Install Leopard on 700 mhz iMac G4 with broken cd drive??

Lindy62 · Jan 27, 2013

I have an old G4 iMac (flatpanel) with 700 mhz processor and Panther 10.3.9, that I'm trying to get a couple more years of usage out of, but it's proving very difficult and this is basically my last resort.

This all started when I got an Airport card for it so I could use iTunes internet radio, but discovered that our new Netgear wifi extender has a type of wifi that is not compatible with the old Airport card...I even tried connecting it directly to the Netgear but it still would not connect to the internet (any suggestions there are most appreciated too, as it may be a simpler solution than what I'm trying to do now).

So I'm trying to get Leopard installed on the G4 as I found out that is possible, and I have the regular retail disks for 10.5, so that would hopefully allow me to connect to the wifi as I am with my newer iMac with Leopard on it.

I have searched and tried many things including LeopardAssist, however the problem is my CD drive is broken and will just spit the Leopard DVD out a few seconds after I insert it, no matter what I do. It doesn't read ANY disks, not even my Panther install disk. I have tried upgrading without using a disk, with a firewire and Target Disk mode or using my iPod. But then I still have the problem of needing to tweak my G4 so Leopard will install.

It seems I need to be able to tweak my G4 before I install Leopard, but can this be done? I think I can do this with the firewire/TDM method if I can separate the two tasks. I just cannot find anything on the internet with this particular scenario.

Another option that I have not tried is using an external CD drive. Since this is a one-time thing I would see if I could borrow one from work. But still not sure if that would work with the LeopardAssist? Would it recognize the external drive?

I hope there's a way. My G4 is like new still (except for that darned cd drive), and I'm pretty attached...it was my first very own Mac and I would love to use it for a few more years! Sorry this is so long, I wanted to cover everything I could, as I have tried so many things.

rjcalifornia · Jan 27, 2013

Lindy62 said:
I have an old G4 iMac (flatpanel) with 700 mhz processor and Panther 10.3.9, that I'm trying to get a couple more years of usage out of, but it's proving very difficult and this is basically my last resort.

Instead of Panther, try Tiger. I have the same iMac and it works beautifully with Tiger. I have installed Microsoft Office 2008.

This all started when I got an Airport card for it so I could use iTunes internet radio, but discovered that our new Netgear wifi extender has a type of wifi that is not compatible with the old Airport card...I even tried connecting it directly to the Netgear but it still would not connect to the internet (any suggestions there are most appreciated too, as it may be a simpler solution than what I'm trying to do now).

Wait? Not even with the cable? May be you need to run a System Check on your iMac and also check the router settings. I bought an Airport, well it was an AirMac card (silly me, bad ebay seller) for my ibook G3 which died. I put the same card in the iMac and it works with my WiMax router. So, I think it could be a router setting problem.

So I'm trying to get Leopard installed on the G4 as I found out that is possible, and I have the regular retail disks for 10.5, so that would hopefully allow me to connect to the wifi as I am with my newer iMac with Leopard on it.

Do you have the Black Disks? Also do you have 1 GB of RAM? Leopard could be very slow with less than 1 GB. And you need to do some extra steps to get Leopard install on a mac with less than 800 Mhz

I hope there's a way. My G4 is like new still (except for that darned cd drive), and I'm pretty attached...it was my first very own Mac and I would love to use it for a few more years! Sorry this is so long, I wanted to cover everything I could, as I have tried so many things.

Tiger my friend. Tiger is the way to go. That or some Linux distro. I'd go with Tiger.

eyoungren · Jan 27, 2013

When you say "type of wifi" do you mean that your Netgear is not capable of wireless 801.11b or do you mean it's using a type of security that your Mac does not have (such as WPA)?

If the latter, have you tried this?

If it's the former, then you are going to need to try a different route or get a wireless device that supports 801.11b. Even if you installed Leopard it would not give you the ability to use 801.11g or higher. That's purely a limitation of the airport card. Airport Extreme introduced 801.11g.

