As Classic starts up, the loading system extension icons appear then disappear as they normally do. The progress bar in the Classic startup window indicates that Classic startup is almost complete. At this point, Classic stalls and does not finish starting up.
This may occur if a Mac OS 9-based AppleShare (AFP) server that is aliased in the Classic (Mac OS 9) System Folder's Servers folder is not available.
You may choose to solve only the immediate issue by getting Classic started, or you may choose to additionally remove the server alias(es) that caused the issue.
Complete Classic's startup
1. Click the desktop, or any item in the Dock.
2. If the "Classic Environment starting up" window remains, click it once. Classic will finish starting up.
Classic does not finish starting up, click Stop, then click "Stop Classic." In this case, you need to follow the steps in the next section.
Delete the Servers folder and create new startup items
1. Locate the Mac OS 9 (Classic) "System Folder", which should not be confused with the Mac OS X folder named only "System".
2. Locate the Servers folder. Drag the Servers folder to the Trash.
3. Start Classic again. Classic should start up as expected.
4. Create server startup items. See "Mac OS X: How to Automatically Connect to the Server When You Log In".
Tips
1. This issue may not occur as long as the server is available. You may wish to take precautionary measures to avoid this if the server is not available in the future. See the section above.
2. One reason that a server may not be available to Mac OS X, but may be available to Mac OS 9, is that the server does not have an IP address. See "Connecting to AppleShare or File Sharing Requires TCP/IP".
For related information, see technical documents:
106678: "
Mac OS X: Classic Will Not Start Up - Mac OS 9 Not Installed or Not Blessed"
151909: "
The Classic environment fails to start or stops working"
25214: "
Mac OS 9: Brief Delay When Desktop First Appears"
60544: "
Mac OS 9: What Is the Servers Folder in the System Folder?"
106794: "
Mac OS X: Empty White Space, or 'Box,' Appears on Desktop After Classic Starts"