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Uninitialized hard disk after attempting to install OS9 (see post #4)

MonkDream

MonkDream

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 7, 2021
11
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This portion, relating to a partition matter, has already been solved. The current problem is on post #4.

I recently purchased a G4 Mac from Craigslist. I am happy with the machine but there is one thing that bugs me at the moment. Disk Utility shows that I have about 20GB of unpartitioned free space on my computer. I have included a screenshot to this post to indicate what I mean. Is there any way I can use this space as a separate partition? Perhaps maybe as a Classic Partition? I've tried using diskutil under terminal but it does not it only shows me information about the active partition.

Picture 2.png
 
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do you have access to the folder?
i also noticed that the disk contains the start up and cant be portioned.
you might have to unite the drive, then repartition the drive to your settings.
or try rebooting to that drive.

I would wait for more advice, there are members here who use that osx daily.
but back up that drive (no time machine) because that OSX is hard to find for the G4.
I would also make DVDs of that OSX that are bootable, i had a G4 PowerBook that was useless after the original hd broke and i could not find the dvds that went with the exact PowerBook.
 
Your Mac has the large drive limit. That means, that natively, you can only format up to 128GB. Fortunately, there is an answer to your question.

The HiCap driver will allow you to format the rest of the drive. Keep in mind, it's always going to be a second partition. There's a way to make the driver format the entire drive as one partition, but it's sort of involved.

Do not store anything you do not wish to lose on the other partition as without the driver installed (on other Macs say) you cannot see the extended partition.
 
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So I was able to create the additional partition on my disk. However, I tried formatting the partition as MacOS Extended and installing OS 9 on the the extra partition. I kept getting an error stating that the disk did not have enough storage even though it was at around 20 GB. Now I can't boot into anything, the system shows a blinking folder folder with the Finder graphic on it.

In the OS 9 install disk, when entering drive setup it shows that disk is not initialized.

Screen Shot 2021-04-08 at 2.24.37 AM.png


Is there anything I can do in open firmware or any other mode to boot back into OSX (at least)? Ideally I would like to dual boot into both OS9 and OSX but it's looking like a pipe dream at the moment.
 
Should I create a new thread at this point to avoid confusion?
 
Did you follow the instructions from the HiCap Driver concerning OS9?

You need to format from OS9 using HDST (Hard Disk Speed Tools). That's a separate product. Probably have to search macintoshgarden for it.

Acrobat Pro DC.png


PS. I actually bought this product when it was being sold online, so I have some familiarity with it - just not the OS9 stuff. The PDF manuals they included have been sitting on one hard drive or another of mine over the years.
 
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My Mac is a PoweMac G4.

From the previous post, it looks like I might have to re-initialize and re-format the drive to start all over again..?
 
Here's what I have.
 

Attachments

  • Hi-Cap for MacOS X 10.5 Guide.pdf
    33.4 KB · Views: 220
  • ATA Hi-Cap Guide.pdf
    279.2 KB · Views: 272
It says on these documents that I can boot from my OSX installation disk. I have the installation disk but it always prompts setup. Is there a way I can boot from there, bypass setup, and run disk utility? My installation disk is 10.1.3.
 
I think I need to create a 10.4.11 installation disk and see if it's possible to run disk utility from there.
 
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You can run Disk Utility from any OS X install disc - it's in the Utilities menu - right when the installer's intro comes up.
 
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I found Disk Utility on my install disk. Upon checking the disk I get an advisory that the disk needs to be repaired, however, the option to repair disk is dimmed out for some reason. I'll try to see if I can load HiCap from my install disk or perhaps create a new one. I won't be able to dabble on this matter for much longer for now due to time constraints. Thanks for all the input so far.

Edit: I managed to run the repair but now I get an error that states that the keys are out of order. I fear I may have royally screwed my drive. I'll try HiCap later tonight and see what happens.
 
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I'm going to see if I can create a 10.4.11 installer disc in my free time and then work from there.
 
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