[Ti] Boot in OS9 with new 17" & 12" PB

[John Griffin]

Trevor J. Hutley typed this message on 4/6/03 3:57 PM:

> Davis - without wishing to get flamed or start any big issue here, I
> have it on very good authority that there is a small application
> available  that one can put in your (System 9) system folder in these
> new generation 'books, which will enable them to boot in 9.
> 
> To avoid flaming and rock throwing, I will write you offline.
> 
> regards,  Trevor

Here is an article from MacFixit that may or may not be an answer:

ALERT: Booting Mac OS 9 on 2003 (Mac OS X only) Macs

After months of searching, it seems that we have finally found a solution
for booting Mac OS 9on Macs released after January 1, 2003 - which are
designated as exclusively capable of booting Mac OS X by Apple.

Apple recently posted a new file to its private Apple Service Provider web
page (accessible only by account-holding Apple technicians and resellers)
titled "MacTest Pro for Power Mac G4 (March 2003 ) Version 7.8.1 supports
all iMac (Flat Panel) 15 inch systems only."

The file is a CD image which can be downloaded and burned, then used as a
startup disk. Testing in "Mac OS X-only" flat panel iMac system revealed
that the image properly booted Mac OS 9.

Users can then copy a stripped-down Mac OS 9system folder to their hard
drive, and select it with the "Startup Disk" System Preferences pane,
delivering a Mac OS 9bootable internal disk.

It appears that a new Mac OS ROM file (ver. 9.8.1) allows booting from the
image. 

Of course, this solution is only readily accessible by Mac service
providers, but it shows that Mac OS 9boots are not imp os sible on Apple's
new machines. Also, please note that Mac OS 9startup was not tested on any
machines other than the 2003 flat-panel iMac.

UPDATE: The iMac tested in this report had a serial number later than
xx303xxxxxx. Knowledge Base article #8620 9states that these models boot Mac
OS X only.