Easiest way: installing leopard on ibook

hi,
i got a ibook g4 (1.33ghz,1.25gb,cd-r/w) from a friend and im looking for the easiest way to upgrade the os to leopard. i found several ways in the inet, but none of them sounds quite easy or cheap (e.g. runninga tftp server, changing the internal cd drive with a superdrive,...). so ive the leopard dvd next to my ibook and couldnt install it...
is it possible to use an external dvd-drive connected via firewire to install leopard? i already tried an external drive with usb, but i the ibook sadly wont boot from usb devices.
thanks for help!

Hey iBookChris,
is it possible to use an external dvd-drive connected via firewire to install leopard?
Yes that's the way I do it to avoid any variance in internal drives.
Richard

Similar Messages

Unable To Install Leopard to ibook G4

I'm currently using mac os 10.3.9 and I would like to install the new leopard using firewire. After i restart the mac it shows a dialog box stating that i could not install the leopard. Why?
My ibook specs:
G4 933Mhz
600+ RAM
No DVD Rom but installing from my friend's mac book via firewire

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
A MacBook can't be used to install Leopard on a G4/933 unless your MacBook predates Leopard, and you follow these directions exactly with the Leopard retail installer disc which looks like *:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1418365&tstart=10
MacBook installer discs labeled as such can't be used on a G4/933.
MacBooks newer than Leopard's release date of 10/26/2007 can't use the retail installer for Leopard unless it was revised since that date, and is newer than the MacBook in question.
- * Links to images hosted on my website may give me compensation.

Errors installing Leopard on iBook G4 (Late 2004)

I apologize for the long post but it seems like a good idea to provided some good background:
My friends iBook started freaking out a couple of months ago (e.g. kernel errors and all the fonts on the desktop icons/menu were "AAAAAAAA"). I helped him run Disk Utilities. I installed and ran Applejack and this "seemed" to help, but the drive still had errors that neither could repair. Last week, it started to persistently crashing and producing kernel errors. I took his iBook home to see if I could help. It stopped booting and Disk Utility could not repair the errors, so I wiped the drive and repartitioned and the drive still had several errors. I assumed that the drive was bad.
I replace the HD and installed a 250 GB, WD Scorpio Blue PATA, Model WD2500BEVERTL. Oh, the iBook is a G4, 1.33GHZ and 256 MB Main Ram plus 512 MB of RAM added. I followed the instructions from iFixIt <http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/iBook-G4-14-Inch-933-MHz-1-33-GHz-Hard-Driv e-Replacement/189/1> and faqintosh <http://www.faqintosh.com/risorse/en/guides/hw/ibook/g4hd/>. Both sites were almost correct. After I removed and replaced the HD, put everything together I had to remove the firmware password, which required a couple of RAM removals and Command-Option-P-R resets. I performed a few commands from terminal to verify that the firmware password was gone. See <http://www.fif3.com/howto/archives/001983.html>.
I installed the Leopard disk, setup the new disk using the Disk Utilities on the Leopard disk and proceeded with this installation. It failed to install. I played around with this and that and made several attempt to perform the installation via the optical drive in the iBook. It did not work. I started to read the installation log and tried to figure out what the problem was and found a few errors and tried to find a solution online. I was suspicious that the optical drive was acting up <http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10470660&#10470660> , <http://www.hackint0sh.org/f147/68876.htm> so I investigated how to install Leopard using Target mode. Simple, right, connect the iMac to the iBook, restart the iMac in Target mode so the iBook can share the opticle drive in the iMac, unless.... Leopard cannot see a drive via Target mode if the "Target" is running Snow Leopard. grrrrr!
Well, I found lots of talk about imaging the Leopard installation disk to an external firewire HD, and performing the Leopard installing using the "option" start and select the external firewire drive. I found some great instruction <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10329117-263.html> that walk me through the steps required to make an image of the Leopard disk and then restore the file to an external drive. An hour and a half later, I had the image restored to a 500 GB USB/Firewire external HD with one partition Apple Partition Map and connected it via the firewire to the ibook... Ran the installation again and the same errors occurred. I tried again, freeze. Tried again same errors.
Well, I had a crazy idea, install Leopard on the External Drive. This time the errors occurred at the same points; however, it was verbose and if I am reading it correctly the information that the installer is looking for on the Leopard disk that is missing or corrupt. The interesting thing with this is "Bad" Leopard disk came up several times during my searches. I have use my Leopard disk once on the iMac (now running Snow Leopard), why would I suspect the installation disk? Right? Well, the error that displayed on the last attempt pointed to the installation disk missing information and to contact the vendor.
Yesterday, I obtained another retail copy of Leopard from a coworker and the same errors occurred. I tried again, it froze. I tried a disk image to the external drive using the new disk which resulting in the same errors.
I don't really think there is a hardware issue (e.g. RAM) but who knows at this point. All I can really say is that my friends iBook is still dead. Actually, worse that when I got it. At least before it would boot Tiger... sometimes. Does anyone have any recommendations? Or a source for a retail copy of Tiger?

