I want to erase all data on a G4 powerbook but in disc Utility Erase is greyed out
I've tried to start up the powerbook holding down Command and R to obtain Recovery mode but it keeps starting up as normal Any suggestions would be appreciated
Many thanks I’ll unearth the installation disc
Hi,
Recovery mode was introduced later. With a PowerBook G4, an appropriate bootable system disc is needed in the optical drive (press the C key). This can be an original disc set for this very machine (not model-specific discs for another Mac), or a later retail version. You can see the pre-installed and maximum operating system versions for your PowerBook G4 here:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/index-powerbook-g4.html
If you just wish to completely erase/wipe the hard disk, without installing a new operating system, there may be a few other options. You could remove the hard drive, and then use an external USB universal bare drive adapter (similar to the example at https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NV2SPATA/) connected to another Mac or PC. Alternatively, you may be able to locate and test an old PowerPC CD version (dban-2.0.0_powerpc.iso) of a free wiping utility called DBAN.
Recovery mode for G4 Powerbook
