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User profile for user: Frontiersman
Frontiersman Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

OS X 10.4 on G4 iMac with Firewire

According to Wikipedia, OS X 10.4 will run on my G4 iMac with Firewire. The installer disk worked and installed the OS on an external Firewire disk. Installation was successful. When I try to run the OS, I get the big apple at the beginning of the startup and that's all that happens. It sticks there. Nothing works. I have to hold the power button down until the machine turns off. Then it won't start unless I disconnect the external drive. How can I make OS X 10.4 run on this machine?

PowerMac, Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Mar 1, 2018 6:40 PM

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User profile for user: Frontiersman
Frontiersman Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Mar 2, 2018 12:11 PM in response to Teddy_B

I know how to select the startup disk. When I do so and click the arrow, the computer begins to start on the selected external drive. It gets as far as the big gray apple and hangs. The only way to break it loose is to hold the power button down until it turns itself off. Then, it won't start again until I turn off or disconnect the external drive. The external drive is Firewire. I've tried it freshly formatted and also partitioned. Neither configuration works. The OS installation is successful but the computer won't run on that drive.


The processor is 1 GHz PowerPC G4. Memory is 1GB DDR SDRAM. I don't know what other information is relevant to this situation. The computer runs correctly on 10.5.8, on the internal drive. I want to run 10.4 3 on the external drive.


Can you suggest a way to make it run on the external drive?

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OS X 10.4 on G4 iMac with Firewire

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