.0.4 is just and update to 9.0. If you are planning to upgrade to OS 9. Then don't stop at 9.0.4 but bring it up to the final version of 9.2.2.

good to know... thanks.
i do have both of the update disks you speak of but not the 9.0 install