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Flashed ATI 9250 Crashing Beige G3 Minitower On Desktop
Posted by: DontGetHit on 2025-11-15 17:07:03
Hello! I am trying to flash a 9250 128mb reference card for my Beige G3 Minitower running a relatively fresh install of 9.2.2. I have done the resistor mod, I flashed the bios with Tome's 9250 ROM from http://themacelite.wikidot.com/wikidownloads2, and I downloaded this https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ati-radeon-9250-mac-os-9-drivers and put all of the extensions in my extension folder. On boot, the 9250 will display video during the loading screen and on the desktop, but once the trashcan icon gets loaded, it locks up. Does anyone know the solution to this issue? If you do not know the fix, is there a guaranteed ROM and Driver combo that has worked for you?


Edit: I might want to add that the G3 also has a sonnet G4 500mhz upgrade in it. Not sure if that is relevant.
Edit 2: Also, the machine boots up fine without the card installed through the internal video so it doesn't seem like the drivers or anything are causing the issue on their own.
Posted by: DontGetHit on 2025-11-15 19:08:27
I just tried the drivers from here: https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/radeon-9250-drivers-for-9-2-x.44365/ and got the same thing. I also tried the drivers from here: https://www.macintoshrepository.org/73857-radeon-7000-9250-driver-for-macos-7-6-9-2-2 and this one did even worse and failed in between the loading bar completing and the desktop being built.
Posted by: croissantking on 2025-11-16 04:02:01
What software are you using to enable the G4’s cache?
Posted by: Phipli on 2025-11-16 08:09:34
By flashing it you are baking in the clock speeds from the ROM file, which might be faster than the ones your card is rated for. You can try down tuning it down using this : https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/graphiccelerator
Posted by: DontGetHit on 2025-11-16 08:27:13
What software are you using to enable the G4’s cache?
I wasn’t aware that I needed to use any software. I just dropped in the upgrade. What software do I need?
Posted by: croissantking on 2025-11-16 08:31:48
I wasn’t aware that I needed to use any software. I just dropped in the upgrade. What software do I need?

Yes, you do, both for cache and AltiVec support. Use XLR8 MACh Speed Control.

This is going to sound weird, but my own testing has shown me that the OS9 ATi drivers do not play very well with G4 upgrades in a Beige G3. I would get freezes both with Powerlogix software and if no software was installed. XLR8 is the only software that worked for me - and even then, I had to downgrade to OS 9.1 to alleviate some graphical artifacting (which is known errata).
Posted by: DontGetHit on 2025-11-16 08:37:39
Yes, you do, both for cache and AltiVec support. Use XLR8 MACh Speed Control.

This is going to sound weird, but my own testing has shown me that the OS9 ATi drivers do not play very well with G4 upgrades in a Beige G3. I would get freezes both with Powerlogix software and if no software was installed. XLR8 is the only software that worked for me - and even then, I had to downgrade to OS 9.1 to alleviate some graphical artifacting (which is known errata).
Yeah, I think I went about this backwards. It seems like I should install OS X to test and configure everything, and then try OS 9.

So do I just install this software or is there specific settings I need to select inside of it?
Posted by: Phipli on 2025-11-16 08:51:07
Hello! I am trying to flash a 9250 128mb reference card for my Beige G3 Minitower running a relatively fresh install of 9.2.2. I have done the resistor mod, I flashed the bios with Tome's 9250 ROM from http://themacelite.wikidot.com/wikidownloads2, and I downloaded this https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ati-radeon-9250-mac-os-9-drivers and put all of the extensions in my extension folder. On boot, the 9250 will display video during the loading screen and on the desktop, but once the trashcan icon gets loaded, it locks up. Does anyone know the solution to this issue? If you do not know the fix, is there a guaranteed ROM and Driver combo that has worked for you?


Edit: I might want to add that the G3 also has a sonnet G4 500mhz upgrade in it. Not sure if that is relevant.
Edit 2: Also, the machine boots up fine without the card installed through the internal video so it doesn't seem like the drivers or anything are causing the issue on their own.
Oh, beige G3? Yeah. Ati drivers often cause the computer to stop as the desktop loads.

Leave it for about 10 minutes and see if it finishes loading 😆
Posted by: croissantking on 2025-11-16 09:43:51
Yeah, I think I went about this backwards. It seems like I should install OS X to test and configure everything, and then try OS 9.

So do I just install this software or is there specific settings I need to select inside of it?

It should configure itself automatically, just make sure you use the XLR8 software.

Download #3 on this page, V 3.5.0 for Mac OS 9. https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/machspeed-control-combo

You could also just remove the G4, and put back the original G3 ZIF for testing purposes.
Posted by: filipetolhuizen on 2026-01-20 18:53:13
Hello! I am trying to flash a 9250 128mb reference card for my Beige G3 Minitower running a relatively fresh install of 9.2.2. I have done the resistor mod, I flashed the bios with Tome's 9250 ROM from http://themacelite.wikidot.com/wikidownloads2, and I downloaded this https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ati-radeon-9250-mac-os-9-drivers and put all of the extensions in my extension folder. On boot, the 9250 will display video during the loading screen and on the desktop, but once the trashcan icon gets loaded, it locks up. Does anyone know the solution to this issue? If you do not know the fix, is there a guaranteed ROM and Driver combo that has worked for you?


Edit: I might want to add that the G3 also has a sonnet G4 500mhz upgrade in it. Not sure if that is relevant.
Edit 2: Also, the machine boots up fine without the card installed through the internal video so it doesn't seem like the drivers or anything are causing the issue on their own.
Hello,
I had the same issue with a 9200 on a B&W, but mine was a true Mac Edition. What I needed to do was find an updated version of Mac OS 9.2.2 as the card simply wouldn't work with the freshly installed OS even if I had the most up-to-date ATI extensions (jan. 2005). I used the compilation made by MacOS9Lives which included every possible updated component possible. It was a stuffed system folder that I unstuffed, replacing everything. Rebooted and voila. I don't know if I'm allowed to post this link here, but this compilation is found on multiple sources.
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