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I have a G4 Powerbook that has a blank hard drive in it. I also have a dmg for osx 10.4.3. My question is how can I get this installed on the powerbook? I read that the g4 will not boot to a usb drive. I ran win32 disk imager to burn dmg to dvd, but the g4 does not recongnize it at all. Is there a way to do this with the image that I have?
The disk image is not a preferred or designed way to boot the computer, or install
an OS X. The installer DVD (last supported version for PPC Mac, OS X 10.5(.8)
would be a retail disc, and then the installed OS X would go online to get the
final Combo Update for Leopard OS X 10.5.8.
Original DVD disc media for the model would be specific to the build model year,
and would be gray color with numbers and details specific to their machine use.
A retail DVD would have a large X on the label, and a nebula purple/black color.
There may be replacement install discs available from Apple support main number
in the US (see web site, not store numbers) for a fee, if still available; and they'd
need to know the serial number and model of your computer for a match.
A download .dmg of an OS X is not an authorized edition, and will not work.
You could look & hope to find a pre-owned retail OS X 10.5 from someone.
However be sure to not pay too much.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
G4 Powerbooks that aren't at least 867 Mhz can only install Mac OS X 10.4.6 retail or earlier versions of 10.4, and not any version of 10.5. 10.5 gets rid of Classic compatibility, but for a limited set of some Powerbooks will support Mac OS 9 booting with Mac OS X booting:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1757
Macs generally won't install a version of Mac OS older than the model either. It would help if you used http://www.everymac.com/ to determine your Powerbook's year and release within year to be able to tell you what you can install.
How to install mac osx on Powerbook g4
