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Hello there, I have just been able to reincarnate the old iMac to work again. But so far I only have the software till 10.3.9. I have read somewhere that I can bring it up to 10.4.11. But I can find only 10.4.2 on eBay. So I wonder if I can install the 10.4.2 instead of 10.4?
Welcome!
Retail install disks--the kind required for what you want to do--work as long as they are not a version OLDER than what Apple installed on the computer at time of manufacture. The last G4 iMacs shipped with OS 10.3.1 so you are fine using the Tiger 10.4.disks.
Retail install disks aware commonly at a lower OS sub-level. You can install 10.4.2 from the disks and hopefully use Software Update (SU) to get to 10.4.11. I say "hopefully" because Apple has taken down a lot of older software updates.
Fortunately, should SU not do the job, the 10.4.11 Combo update for PPC (the one you need) is still on the Apple download sites. You can get it here:
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)
You would first use the full retail install disks to install 10.4.2, then download and install the 10.4.11 update.
There are a lot of old and hard-to-get Mac retail install disks that are sold as genuine but aren't when the show up on the doorstep. The difficulty in getting these rare disks has opened the door to the flip-flam artists. A full retail install Tiger disk looks like this:
The gray system install/restore disks that shipped with some other Mac often fail to work.
How much RAM does the computer have? Many G4 iMacs came with 126MB or less and that was OK for 10.3. However 10.4 was a bit more demanding and 256MB is a more realistic minimum
Welcome!
Retail install disks--the kind required for what you want to do--work as long as they are not a version OLDER than what Apple installed on the computer at time of manufacture. The last G4 iMacs shipped with OS 10.3.1 so you are fine using the Tiger 10.4.disks.
Retail install disks aware commonly at a lower OS sub-level. You can install 10.4.2 from the disks and hopefully use Software Update (SU) to get to 10.4.11. I say "hopefully" because Apple has taken down a lot of older software updates.
Fortunately, should SU not do the job, the 10.4.11 Combo update for PPC (the one you need) is still on the Apple download sites. You can get it here:
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)
You would first use the full retail install disks to install 10.4.2, then download and install the 10.4.11 update.
There are a lot of old and hard-to-get Mac retail install disks that are sold as genuine but aren't when the show up on the doorstep. The difficulty in getting these rare disks has opened the door to the flip-flam artists. A full retail install Tiger disk looks like this:
The gray system install/restore disks that shipped with some other Mac often fail to work.
How much RAM does the computer have? Many G4 iMacs came with 126MB or less and that was OK for 10.3. However 10.4 was a bit more demanding and 256MB is a more realistic minimum
Thank you very much for your help. I have replaced RAM with 1GB. Also I have found the retail disk 10.4 and 10.4.3 on eBay recently as I couldn’t get it on time with 10.4.2. Will try to bid it again.
Dear Allan Jones, I missed the 10.4.2 on eBay. But I have found another one with 10.4.6. Could you please help me. Can I use it to install instead of those 10.4 and 10.4.2? Thank you in advance.
Try to make iMac G4 works again
