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Prindle16

Q: Used Powerbook G4 needs password to login after startup.

I bought a Powerbook G4 used at an estate sale (had to buy a power cord later to charge the battery and start it up.)  It has OS X on it and it requires a password (with the existing user name) to login, which I don t have. What can I do to get around that?  I left the sale with only the laptop and need help...

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Oct 1, 2016 6:18 PM

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Q: Used Powerbook G4 needs password to login after startup.

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  • by Kenichi Watanabe,Apple recommended

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Oct 1, 2016 6:41 PM in response to Prindle16
    Level 8 (39,783 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 6:41 PM in response to Prindle16

    You should start it up from a Mac OS X installation disc (in optical drive), erase the internal drive, and re-install Mac OS X.  A PowerBook G4 can run up to Tiger (10.4.11) or Leopard (10.5.8), depending on the specific model.  See if you can determine your model, using this web page (with links to detailed profiles) and any labeling on back of PowerBook's casing

     

    http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/index-powerbook-g4.html

     

    You don't need to find that exact model.  There are two general types.  The "Titanium" PowerBook G4 and "Aluminum" PowerBook G4.  If it's Aluminum, it can run up to Leopard.  It it's Titanium, 867 Mhz and faster can run up to Leopard; slower can run up to Tiger.

     

    Then, you'll need to acquire the appropriate Mac OS X installation disc.  There are some considerations; you can post back with what you find out about the model.

  • by Prindle16,

    Prindle16 Prindle16 Oct 1, 2016 10:47 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 1, 2016 10:47 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    To Kenichi Watanabe:

    Thanks much for the link...very helpful to narrow down the PowerBook G4 I bought at an estate sale. It is a model A1138 (EMC N/A) Alluminum PowerBook G4 (PowerBook5,8) 1.67 15" (DLSD/HR - Al) with a 15" screen, 2 gb RAM (each 200 pin DDR2), 100 gb 7200 rpm Hitachi Travelstar ATA/IDE hard drive dated August 2005, and a 2.4X DL SuperDrive (among other features).

     

    Do you know where the best place is to get an OS X installation disk and an appr/average cost? 

     

    I appreciate the help.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Oct 1, 2016 11:36 PM in response to Prindle16
    Level 8 (39,783 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 11:36 PM in response to Prindle16

    That's one of the last PowerPC-based Macs, before Apple switched to Intel processors.  It can run Tiger or Leopard.  Some people like Tiger better, but Leopard is newer with additional features, like Time Machine (a automated backup feature) and Spaces (multiple desktops).  If you previously used Macs and own even older Mac OS 9 programs, Tiger has the Classic environment that runs a Mac OS 9 system under Mac OS X, to run (most) older Mac OS 9 (and earlier) apps.  Leopard no longer has Classic.

     

    According to the EveryMac.com profile, it originally came with 10.4.2 pre-installed.  Therefore, you cannot install any version of Mac OS X that is earlier than 10.4.2.  If you want Tiger, the installation disc needs have a version that is later than 10.4.2, then update it to 10.4.11.  For Leopard, it can be any initial version, then update it to 10.5.8.

     

    You need to find a "retail" disc.  These are the discs sold separately in a box, for any supported Mac model.  This article shows images of the old Mac OS X installation discs, and offers some advice on sourcing.

     

    http://www.macworld.com/article/2101301/advice-from-an-apple-tech-how-to-get-old -mac-os-x-install-discs.html

     

    Do not get a disc that is grey, because that's a disc that came with a specific Mac model, unless you know for sure that it's from your specific PowerBook model (and you want Tiger not Leopard).

     

    NOTE:  Apple still sells the Snow Leopard installation disc, but unfortunately, Snow Leopard is Intel-only.

  • by ChitlinsCC,

    ChitlinsCC ChitlinsCC Oct 2, 2016 7:19 AM in response to Prindle16
    Level 6 (8,097 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2016 7:19 AM in response to Prindle16

    I can promise that you will want to use

    TenFourFox: A fork of Mozilla Firefox ESR 45 for the Power Macintosh and Mac OS X Tiger PowerPC

    http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

    for web browsing

     

  • by Prindle16,

    Prindle16 Prindle16 Oct 2, 2016 1:30 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2016 1:30 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Kenichi,

    Thanks for the very thorough reply and the advice about the OS. I think I have a good idea as to how to proceed and I hope to get it accomplished in the next week, depending on when I can the correct install disk.  I'll let you know if I run into any problems I can't resolve.

  • by Prindle16,

    Prindle16 Prindle16 Oct 2, 2016 1:42 PM in response to ChitlinsCC
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2016 1:42 PM in response to ChitlinsCC

    To:  ChitlinsCC

    What isTenFourFox?  And what do you mean by "a fork" of Mozilla Firefox ESR 45?  What is "a fork" of Firefox?  Are you taling about the Firefox browser?

  • by ChitlinsCC,

    ChitlinsCC ChitlinsCC Oct 2, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Prindle16
    Level 6 (8,097 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Prindle16

    You'll see why Safari that runs on Tiger or Leopard is totally unsuited for browsing web content in this day and age.

    "fork" is not my term

    At bottom, 10.4fox is Firefox only a couple of versions behind what is in wide release for modern OSes.

    You should really try Safari first - then be amazed at the difference

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Oct 2, 2016 2:15 PM in response to Prindle16
    Level 5 (7,741 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2016 2:15 PM in response to Prindle16

    Considering the age you may want to investigate installing Ubuntu or any other supported PPC Linux distro. Ubuntu PowerPC is supported as of 2014 vs Apples last 2009 update for 10.5.

    Ubuntu Mate even has a PPC build from this year…

    https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/

    Mate is 'lightweight' & has some nice tweaks.

     

    It can be tricky to setup & use but it is free and may be more secure to run something that isn't totally abandoned and gets updates. If you are planning to use it to run iTunes with older iOS devices stick with OS X but I can't see many other reasons to stick with an OS from the last decade if you can work out how to use Linux.