It is obvious the this is the wrong forum OR no one is interested in installing Leopard on an iBook G4. Regardless, I continued to investigate and found many posts related to bad or suspect RAM. So, I purchased a 512MB stick of Crucial RAM PC 2700 from a local PC and Apple repair shop. I would have purchased a 1GB stick, but this was not available.
I reset the RAM via Command-Option-P-R upon restart, ran the Leopard installation. This time it was successful. Everything was working great and then I had to install the updates... Note: I Should have made an image of the installation on the HD and Time Machine back up... but I didn't. This was a bad call because the 10.5.8 combo update didn't finish and crashed during install... then it provided an error message that it could not be installed, restart.
Subsequent attempts to reinstall Leopard via the DVD/CD drive have failed. I ran Disk Utility and the HD volume now had errors. I tried to repair these with Applejack & TechTool Deluxe. It could not repair... so I gave up.
Upon my returning to a challenge, I used Disk Utility to erase and setup one partition on the HD. I ran Leopard install. It failed. Ran Disk Utility again, erased the HD this time with zeros (just for fun) and the installation is hanging. I am going to let it sit over night. Any ideas out there?

Installing Leopard on iBook

Will installing Mac OS X Leopard on my iBook running Mac OS X Tiger cause it to slow down, like if you installed Windows Vista on a Windows XP PC?

Since you both advise on improving the amount of RAM I currently have, do you know of any good websites where I could get it from?
I would begin with ramseeker where you will find several vendors and competitive prices. You can also check out Other World Computing as they are a very reputable and reliable source.
As for the hard drive, would it work if I used a portable hard drive for all of my music and documents etc, and just kept the hard drive in the iBook purely for OS and any software?
You do not tell us the size of your HDD so I am not sure why you are thinking of keeping you data on an external HDD. Here is what I suggest:
• On your internal drive you will have the OS and applications.
• I suggest keeping your Documents folder on the internal HDD.
• If you have sufficient room on the internal HDD you can keep your iTunes and iPhoto libraries there, too. If you do not have sufficient room to accomodate your music and photos, they are the best candidates for an external drive. The following articles will be helpful:
Moving your iTunes Music folder
How to move the Library folder to a new location
• Be sure to maintain a full backup of all your data and keep it updated at all times. The best way to do it is to get an external firewire Hard Disk Drive and clone your entire volume from the internal HDD using a utility like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. This is the best insurance for your data at any time, but is especially important if you have an aging drive.
cornelius

Install Leopard on iBook

Is it possible to install from the Leopard DVDs that came with my Unibody MB on my PPC iBook G4?
I have the tiger DVDs from the iBook, but would like to upgrade to Leopard without having to buy the retail DVDs.
I don't want to start the erase and install with the Leopard DVDs and have it tell me it's not possible.
Thanks in advance!

The discs that come with any Mac are machine-specific and contain hardware drivers for that machine. I believe there's a possibility they would work on another machine with the same hardware, but that's about it.
~Lyssa

Couldn't install Leopard on iBook G4

Tried to install this OS but it kept saying it couldn't be installed on this computer, even though it filled all of the specifications. I even tried uninstalling the Tiger and installing on clean disk, but wasn't able.

You cannot use the disks that came with another model of Mac. Those disks are licensed only for use with the Mac with which they came, and often lack drivers for other models or contain restrictions on installation on other models. You need to go out and purchase a retail copy of Leopard if you want it on your iBook. Make sure your iBook G4 meets the minimum system requirements:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs/
Not all iBook G4s will.

