As far as I know, partitioning is the way to go. I've never tried it, but since the computer still supports OS9, you should be able to do it. I'd probably try it this way:

1. Back up what ever you have on the computer as best you can.
2. Install Tiger 10.4 on the computer. Do a clean install so the whole computer is wiped, and partition the disk at this time.
3. On one partition you can install OS9, assuming you still have the 9.2.2 disks or some sort of image.
4. On the other partition you could install Leopard if you need to.

The other thing you could consider is this nice rule of thumb I heard when Leopard was first released. DON'T install Leopard unless it's an Intel processor.

Do you really need to use Leopard on the machine at all? Just wipe the thing, install Tiger and then you can add on Classic!

I know how you feel. I've just been forced to move to a brand new iMac from my original 4 year old iMac. And I'm still adjusting emotionally. It's a lovely machine, but I miss OS9 so much. I've got an Apple ][ emulator, so one day soon I'm sure there will be an OS 9 emulator for Leopard and beyond.

Hope this helps

Hi,

The best way to and easiest way to add the old OS 9.2.2 classic environment to your computer is to either add (the best way) an additional hard drive to your computer. 250 gig hard drives are very cheap, etc. Make sure you make the new drive set as a slave if needed (via jumper specs which most manufactures show in instructions for new HD setups.
The major problem you face by doing it the way this other fellow had advised is that many hiddens files and resources ARE NOT copied if you do not image (.dmg) the hard drive properly. If you just drag and drop the whole hard drive onto an external one this WILL NOT work because of this. You will find yourself reloading software, plist files, documents etc. back into your Mac OS X 10.4.x system again... what a MESS! First ... find in your apps folder your utilities folder and the disk utility ... run disk utility, select your HD in list then MAKE sure you run a check & repair of your disk permissions first .. once done proceed to next step. Install the HD in available slot which the G4 Dual mirrors I do know have room available
for one. Make sure to unplug computer and touch the metal chassis inside your Mac before installing. Once installed restart your computer and go to About This Mac in the finder (select more info) or find the system profiler app. Check to make sure the new drive appears in SATA / ATA hardware listing. Then just reboot the Mac and HOLD down the "C" key
until the Mac OS 9.2.1 software loads. Run customer installer should your choose, deselect things you don't need and if your not sure just run regular install. After loading OS 9, restart hold down "option" key and select the OS 9.2.1 startup
volume ... run software update to 9.2.2. Then reinstall ALL your favorite OS 9 classic apps! If you do it the other way by
a fast level HD delete and adding classic environment ... Best OF LUCK! Not advised. ~ Macxtech - MSC TECH

Classic Environment is not supported under OS X 10.5

P

I was able to re-install 10.4 with a clean installation, which I wanted to do to put OS9 on this machine. Thanks so much!

Gina

Although Classic mode was removed from OS 10.5, you can still run Mac OS 7.5.2 through 9.0.4 under OS 10.5 using the emulater called SheepShaver. SheepShaver runs in both the PPC and Intel environments. The program is a bit jiggy to install and requires some extra resources that can be found on a Mac with an older OS or perhaps the internet. You also must own a copy of the classic OS you wish to install and run. I've seen it run on an Intel-based Mac running OS 10.5 and it worked quite well for the applications in which I was interested.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheepShaver
http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/

Thank you everyone for your input. Yeah, I found out that I got the wrong mirror drive door Mac. It will never boot to os 9. (I do have Tiger and can run Classic at least) I did, however, get my old iMac DV 450 Mhz back from my parents and can use that to boot to os 9 still. I have Tiger loaded on it, but it's 10.4. I'm having difficulty updating it with the update installs from the Apple website. (running software update from the apple menu tells me that there are no new updates, so I went to the apple website to manually download them) Whenever I run the 10.4.1 installer, I get the message that my computer does not meet the requirements for the installation. I tried the 10.4.11 combo installer and still get the same message. I made sure to download the PPC version, still no go. Does anybody know how or if I can update Tiger on my iMac? I need to do so so I can download updated versions of other apps like iTunes and Safari.

Thanks again!

~Donna