8.6 to 9.2.1 to 10.2

Question

I am trying to update an old machine I have for my daughter. It is a G4-PCI with 120 Gb drive, and 256 RAM. It hasn't run well for a long time, so I decided rather than use it for a paper weight, I would give it an overhaul and make it a usable machine again. It was running 9.2.2 and I had it partitioned into 7 volumes, which at the time seemed like a good idea, but now it doesn't. So I decided to re-initalize the disks and make it 3 volumes; 1 for 9.2 (20 Gb), 1 for OS X (90 Gb), and 1 misc (10 Gb). After I did this I tried to load the disk I had for OS 9 which was 9.2.1. It would boot up, but there were no desktop folders. I then read that I needed to load the origianl start-up disk the machine came with which was 8.6, so I did that. Everything seems to work with 8.6. I then read that 9.2.1 will only update 9.1, and 9.1 will only update 9.0, so I don't know how I originally got from 8.6 to 9.2.2 when all I have are the 8.6 and the 9.2.1 disks (it's been too many years). My intention is to load OS X, which I have the 10.2 disk for, but I can't seem to get beyond 8.6. Any help would be appreciated, and if possible, please speak slowly... I'm not a tech person.
G4 PCI   Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier  

Answer 1

Hi Aebasile and welcome to the forum.
I don't think booting up, but there were no desktop folders is about update versions…
Technically updaters, which are always downloaded files, won't go back past their own primary versions numbers - so a 9.x.y updater won't help for any version of 8 and a 10.x.y won't help any 9. Some updaters require specific secondary version Nos, too.
Similarly commercially, each primary version requires either the model-specific installer that shipped from the factory with that machine or a generic retail installer - and if you have a 10.2 retail disk, you don't need anything earlier.
Your 9.2.1 could be a generic retail installer; certainly, 9.2.1 is the latest OS 9 generic retail version and 9.2.2 always comes from either a download or a machine-specific installer.
However, that you were running 9.2.2 before suggests that the versions are a red herring and either the installer or your main drive is faulty…
When It would boot up, but there were no desktop folders, does that mean do folders on the installer so you couldn't start an installation, or it did run the installation but there were no folders when trying to boot from the new System Folder, please?
What happens if you start with Apple-Option held down until the Mac asks to Rebuild its Desktop, then agree?
What happens if you start with Apple-Option-P-R held down until the chime sounds at least four times?
What happens if you start with the Option key held down?