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Classic preference pane missing in Tiger #

Following a clean install of Tiger on an iMac G4, the Classic preference pane was missing. Copying the System Folder from a retail OS 9 CD to the hard drive made the Classic preference pane appear, but it would not load ("No startup volume: There is no volume with a system folder that supports starting Classic. Please install Mac OS 9.1 or later.").

Thankfully, Ken Watanabe outlined an excellent method for installing Classic in this thread: Mac OS 9.2.2 for direct startup (or Classic). Here is a condensed version:
  1. Download NetBoot for Mac OS 9
  2. Double click NetBoot9.dmg to mount
  3. Double click English folder
  4. Right click NetBoot.pkg and select "Show Package Contents"
  5. Double click Contents folder
  6. Double click Resources folder
  7. Drag NetBoot.pax.gz to Desktop
  8. Double click NetBoot.pax.gz
  9. Right click the newly-created NetBootInstallation folder and select "Get Info"
  10. Set "Ownership & Permissions" to "You can Read & Write"
  11. Double click NetBootInstallation folder
  12. Double click "NetBoot HD.img" to mount
  13. Double click "NetBoot HD" volume
  14. Drag "System Folder" and "Applications (Mac OS 9)" to the root of your Mac's hard drive
  15. Unmount NetBoot disk image volumes
  16. Open System Preferences, click Classic (which will have now appeared), and set the System Folder
Be sure to see Ken's version, which includes notes on optimizing Classic performance and booting into Mac OS 9 natively. Further down the thread, Peter explains that OS9General.dmg can be substituted for the NetBoot image.

/mac | Mar 26, 2013

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