jonasfromwa

Q: How to install Mac OS 10.1 on iBook G4 mid-2005

Hi. I have just bought a vintage copy of Mac OS 10.1 for my iBook G4, not realizing that I can't strictly speaking install the OS on the machine. I read that some people have done it, but I am running 10.4.11, and I was wondering how I can dual boot and install 10.1 on a different partition, as the earliest OS was 10.3 Panther. Thanks!

-jonasfromwa

iBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Dec 28, 2013 10:04 AM

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Q: How to install Mac OS 10.1 on iBook G4 mid-2005

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  • by jonasfromwa,

    jonasfromwa jonasfromwa Dec 28, 2013 2:17 PM in response to jonasfromwa
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    Dec 28, 2013 2:17 PM in response to jonasfromwa

    Ok, well I heard from a couple mac specialists that it is possible to 'force' install it, and the problems I would have, would just be driver problems. Do I need anything else to try to install it? Some people say that it won't boot.

  • by jonasfromwa,

    jonasfromwa jonasfromwa Dec 28, 2013 7:34 PM in response to jonasfromwa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 7:34 PM in response to jonasfromwa

    Feedback anyone?

  • by britny,

    britny britny Dec 28, 2013 8:25 PM in response to jonasfromwa
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Dec 28, 2013 8:25 PM in response to jonasfromwa

    why would you want to do this? have you ever used 10.1 before?

  • by jonasfromwa,

    jonasfromwa jonasfromwa Dec 28, 2013 9:19 PM in response to britny
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    Dec 28, 2013 9:19 PM in response to britny

    Just for kicks. I love old software, and I want to try it out.

  • by K Shaffer,Helpful

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Dec 29, 2013 3:19 AM in response to jonasfromwa
    Level 6 (14,274 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 29, 2013 3:19 AM in response to jonasfromwa

    Rather unlikely Puma 10.1.5 would be able to support booting a later model mid-2005 iBook G4 that shipped with Tiger 10.4.x -- As Puma was intended to run on G3 PPCs, that often would have booted in OS 9 by default. And used rather different firmware in specific hardware for the old PPC G3 to use OSX on vintage chips. A real headache zone. I'd rather have seen some more parallel development of OS 9.2.2... Almost as good as Tiger 10.4.11 as a fine OS.

     

    I vaguely remember Puma as a 'vast improvement over the OS X Public Beta of Sept 2000' which some foolishly installed on their workstations.

     

    Use older Vintage hardware with partitioned hard disk drives, and watch for those which supported FireWire (iMac400DV was a good one) because you could use an external hard disk drive. Maybe even boot clones, etc from there. With all the limitations on the early hardware that made first practical use of OS X nearly impossible, a newer machine at the other end won't support an antique operating system readily if at all. Not without writing some code; and there probably are firmware considerations beyond the scope of reason. Better to get the correct hardware for the vintage experience.

     

    Makes me tired just thinking about it!

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by jonasfromwa,

    jonasfromwa jonasfromwa Dec 29, 2013 1:14 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 1:14 PM in response to K Shaffer

    So it is possible, but I would have issues? Maybe more than I can handle? Maybe I will buy an iBook G3 snow, that came with 10.1 anyways, right?

  • by britny,Helpful

    britny britny Dec 29, 2013 3:16 PM in response to jonasfromwa
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 3:16 PM in response to jonasfromwa

    now you're getting somewhere. most g3 ibooks came from the factory as dual boot machines capable of booting from osx AND os9 and if you like playing around with older operating systems then os9 is where you should be. some g3 ibooks have had os9 removed by previous owners and reinstalling it without the original discs can be problematic so ask before you buy. 10.1 in most everyones opinion ain't worth even looking at.

  • by jonasfromwa,

    jonasfromwa jonasfromwa Dec 29, 2013 3:26 PM in response to britny
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 29, 2013 3:26 PM in response to britny

    G3 iBooks came dual booted? Now that's something I didn't know...

    So to try it out, a G4 might work, but a G3 is the way to go if I want to really run it without problems.

  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Dec 30, 2013 2:06 PM in response to jonasfromwa
    Level 9 (66,781 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Dec 30, 2013 2:06 PM in response to jonasfromwa

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2191

     

    Tells you the minimum of each iBook, and what it could run.  G3s as surmised could dual boot, you had to use system specific discs to install a version 9 was compatible with it.

  • by jonasfromwa,

    jonasfromwa jonasfromwa Jan 4, 2014 2:15 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2014 2:15 PM in response to K Shaffer

    OK, I got it in the mail...and it won't boot. Tried to start up from system prefs start up disk, also holding option, and holding C key. Nothing. I'll just grab a G3 sometime, I was hoping to get one soon anyway. Thanks!