Troubleshooting the Classic environment in Mac OS X

Classic won't start

If Classic won't start, see these informative articles:

Mac OS X: Classic Will Not Start Up - Mac OS 9 Not Installed or Not Blessed
Mac OS X 10.3: The Classic Environment Fails to Start or Stops Working

Classic begins to start up, but it does not finish

Classic may almost complete a normal startup, but then stall without any other hint of an issue.

In some cases, Classic might not start up due to an extensions conflict or "bus error'.

A Linksys hub/router or wireless access point may also keep Classic from starting in Mac OS X 10.1.

Gray Screen - Classic startup stops (or "freezes") at a gray screen

Classic startup stops at a gray screen, and there is no indication of an extensions conflict or "bus error" in the Classic startup window.

Classic unexpectedly quits or stops responding

Classic may unexpectedly quit and the Dock no longer indicates that individual Classic applications are open. Alternatively, Classic may continue to run but become unresponsive to input. An alert box may appear with this message:

"The Classic Environment is Not Responding. You may click Cancel and attempt to save any changes to open documents..."

During copy/paste, Classic stops responding ("freezes") with a progress indicator

See Mac OS X: Spinning Disc Cursor When Copying/Pasting From Classic