OSXFAQ Reader Tips 

Install Mac OS Classic on a Disk Image In Jaguar !!

OSXFAQ Reader Tip By Ashley Thomas

Don't want to clutter your Mac OS X volume with the Mac OS 9 folders? Install Classic on a disk image! Mac OS X 10.2 will automatically mount the image from its file when Classic is needed.

Because you'll be in Mac OS 9 when you boot off of the OS 9 installer CD, the image will have to be created from the MAC OS 9 version of Disk Copy (available on the OS 9 installer CD) creating an .img file rather than the Mac OS X's .dmg files (which Mac OS 9's version of Disk Copy won't be able to recognize when you're booted off the installer CD).

I've been testing a number of my classic applications under this strategy and have had no problems. One early obstacle was that the 9.2.1 updater (a classic application) didn't want to run (a 9.1/10.2 issue I assume), so I copied the 9.2.1 image to my hard drive, booted off the 9.1 installer CD and then ran the 9.2.1 installer. So here are my steps:

• 1. Copy the Mac OS 9.2.1 updater image (in the English [or whatever] folder of the updater CD) to hard drive (not necessary if you have access to a second CD-ROM drive).
• 2. Boot off of the 9.1 installer CD.
• 3. Use Disk Copy from the installer CD to create a disk image on your hard drive in an accessible place (I put mine in the Users/Shared/ folder to keep my root level as clean as possible). A 500MB image should be plenty to install Mac OS 9--increase if you want to install classic applications on the image (I haven't tested this strategy yet--don't know if opening a file that wants a classic application on an unmounted image will work...but it might).
• 4. Run the 9.1 installer to create a system on the mounted image.
• 5. Run the 9.2.1 updater to update the system on the image.
• 6. Restart back under Mac OS X.
• 7. Mount the Mac OS 9 image file.
• 8. Use the Classic system preferences pane to choose the system folder on the mounted image for Classic (or apparently you can just run a classic application--Mac OS X will find the Mac OS 9 system folder and auto-select it).

The image will be mounted whenever the Classic environment is needed (or you open the Classic system preferences pane). You won't be able to unmount the image while Classic is running and don't try to unmount the image while the Classic system preferences pane is open (it'll complain that no system folder is available for Classic and you'll have to repeat steps 7 and 8).

I wouldn't be surprised if some classic applications have difficulty with this strategy but maybe they won't (from their perspective how is a system on a mounted disk image different from a system on a volume partition? no seriously, I'd like to know). But so far this strategy is meeting my needs for the few classic applications I'm still running. And when I finally want to give up on Mac OS 9 completely, it'll be a joy to simply throw that disk image file into the trash.

Enjoy :-)

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