Installing Leopard to iBook

I recently purchased an Apple iBook G4 with 1.2GHz 256MB 30GB. It came without an operating system installed. A friend gave me his copy of Leopard. It is the gray disk & the dvd. When I try to install it reads the disk then ask me what language I want. Then it says preparing to install & does nothing else. I've waited hours for it do something but just stays like that. Any help would be appreciated.

Just so you know, you will have to upgrade the RAM, too, in order to run Leopard.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3759?viewlocale=en_US
I would recommend maximizing the RAM with a 1 GB module.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iBooks-PowerBooks/G4-iBook/

Help, Installing Leopard On iBook G4

Hello, I am currently running a 12" iBook G4 on tiger 10.4.11. It has 1.25GB if ram and it had i think 1GHz processor speed but, i used the program leopard assist and it now thinks it has 867MHz of processor.
I have the leopard install disks. I click the restart button on the Mac OS X install disk, and then it restarts it's self and then loads up the language choice, i choose English. Next thing that comes up is the message " This software cannot be installed on this computer." Then it gives my a choice of restarting or cancelling.
I cannot understand why it doesn't work as I am over all the requirements.
Any thoughts would be helpful and any guides or tips well be appreciated.
Many Thanks.

As I understand it, Leopard Assist writes a file named "boot.txt" to the root directory of the hard disk which at boot time configures Open Firmware to report the CPU speed as 867 MHz, then hands off booting to the installer disc.
Assuming that the presence of this file is the cause of your problem (which is not at all a certainty), you can try removing it & resetting NVRAM. If you don't know how to do those things, we can provide help for that, but first please answer the question about the kind of Leopard install disc you have.
It is more likely that the message you see is the result of using a grey, model-specific disc, which as already mentioned will not work with your iBook.

Install leopard in ibook g4

I have all the requirement for install new leopard software, hd drive space 9.08 but when install the cd it show that I have 8.3 instead and needs 8.8. That confuse me and I erase everything what i don't need. I think there might be some else i can erase but don't.

The hard drive is too small despite what the Leopard requirements say. And even if it reported that you had 9.08 Gb HD you would run out of room in less than a week. I think a realistic minimum would be at least 20 GB.
Just for comparison, my installation of leopard occupies 16Gb, that is without out having to exclude anything on the installation.

Installed Leopard On iBook G4

All went OK with no problems. Screen spanning also works great.

Sweet, thanks. I ran the same app under 10.4. I'm going to upgrade soon, since spanning will still work.
The only thing I'm hesitant about is a program called BluePhoneElite. I really love the SMS capabilities, and I hear it's buggy in 10.5.
If anyone has any experience with BPE in 10.5, or SMS for that matter, feel free to chime in .

Comments of installation leopard in ibook G4

I would like to know is there any problem if i install leopard in ibook G4 that have a G4 933Mhx processor,644MB RAM, 40GB HDD, and a 32MB ATI graphics

I just installed Leopard in my iBook (same specs as yours)and it runs fine. Be sure to backup your data with a bootable clone to a firewire drive and repair your permissions before you backup. I went from Panther to Leopard so I could use the iPod my daughter gave me! A free gift that so far has cost me over $500.00 in upgrades. Maybe I'll dust off that Commodore 64 in the attic......
Dan

HT1338 My Mac Book Pro is currently runnng OS X v10.5.8. When I check for updates by clicking the apple icon it tells me that my computer is up to date. What is the easiest way to upgrade to OS X Lion? Do I need to get OS X Snow Leopard first?

My Mac Book Pro is currently runnng OS X v10.5.8. When I check for updates by clicking the apple icon it tells me that my computer is up to date. What is the easiest way to upgrade to OS X Lion? Do I need to get OS X Snow Leopard first?

