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General discussion

I need to reinstall OS9 on Graphite iMac DV SE (400)

Jan 19, 2012 1:12AM PST

<span id="INSERTION_MARKER"> I have an iMac DV Special Edition 400Mhz PowerPC G3 (Graphite) with upgraded 640MB RAM from 2000. It shipped with OS9. I later installed OSX (10.2.Cool around 2003 etc.

I had both OS9 and OSX all running perfectly. However, because my HD became full over the years with various software packages and versions affecting performance, I erased the entire HD and formatted it (Extended/HFS+ with OS9 drivers) to do a clean install of both OS9 and OSX. (Now before the criticism starts flooding in, yes, I know now that this was stupid and wreckless.)

Now I can only install OSX. The iMac does not recognise the original (orange cds)software restore or install discs that came with the machine. I even have the OS9.2 update disc (orange '9' on white cd) and the iMac does not recognise that either. I have repeatedly erased and formatted the HD to install OS9 in various ways but so far no luck.

Now before some of you start saying I should invest in new equipment, this is not my only mac, I also have a 2010 Macbook Pro. But I need to install OS9 on my iMac as well because I have some software packages that only run on OS9 eg SoundEdit 16.

So, is there a way to restore the original iMac software or set the machine back to factory default? You would think Apple would have covered this situation with a simple straight forward way to fix this. And I'm not the only one facing this problem as can be seen from postings on various forums. I am not familiar with Xtools or whatever it is called but I read somewhere there are 'packages' that restore the original factory settings. I also have the OSX Developer Tools cd that came with OSX. Is there any way I can use this perhaps to install OS9? Or is there is another way to install OS9? Please help me out. Any and all advice appreciated. Thank you.<span id="INSERTION_MARKER">

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Just sharing.
Jan 19, 2012 2:54AM PST

As CD/DVD drives and media ages, what you noted does happen. This is why I try duplicating that OS9 install media onto fresh media with a newer drive (something under 2 years old). Then I try that copy. If that fails I swap in a new DVDRW drive into the machine.

There are a few saves by cleaning the CD/DVD lens so always try that before replacing the drive.
Bob

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Orange System CD Should Work
Sep 13, 2012 7:47PM PDT

Hi 3DMonkey,

If memory serves, the iMac DV definitely came with two orange CDs and both of them were bootable, the easiest one to use being the software restore. If you stick it in the CD drive and press the force restart button on the side of the machine near the I/O ports, and then instantly start holding down the C key on your keyboard, and keeping it held down until you see the happy mac face, this should force your iMac to boot from CD.

It has been a while since I've worked on a mac, but I seem to remember the DV iMac had slot loading CD drives; I used to find CD reading issues were commonplace and many of them could be fixed by blowing the dust out with a can of air spray and one of those straws connected to the nozzle. That might be worth a go if it's a case of the iMac not recognising any CD that's inserted.

If it's just a case that your CD's are knackered but the machine is still capable of booting from CD, and you live in the UK, I've got a bunch of OS9 CDs knocking around somewhere, I'd gladly burn you a copy of OS9 and send it to you if that would help you out?