Starting a Mac with an external drive

November 11, 2004 5:02 AM

MacFilter: How do I get a mac to start up with a system CD from an external CD drive that won't recognise the C command on start up? (MI)

I'm using a new G5 mac at work that is running 10.2 but I need to put 9.2 on to run classic mode (it's essential to use the apps). I have the system software and system restore but when trying to boot up from CD it's just not recognising it. There is no internal CD drive (for whatever reason!) and so I'm trying to use the Lacie DVD/CD writer. I desperately need to get this running so ideas appreciated pls.

posted by floanna to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

G5's won't boot OS9, at all. Even if that machine had an internal drive, you still wouldn't be able to boot.

So, you need to get an OS9 System folder onto the machine, and run Classic within OSX instead. I've not done this personally, as every OSX machine I've ever come across has a Classic folder in place already, but I'm pretty sure you can just drag and copy it from the CD to your internal HD, then select the correct folder from System Preferences > Classic.
posted by influx at 5:17 AM on November 11, 2004

Response by poster: Aha, I'll give that a go by just copying over. They inherited the mac with just the X on it. It's the only one in a very large company so I've not got any experience IT guys to help out (not that they are any good anyway!)
posted by floanna at 5:20 AM on November 11, 2004

Response by poster: nope, doesn't like it. Msg says when trying to start classic: The system software on the startup disc only functions on the original media, not if copied to another drive.

This is not gonna be easy I can tell....any more ideas? Desperately googling as well.
posted by floanna at 6:03 AM on November 11, 2004

New G5? There should be an Application Extras CD or somesuch. That has the installer for OS 9 that will run on your machine. You won't need to boot from it, just run the installer.
posted by ursus_comiter at 6:48 AM on November 11, 2004

OK, I dug up the very CD. It's called "Additional Software & Apple Hardware Test" And you want to run the "Install Additional Hardware" package that's at the root level of the CD.

I don't know why Apple called it that instead of "Install Classic Support", since that's the ONLY package I see in this installer. I think they may just be doing the passive aggressive thing, trying to discourage any use of Classic apps.
posted by ursus_comiter at 6:58 AM on November 11, 2004

D'oh! I meant "Install Additional Software".
posted by ursus_comiter at 8:26 AM on November 11, 2004

Also, you can try holding down the Option key instead of the 'C'. Holding down the option key will give you the choice of which disk you want to use when starting up. So, for example, you could start your G5 up off another Mac using a Firewire cable.
posted by jeremias at 11:05 AM on November 11, 2004

All G5s come with a Mac OS 9 system folder pre-installed. All you need to do is run an OS 9 app and it will Just Work.
posted by Mwongozi at 11:24 AM on November 11, 2004

Not the case Mwongozi. Apple's started shipping them without it. I've had to install Classic support on a number of machines in the past few months.
posted by ursus_comiter at 1:01 PM on November 11, 2004

Bakkk N Tha Dae before OpenFirmware and the C key, you held down Command [that's the Apple/Cloverleaf key], Option, Shift, and Delete together to boot from CD [we called it the "Vulcan Death Grip"].

I recently read that it still works today to force boot from the next bootable device after the main hard drive.

[Of course, as mentioned above, it still won't force a G5 to boot from an OS 9 CD.]
posted by britain at 2:21 PM on November 11, 2004

Oh, one more thing you can try: On the install disc, do a "File Menu > Find..." for files whose Extension is ".dmg" and whose Visibility is "invisible items," and find the one called "OS9General.dmg". Open that up -- it has a pristine 9 System Folder in it that you can drag over to your hard drive.

I have done this myself from a 10.2 Jaguar install DVD -- not sure which disc it would be on in a CD set.
posted by britain at 2:26 PM on November 11, 2004

Response by poster: Bakkk N Tha Dae before OpenFirmware and the C key, you held down Command [that's the Apple/Cloverleaf key], Option, Shift, and Delete together to boot from CD [we called it the "Vulcan Death Grip"].

I tried that aswell and even got to the stage where it was flashing a really small folder which alternated between the happy mac icon and a question mark - and then started back into X again. Could it be that as I'm getting the ? it could be that it's not recognising the external drive on startup rather than the CD itself? Could that problem be solved with a driver update?

I'll also try the other suggestions given (option key and searching for .dng files etc).
posted by floanna at 5:12 PM on November 11, 2004