Yes, there's been no updates to 10.5.8 for quite awhile, next is paid Upgrades.
Snow Leopard/10.6.x Requirements...
General requirements
   * Mac computer with an Intel processor
    * 1GB of memory (I say 4GB at least)
    * 5GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)
    * DVD drive for installation
    * Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
    * Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
Which apps work with Mac OS X 10.6?...
http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
It looks like they might still have it...
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA
If it's a core Duo & not a Core2Duo, then it'll only run in 32 bit mode.
Lion/101.7 System requirements
    •    x86-64 processor (Macs with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, or Xeon processor.)
    •    At least 2GB of memory, I say 6 GB
    •    Latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8), with the Mac App Store installed
    •    At least 4GB of disk space for downloading, I say 50 GB.
Like Snow Leopard, Lion does not support PowerPC-based Macs (e.g., Power Macs, PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs (G3-G5), eMacs).
Lion also does not support 32-bit Intel Core Duo or Core Solo based Macs. Rosetta is no longer available in Lion, which means Lion no longer supports PowerPC applications.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Lion#System_requirements
http://www.apple.com/macosx/how-to-buy/
What applications are not compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion"?
http://ow.ly/5Iz09
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

Should I install Leopard on my iBook G4?

I have read some of other people's experiences in these Apple discussions but want pose the question again with the specs of my own computer. I have an iBook G4, purchased in early 2005, running 10.4.11, with a 1.33 GHz processor and 1.25 GB of RAM (I just upgraded from 768 MB of RAM). I am liking Leopard on my new iMac and would like to upgrade to Leopard on the iBook, especially since I could then use Time Machine to back it up easily to an external hard drive. Should I take this step? How much free space on my 80 GB hard drive should I have in order to make this move? (I now have only 11.75 GB, which I know is not enough, as Leopard takes 9 GB, but I use the iBook for work and could conceivably take off some personal items such as music and photos. By the way, I purchased the iBook myself for work, so I am not breaking any work rules to have personal stuff on the computer.)

Thanks to all of you who gave me the confidence to install Leopard on my iBook G4. I did it very methodically. First, I purchased 1GB of RAM, which, when installed, gave me the maximum of 1.25GB of RAM. Then I pared down my music and photo libraries so that I had a much bigger chunk of free space on the 80GB hard drive. Then I installed Leopard. First I waited for the DVD to be verified (a longish process), but then the installation went very smoothly. All in all, it took under 2 hours. I realize I won't have some of the graphic animations in Dashboard, but I think the advantage of having Time Machine will outweigh that. Thanks again, folks, for your advice.

What is the easiest way to upgrade from OS X 10.4.11 to 10.5 Leopard

what is the easiest way to upgrade from OS X 10.4.11 to 10.5 Leopard

You should consider this:
Here are the minimum specs your Mac will need to run Leopard, according to Apple:
Intel, G5, or 867MHz+ G4 processor
512 megs of RAM MINIMUM (though if you only have 512 megs of RAM you may actually find you need more.)
DVD drive (Leopard is shipping on a DVD, and your Mac needs to read it to be able to install it)
9GB of free disk space
Hope this helps

What is the correct way to install Leopard?

It seems like everytime I upgrade to a new OS, I end up screwing something up. I am borderline thinking about taking my laptop up to the apple store and having them install Leopard for me. Last week in another thread someone posted something saying I should backup my home directory? and save it to my external drive then install leopard and then drag that home directory back over. This was said to be a work around instead of using Archive and Install. I guess I could do that but are there other suggestions out there?
I just don't want to happen what happened when I installed Leopard on my desktop. I had about 4 libraries of stuff and another folder that was marked Previous system and that had a bunch of files and then I had the home directory for the old system! The bottom line I had a lot of stuff that I ended up deleting which freed up my hard drive space significantly.
I would like to make the install on my Macbook Pro clean, simple and painless as possible!
Thanks!
Oh yea if I decide to back up the home directory. Do I just drag the little house icon over to my external drive? If so, once Leopard is installed, do I drag it back to the same location I took it from?

If you don't mind reinstalling all your applications, backup your home folder to an external, boot off your Leopard Disk and go to Disk Utility. Erase your hard drive and format HFS+. Than do an Erase & Install. After that is complete, restart. Once you go through the setup procedures, perform all the software updates until they are all installed. Now move your Home Directory back. Finally, start reinstalling your applications. This will give you a brand new Leopard system that should work fine.
First however, make a bootable clone of your HD to an external drive for backup. You need to erase the drive and format to HFS+ with a GUID partition table. Use Carbon Copy Cloner to make the clone.
To back up the home folder, yes, drag the little house icon to an external, but with the bootable clone, this isn't really neccesary.
This isn't the easiest way to install Leopard, but it gives you the best chance of having no issues.

Easiest way: installing leopard on ibook

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