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Ryan Rempel's XPostFacto (ne้ Unsupported Utility X) is a freeware utility that helps to install and boot Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, and Darwin on some unsupported Mac systems. The only difference from a supported installation is 3 extra clicks of your mouse. When Mac OS X installs successfully, its stability on unsupported systems appears to be excellent.
New in this version:
To use XPostFacto you first need a machine that XPostFacto works with XPostFacto can work with:
• The PowerSurge models
• The Beige G3s
• Certain Powerbooks
Additional system requirements: • You also need to have at least Mac OS 9.0 installed to use it. XPostFacto will run in Mac OS 9.0, 9.1 or 9.2. (It requires Mac OS 9.x in order to be able to copy files with long filenames from the Mac OS X Install CD to your hard drive).
• If you do not already have Mac OS 9.x installed, note that Mac OS 9.2 does not ordinarily work on older machines, and it is not so easy to buy Mac OS 9.0 or 9.1 anymore. There are some procedures that may work for installing 9.2: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/OS9/os_9_2_1_install_mods.html • Apple recommends a minimum of 128 MB of RAM to run Mac OS X, but especially if you are planning to make use of the Classic environment to run Mac OS 9 Ryan suggests suggest at least 256 MB. • The bare minimum space required for installing Mac OS X is about 1.5 GB. However, a more realistic minimum is 2 GB. And more is better, depending on how much space your applications and data are likely to need. • In order to boot Mac OS X on older machines, the disk you are using to boot from must have been formatted with Apple's Drive Setup or Intech's Hard Disk SpeedTools. Disks formatted with other formatting utilities generally are not bootable on older machines with Mac OS X. • Ryan says the ideal strategy for installing Mac OS X is to have three separate partitions: one for Mac OS X, one for Mac OS 9.1, and one for Classic, either on the same disk or on separate disks--it does not matter. That is indeed the setup I settled on for my (officially supported) Pismo PowerBook, and it makes logical sense if you plan to dual-boot. I use OS 9.2.2 with a pared-down Extensions and Control Panels set for Classic mode, and OS 9.1 for my working OS 9 system. The advantage of having Mac OS X on a separate partition from Mac OS 9.1 is that you can install Mac OS X without touching your current installation. This provides some peace of mind, in case anything should go wrong when installing Mac OS X. Another advantage of a three-partition scheme is that it is possible to install and use Mac OS 9.2 for Classic, even though it will not be bootable apart from Classic on older machines. I can of course boot from my "Classic" OS 9.2.2 on my Pismo, but I rarely do. If you have only two partitions, then Classic and Mac OS X can coexist on the same partition, but you will have to "re-bless" OS 9 to boot from it. It is possible to install Mac OS X on the same partition as Mac OS 9. However, the Mac OS X Installer will "bless" the Mac OS X installation, which "de-blesses" the Mac OS 9 System Folder. The Mac OS 9 System Folder can be re-blessed (most easily with the Startup Disk preference panel in the Mac OS X System Preferences application), but that process can become tricky in situations where Mac OS X does not boot correctly after the first install. (There are some troubleshooting suggestions below if you find yourself in this situation). • If you are installing onto an ATA drive, there are some cases (WallStreet PowerBooks being one) in which you must install onto a partition that is entirely within the first 8 GB of the drive. The Mac OS X Installer enforces this limit, so if you are unable to select your desired partition, that may be the reason. • If you are installing Mac OS X 10.0, then you may need to remove Firewire/USB cards, until you have completed the install and upgraded to Mac OS X 10.1. Mac OS X 10.0 had some trouble with Firewire and USB, but Mac OS X 10.1 is much improved. Some video cards are problematic in Mac OS X. Check the compatibility page for details. • Some older CD-ROM devices do not work with Mac OS X. The symptom that you will get in this case is the message "still waiting for root device" when booting in verbose mode (with command-v held down at startup). CPUs supported • Mac OS X does not work with a 601 CPU. Therefore, if you have a 7500 with the original 601 processor, you will need to install a CPU upgrade before installing Mac OS X. Mac OS X 10.2 does not work with a 603 or 604 CPU either. It is possible that this may be fixed in time, but it is unlikely to be working for August 24th. If you install a G3 or a G4 upgrade, you will need some software to enable the L2 cache in Mac OS X. You can use Ryan's L2CacheConfig software (see Shareware Beat / New Product News today), or the PowerLogix cache control software, which is also free. Your computer will work