installing Mac OS X to my power book g4

Hello,

First of all make sure your PowerBook can meet these system requirements:

Processor must be PowerPC G4 (867 MHz and faster)

DVD drive (for installation of the operating system)

At least 512 MB of RAM (additional RAM (1 GB) is recommended for development purposes)

At least 9 GB of disk space available.

If your PowerBook meets these requirements, then follow the install instructions. This guide may help.

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

Best of luck

Trying to get my old Powerbook G4 running again. Reinstalled system 10.2 and now trying to install 10.5.2.

Computer used to run this but now installer says this computer can not run this software.

What might be wrong here?

M.

Hello,

Which version of the PowerBook do you own?

Are you installing a retail copy of 10.5.2 or a version from another Mac?

Let us know more about what error message you get and at what point you get the error message.

It is a Powerbook PowerPC g4, 15" Memory 1024mb Processor 1 ghz

I believe the version of 10.5.2 is a retail copy since it was part of a bundle

The error message is that "Mac OS X can not be installed on the computer. This software can not be installed on this computer"

I get the error as soon as I start the installation process right after it asks what language to use, then it prepares to install. Then the error message.

Hello,

You say it's part of a bundle. I am wondering if these are system restore disk from another Mac you are trying to install. Are the disks gray in color? If so then yes it's a system disk which may relate to a new Mac or even a MacBook. They can't be installed on your PowerBook.

If the disk is Back with an 'X' on it, like this http://yourmacguy.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/installdvd.png then it's a retail copy, which should work on your PowerBook. (Provided it's not a sever copy)

Yep. Just figured that out sorry. It was from an iMac I purchased a few years later. So many discs in this pile.

If I can't use this disc how do I get from 10.2.3 to 10.5 on the powerbook. I was there before but since the drive got washed I'm back to square one and the old OS will not do any software updates for some reason?

Now I'm really sorry. Found the retail disk. Sorry to waste your time.

Hello,

So you have found the retail disk. Excellent.

There is a link in the thread above with installations instructions, should you need them

Best of luck 🙂

Bumping an old thread...

I have a 1.5 Ghz Powerbook G4 running 10.5.8 that's still marching on, although slowly. I'd like to do a clean install of the OS to get it running as best it can, as I only need to run a couple of applications on it now to save carting around my newer MB Pro.. I upgraded to Leopard using a friend's disk years ago (seemed like a good idea at the time... doh!), so don't have the correct install disks.

From everything I've read, it looks like I'll need to buy a retail copy of Leopard, or find some install disks from a PB G4. I believe the later Leopard disks are for Intel machines. Can anyone help me out with which disks I need to look for? Or, if anyone can help out with copies, I'd be really grateful.

Many thanks,

Myles

Leopard retail disks are the only 10.5 installation discs that will work with Powerbooks. Powerbooks last prebundled operating system was 10.4.3. Mac OS X does not have a "clean install" option. Erasing and install is only recommended if you suspect a hardware issue. Slowness is usually due to the hard drive being too full (over 85% is the arbitrary point of diminishing returns), installation of software such as MacKeeper, Onyx, Macaroni, or other so-called optimizers, or using Flash or Java versions that are too old, using excess Dashboard widgets, a 4 years or older PRAM battery, or crashes that lead to a bad directory such as 4 language screen restart requests. If you got MacKeeper at anytime, remove it right away, as it is the worst offender. Backup your data if there is anything else apparently wrong before trying to isolate it.

That's very helpful, thanks. I'm OK on most of what you describe, except the PRAM battery. Is there a test for that, or is it just assume and replace?

My (replaced once already) HD wasn't passing the Verify Disk test, so that's why I was looking for the Leopard install disk. I just discovered, though, that my Tiger disk works fine for Disk Utility repairs, so I'm good to go there.

mylesdevon wrote:

I'm OK on most of what you describe, except the PRAM battery. Is there a test for that, or is it just assume and replace?

There's one obvious symptom of a dead PRAM battery, and that's if the computer will not remember the Date and Time between restarts, because the battery is what remembers the time. For a Mac that old I'd replace it anyway, even if it seems fine, because the PRAM battery has roughly a 5 year life span.

Thanks very much for all the help. I'll get on the PRAM replacement, although date and time are still fine at this point.