Lindy62 · Jan 27, 2013

Thanks for suggestions....I got it working after reconfiguring the wifi to WEP from WPA-PSK (TKIP) per the Netgear manual. I also went into System Preferences and manually entered the IP address of the router, as a "self-assigned" IP address was in there. So now it works!

The iTunes radio still doesn't work though, just due to age probably. I need to upgrade to Tiger after all....so I can then upgrade my iTunes. So that's my next step, and hopefully I'll have a year or so more with my old iMac.

Thanks again for your help!

MisterKeeks · Jan 27, 2013

Lindy62 said:
The iTunes radio still doesn't work though, just due to age probably. I need to upgrade to Tiger after all....so I can then upgrade my iTunes. So that's my next step, and hopefully I'll have a year or so more with my old iMac.

Try other stations; the streaming format can be different. I can listen to iTunes radio on iTunes 2 and OS 9, but I have to manually add stations, and make sure that they aren't AAC.

Intell · Jan 27, 2013

Lindy62 said:
Thanks for suggestions....I got it working after reconfiguring the wifi to WEP from WPA-PSK (TKIP) per the Netgear manual. I also went into System Preferences and manually entered the IP address of the router, as a "self-assigned" IP address was in there. So now it works!

The iTunes radio still doesn't work though, just due to age probably. I need to upgrade to Tiger after all....so I can then upgrade my iTunes. So that's my next step, and hopefully I'll have a year or so more with my old iMac.

Thanks again for your help!

If your security is WEP, you might as well just remove the security. WEP is extremely insecure and easy to crack. Because your iMac is running 10.3.9, it should be able to connect to a WPA-TKIP network without a problem.

Lindy62 · Jan 29, 2013

Yeah I know, I'm going to try WPA-TKP again with Tiger installed....it did not work before, even with the routers IP address manually entered in system prefs/network settings. Only after i changed it to WEP did it finally connect. I still have to enter the 10-digit key to connect to our wifi so it's not totally unprotected.

rjcalifornia · Jan 29, 2013

Lindy62 said:
Yeah I know, I'm going to try WPA-TKP again with Tiger installed....it did not work before, even with the routers IP address manually entered in system prefs/network settings. Only after i changed it to WEP did it finally connect. I still have to enter the 10-digit key to connect to our wifi so it's not totally unprotected.

I still think it is your router. I connect my iMac G4 to a WiMax Router with no issues.

Intell · Jan 29, 2013

One thing to check that I've run Ito in the past is that if your router has a b/g/n mode, try putting it into b/g only mode and connecting with WPA-TKIP on you iMac. I've found that my G4 iMac doesn't play nice with some router's b/g/n modes.

rjcalifornia · Jan 29, 2013

Intell said:
One thing to check that I've run Ito in the past is that if your router has a b/g/n mode, try putting it into b/g only mode and connecting with WPA-TKIP on you iMac. I've found that my G4 iMac doesn't play nice with some router's b/g/n modes.

Mine has the b/g/n modes enabled with WPA-TKIP... and no issues?

Intell · Jan 29, 2013

rjcalifornia said:
Mine has the b/g/n modes enabled with WPA-TKIP... and no issues?

"some router's b/g/n modes". That might exclude your router, but maybe not the OP's.

Lindy62 · Jan 29, 2013

Intell said:
One thing to check that I've run Ito in the past is that if your router has a b/g/n mode, try putting it into b/g only
mode and connecting with WPA-TKIP on you iMac. I've found that my G4 iMac doesn't play nice with some router's b/g/n modes.

OK I will check it out....not sure where to look but if I go in and search I will probably find the setting. I'll let you know if I need more help, as this wifi stuff is a bit befuddling to me sometimes....I do appreciate all the helpful tips!

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Install Leopard on 700 mhz iMac G4 with broken cd drive??

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