by Ben Ralston

OS9NotForever...AKA the last blog entry 11/15/05
The time has come to finally put OS 9 to rest. OS X is finally mature enough to be usable in all of my everyday situations. In fact, I've been using OS X full time now for a full year. I've only had to boot back into OS 9 maybe once or twice. We had a pretty good run stretching OS 9 out as far as it could go, but I'm encouraging everyone now to give OS X a shot. If you don't have a computer capable of running OS X, I suggest you go straight to eBay and find one cheap.

I would like to thank all the users that registered (all 2000+ of you). I had great email conversations with many of you. It was a real pleasure to be able to serve the mac community with software like this. Most importantly, I'd like to thank to people who helped create the original hack that ultimately evolved into OS9 Helper. Those people are kby, Toz, kenny, and Scott Boone. None of us have ever met each other, but for a long period of time in 2002, we had almost daily email contact.

I have decided to release the source code for OS9 Helper 1.0.1. It comes as a RealBasic 4.5 native project, and you can download it here: OS9Helper101source.sit

I also decided to release the source code USB Bluetooth software drivers that I never finished. See the Bluetooth Page for more details.

There will be no more site updates to os9forever.com (at least from me). I am turning this site over to OWC to maintain for as long as they feel like it. I won't be answering emails at my os9guru email address (I haven't for a while anyway).

If you really, really, really have to reach me, then you can figure out my email address by pressing the Paypal link to the left (yes, I will still accept donations :-) ).

Goodbye for now,

Benjamin S. Ralston

Bluetooth Mice and Keyboards already work in OS 9!!! 5/11/04
Well, it seems that I've wasted a lot of time getting Bluetooth devices to work in OS 9, because they have worked since 10/15/2003...its just that nobody noticed. Read all about it on my Bluetooth page.

This means I'll have more time to concentrate on making OS 9 work on OSX-only macs. However, since I won't be making any money from the Bluetooth drivers now, I'm seriously going to consider starting to take Paypal donations. A reader suggested this in one of my last blog comments. Nobody yet has come forward willing to donate their G5 for a month of testing, so this may be the best way to go.

iTunes Music Store Protocol Hacked! 4/27/04
Some very talented individuals have reverse-engineered the iTunes Music Store Protocol. This means that it is possible for somebody to port the ITMS interface to Linux, or, as I hope, Mac OS 9. This is something I would like to work on as soon as I finish my Bluetooth drivers. I tend to take on too many projects at once and end up not finishing any of them. So first things first.

Continue using your iDisk in OS 9 4/8/04
Now that Apple has barred us from connecting to our iDisks via AppleShare, there is no longer a built-in way for you to access your iDisk under OS 9. iDisk now only allows access using the WebDAV protocol. Fortunatly, there is a freeware program called Goliath that uses the WebDAV protocol and is available for OS 9. It even works behind firewalls, and actually seems faster then the iDisk built-in support for OS X. Go give it a try, and be sure to email the author and thank him for supporting OS 9.

Where the *@$%? have I been? 4/1/04
Sorry that I pretty much neglected my blog over the past 6 months after hyping it so much. I've pretty much been working on the Bluetooth software, in any spare time that I have, which lately has not been very much.

I also got sidetracked with figuring out exactly how the Mac OS boot process works so that once I get the Bluetooth stuff done I can figure out how to get the OSX-only Macs booting into OS 9. The good news is that from what I've learned, it appears to be possible. The bad news is that nobody is willing to give up their OSX-only machine to let me borrow it for an extended period of time. Until then, everything is just speculation.

Making your new iPod work in OS 9 4/1/04
Saw this over on Macintouch. This has come up quite a bit lately.

Michael Chang describes hacking a third generation iPod to run on Mac OS 9:

I've been scouring these reports/forums and others trying to figure out the procedure to downgrade my friend's brand new third-generation 15GB iPod. He bought it on my confidence that I could make it work in 9.2.2 (office Macs still using).

Followed the procedures detailed in iPodlounge forum -- downloaded the .dmg file [iPod_2.0.1.dmg]. Took it and the iPod to an OS X machine to install the "updater" and downgrade to 2.0.1. Went very smoothly -- unplugged iPod and waited for the update bar. If only the updater were OS 9 compliant... Then tried on two separate 9.2.2 machines with iTunes 2.0.4. No problems syncing or manually uploading music. Shows up on desktop as hard drive just fine too. [...] He's happy. I'm glad my kung-fu worked.

Responses to "What Next" Comments 9/26/03
From the results it seems as though the majority of you want to see OSX-only machine support implemented, followed by nubus support. Support for the rest of the nubus machines should be fairly easy. Support for OSX-only should be easy once I find the key piece I am looking for. That key piece happens to be the cd described in the following text from a MacFixit article:

Apple recently posted a new file to its private Apple Service Provider web page (accessible only by account-holding Apple technicians and resellers) titled "MacTest Pro for Power Mac G4 (March 2003) Version 7.8.1 supports all iMac (Flat Panel) 15 inch systems only." The file is a CD image which can be downloaded and burned, then used as a startup disk. Testing in "Mac OS X-only" flat panel iMac system revealed that the image properly booted Mac OS 9. It appears that a new MacOS ROM file (ver. 9.8.1) allows booting from the image.

