The new hard drive is in - now what?

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Level 1

8 points

The new hard drive is in - now what?

Hi everyone,

Please bear with me. I've suddenly become possessed by the idea of taking apart a Mac and putting new stuff in there. I am a complete novice in this respect, but I figure everyone has to start somewhere, right?

I've got an iBook G3 Clamshell (300 MHz, 288 MB RAM) that I'd like to soup-up. It's currently got a 3 GB (867 MB available) hard drive and is running Panther 10.3.9. Eventually, once I work up the courage, I'm going to undertake the (apparently) monumental task of prying this thing apart and putting a new hard drive in there. I'm hoping to put an 80 GB hard drive in there and put Panther on it.

I've looked around on the Net for a post-hardware installation guide, but I can't seem to find anything that addresses my needs or speaks my limited tech language. If it would be possible for a Mac-savvy person on this board to walk me through the steps immediately following the installation of the hard drive, I'd be very grateful. I know that there are several things that need to be done - I want to make sure that I don't do them in the wrong order!

So, I've (incredibly) taken apart the iBook Clamshell, stuck a new hard drive in there, put everything back together, and I've got my black retail OS X Panther installation CD's ready... now what?

Issues that are of particular concern: formatting the hard drive. How do I do this?

Also: firmware. Do I need to update this? If so, do I do it before or after I format the hard drive? The iBook's current system profiler is quoting me a 4.1.7f4 figure for firmware. Will this change and have to be 'redone' after a new hard drive is put in?

Of course, there are probably a whole bunch of other issues I haven't even considered. What do you do to ensure the smoothest and most efficient installation of the OS?

Again, as I'm very new to this madness, I appreciate any advice or info you guys have to impart. Thank you!

PowerBook G4, iBook G3 Clamshell Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Apr 18, 2006 2:12 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Gulliver

Level 7

25,720 points

Apr 18, 2006 3:30 AM in response to JJJJS

Hi JJJJS,

first of all: WELCOME TO THE DISCUSSIONS!

Insert the Panther install CD 1 into the drive and reboot while holding down the c-key. This will automatically launch the installer application. Select your language and then select Disk Utility from the MENU. Select to partition your new drive. Choose Apple Extended (Journaled) as format and make sure you partition sso that the FIRST PARTITION is SMALLER THAN 8 GB ( Mac OS X: Disk Appears Dimmed (or "Grayed Out") in the Installer).

Once this is done, quit disk utility and proceed with the installation.

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Answer 2

JJJJS Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 18, 2006 4:38 AM in response to Gulliver

Ah, thank you very much for your clear instructions, Gulliver. And I was definitely not aware of the partitioning issue. You've saved me a headache!

What's up with the firmware, though? Will this be an issue, and - if so - will it rear its head before or after the install of OS X?

And finally, a very, very stupid question: when you say to insert CD 1 into the drive and "reboot", does this mean that I should turn on the iBook after installing the HD (to open the CD drive, I presume), and then reboot? Even though there's nothing on the HD? Or should I leave the iBook powered off, manually eject the CD tray with a straightened paperclip, stick in the CD, and then boot?

I know it's a dumb question, but since the idea of turning a computer on when it's just an info-less HD is new and strange to me, I just want to make sure that it's actually okay to turn on the comp when there's nothing on it yet...

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Answer 3

Gulliver

Level 7

25,720 points

Apr 18, 2006 4:56 AM in response to JJJJS

JJJJS,

I suggest you install OS 9 first anyway. By doing that you also ensure you install the OS 9 hardware drivers required for OS 9 native-boot. Your iBook originally shipped with OS 9 and therefore all firmware upgrades are OS 9 installers only. In order to apply a firmware upgrade you have to boot into OS 9 natively. Once you installed OS 9 and updated it to at least 9.2.1 ( Mac OS 9: Available Updates) apply the firmware upgrade for your iBook: Mac OS X: Chart of Available Firmware Updates.

Regarding the boot-question: It actually does not matter how you do it. Turning power on will show the ? anyway. All you need is electricity to open the optical drive bay. Restart by presssing CTRL-Eject.

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