I actually got somewhat close to booting OS 9 on my G5.
I put a full OS 9.2.2 install with the newest ROM I could find onto an IDE drive attached where the CD drive normally goes. I used Open Firmware to direct the G5 to boot from that system folder.
At this point you could even hold down Option and the Mac would report the OS 9 system as a valid boot system. If you tried to boot, the screen would turn a particular shade of grey for just a second, and then it would dump you back at the Option screen.
I believe that particular shade of grey may have been OS 9 attempting to boot.
Of course, the G5 is just too different for OS 9 to boot from, but it was an interesting experiment. I believe it's possible to get some of the first OS X only (non-G5) Macs to boot OS 9 using similar techniques.
_________________
Stop being so Complicated. Take a RISC.
http://www.adoptamac.com
I put a full OS 9.2.2 install with the newest ROM I could find onto an IDE drive attached where the CD drive normally goes. I used Open Firmware to direct the G5 to boot from that system folder.
At this point you could even hold down Option and the Mac would report the OS 9 system as a valid boot system. If you tried to boot, the screen would turn a particular shade of grey for just a second, and then it would dump you back at the Option screen.
I believe that particular shade of grey may have been OS 9 attempting to boot.
Of course, the G5 is just too different for OS 9 to boot from, but it was an interesting experiment. I believe it's possible to get some of the first OS X only (non-G5) Macs to boot OS 9 using similar techniques.
_________________
Stop being so Complicated. Take a RISC.
http://www.adoptamac.com