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skipper323

Q: Install Leopard to G3 frm imac

I have an old G3. Works very well - but would like to install leopard on it. I have tiger there now. I understand I can install leopard onto an external firewire and install leopard here - then boot up from the firewire. How do I do this? The leopard disc I have appears to be an update - whatever that is?

Any ideas?

imac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 6, 2009 11:10 AM

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Q: Install Leopard to G3 frm imac

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  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Mar 6, 2009 2:01 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 9 (53,909 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 6, 2009 2:01 PM in response to skipper323
    Update or upgrade? Upgrade discs require Tiger be installed first and will only install on the models of Intel (i.e., not G3) computers that were initially sold with Tiger but Apple decided to give the buyers a deal on Leopard. I don't think putting an Intel version of Leopard on a drive will boot a PPC Mac. There's also the issue of partition types needed by Intel Macs and PPCs. Finally there's the licensing issue.

    Message was edited by: Limnos
  • by skipper323,

    skipper323 skipper323 Mar 6, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Limnos
    Ok - I have four discs here. One is labeled TIGER. It has a big X on it. The other two are grey in colour and are marked Mac OS X Install Disc 1. The other is the same but marked as Disc 2. The last disk is the Leopard disc. It is marked CPU Drop-in DVD . It says it is part of a bundle.

    So - do I need to load Tiger first and then up grade to Leopard - and if so which disk (or disks) do I use?

    Cheers
  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 6, 2009 3:52 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 9 (53,909 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 6, 2009 3:52 PM in response to skipper323
    One is labeled TIGER. It has a big X on it.

    What color is it?

    The other two are grey in colour and are marked Mac OS X Install Disc 1. The other is the same but marked as Disc 2.

    Those are Tiger discs that came with a specific computer. Which computer?

    The last disk is the Leopard disc. It is marked CPU Drop-in DVD .

    That is an upgrade disc as I described earlier. It will only install on top of a pre-installed version of Tiger. It will not install Leopard on its own.

    So - do I need to load Tiger first and then up grade to Leopard - and if so which disk (or disks) do I use.

    I don't know enough about the first TIGER disc to tell you what it is capable of. I don't know with which computer the two gray discs came. If they came with your imac and you are installing Tiger with that then they will work to install Tiger on the Firewire drive as a precusor to using Leopard Upgrade disc

    You haven't provided enough information about your imac which could be brand new or a 15 year old model. If it is an Intel iMac then the versions of Leopard and Tiger you install will not support a G3 which is PPC based.

    Any G3 is horribly inadequate. You haven't told us anything about the G3. Does it even have enough RAM? I guess a few people have installed Leopard on some of the more advanced models to prove a point, but I doubt they do any serious computing. Other models will flatly not support Leopard in any size or shape.

    I am gong to assume at this stage that the imac you have is a an early Intel model with original Tiger disc and a CPU drop-in DVD. In order for this to install it will insist upon installing on a GUID partitioned drive. GUID partitioning will not boot a G3 which requires APM. that's in addition to this being an Intel version of Leopard which also won't play.

    Message was edited by: Limnos
  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Mar 6, 2009 4:27 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 10 (312,548 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 6, 2009 4:27 PM in response to skipper323
    I have an old G3. Works very well - but would like to install leopard on it.


    Leopard won't run on any G3 Mac unless a G4 CPU upgrade has been installed in it.

    I don't think putting an Intel version of Leopard on a drive will boot a PPC Mac.


    It will as long as the partition type issue is handled and the system requirements are met by the computer, which no G3 does.

    (41416)
  • by jpl,

    jpl jpl Mar 6, 2009 4:28 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 7 (28,285 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 4:28 PM in response to skipper323
    Skipper,

    Don't waste your time; Leopard will not run on any G3 CPU...period.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24950
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Mar 6, 2009 5:24 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 6, 2009 5:24 PM in response to skipper323
    Could you help us understand what you want out of your G3 that requires Leopard?

    There may be ways to do Networking and many other tasks that may not require you to go all the way to Leopard.
  • by skipper323,

    skipper323 skipper323 Mar 6, 2009 6:09 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 6:09 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    I guess I didn't explain myself very well. Forgive me. I am rather old. Lets put it this way - I was born in the first half of the last century. I didn't grow up with computers.