I have also heard this ROM file referred to as "Custer" (as in "last stand"). So if any of you can get your hands on this cd, half of my work will be done. With that said, I am almost positive that I can get the first generation of OSX-only iMacs and Powermacs booting into 9. I'm not very confident that OS 9 will ever run on the new Powerbooks or G5s due to the brand new motherboard controllers that are onboard. Since no OS 9 drivers were ever written for these newer components, it is unlikely that I will be able to get them to work.

I was a little dissapointed that more people did not want to see Bluetooth support in OS 9. However, once I posted a note to XLR8yourmac.com, I got plenty of positive responses. I will continue to work on this project and you can see the progress on my Bluetooth page.

Here are some of my responses to a select number of comments from my previous post.

Mark wrote: wow-its too bad that APPLE couldnt sanction a 'breakawy' of 9, so that it could be further developed-like BE, or MOZILLA 1.3+ for 9

I think that would be great too. I would love it if Apple would open-source OS 9, but I'm not holding my breath.

Reggie wrote: As far as I'm concerned OSX looks more like Windows than a Mac. Let me explain why I say that...The Aqua interface is beautiful but the functionability is so different than OS9 and so much similar to Windows(i said similar not the same) the way it has a menu on top of a window, no more finder...ect.) I guess we'd have to accuse the UNIX background for it. No wonder the Mac community is divided when it comes to choose between OSX and OS9.

I totally agree Reggie.

chriswn wrote: The one reason why I wish I had OS X is the ability to use the new ipod's & iTunes 4, particularly to convert audio into AAC & to upload AAC tracks into the new ipods. If you can do anything to convert/rip tracks into AAC (maybe work w/ the MP3 Rage guy?) & to tweak iTunes 2.04 to be able to upload AAC tunes into the new ipods or make iTunes 4 work in OS 9.

Don't even get me started on lack of Quicktime 6.1, 6.2, or 6.3 support in OS 9. iTunes 4 is truely a killer app in OS X. The only time I boot into X lately is to use the iTunes music store. Unfortunatly, its not likely that I'll ever be able to begin to get anything like this to work without Quicktime supporting AAC at its level.

Hans wrote: OSX on old Mac? You could make an easy installation rip for OSX on old Macs.

This already exists Hans. Its called XpostFacto.

John-Michael wrote: I have a StarMax 3000 upgraded to a G3 w/ a Radeon 7000 video card. It is just depressing that I can't upgrade it to 9.2.2 with OS9 Helper OR the old method of patching! Please put this on the high priority burner, please. Thanks.

Unfortunately, I will probably not get around to this. The starmax line is unstable even with 9.1. I don't want to deal with trying to support them with 9.2.x. The same goes for the Powermac 4400 line, they are based on the same motherboard.

DaveG5 wrote: add protective memory and pre-emptive multi tasking to os9. find someway to speed up internet explorer or icab, or netscape to safari osx speed levels, with tabs and pop up blockers. add support for isight and bluetooth, itunes music store, iphoto, ichat and make a fully function graphically animated dock ati/nvdia.

Before I begin, DaveG5 either a) thinks I work for Apple, b) is joking, or c) is out of his mind. A few posts after his, Gordon Hawley posted a link to a homepage of a former OS 9 engineer who claimed that they actually did get protected memory working in OS 9. However, that never saw the light of day. Unless some rogue apple employee sends me the souce code to OS 9, this will not ever happen. And if Dave thinks that IE, iCab, or netscape are slower then Safari, then I will have to go with choice c) above. As for iSight, that is something I have considered, as well as an iChat AV counterpart for 9. However, I won't get to these until my Bluetooth drivers are finished. Don't get me started on the dock...I hate that thing.

Matt wrote: Apple and Macintosh are supposed to be about freedom to live and work as YOU want/need to, not marching in lockstep with corporate greedheads' decisions.

Well said Matt.

What next? 8/26/03
With the majority of machines now supported and most major bugs worked out of OS9 Helper, I am not sure what to work on next. So I thought I would ask my users what they want the most. Please use the comments feature and tell me your preference and why you think it is important enough to work on next. Here are the choices:

1. Add support for the rest of the nubus machines (6100/7100/8100 series) to OS9 Helper.
2. Focus on getting the new OSX-only macs booting into OS9 (somebody will have to donate some hardware to me for this).
3. Go back and finish the MP4 Live! application that I gave up on (mp4 video/audio streaming).
4. Write OS9 Bluetooth drivers for Apple's upcoming wireless mouse/keyboard (I've already started on this).
5. Finally give up on supporting OS9 and consider myself lucky that Apple never threatened legal action against me.
6. Other (specify in comment).