without enabling the L2 cache--it will just be slower. The 9500MP and 9600MP work, but only one processor is active at this time. • Mac OS X does not come with support for the floppy drive, but you can install a driver from http://www.darwin-development.org/floppy/ to add support. • Sound out works. However, it is not possible to change the volume globally (you can change the volume in applications such as iTunes). Sound in does not work yet. Video in and out does not work yet (on those models that have it--the 7600 and 8600). • ADB keyboards and mice generally work. If you are tempted to replace them with a USB keyboard and mouse, it is useful to keep your ADB keyboard and mouse around. This is because the boot-time key combinations only work on ADB keyboards, and the built-in support for ADB comes in handy sometimes if you run into trouble. • The internal and external SCSI bus both work. However, there are some users who have trouble with the internal SCSI bus. One thing that you need to double-check is that your SCSI termination is correct, because Mac OS X is picky about that. In general, Mac OS X is sensitive to timing issues on the SCSI bus. Sometimes removing unnecessary devices helps. Also, you will sometimes need to adjust the jumper settings on drives connected to the internal bus, to make sure that they spin up automatically at boot time (the "Disable Unit Attention" jumper is one that sometimes needs to be changed). • The serial ports generally work, though not all serial devices are supported. Some modems work, but serial printers are not supported. Localtalk does not work in Mac OS X (i.e. Appletalk over the printer port). However, you can get localtalk-to-ethernet adapters. • The built-in Ethernet connection works, with the exception of the Powerbooks that have an Ethernet-only connection. Those do not work, but the combo Ethernet-Modem connections do work (at least for ethernet). • Display sleep works, and is safe. Disk sleep works and seems safe in Mac OS X 10.1 and later. System sleep is not working yet. On the desktop models, it fails gracefully. On the Powerbooks, however, sleep crashes the system, so it is important to turn sleep off in the Energy Saver preference panel in the System Preferences application. • PCMCIA cards appear not to work in the Powerbooks. However, some CardBus cards do seem to work. XPostFacto is a free, open-source application. However, you can also register for XPostFacto support, which costs $10, which gets you you access to the tech support forum on the XPosFacto Web site.
For more information, visit:
Re: HFS Zip disks Re: Migrating to OS X Quartz Extreme SIGGRAPH presentation Migrating to OS X Re: Applelinks MacOS X v. Classic OS9 as a 'superuser' account Re: New Macintosh line of computers will be made to prevent any booting into Mac OS 9.x From Martin A. Totusek
Re: Apple to Slam Lid on Mac OS 9
Speaking as a Mac user, this is unfortunate news, particularly for the Mac-dominated music fields, and other areas that are still needing full OS 9.x compatibility, let alone OS X compatibility. It's one thing to push for more OS X development (that certainly is much needed); However, to deliberately cripple the versatility of computing hardware is a stupid mentality on any computing Platform. Note that on the "other side" I can still get new custom BTO machines (generally with motherboards using AMD CPUs) that can have installed and boot from: IBM PC-DOS 7 IBM PC-DOS 2000 Linux (many versions) UNIX (many versions) MS Windows 3.11 for Workgroups MS Windows 95 MS Windows 98 MS Windows NT 4.x (MS Windows ME: But what's the point of running that more crippled and "Big Brother" ME instead of Windows 98, even if you are a Windows user?) MS Windows 2000 MS Windows XP (most of my Windows friends also very strongly dislike the "Big-Brother" and a number of other proprietary issues, and non backwards compatible aspects of XP, and are sticking with the older versions). This backwards booting compatibility is NOT unusual in computing, and is clearly needed on several Platforms (including the Mac Platform). Note that quite a number of programs on the "other side" will only run when booted directly under DOS (NOT under MS Windows, and not under DOS emulations); For Example: programs such as "AURICLE: The Film Composer's Time Processor" aka "The AURICLE" {http://www.webcom.com/~auricle/}. In conclusion, the ability to boot under OS 9 should not be blocked by any software patch and deliberately crippling the versatility of the APPLE computing hardware harms Mac users. It certainly will increase the demand for older unsold and for refurbished Power Macintosh models that are able to boot into Mac OS 8.x/9.x for at least the next few years until Max OS X has matured a whole lot more, and note there will still be things that will only work right when booted under the Traditional Mac OS (as opposed to an emulation of the Traditional Mac OS). It also can be effectively used as harsh anti-Mac point by the majority Platform vendors.
