Guide - Installing OSX and OS9 via USB on an iBook G3 Clamshell

[AC910]

So I purchased an ibook g3 clamshell off ebay a couple of weeks ago. One of the original blueberry models. I replaced the original 3gb hdd as it was making scary sounds. However when I went to reinstall os9/x I discovered the cd drive was faulty. The original ibook had no firewire port, so target disk mode is off the table. And I didn't have access to a 2.5in pata usb adapter. So that was off the table as well. So I began my journey to figure out how to install osx and os9 over USB. And it was awful... I'm writing this post to maybe save someone else a whole lot of time and pain.

A few key points:

• This procedure is a massive pain in the ass. It's time consuming and has a lot of steps. Only do this if you really cannot get your hands on a working cd drive. Or if you have a burning desire to learn the mysteries of Open Firmware
  
• This isn't the fastest way. But its the easiest to understand and requires the fewest tools.
• I assume you know your way around Disk Utility, terminal, etc..
• If you opt for osx-only or osx and os9 in a single partition, you'll be left with a 700mb partition that you can't remove or merge. You can use the space, but it'll show up as another drive. The only way around this afaik is to install osx with netboot.

Requirements:

1. a USB flash disk of 1gb-8gb size. (my 16 and 32gb flash disks didn't work under open firmware)
2. Another OSX computer to make and prepare flash drives
3. OSX install disks or DMG files (I used panther 10.3.0 retail discs)
4. OS9 install disks or DMG files ( Used the excellent universal 9.2.2 iso from MacOS9Lives)

A note about ibooks and USB booting: There's conflicting info online on whether or not the ibook g3 can boot off USB. I can say yes, yes they can. The problem comes is that ibooks with older firmware do not show USB devices in the "alt" boot selection menu. This reasonably leads some people to assume they cannot. Even with older firmware, one can drop into Open Firmware (OF) and manually enter the command to USB boot. Which is what we'll be doing.

So lets get to it!

Part 1: Installing OS9

Overview- We'll be running the os9 installer and using it to partition the drive and prepare for the osx installation in the next step. We'll also be updating the ibook firmware if needed.

1. Format your flash drive with 1 partition in Disk Utility. Make sure to use Apple Partition Map and the "Install OS9 Drivers" option is selected.
2. Copy and drag the os9 installer files onto this new partition
3. open up terminal and enter this command:

   sudo bless -folder9 "/Volume/(name of usb volume)/System Folder" -bootBlockFile /usr/share/misc/bootBlockData

   Spoiler: More info about what "Bless" is

   "Blessing" a folder marks it in such a way that the mac can automatically find the bootloader. Technically it's optional, as one can always drop into OF and manually point to the bootloader upon every reboot. But who wants to do that?
4. Put the flash drive into the ibook and reboot into OF (cmd+opt+O+F)
5. note the firmware version up top. The last firmware for ibook was 4.1.7f4. Mine was originally on 2.4f1. If you need the firmware update, google for 4.1.7 ibook firmware and keep it handy. We'll update it in a later step.
6. Boot the installer by running this command:

   boot usb0/disk@1:10,\\:tbxi

   Spoiler: What that command means

   That hideous command isn't so bad when broken down. "boot" of course tells OF to boot the following entry. "usb0" is the usb controller. ibook also has usb1, but I don't believe it's used. "disk@1" is the first usb drive. ":10" refers to the 10th partition on the drive. Mac will create a bunch of hidden partitions for you even though you may only see one in Finder. and "\\:tbxi" tells OF to search the drive for the blessed bootloader file.
7. Assuming everything went well, you should see a happy mac icon and eventually the OS9 installer. I assume you're using the MacOS9Lives universal installer for this section.
8. Use Drive Setup to partition your internal hard drive.
   1. If you only want os9, make a single partition
   2. if you want dual boot os9 and osx on SEPARATE partitions. Make 2 partitions and resize them to your preference
   3. if you want ONLY osx OR a COMBINED os9 and osx partition. make 2 partitions, but make the 2nd one 700 mb. And as I mentioned earlier. You'll be stuck with this 700 mb partition unless you install using netboot.
9. If you only want os9, follow the installation instructions included with the MacOS9Lives iso and you're done! I suggest updating the firmware afterwards if you need it. Otherwise, if you want OSX, carry on to the next step.
10. Install OS9 into the OSX partition. Yes, you read that right. Install OS9 into the partition you designated for OSX. Once it's done, reboot into OS9. Update the firmware here if you need to.

Part 2: Installing OSX

Overview- We'll be using the earlier OS9 installation for the single purpose of copying the osx installer to the HDD. This is because the Panther installer doesn't like booting from USB. Oddly, the os9 installer is fine with it... Once it's copied, we'll boot into the installer located on the HDD and overwrite os9 with the OSX installation.

1. erase your usb stick
2. Select all the osx installer files from the DMG/disc and drag them over to the usb stick.
3. put the stick into the ibook and use OS9 to copy all these files into the empty OS9 partition we created earlier. (or the 700mb partition if you went that route)
4. reboot into open firmware
5. type this command:

   boot ultra0:9,\System\Library\CoreServices\BootX

   Spoiler: What that command means

   "ultra0" is an alias for the internal HDD. This may vary on other models. "devalias" will list them all for you. "9" refers to the 9th partition on the HDD. This should be correct, but if the command fails to work, try other numbers like 8 or 10. "\System\Library\CoreServices\BootX" This points to the bootloader file. We need to specify the path to the file as we never blessed the folder.
6. Hopefully you'll see the mac osx installer.
7. Install into the OSX partition you made earlier.
8. When it reboots you may be asked for Disc 2 or Disk 3 depending on what packages you selected to install. If it asks you that, erase your flash disk and drag the Disc 2 or Disc 3 files onto it. Rename the USB stick "Mac OS X Install Disc 2" or "Mac OS X Install Disc 3". The name needs to be exact or the installer won't detect it. Stick it in the ibook and wait some more.
9. Eventually it'll finish. And congrats, you have OSX!
10. If you want os9 and osx on split partitions. Rerun the earlier install steps for OS9 and this time install on the correct os9 partition.

Miscellaneous Notes:

As I said, these steps aren't the fastest way to do this. For example you could use a usb hub and multiple USB drives and skip the first os9 installation. You could just use the os9 installer "live cd" to copy the files off the 2nd usb stick. (this option would require a modification of the OF boot command as well like this "boot usb0/hub@1/disk@1:10,\\tbxi" Also mac os9 will only boot off hub port #1) Or maybe you could use FTP or HTTP to copy the OSX install files over lan. You could also install osx via Netboot. There are a bunch of possible options, but I went with the path that required the fewest tools to make the guide as accessible as possible.

I tried a number of ways to get the Panther installer to boot off of USB. But they all failed. Essentially the issue I see is the bootloader loads the kernel, but the kernel is then unable to find the usb stick to load the rest of the installer. using verbose mode you'll see it's stuck at "waiting for root device". The root device string its passed is correct and points to the OF usb device. But the kernel just refuses to see it

I tried a number of ways to remove or merge the 700 mb partition. mac-fdisk under a linux live-environment gave an error when I tried to resize. I tried running the 10.5 installer to use it's improved Disk Utility, but the kernel didn't want to boot. The only method I found that worked was installing OSX using netboot. If anyone has access to osx server and wants to try this, let me know. I can share my NBI file. Or if anyone has another way to remove this, let me know as well.

Good Luck!