Mac OS X 10.2: Classic Cannot Start If Disk Is Full

Classic may unexpectedly quit or issue an alert message during its startup if there is little or no free space available on the disk that contains the Mac OS 9 System Folder used by Classic.
Symptom

Classic unexpectedly quits or issues an alert message during its startup.


Solution

Check the amount of free space available on the disk that contains the Mac OS 9 System Folder. If there is no (or very little) free space, copy or delete files from that disk to create more free space.

Note: Because of differences in the way that Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X use disk space, Mac OS 9 may report that there is space available on the disk when Mac OS X reports that it is full. You will need to ensure that Mac OS X reports free space in order to start the Classic environment.
Published Date: Feb 17, 2012