Reinstall OSX Tiger in Power PC without dvd or CD

Question

Reinstall OSX Tiger in Power PC without dvd or CD

I have a still working PowerPC-G4 with 4 drives. Everything works except the internal CD/DVD reader.

I still have the original disks which appear on my Intel Computers.

The Ports of my PowerPC-G4 are 2 Firewire 400 and 2 USB 1.1.

I tried to connect an external CD/DVD to the USB ports but although the disks work fine, the PowerPC doesn't recognize this external device hence its impssible booting clicking Option. Neither Terminal nor DiskUtilities from the Tiger installed see the external drive. Only clicking the system Info the computer recognize it attached but it just doesn't work with anysoftaware, or any other kind of files.

This machine works fine in each Intel Mac I have.

Googling I learn I can only boot from DVDs or Firewire DIsks.

How to do it from a FIREWIRE 400 I still have?

Do I need to copy the ISO file with TIGER and attempt to launch it, or do I need to do something else?

This machine is important as the files inside the 4 ATA drives only work with the software which created it and they are essential for me.

ANy suggestions on how to install both a Tiger and OS9.2 will be a blessing

Thanks and regards to all

Posted on Mar 4, 2021 11:17 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 5, 2021 8:53 AM in response to Limnos

Thanks again for your kindness

This is then what I will do

1° Boot my PowerMac Tower from the drive where I have Tiger 10.4.11 installed

2° Lunche Carbon Copy Cloner and copy EVERYTHING in a Firewire drive I have

3° Copy an ISO copy of a TIGER installer I downloaded from https://www.macintoshrepository.org/ already with a Tiger for PPC machines with the latest update

4° Restart the machine from the external Firewire drive

5° Click on the ISO installer copy and install in one of the now empty drives on the PowerMac Tower

I want to reisntall as some of the original Tiger apps are corrupted (example ITUNES Safari ecc.)

I hope this will still allow me to get an bootable copy in the Firewire disk good enough to then install again a fresh copy

Thanks

Is this correct?

Thanks

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Answer 2

Mar 4, 2021 12:11 PM in response to Dante Majorana

It can boot from Firewire but only if Tiger is actually installed to the Firewire drive, not if the installer files are simply resident on it. I always just made sure I had a bootable external drive, usually a clone backup of a fresh installation.

You don't specify which model Mac. Replacing the optical drive on a tower model isn't fun but it is possible. I never had to do it with a notebook model but at least the G4 generation isn't one of these new models with everything soldered together in one solid lump.

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Answer 3

Mar 4, 2021 1:21 PM in response to Dante Majorana

CCC will definitely work with Intel Macs. I have been using it with one for 10 years. However, it will not install an OS, it will only clone an installed OS from one drive to another. If you do not have a drive with Tiger on it then it will not help. Your discs do not have a ready-to-go OS on them, only a bare-bones one that gets you far enough to then run the installer software.

Sure the Apple Store will tell you there's nothing they can do for your Mac. Look on a web site such as macsales.com. They will have replacement drives and a video showing you how to do it with a screwdriver.

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Answer 4

Mar 5, 2021 9:48 AM in response to Dante Majorana

I kind of think that won't work, for several reasons. Apart from the questionable legality and potential security threats in using those downloads, they may not be the right ones for your machine. If you have an Intel Mac then likely it came with a special version of Tiger that was an updated version than that supplied on the black, retail DVD. In that case you need one that exactly matches the kind issued with your particular machine. Finally, and I have no experience with this, you may discover issues in getting an installer to run when the computer isn't booted to that very disc. I have never known a Mac to boot or install from a mounted image. Newer (like the last 6 years or so) installers are separate applications designed to install from a mounted image (but still run from a copy on the drive), but Tiger was long before than generation.

If all you want are some applications, I know old iTunes versions are still available for download from Apple: General search for available iTunes versions - http://support.apple.com/downloads/#itunes

iTunes 9.2.1 would run nicely under Tiger: iTunes 9.2.1

There isn't a Tiger era Safari download but frankly I would use Firefox instead. I have that running on Leopard on a 2006 iMac.

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Answer 5

Mar 4, 2021 12:30 PM in response to Limnos

Thanks for your reply. But in my Firewire drive I don't have Tiger installed, I only have one already installed on my Tower MAC PRO which is a top of the line 2002 model with 32 GB RAM.

The Apple store tells they can't update the internal DVD drive, nor install a new one in the second empty slot.

Do you think I could use something like Carbon Copy Cloner in a version for TIGER to make a bootable FirewireDrive?

I don't think I could clone anything using Intel Macs ...

Regards and thanks for your time

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Answer 6

Mar 5, 2021 8:52 AM in response to Dante Majorana

I want to reisntall as some of the original Tiger apps are corrupted (example ITUNES Safari ecc.)

I hope this will still allow me to get an bootable copy in the Firewire disk good enough to then install again a fresh copy

Thanks

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

250,325 points

Mar 17, 2021 7:36 AM in response to Dante Majorana

Best most up to date Browser for Tiger...

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

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Reinstall OSX Tiger in Power PC without dvd or CD

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