Is it possible to boot MorphOS straight from computer startup, i.e. to skip the startup drive selection? I installed MorphOS successfully on a Mac Mini, PowerMac10,1, 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4. Originally it had Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger installed. Now every time I start the Mini, a flashing globe will appear and booting doesn't progress. I have to restart the computer pressing ALT to get to the drive selection. Only the MorphOS installation will appear. And all this is really slow, the wristwatch will go on and on. Sure I'd like MorphOS to boot as fast as it should and without the ALT hassle.

> Is it possible to boot MorphOS straight from computer startup, i.e. to
> skip the startup drive selection? [...] I have to restart the computer
> pressing ALT to get to the drive selection. Only the MorphOS installation
> will appear. And all this is really slow, the wristwatch will go on and on.

See https://library.morph.zone/Dual-boot_MorphOS_and_MacOS_X_on_a_Mac_Mini_G4#Trying_it_out.2C_changing_the_default_system.

Your Mini is acting very strange. I assume you didn't keep the OSX installation? In that case the computer should boot to MorphOS as a default.

Try the Open Firmware commands posted by Andreas.

I followed the instructions but unfortunately it doesn't work for me. The flashing globe still appears at startup. The Terminal said "ok" after setenv commands and reset-all printed "sharp..." or something like that before rebooting, so it appeared as if the commands took effect. But no.

I didn't keep the Mac OS X installation. Only MorphOS is installed on the Mini.

[ Edited by Ikemitsu 23.04.2023 - 08:07 ]

@ Ikemitsu - What type, size/capacity is the main storage device (HDD, SSD) in the Mac Mini?

Is the storage media known to be reliable?

Does the Mac Mini boot OK from the installation media (CD or USB stick)? If it does it might be worth doing a 'health-check' of the storage media via SFSDoctor to ensure that it is not the cause of these issues.

I cannot remember having a flashing 'globe' on the screen if the system ever wouldn't boot, ... yes I have seen a flashing apple/mac monitor flash onto the screen, but I don't know what the flashing globe is you refer to, others might, but it's something out of the ordinary to me!

Usually I have a Dual-Boot system for a Mac Mini, and Tiger is also the best choice IMHO.

You can download Mac OSX Tiger from Mac OSX Tiger 10.4 Retail DVD download (that's the direct weblink) and update it as required to 10.4.11 once it's re-installed - if you don't already have the Mac OSX Tiger installation media.

Another question, once you booted into MorphOS can you do a restart/reset or would that also trigger the need for going the ALT route.

The idea being that an ancient HD close to death just takes to long spinning up to be recognized on cold start.

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Yes, I have restarted and it's the same. The flashing globe will appear unless I go the ALT route.

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It's HDD Samsung HM160HC, 128 GB.

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Well, it was reliable just before installing MorphOS. I had Tiger installed and there was no sign of any hard drive failure.

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I'll try this. I have the Tiger retail DVD.

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I would think that the globe means an internet installation attempt. Don't know really. Anyway, it doesn't progress.

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O.k. this means that is still some env variable set in OF redirecting boot.

You can either us "printenv" in OF to see if anything is suspicious or try wiping the whole thing.


3rd party manual for OF

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Command == Windows key
Option == Alt

To check the hardware, I now started from the Tiger installation disk and ran the Disk Utility test. All well. I then booted to the Apple Hardware Test and all the tests were passed.

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This did it! The PRAM reset. Mac Mini now boots straigt to MorphOS. And it's pretty quick. Thank you!