Mackem60

Q: Need copies of installation discs for PowerBook G4 can anyone help me?

I have just purchased a PowerBook G4 and I am unable to install any program on the machine and it is really beginning to annoy me, can anyone help and assist me in anyway.   I think I need copies of the installation discs to sought this out, but this I am not sure about.

iPhone 4S, iOS 6

Posted on Feb 11, 2013 4:02 PM

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Q: Need copies of installation discs for PowerBook G4 can anyone help me?

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  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Feb 11, 2013 4:08 PM in response to Mackem60
    Level 8 (48,821 points)
    Feb 11, 2013 4:08 PM in response to Mackem60

    The vendor is legally obliged to include the original install disks with the sale.

     

    If you can't get them that way you will have to buy them on eBay. An old G4 can only run Tiger OS 10.4 or Leopard OS 10.5

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Feb 11, 2013 6:44 PM in response to Mackem60
    Level 8 (35,044 points)
    iPad
    Feb 11, 2013 6:44 PM in response to Mackem60

    It's a very long shot but, if you are in N.America, call Apple at 1-800-MY-APPLE and tell them you need replacement system disks, and give them your computer's serial number. If they have them or can burn them, there with be a nominal charge which is hugely less than the cost of 10.4 or 10.5 retail install disks from third-party vendors. Both OS versions are in such high demand that resellers often ask more than what people paid for a used Mac.

     

    NOTE: If you see a version or either 10.4 or 10.5 offered from download, RUN AWAY! Those are pirated copies that, at best, seldom work and, at worst, contain malware.

  • by romko23,

    romko23 romko23 Feb 11, 2013 9:38 PM in response to Mackem60
    Level 2 (395 points)
    Feb 11, 2013 9:38 PM in response to Mackem60

    Hi,

     

    Tell me the model identifier you have? You can find this under About This Mac/System Preferences.. an example for my powerbook g4 would be: PowerBook5,9...

     

    If you have the 5,9 or 5,8 - email me privately and I can further assist you. I will tell you this for sure: You CANNOT get the original discs from Apple SOS or 1-800-MY-APPLE as the PowerPC macs are vintage and they don't have those discs anymore.

     

    My advice to you is ask the seller if he has the discs, if not.. then you will have to search for them and I will warn you that they can be pretty high. But, if you have 5,9 and 5,8 PowerBook G4 Dual-layer models I can help you..

     

    Let me know..

     

    Romko

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Feb 12, 2013 7:49 AM in response to romko23
    Level 8 (35,044 points)
    iPad
    Feb 12, 2013 7:49 AM in response to romko23

    romko23 wrote:

     

    I will tell you this for sure: You CANNOT get the original discs from Apple

     

    You like it all black and white, don't you. No gray zones?

     

    The reason I posted that recommendation again--with the caveat that it was a very long shot--is that as recently as Jan 20, 2013, a poster reported getting disks for a PPC Mac running Tiger from Apple by giving his serial number. This was after being told here that Apple was out.

     

    He even posted pictures. The disks looks like print-on disks with the Apple logo on a white background, so I have to assume that they relented from the issue of out-of-stock grey disk and are now burning on demand, at least for some customers.

     

    If the OP is in the US, it's a free call to check and, historically, Apple has certainly been inconsistent in saying whether they do or don't ship system disks. So why do you wish to discourage him from at least seeing if an effective low-cost solution is out there. After all he's been cautioned that it might not work before you posted.

  • by Toolshed4,

    Toolshed4 Toolshed4 Feb 12, 2013 1:39 PM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Feb 12, 2013 1:39 PM in response to Allan Jones

    The white disks with black print are the Apple in-house system install/restore/boot version of the grey disks with white type that shipped with computers. Unsurprisingly, they tend to be less model-bound than the grey disks. Once grey disks went out of production with their computer model, they could only be replaced with the white ones. They white disks were/are given out at the discretion of AppleCare support agents or AASPs if a customer's issue requires the use of a bona fide Apple boot disk, but s/he is not in possession of the original grey ones. I have several of the white ones for iBook G4, MacBook Pro 15" Core Duo and iMac 24". One was accidentally left in my machine after it had been to Apple for a repair; the MacBook Pro disk was sent to me to troubleshoot because the version of Tiger on the white disk had a Disk Utility feature lacking in my slightly earlier grey disks. I have been collecting Apple system disks and OS disks for years and have many for the PowerBook G4.

  • by bluangel88,

    bluangel88 bluangel88 Mar 3, 2013 7:00 AM in response to Mackem60
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 3, 2013 7:00 AM in response to Mackem60

    I also am looking for Powerbook G4 15" restore disks.   Mac OS X 10.5.8  is what is on it at the currently.

  • by Toolshed4,

    Toolshed4 Toolshed4 Mar 3, 2013 11:56 AM in response to bluangel88
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mar 3, 2013 11:56 AM in response to bluangel88

    The last PowerBook G4 15" model (A1138) came with OS X 10.4. installed. Its grey system DVDs installed the same version of the OS. Because the system disks are model-specific, they cannot be used to install OS X 10.4 on any earlier PowerBook G4 models. Obtaining the original system disks for earlier aluminum PowerBooks G4 will allow you to install OS X 10.2.x or OS X 10.3.x.

