system software - on another disk, no start up

Hi all

I am new to MAC I have run into a problem. I have a dual partition of OSX and OS9. From within OSX I selected the OS9 partition:

desktop>system preferences> selected the partition. When the machine tries to reboot I get this message:

"the system software on the startup disk only functions on the original media, not if copied to another drive"

Does any one know how to resolve this? I have tried using different key combinations at start up, for example holding down the shift key (doing so after the apple tone), also I have tried holding down the s key, as well as
holding down the apple key,options key and R+P keys, the apple tone starts a second time only to display the same error message.

I have thought about fsck or disk utility and I have tried to get into standalone single user mode, none of which have worked, this is a real conundrum and I would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

You don't tell us what kind of machine you are using. As far as I know, G4, G5 and Intel Macintosh Computers can't boot using Mac OS 9, they need OS X to boot.

Some G4s can boot into OS 9. My iMac G4 has a dual boot, OS9 and OS X. But I entirely agree that the OP has left out too much information for us to help.

That error message happens when someone tries to copy the contents of a System 9 install disk instead of actually running the installer. There is no repair, pram zap, etc. You have to run the installer.

Sherman Homan said:

That error message happens when someone tries to copy the contents of a System 9 install disk instead of actually running the installer. There is no repair, pram zap, etc. You have to run the installer.

Click to expand...

Yes, I would expect that the error message is telling the truth in this case. You must start the Mac from an OS 9 CD and install the OS properly. Assuming, of course that the Mac in question supports booting from OS 9.

Dear All thanks for your replies, Macs are a new world to me. The OS is an i-mac G4, I agree it might have to be a re-install. Though is there any way to use a repair utility from the start up disk (OS 9 CD) rather than an re-installation?

Sherman Homan said:

That error message happens when someone tries to copy the contents of a System 9 install disk instead of actually running the installer. There is no repair, pram zap, etc. You have to run the installer.

Click to expand...

I lost my OS 9 install disks years ago, and simply drag one of a zillion backups to any drive or partition I want to use with OS 9. Install disks aren't required.

Perhaps the OS 9 system is an install set for a specific model, not a retail copy for any Mac that can run 9.

Though is there any way to use a repair utility from the start up disk (OS 9 CD) rather than an re-installation?

Click to expand...

You might be able to run some kind of repair on OS 9 with Disk Utility running from the OS X partition. It wouldn't do any harm, anyway. But you can't fix OS X from OS 9.

If OS X's Disk Utility can't fix OS 9, you'll need a repair app, such as Norton's Disk Doctor built for OS 9.

But under no circumstances should you run Norton, whether for OS 9 or an early OS X, on your OS X partition. Norton will destroy it.

Brown Study said:

I lost my OS 9 install disks years ago, and simply drag one of a zillion backups to any drive or partition I want to use with OS 9. Install disks aren't required.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice the above is good to know. But I cannot get this far as my machine balks on startup, if I manage to repair; back ups are on the cards.

Brown Study said:

You might be able to run some kind of repair on OS 9 with Disk Utility running from the OS X partition. It wouldn't do any harm, anyway. But you can't fix OS X from OS 9.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, is that the case with all Mac Operating Systems? For example if I had a partition with OS7 and OS8 would I only be able to reach/repair OS8 from OS7? And also what is the utility to use?

Brown Study said:

If OS X's Disk Utility can't fix OS 9, you'll need a repair app, such as Norton's Disk Doctor built for OS 9.

Click to expand...

At the moment I can only assume that I am in OS 9, this is because I get the traditional apple happy face icon at start up, and not the blue desktop with swishy curves associated with OSX and Panther. I am still anxious and don't want to blow the whole machine by trying Norton, this is in case somehow both Op Syts are running under the hood.

ps - Is Norton a free utility?

I have a G4 with one OS X partition and two OS 9 partitions, and have juggled them so often that I know the following works, assuming the systems are not corrupted.

Boot the machine while holding down the Option/Alt key (the process takes a while, so be patient as you hold down the Option key).

You will be presented with a choice of systems to start the computer. Using the mouse, click on the OS X system, then click on the arrow at the right. If OS X is working properly, the computer will start up using OS X.

This is a temporary start-up choice, so if you wish to make it permanent, and after the machine is running, go into the OS X preferences, choose the startup disk control and click on the OS X startup choice. Don't bother restarting; just close the window. The next time the machine boots, it will use OS X.

As well, you can force the machine to boot from System X by holding down the X key when starting. As before, if you wish to make this permanent, go into the preferences to the startup-disk control, and click on System X.

To correct the boot problem with System 9, and when the machine is running in System X, double-click the OS 9 partition's icon on the desktop, then 9's system folder.

Inside 9's system folder are two extensions folders. Open the one labelled Extensions (Disabled) and drag all the extensions within it into the folder labelled Extensions. After this, you can close all the folders if you wish. Then go to System X's startup-disk control panel, choose System 9 and reboot.

Assuming the computer boots into 9, you can then use the Extensions Manager control panel to again move the superfluous extensions back into the Extensions (Disabled) folder.

For example if I had a partition with OS7 and OS8 would I only be able to reach/repair OS8 from OS7? And also what is the utility to use?

Click to expand...

You probably would be able to repair OS 8 when running OS 7. Certainly you could fix 7 with 8. But OS X is a completely different kettle of fish. It is a version of Unix, so there is nothing about X that is compatible with any Mac system previous to it, except in similarities to its appearance, all of which are programming. Never, never, never run Norton's Disk Doctor or Norton's Speed Disk defrag app on System X. Both will wreck it beyond repair.

Norton's Disk Doctor, however, is an excellent repair application for OS 9 and previous Mac systems (it is not free) which is why I have two OS 9 partitions, one being very small and running only the bare essentials — plus Norton Utilities and Disk Warrior. I use the small OS 9 partition to fix and defrag the large OS 9 partition.

But if you can find a Norton Utilities for OS 9 disk, you don't need two partitions for 9. You could boot from the Norton repair disk to fix any OS 9 problems.

If you find a Norton Utilities disk on ebay or elsewhere, make sure it's for OS 9, not any previous system. Norton Utilities for System 7, for example, is too old for System 9.

I lost the Norton startup disk (too many moves across the country), so I have to use a backup, meaning I need to run Norton from another partition. That's much faster than a using disk, anyway.

Brown Study said:

Boot the machine while holding down the Option/Alt key (the process takes a while, so be patient as you hold down the Option key).

Click to expand...

Brown Study said:

As well, you can force the machine to boot from System X by holding down the X key when starting. As before, if you wish to make this permanent, go into the preferences to the startup-disk control, and click on System X.

Click to expand...

Hi - once again thanks for the info, I have tried the two rebooting options:

Method 1: Holding Down X (for OSX)
Method 2: Holding Down alt/options (For partition selection)

Sadly neither of which worked, so I am not even able to select a permanent partition, in sys prefs.
I will hunt down the 'Norton Repair Disk' or failing that I will have to reinstall with an OSX cd.

Also thanks for the info about the extensions I will implement that when things are fixed and running.