New! OS9 Helper Control Strip Module released 8/12/03
I finally got around do making a CSM that switches machine IDs on the fly. This can be a big help for those pesky installers like Disc Burner & Authoring Support that require you to have a newer machine. The OS9 Helper CSM allows you to temporarily switch your machine ID right from the control strip. You can choose from a New World machine, a Beige G3, or switch back to your machine's default. Just drop this file in your Control Strip Modules folder inside your System Folder and restart. Let me know what you think.

OS9 Helper 1.0.1 released 8/7/03
It is finally time to quit labeling this software as beta. I don't think that there are any known major bugs left. The new release adds support for the Powerbook 2400 and Spanish localizations. A huge thanks goes out to Dan W. for lending me his 2400 to work on.

The Mother of All Upgrades : XLR8 Mach Velocity 50 Dual G4 450mhz 8/1/03
Some of you are aware that before XLR8 went out of business last year that they had begun selling a multiprocessor upgrade for the Beige G3s called the XLR8 Mach Velocity 66 (the 66 is a reference to the Beige G3's bus speed). Also on the horizon was a 100 model for the B&W G3, and a 50 model for the Powermac 7300-9600 series. You can see a reference to these models on XLR8's own compatibility matrix, and in this press release for the SSE Carrier. I was anxiously awaiting the 50's release when XLR8 decided to close its doors.

Then I recieved an email one day from a user who claimed to have one of these upgrade cards in his Powermac 9600. He said that it worked perfectly with 9.2.2 and the multiple processors really made a big difference. I didn't really believe him because he never would send me a picture, so I sought more information elseware. I contacted a former XLR8 employee for some information. Here is his response:

Ben, We shut down the whole MP program last year due to unresolved issues on both the 66 and 50 MHz systems. There were a couple of 50 MHz boards that made it out... The 66 and 50s are similar. The 50 (version 2) runs in both modes. It is the one that has only one ZIF connector (the other being a pin grid array). When the MP board was working, it did well. The problem being that it only worked in about 3 out of 10 cases. In half of the ones that it didn't work in, it permemently trashed the hard drive. Your user may have one, but that doesn't mean it will work when you change systems.

So it sounds like a few of them made it out the door, and I'll do anything to get my hands on one. If anybody has any more information about this card or knows where I can find one (yes, I've checked eBay), please email me or leave a comment.

***Update*** I found some pictures of the pre-release model over at XLR8YourMac.com. They also note inconsistent stability.

Another Italian Localization Bug 7/26/03
I fixed another Italian localization bug that was preventing some configurations from installing 9.2.2. Just download a new copy and make sure the get info window says 1.0b9r3.

Weblog is up and running! 7/23/03
For those of you not familiar with weblogs, it presents a super-easy way for me to post news updates whenever I want, wherever I want. You can also use the 'Comments' link below each entry to (obviously) make a comment about the story. The comments should NEVER be used for tech support questions, the support forum is still the resource to use for that. Just keep your comments appropriate to the subject of the blog entry. For instance, you could tell me whether or not you like the new weblog format better then the old way in the comments section for this entry. You can also utilize the rss feed if you have a NewsReader app. I expect to be making more frequent updates now that it only takes me a minute instead of half an hour. Also, don't bookmark this link quite yet, I'm still trying to get CGI working over on OWC's servers so I don't bog down my personal one.

Dutch, Italian, and Swedish Localization Bug 7/21/03
I fixed a localization bug that was preventing some configurations from installing 9.2.2. Just download a new copy of OS9 Helper 1.0b9 again and make sure the get info window says 1.0b9r2 (you may have to clear your browser cache if you cache downloads).

OS9 Helper 1.0b9 Now Available 7/17/03
I finally released OS9 Helper 1.0b9 today. A couple days...a month...who's counting? I sincerely apologize for it taking me so long to finish this release. I know I have been keeping the Swedish and Italian users waiting for quite a while. Thanks for being patient. Those of you with Powerbook 1400's can now take advantage of all 9.2.x has to offer with b9. I updated the interface a little bit to include some advanced options, but they are hidden until you click on the disclosure triangle. I also included a full Read-Me file instead of just weblinks. It is VERY IMPORTANT for 1400 users to read this file prior to installing.

OSX Only Macs 7/17/03
I've had yet even more email about getting the newer Powermacs booting into OS 9. Right now I think it will be possible for the first generation of G4's and iMacs that came out as OS X-only, but I don't think it will be possible for the G5's due to the new custom motherboard controllers that never had OS9 drivers to begin with. Like I said before, I don't have one of those new Macs to play with, so I can't say anything for sure.

A Switch Campaign of a Different Kind (MacFixit) 7/17/03
There was another very interesting article (pro subscription required) posted on MacFixit.com a few days ago that talked about why so many users are sticking with OS 9. Apple sure does want us to think that the entire Mac population has switched to OS X, but from the sound of the article, it seems that there is still a large population who are content to stay with 9.

The Good, the Bad, and the Avie 7/17/03
I came across an interesting article that talks about Avie Tevanian's reign in the position of VP of Software Engineering at Apple. It details many of the decisions that he made that lead to OS X being very un-Mac-like IMHO. The article also talks briefly about Keith Stattenfield, the Tech Lead for OS 8 through 9 (my new personal hero).