    What I want to do is use my G3 as a laptop. In order to run my accounting software and Bento2 - I need leopard. Bento 2 requires OX 10.5.4. Quickbooks 2009 needs OS 10.5.4

    I know I can't load leopard onto my G3. Not enough space. What I want to do is load Leopard onto a firewire external hard drive and boot off there so I can operate my programs. In other words - use the G3 as a monitor and keyboard and just boot up and use the programs from my external fire wire. Use the hard drive as a CPU. Does that make sense? I have read you can do this - but have received confusing information re
    how to.

    What I have is an intel 7.83 GHz with 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. The G3 is a 700 MHz Power PC G3 with 640 MB SDRAM. It should be able to

    The discs are TIGER (Includes xcode 2) version 10.4.3. The Leopard disc is black and pinky purple (10.5)It says it is a CPU drop-in. The other discs are light grey - disc version 1.0.

    So - any ideas?
  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Mar 6, 2009 6:27 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 10 (312,548 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 6, 2009 6:27 PM in response to skipper323
    Not enough space.


    It doesn't have to do with space; it has to do with the G3 CPU. Mac OS X 10.5 cannot be used to start up a G3 even if it's on an external FireWire drive. Applications which require Mac OS X 10.5 can't be run on a G3, and that cannot be overcome without using the computer just as an external display with a product such as ScreenRecycler, in which case another computer would actually be running the programs.

    (41419)
  • by skipper323,

    skipper323 skipper323 Mar 6, 2009 6:29 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 6:29 PM in response to Niel
    Drats - thanks
  • by skipper323,

    skipper323 skipper323 Mar 6, 2009 6:38 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 6:38 PM in response to Niel
    Hmmm. Ok - if I was to toss the G3 and look at a newer one (used) - what is the best model to buy? Maybe it won't run leopard - but I could firewire it - providing the CPU would handle it. I just need a cheap thing that I can use when I travel.

    Cheers
  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 6, 2009 7:21 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 9 (53,909 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 6, 2009 7:21 PM in response to skipper323
    It's the CPU that largely determines whether or not it will run Leopard, which you have stated as your #1 priority. If it doesn't have the CPU it doesn't matter how large the Firewire drive, or how much RAM you have in the computer (but too little RAM or too small a drive can make it hard to run Leopard too). Leopard officially requires an 867MHz CPU to run. I don't know how CPU intensive those programs you use are but if you read about somebody running Leopard on a 450MHz G4 they are doing it as a challenge, not because they are doing any work with the computer.

    How new are these programs you have? Some were really designed to run on Intel Macs and although you can run Leopard on a PPC the software is much happier on an Intel Mac. If you're talking Intel Mac you're talking something made since 2006 at least.
  • by jpl,

    jpl jpl Mar 6, 2009 8:11 PM in response to skipper323
    Level 7 (28,285 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 8:11 PM in response to skipper323
    skipper,

    You have the iBook G3 700MHz running the maximum of 640MB of RAM.

    You made this statement:

    "Maybe it won't run leopard - but I could firewire it - providing the CPU would handle it."

    It sounds like you don't necessarily want a laptop that can run Leopard. You can already "FireWire" your iBook G3; it will boot just fine to an external FireWire HD running 10.4.11. If you want compactness, you can buy a 2.5" FireWire HD enclosure and put up to 500GB in it.

    I recommend a FireWire/USB 2.0 HD enclosure because you might have a need for USB someday. You cannot boot OSX via USB 2.0 on PPCs but can on Intel Macs.

    These two items give you an idea of what you can expect to pay:
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MS4U5500GB8/
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MS4U5120GB8/
  • by skipper323,

    skipper323 skipper323 Mar 6, 2009 8:27 PM in response to jpl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 6, 2009 8:27 PM in response to jpl
    I have a firewire - Western Digital - 320 GB - 800 and 400. And I do need Leopard in order to run Quickbooks and Bento 2.

    Drats - really don't want to have to buy another computer.

    Have you any experience with Logmein - its a remote access program - mac friendly.

    Cheers!!