     

    Apple, as you all know, capped the PowerPC Macs at  OS X 10.5.8. Seeing no original PowerBook system disks contain a version of the OS higher than OS X 10.4, the only way to install OS X 10.5 on a PowerBook is to use a generic OS X 10.5 Install DVD, of the kind offered for sale by Apple online and at its retail stores, while Leopard was current. Over the course of Leopard's life-cycle, those retail disks installed either OS X 10.5.1, 10.5.4 or 10.5.6; the Combined OS X 10.5.8 Update Ibstaller is still available for download from Apple (www.apple.com/downloads). The retail disk is often more reliable than copies made of those disks, although I have made back up clones of my 10.5.4 and 10.5.6 disks (which is legal) to use in the interest of preserving the originals, and they work just as well. All the Leopard install disks are double-layer DVDs, which single-layer superdrives can read. Backup clones of the retail disks burned to DL DVD+R disks, however, may not work in older Apple OEM DVD-ROM, Combo and Superdrives that support only the DVD-R protocol.

     

    One can also install the OS by connecting the destination volume via Target Disk Mode to another PPC computer, booting the latter from an install DVD and designating the former computer, which will read as a FireWire volume, as the desired destination.

     

    To shorten the Leopard install time dramatically, once inside the installer 1) choose the Customize option and deselect the printer drivers, additional fonts and additional languages; and 2) when you arrive at the point where the installer says it will check the install DVD, choose Skip. This will reduce install time to about 20-25 minutes, depending on your processor speed and amount of RAM installed. :

  • by jamesseda,

    jamesseda jamesseda Apr 6, 2013 8:06 AM in response to Mackem60
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 6, 2013 8:06 AM in response to Mackem60

    Hello everyone,

     

    I dusted off my Powerbook G4 running 10.2.8 , a friend gave me Panther 10.3 on a USB a while back so I could burn to disk but I never did it until now. I have tried and failed at trying to install them, any suggestions as how to make it work? It seems like it installs and reboots but when I look at the version its still at 10.2.8 and I'm scratching my head. Did I burn them wrong? I'm new to Macs and this powerbook had been a gift so I never really played with it much until now and would really like to update it.

     

    Thanks

  • by Toolshed4,

    Toolshed4 Toolshed4 Apr 6, 2013 11:36 AM in response to jamesseda
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Apr 6, 2013 11:36 AM in response to jamesseda

    Did your friend copy a disk image to a USB drive or copy the contents of an install CD to a USB drive? If the former, you should be able to mount the disk image to the desktop and (I actually have a blue and white Power Mac G3 running 10.2.8), use the Disk Utility to burn the "folder", that is the mounted volume, to disk (the retail Panther install CDs were 3 in number so you may need that many disks).

     

    If your friend copied the contents of the install CD to a USB drive, that copy will not boot because the process of copying changes the permissions. He needs to use a cloning utility like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to create an exact replica of the volume. That clone,when burned to disk, should boot, alllowing you to install Panther. Immediately prior to cloning, one should Repair Disk Permissions on the source volume so they are all in order).

     

    If you are going through the bother of updating the system, why not skip Panther and install Tiger or, if your PowerBook has an 867MHz or faster processor and at least 512MB RAM, Leopard?

  • by jamesseda,

    jamesseda jamesseda Apr 6, 2013 3:17 PM in response to Toolshed4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 6, 2013 3:17 PM in response to Toolshed4

    Thanks for replying.  Heres the long explanation of what happens...There were 4 folders, each with the dmg of each disk and an .nfo file also in each folder, the 4th folder says xtools. I burned each folder to separate disks (4 total) and when i put the first cd in the powerbook , a dvd icon appears, when I click on this, a folder opens with a .dmg icon in it (mac -x3a.dmg). I click on it and it says mounting. then another folder with many icons for languages, including the (install Mac OS X) icon. After I click on this it says click the restart button below to begin the installation process. The machine boots up normally and nothing was done. It remains at 10.2.8

     

    Should I just look for tiger or lion online? Will the same thing happen? Should I format the machine and how? I have no CD's for it. my machine is running:

     

    memory -   512 MB

    Processor- 1 GHZ Power PC G4

     

    Thanks.

     

    PS- sorry for the long explanaton, just wanted to fully explain.

  • by romko23,

    romko23 romko23 Apr 11, 2013 12:57 AM in response to jamesseda
    Level 2 (395 points)
    Apr 11, 2013 12:57 AM in response to jamesseda

    Hi,

     

    Email me.. I might be able to help you..as many who I have helped will vouch for.. I see you are in need of assistance.. email me. And Lion won't work on any PowerPC Mac.. that is strictly for Intel Macs.. and Mountain Lion is also for Intel Macs.. the last version of OS X to run on PPC macs was and still is and always will be for most: 10.5.8, Leopard.

     

    Romko

     

    Also, I noticed your memory is 512MB... I would increase that to 2GB, the max.. depending on the model of your G4 PowerBook... if its the Aluminum series you should be able to go up to the max of 2GB.. earlier PowerBook G4's or the Titaniums could only goto 1GB.

  • by Toolshed4,

    Toolshed4 Toolshed4 Apr 16, 2013 8:46 PM in response to jamesseda
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Apr 16, 2013 8:46 PM in response to jamesseda

    .NFO is a Windows file format often used for explanatory/instruction files included with pirated software. Open them with in OS X with TextEdit.

     

    If you have a copy of Toast or some other Roxio disk burning software, use that to burn the .img file to disk. You do not need the XTools disk. Consult the Jaguar Help for instructions on how to burn image files to disk using Disk Copy, Disk Utility and/or Finder.

  • by Fryfogle1969,

    Fryfogle1969 Fryfogle1969 Apr 24, 2013 2:39 PM in response to romko23
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 24, 2013 2:39 PM in response to romko23

    Hello, I have 5,8 running 10.4.1 and can't locate my original disks.  Can you help?

     

     

    Thanks

    Shawn

     

    <Email Edited by Host>

  • by Toolshed4,

    Toolshed4 Toolshed4 Apr 24, 2013 2:31 PM in response to Fryfogle1969
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Apr 24, 2013 2:31 PM in response to Fryfogle1969

    That e-mail address seems not to be correct.

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