Subject: OSX server and DP3 on a PB G3 233
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 15:55:28 -0700
From: Tom Koons <tmk12v@aol.com>
To: xappeal@xappeal.org

I thought I would add my 2 cents to your hardware list. Before getting
to the PB I also tried a 6400 and it failed big time. It could not
change the OpenFirmware to force the 6400 to boot to the OS X system on
the install CD. In fact I had to zap my PRAM to keep from booting into
the open firmware on every boot! Now that said lets get to the PB G3.

First I did not want to install it on the internal HD to preserve its
contents. So I attached an old Apple 1.2G SCSI HD to the external SCSI
port. I tried about 5 times using both HFS+ and UFS to get OSX DP3 to
install and they all crashed very early in the install process.
According to the error messages that appeared it looked as if it was
having trouble locating the SCSI HD? Even though Apple metions SCSI is
supported I guess not for all supported Macs yet? I also tried OSX
server and it pretty much did the same thing :(

So I bit the bullet and backed up the PB's internal HD and then wiped it
clean. I created 2 partitions (one for OS 9 and one for DP3). Now the
DP3 installer ran fine with no issues at all! It rebooted and the Mac OS
assistant came up and I entered all my network settings. I found I could
even change the classic OS image from the image saved in OS X to the
system folder on my other partition. This allowed me to use one OS 9
system folder in both regular OS and OS X. It will change a few settings
though specially the Appearance since this control panel is not as
supported as it is under OS 9 alone. The OS 9 image supplied by OS X is
very buggy! The window borders of files and apps had no image? I mean
there were no names in the headers or any buttons to close the window?
It was pure white instead of the platinum look. Also all text in
documents were white too so you could not see anything. I changed to the
OS 9 partition on my HD instead of the image and then all was
well again. Very strange!

The most disturbing problem I have is that my settings don't seem to be
saved? I change a lot in the prefs like icon sizes and such and they are
gone on my next boot? Very frustrating. Also if the computer is
unplugged for awhile (as notebooks are) then it will not find a blessed
OS X boot disk to boot to. Now the PB would not boot at all and showed a
broken folder which is similar to the blinking floppy and ?. Zapping the
PRAM did not help? I had to reset the PB with the fn-cntl-shift-power
key combo and now it would boot to OS 9 partition. Also this happens if
you try to change the boot drive from OS X and do not pick the correct
drive. It seems OS X does not allow for holding the C key and will not
look for another drive if the selected drive is wrong. I found out by
picking the drive partition that I knew had OS 9 on it but this did not
work? I realized that it was still looking for an OS X system and of
coures only OS 9 was on that partition. I found that instead of picking
the drive with the older OS 9 that you simply click on the icon labled
"Classic Mac OS" this will then search for the first older (in my case
OS 9) it can find on any partition. Would be nice if this was more
explained but I guess its still a work in progress :)

My one problem that I cannot solve beside the prefs being saved is that
I cannot get online? I have all my settings in OS X the same as they
were for OS 9 but no good? Since i do not have any OS X browsers I
launch Netscape which brings up the Classic environment. I also have all
my network settings here too. Still nothing? Any work around for this?

Thanks, Tom

Update: I later solved getting online and my prefs being saved by logging in 
as the Administrator. I guess logging in as a user was not letting me do
anything?

Tom