XPostFacto

I thought it might come in handy in the future to have all the info about XPostFacto in one place on here, so I've copied across the info that I also posted on the PPCMLA - there was quite a lot of useful info in the topics that were previously on here where I discussed my problems in getting it to work, which has now been lost. I therefore did this quick guide to using XPostFacto to get a reference topic on the subject started, as some of the things that I learned from the experience are not that easy to find/obvious otherwise.

I hope it's OK to re-post here what I posted on the PPCMLA, I just thought it would be useful to have it on both sites - if this isn't wanted here for any reason then of course feel free to delete it. Alternatively, if it is appropriate, then any additional hints/tips that you might have to share can of course be posted.

Just my contribution to rebuilding the knowledge of the 68kmla I don't need the info now as I got it sorted in the end, but I expect someone else will want it at some stage!

-Check on the XPostFacto site that your target Mac is compatible with OS X, and which versions it can run. It is needed for OS X 10.4 onwards on iMacs/iBooks/PowerBook G3s that lack FireWire, 10.3 onwards on Beige G3s/PowerBook G3s lacking built-in USB (except original PB G3), and any version of OS X on pre-G3 Macs and original PB G3.

-Ensure that you have a few GBs of free hard drive space and a decent amount of Ram for good performance under OS X - 256 MB is good, 512+ is great. Also make sure you have a separate graphics card installed if you're using a Beige G3 (and possibly earlier Macs too) with Panther or Tiger - the onboard video is hard to get working and will give poor performance in OS X anyway. Graphics cards must be specific Mac versions of the card.

-Get a copy of OS X - newer versions of OS X are generally better as they are more optimised so will run faster, so use Panther or Tiger if possible.

-Format all of your partitions with Mac OS 9.2's Drive Setup

-Install Mac OS 9.2.2. Any version of OS 9.x can be updated to 9.2.2 and should be for best compatibility with OS X’s Classic Mode. Update path is 9.0 > 9.1 > 9.2.1 > 9.2.2; you will need to download and install of the relevant updaters. Pre-G3 Macs require the utility OS 9 Helper to install OS 9 revisions greater than 9.1; leave it at 9.1 if you can’t be bothered with that.

-Install available firmware updates for your Mac, if applicable (iMacs/iBooks only)

-Check that your Mac's PRAM battery is working - unplug it from the power, leave for a minute or so, then plug it back in and see if it has remembered the time/date settings. If it's reverted to a year in the past, you may be able to avoid problems later on by getting a new battery for it, although you may be able to get away with a dead one.

-Insert the first install CD for Mac OS X

-Install XPostFacto and launch it

-Select your Mac OS X install CD and the target partition for installing OS X - target partition should be less than 8 GB in size (if using a Beige G3; not sure about other models), and should be the first partition on the first IDE bus (for IDE Macs).

-Click the button to restart and begin the installation - the Mac will now restart and hopefully begin booting off the CD. It will be in verbose mode so you will see lots of Unix-y text. If it doesn't boot, try using the stock Apple CD-ROM drive if using a non-Apple logoed one.

-The Mac OS X installer should start. Select your language and click the arrow to continue.

-If you now get a message saying your Mac is not compatible with Mac OS X, or if you can't boot at all, switch it off and remove all PCI cards except the video card (where needed). If that doesn't work try taking it down to one hard drive and the optical drive, preferably on separate buses (if using an IDE Mac). If that still doesn't work, try swapping around the Ram, try booting OS X with just one Ram chip, if that doesn't work try another chip etc.

-OS X installation should eventually get under way. Be sure to select the option to customise the installationm and deselect all of the languages and printer drivers that you don't need. It will install a base system and then reboot into the second part of Setup, assuming you're using Tiger; I think the older versions install everything and then reboot to complete. Either way, you'll now be booting the OS X installation on your hard drive for the first time.

If it boots to a Happy Mac or OS 9-style grey screen and then hangs, restart and hold down Apple+Option+P+R straight away, and keep it down until it chimes again, to zap the PRAM. If you still have problems booting, including reaching an open firmware prompt upon booting, especially if you changed your hardware around in order to get the installation going, switch off and locate the CUDA reset switch inside the Mac (the relevant Apple service manual should tell you where it is). I just pressed and released it, which is what Apple say, but some people say to holdit for up to 30 seconds. Don't press it more than once in between restarts though.

If it starts booting with the grey Apple logo but then produces a kernel panic, check that your drives all have the correct jumper settings and are not corrupt/dodgy etc. If they are fine, boot back into OS 9 (hold down Option key at startup until you see the Happy Mac), navigate to /System/Library/Extensions/ on the drive that you're installing OS X on, and delete the file BootCache.kext. Open the XPostFacto utility, select your OS X hard drive, and click restart.

If you still can't boot from the hard drive, this advice may help you.

-Hopefully the second stage of OS X installation will now get under way (assuming you're using Tiger - if not, you will probably be booting into the Setup Assistant now).

If at any point you get a message saying "there were errors installing the software, please try again", in the Window menu open the Installer Log. If it mentions errors installing files and you are using the stock Apple CD-ROM drive and CD-R/RW OS X discs, try swapping with an optical drive that can burn discs as these are more reliable at reading burned discs. For the second stage of Setup one that can't boot a Mac should be OK as it's booting from the HD at this stage; if the errors occur in the first stage you'll need a bootable one (non-Apple logoed Sony ones are likely candidates).

-Once it's finished installing you'll get an oh-so-cool intro video, and you're pretty much done Just run through the Setup Assistant, ensuring that you're not connected to the internet if you want to avoid giving Apple your personal details, then once you're in OS X use Software Update to update the OS.

-Your Mac should now boot into OS X by default, and if you want OS 9 you just hold the Option key when starting up until the Happy Mac appears.

Have fun

-Additional note: some software now refuses to install on G3s, even though it can run fine on them. Examples are iWork '06, iWeb '06 and iPhoto '06. To get it to install, simply copy the installer files to a writable location, Ctrl+click on the package and select the option to view its contents, and look for the Distribution package inside (has a .dist extension). Open it up in TextEdit and delete the bit of code that looks something like

Delete down to and including the } symbol, and leave one blank line between the code block above the bit you just deleted and the one below. Save the file and try installing again, and it should now install. This won't work for software that has had the non-AltiVec code stripped out of it, such as the other bits of iLife '06 apart from those mentioned above or newer versions of Roxio Toast.