Sincerely,
(A Mac user since the Mac PLUS & one of the 25 million+ Power Macintosh users running Mac OS 8.1, 8.6 & 9.x as needed all currently on his Power Macintosh 7600/400 MHz G4 CPU upgrade). From Tate Hi Charles, My only guess is that you were using a much older Iomega driver when you originally formatted that Zip disk. Perhaps if you reformat a zip disk using current Iomega drivers and OS 9.1 you will be able to mount it successfully in X? I know I have read about users using SCSI Zip drives with System 6 where only older Iomega drivers worked. This may be a similar situation in a modern OS setting.... Good luck. Tate
Hi Tate;
Charles Quartz Extreme SIGGRAPH presentation From Lawrence Rhodes Dear Charles, I downloaded "Apple OpenGL and Quartz Extreme" by Peter Graffagnino, a 26-page PDF of the slides used in his SIGGRAPH 2002 presentation (as posted today on MacSurfer, see the following URL). http://www.opengl.org/developers/code/features/siggraph2002_bof/sg2002bof_a pple.pdf I found it interesting but incredibly bloated at 3.5 megabytes, so I copied the text out and whipped up imitiation diagrams for my own entertainment (left out the four screenshots though), and it came out way smaller as a SimpleText file (9kB). Then I was reading your OS X Odyssey and thought, I'll bet someone on a 26k link wouldn't download that PDF, but maybe you'd like to see what's in it. Hence the attachment. If you don't accept even small attachments feel free to tell me never to darken your inbox again. Otherwise I hope you find it at least mildly interesting. Lawrence Rhodes
Hi Lawrence;
Thanks. I have no objection to attachments if they contain something interesting, and this was.
Thanks.
From Marvin Price Would you acknowledge that sooner or later Apple has to stop shipping OS 9? I mean the proverbial farm is bet on OS X, and a swift migration to OS X. If Macintosh users cling to OS 9, it could seriously damage the credibility of the platform. Even now the situation is something of a big grid lock. Users are clinging to OS 9, developers are hesitant about bringing out new OS 9 applications knowing that Apple's focus is on OS X. Developers are also hesitant about bringing out new OS X applications until there is a large enough user base. Something has to break the grid lock. That "something" is of course Apple and what better way to do it than to stop supporting OS 9 on new machines? The question is when. If the grid lock isn't broken, many more people than I like to think about could wind up on Windows. For large businesses migration is a problem for sure. Migrating is expensive and companies like Microsoft who are GAUGING people with the ridiculous cost of Office X aren't helping. One solution to that is to dump Office. Use AppleWorks. You won't miss Office. Businesses will not jump to move to OS X until they have to. The same thing happens in the Windows world. Many are still on 95, 98, ME, and only go to XP as they replace hardware. Individuals can keep their old machines. If Apple disabled new computers from booting into OS 9, at least one of the computers I have now would hang around until I absolutely did not need OS 9 again. I am not as dependent on OS 9 as you seem to be though, my only requirement is using it to support others. What are the top 5 things that have to happen before you can safely say you personally will never need OS 9 again? PS... How many Zip disks do you have!
Hi Marvin;
I agree that at some point Apple will be justified in terminating hardware support for OS 9, but we're well short of that point yet.
Until last week I was sanguinely confident that my current hardware would outlast my requirement for OS 9 support, but my WallStreet's precipitous meltdown has shaken my complacency.
