Power Mac G5 cant install Leopard?

Question

Level 1

5 points

Power Mac G5 cant install Leopard?

Hello, I've been trying everything, but though it wouldnt hurt to ask here. My uncle gave me a Power Mac G5 and I've been trying to get Leopard on it. I have tiger running as its os and a second Partition for Leopard. The problem is when i insert the first disk it says it cannot be installed on this computer (power mac g5 with 2gb ram and 2GHz Dual processors.) The disks are grey and my uncle says they were the ones that came with his computer. They read "For mac computers" instead of the traditional "Power mac G5" disk lable. What is the problem here? Any help to this situation?

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Feb 18, 2012 9:10 PM

Reply

Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Feb 18, 2012 9:14 PM in response to Murrtallica

AHA, good info, all grey discs are Machine specific, & as well 10.4.x & up Intel only. 😟

Leopard requirements/10.5.x...

* Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor

minimum system requirements

* 512MB of memory (I say 1.5GB for PPC at least, 2-3GB minimum for IntelMacs)

* DVD drive for installation

* 9GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mac+os+x+leopard+retail+10.5

Reply

Answer 2

Murrtallica Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 18, 2012 9:27 PM in response to BDAqua

So heres my odd question that probably wont work but worth an ask: If i pulled the drive out and hooked it up to my Mac Mini via usb (found out thats what the disks go to) and installed it through that machine to the drive would the intel/powerpc conflict still go into play?

Reply

Answer 3

Jaygyver

Level 3

739 points

Feb 18, 2012 10:40 PM in response to Murrtallica

10.5 is is the latest OS G-5 and G-4 's can go. Intel only above that. You can put 10.5 Leopard on the G-5. But it will have to be a retail version.

As was mentioned before, the Grey install DVD's are hardware specific. Apple only put's the drivers for that machine on the DVD. It might boot from G-4 to G-4 or G-5 to G-5 but would probably be really buggy if it did. And not to mention if the cooling fan drivers failed then bye bye computer, worse case scenerio, blah blah.

The G-5 is different hardware compared to the G-4.

The retail version of 10.5 has all the drivers for all the computers made at that time. The installer checks the computers hardware and specifics and will just load those drivers it needs.

No, it won't get around the Intel/PPC problem.

It doesn't matter what machine installs the OS, if you put any OS on a HD and install it in an unsupported computer then, again, IF it boots it would be buggy at best.

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 19, 2012 7:18 AM in response to Murrtallica

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installation system requirements

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24950

Leopard is no longer available at the Apple Store but may be available by calling Apple Phone Sales @ 1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753).

If you can't obtain a retail install DVD from Apple, look on eBay or Google the installer part numbers to possibly find at an on-line store. Here's what to look for:

MB427Z/A Leopard 10.5.1 install DVD

MB576Z/A Leopard 10.5.4 install DVD

MB021Z/A Leopard 10.5.6 install DVD (single user)

MB022Z/A Leopard 10.5.6 install DVD (5-user family pack)

Installing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1544

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Installation and Setup Guide

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/leopard_install-setup.pdf

After you install the base 10.5, download & install the 10.5.8 combo update at http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mac_OS_X_10_5_8_Combo_Update

The DVD should look like this

Caution - Leopard does not support classic mode. So, if you currently open OS 9 apps in classic mode, you won't be able to do this if you upgrade to Leopard.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

Reply

Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Feb 19, 2012 10:41 AM in response to Murrtallica

There were "Universal" PPC/Intel Discs, but they were the Retail Black Discs, Grey Discs only contain Intel code.

You could install the Retail 10.5 on a PPC Mac & boot an Intel Mac from the drive, but any SW Updates done while connected to the IntelMac after that will likely cause things to fail on the PPC Mac after that, & the Retail 10.5 will only install on an IntelMac if the drive is Partitioned GUID, which PPC Macs cannot boot from.

Reply