Hi all

I just have an old G4. This one does not boot. I only can see a flashing folder. I saw that this is because OS 9 is corrupted. So I decided to install 10.X on it. When I try with official 10.4.9 install DVD coming from a MacBook bundle I got a message that tells that no driver can be found for this platform (and then you should restart ..bla bla..)
Does someone knows what version of OS X can be installed on this G4. As it does not boot I cannot know how much memory nor disk is inside.
Any kind of help would be appreciated..
Regards,
Polo

You can install Tiger but you will have to buy it from apple as the OSes bundled with the computers only include drivers for that model which is why your macbook tiger disc won't work.

Before installing OS X I would suggest acquiring a OS 9 CD and making sure that the firmware is updated to the latest version first.

Have you tried zapping the PRAM?

[quote name='Headrush69' date='Sep 20 2007, 07:01 PM' post='452118']
Before installing OS X I would suggest acquiring a OS 9 CD and making sure that the firmware is updated to the latest version first.

this will save u hours of headache if u plan on a processor upgrade in the future

Ok I thank you all for your answers. It's up to me to find a correct 9.2 to have a try.
Polo

I got a G4 and I am running 10.4.10 right now - Tiger can easily be done on the G4!

You do need the right firmware - for information on this search the Apple Website it is clearly explained over there. Also how to find out what firmware is on your G4.
You need OS9 to 'flash' the correct firmware, but if your G4 is one of the later models chances are the correct firmware is already on your system.

That's not entirely true, the reason he gets this message is that there are no universal DVDs of 10.4. There is an intel fork and a ppc fork. The bundled dvds are for intel only (but you can use a mac book on a mac pro) and the retail dvds are ppc only. So, you can't boot a macbook dvd as it's missing the ppc part.

OS X still runs like a dream on 800MHz.

OS9 does run very snappy, I can run it at 1.2Ghz ! Hehehehe

Oops, I meant to say OS X.

And at 1.2Ghz that runs pretty snappy as well

I heard that Panther runs the best on older Macs and Tiger will just slow down the system (old macs, not new).

The limiting factors appears to be the video card, not the CPU speed.
(Of course using a better PC based video card is a simple operation. )

Panther or Tiger should work. Buy the PPC version of Tiger and if it doesn't work, just use Panther. I recommend Tiger because you need it for most of the apps used today.