OS9 Reboot problem

[Kevriano]

Hi guys - please excuse my ignorance here! I never had OS9 myself!

A friend of mine is stuck trying to reboot his G3 imac.
He is getting either a grey screen with line command text, or a grey screen with the Apple icon. I know he was trying to install Jaguar at the time.
I have a feeling that it can't find a start up volume, but do not know how to fix this in OS9.
I have included a couple of images to see if that helps you.
Any feedback gratefully received, as it's his aunts machine and she'll not be best pleased if he kills her beloved Mac!
Thanks in advance!

 

[NanoBite]

I'm not 100% sure on this but the upgrade needs to be done with a retail version of Jaguar and not a Jaguar Disc that came with a Mac that had Jaguar already installed on it ...

Also to upgrade to Jaguar (OS X) you need to have OS 9.2.2 installed.

If you're running Mac OS 9.0 or earlier and plan to upgrade an existing Macintosh, it can be slightly tricky to obtain the software you need alongside OS X 10.2. OS X requires the latest and last version of OS 9, version 9.2.2, which OS X 10.2 doesn't include.

This baffles slightly late adopters who wonder if Apple is trying to slip them a Catch-22. In fact, it's mere economics: Apple expects that most users running systems that can handle OS 9, long ago purchased the 9.1 upgrade and used the free interim releases to move up to 9.2.2.
You have two options to get your hands on OS 9.2.2 in CD-ROM form: Purchase a full installation copy of OS X 10.1, some of which are still available through mail order and other retailers for about $129. The OS X 10.1 package includes a full install Mac OS 9.2 CD-ROM. For about $20, for a limited time, you can order the 10.2 upgrade directly from Apple. Limitations may apply, as Apple isn't officially selling OS X 10.1 any longer.

That info is very dated (2002) but the fact that the full installation copy of OS X 10.1 came with a full install Mac OS 9.2 CD-ROM is interesting.

 

[Kevriano]

Thanks. The mac did have os9 installed - not sure if it was 9.2.2 , but I guess it was.
The Jag discs are upgrade discs I believe, which may have caused the problem.
Do you think it's possible to get it going by reinstalling os9?

 

[NanoBite]

If they are upgrade discs you need to have 10.1 installed AFAIK, so they won't work in this instance.

 

[Kevriano]

Thought as much. Is it a case of reinstalling 9.2.2, then 10.1 and so on then?

 

[NanoBite]

I found some info which will hopefully make the transition to OS X easier for you:

Migration anxiety 9.2.2 to Jaguar

Mac OS X updating FAQ

From what I've read, you do need to have OS 9.2.2 installed before you can further upgrade.

In one of those links, somebody suggest buying an 2nd HD and installing Jaguar on it. This way you still have a workable OS if something goes wrong. I also read that apparantly printing was so much easier under OS 9, or so they say.

Let us know how it all goes Kevriano and good luck!

 

[Kevriano]

Thanks my friend. I'll pass that all on to my pal, and let you know what happens.