Power Mac G4 (MDD) original install disks

I bought a Dual 1.25 G4 (FW800) which requires a special AHT disk v2.0.1. I was able to get it by going to a local Apple store and getting the tech to look up my serial on his in-house computer. I don't know if all techs have access to these disk images, but he did. But yes, it is not easy to get. Regarding the AHT vs. TechToolPro, I don't know about the latter (only the freebie TechTool Deluxe), but I found the AHT to be a very good tool for diagnostics of the most important components. TechTool's (Deluxe or Pro) HD surface scan is a good test of the HD. The ultimate ram test is ther freebie Rember, but be forewarned, testing just 1 gig of ram takes about 2 hours on my G4.

If you have any Power Mac G4 from the Gigabit Ethernet through PowerMac G4 Mirrored Drive Doors(but excluding the FW800 models), you can download the AHT from here:
http://www.info.apple.com/support/aht.html

As far as OS install disks, for my dual 1.25 G4, I chose to install from an old Tiger 10.4.0 disk and then run the free Apple combo updater to 10.4.11. And, as I said, I eventually got the AHT disk for this G4. If you have an 867 mhz G4 or above, you can always run Leopard.

What specifically would you want to run on OS9 that isn't already updated to OSX, or completely out of date? I've not updated certain former programs, namely Freehand and Quark, but I rarely miss them for my work, except on occasion when I think I have something that I'd like to use, and then realize that it's way too old. That happens even with my updated applications like Adobe that no longer recognizes old Pagemaker work.

I have a better idea. Why not write to Apple and ask the Applecare team if you can buy the rights to the software/restore cds for all Power Mac G4 and G3 series and then you can reproduce them and sell them to those who need such disks. I am sure Apple would pay you a royalty for it.

That way anyone who buys a G4 or G3 off of ebay will be able to purchase them if they want them.

my .02

PowerMax in Oregon has provided me with two OEM sets of disks in the last month. One for an MDD and one for a Quicksilver. They did a pretty good job of asking me the right kind of questions to make sure that I was getting the matching OEM apple disks to make the OS 09 installations work.

So far, so good.

They no longer carry them!

I took delivery of the disks from PowerMax last week, HOWEVER, they DID also sell me the MDD, two 17" LCD monitors, and some other hardware a month or so ago, so, it MAY be that they are attempting to match the hardware and software sales.

I also did note that they were knowledgeable enough to know when they had disk sets to match the hardware and told me that they do NOT always have sets to match every configuration.

AS goes in all things technological: "your mileage may vary".

They are no longer available for purchase ANYWHERE.. Apple told me this.

Hi. I have the same problem. As i see, getting the OEM disks is impossible, so could anyone who own them send me a copy or the os 9.2.2 system folder? It would be great if it could be in spanish, but if not possible, english is welcome. Thank you very much

I'm puzzled. I bought a 2nd G4 MDD last August from someone in my area who did not have the install discs. Since I had my own MDD, I thought my discs would work, so I purchased without further concern. However, on trying mine on this acquired machine, I had what seemed like a compatibility issue. A poster in Discussions suggested the reason was that the discs are possibly sub-model specific.

Either way, I called Apple on the phone and (though my AppleCare is long discontinued), they sent me a free set of two discs according to the serial number. I didn't even have to verify with a receipt that I was the new owner.

Try this number: 800-275-2273 and ask for G4 tech support