As for switching to OS X personally, my biggest obstacle is OS X's inability to support clicking with one input device while dragging with another. OS 9 happily supports simultaneous input from all three pointing devices I have hooked up, but OS X balks. I can handle about five minutes of regular mousing before I'm in significant pain, and if I continue, motor dysfunction follows. It's very frustrating, but until Apple fixes the OS X mouse drivers, I can only use OS X for limited periods of time.
Aside from that ideosyncratic issue, speed and efficiency are the main ones. I'm still a lot faster in OS 9 (not just because of the mousing problem). Hopefully, Jaguar will prove speedier.
I don't think Apple has the coercive muscle to bully users the way Microsoft routinely does, and I see a danger in that if Apple begins behaving like M$, people might just figure it's a tossup and go with the path of least resistance.
I have about 15 Zip disks -- all bung full.
Charles From Marvin Price
I was never even aware this was possible. gotta go try it!
Is it just HFS+ Zip disks? I didn't think to check.
Hi Marvin;
My Zip disks are all formatted HFS Stantard for compatiility with my legacy Macs.
Charles Re: Applelinks MacOS X v. Classic From Wayne Folta Charles, Under MacOS 9 any program could access any hardware or software on the computer directly if it wanted. Under MacOS X this is not possible. So when MacOS 9 "boots" in Classic mode, it is not directly addressing any hardware. Rather it is running in a Mac hardware simulator (that mysterious Blue Environment process) which runs under MacOS X. Think about this for a moment and get the ramifications. MacOS 9 can be frozen at 9.2.2 (or whatever) and never touched again by any programmer ever, if it only has to run in Classic. Zero expended resources. Zero need to modify (hobble) hardware for backwards compatibility. Zero need for separate distribution or hotline support or... The alternative is to expend resources that Apple really doesn't have to continue to support the horse and buggy in the automobile age. Apple is still not out of the woods yet and needs to run as hard as it can just to keep from being eliminated. This means a fast pace of software and hardware innovation, which is not possible with the dead-end MacOS 9. Long-term support of MacOS 9 as a separate product will kill Apple. So they're walking a fine line here: not wanting to alienate the current base, but unable to survive while supporting a horse and buggy in an automobile era. The automobile has been coming for a couple of years now and with Jaguar it has arrived in full force. Shortly after that, I'd guess the legacy-support and future-support lines cross and Apple has to jump to the one that's rising, not stay on the one that it's ridden to near collapse. (You really shouldn't make threats about moving to Windows or Linux. That's like cutting off your hands because it's too much trouble to wash them.) Wayne Folta Hi Wayne; I'm not anticipating defection in the foreseeable future. However, if Apple pursues policies similar to the way Microsoft typically treats its customers, as I said, there will be little argument for not taking the path of least resistance, or switching to Linux, where the policies are user driven. Charles From Alex Morando Charles W. Moore said: "And finally, if you have OS 9 installed on your machine, it amounts to, in some respects, a super superuser account, in that OS 9 doesn't give a hoot about OS X's security protocols, and allows you to roam OS X folders and files at will, deleting or moving anything you like. Not something you would use as a rule, but it might come in handy at times." You might also want to add that Classic runs with root privileges under OS X. If you can manage to run the OS9 Finder under Classic (which is easily done), it will have complete control over all HFS+ mounted volumes. Other OS9 utilities in Classic (including AppleScripts) that can alter or delete files will have similar capabilities. One reason that Apple wants to phase out OS9-bootable Macs because Classic undermines the OS X security model. How can Mac be compliant with security standards if a Mac can be booted from an OS9 CD or compromised via Classic? Alex
Hi Alex;
Thanks for the extra info.
The same thought viz. the security issue occurred to me. However, from my perspective as a sole user of my little network, the continued convenience of dual booting trumps security by a wide margin.
Charles
The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here: Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context. Opinions expressed in postings to Moore's MailBag are those of the respective correspondents and not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Editor and/or Applelinks management. If you would prefer that your message not appear in Moore's Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published. CM Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context. Opinions expressed in postings to Moore's MailBag are those of the respective correspondents and not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Editor and/or Applelinks management. If you would prefer that your message not appear in Moore's Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published. CM
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