iBook G4 partition

RedCroissant · Nov 29, 2013

jrsx said:
The problem is: you can't do it straight from disk utility. I think you have to boot up from the disks if you want to partition. see:

Ok. well then I must have been confused and remembered incorrectly.

jrsx said:
Also, how do I mark a partition as the main boot partition, so it boots that partition as default, always, instead of going to startup disk and manually selecting the startup disk each time?

Once you have the drive partitioned, you would just go into system preferences -> Startup Disk, and then select the disk in the list that you want to boot from.

So, I'm sorry that my information was wrong regarding partitioning the HDD.

But, if you can download Leopard from Apple as a developer and burn that to a disc, then perhaps you can use the disc utility included with that and then partition the disc that way.

jrsx · Nov 29, 2013

RedCroissant said:
So, I'm sorry that my information was wrong regarding partitioning the HDD.

But, if you can download Leopard from Apple as a developer and burn that to a disc, then perhaps you can use the disc utility included with that and then partition the disc that way.

That's OK. But I don't see the Leopard downloads on the dev downloads page..

RedCroissant · Nov 30, 2013

jrsx said:
That's OK. But I don't see the Leopard downloads on the dev downloads page..

Oh. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression of the Leopard downloads that are available. They're not in the developer section.

The 10.5.8 combo update s in the support section of Apple's site.

Support -> Downloads -> then click on browse by product and just type "10.5.8"

The you'll see the 10.5.8 combo update but not the full install.

jrsx · Nov 30, 2013

My friend has the $99 Apple dev account so I might be able to get it from him, if his account hasn't expired....He got it for free for doing some work for them.

jrsx · Dec 2, 2013

OK so I booted up from the 10.4.2 DVD, and went into disk utility. Then I tried to partition, when I clicked the partition button to split the drive, it said this:
"PARTITION DISK Partitioning a disk will destroy all information on the volume of the disk. This disk has one volume: "Macintosh HD" Are you sure you wish to blah blah blah" So does this mean it will wipe the entire disk? I'm guessing so, if so, is there any freeware to partition WITHOUT wiping the disk?

Intell · Dec 3, 2013

10.4.2 is too old to partition the drive without destroying the data. You need 10.4.6 or newer.

jrsx · Dec 3, 2013

Intell said:
10.4.2 is too old to partition the drive without destroying the data. You need 10.4.6 or newer.

I have 10.4.11 installed, but I can't partition from within the boot partition for some reason, and the disks are 10.4. How can I partition?

Intell · Dec 3, 2013

jrsx said:
I have 10.4.11 installed, but I can't partition from within the boot partition for some reason, and the disks are 10.4. How can I partition?

Maybe PowerPC Tiger can't partition its boot drive or any drive without erasing it first. I know Leopard can on either Intell or PowerPC.

jrsx · Dec 3, 2013

Intell said:
Maybe PowerPC Tiger can't partition its boot drive or any drive without erasing it first. I know Leopard can on either Intell or PowerPC.

Yes. My question is: is there any freeware or something else to partition my drive without destroying it?

Hughmac · Dec 3, 2013

I've got a feeling here that Intell is right - you need Leopard in order to resize or add partitions from within OS X.

Assuming you have made a complete backup of your system with something like Carbon Copy Cloner - http://www.bombich.com/download.html - version 3.4.7 is the latest that will run on Tiger or Leopard - you could then boot to the 10.4 disc and partition as you wish.

Next install OS X to one of the partitions and once booted restore your apps / settings etc from the Carbon Copy backup when prompted during initial setup.

Hope this makes sense ...

Cheers

Hugh

jrsx · Dec 3, 2013

Hughmac said:
I've got a feeling here that Intell is right - you need Leopard in order to resize or add partitions from within OS X.

Assuming you have made a complete backup of your system with something like Carbon Copy Cloner - http://www.bombich.com/download.html - version 3.4.7 is the latest that will run on Tiger or Leopard - you could then boot to the 10.4 disc and partition as you wish.

Next install OS X to one of the partitions and once booted restore your apps / settings etc from the Carbon Copy backup when prompted during initial setup.

Hope this makes sense ...

Cheers

Hugh

More or less-there is no way to partition without data loss.

Hughmac · Dec 3, 2013

Unfortunately not, at least not with Tiger.

It would be expensive to buy a Leopard disc just to be able to partition your drive as you would want it (I've just checked on eBay and it could cost $70-80), but as I have the same model iBook at home I can assure you 10.5 works very well if you choose to go that route.

One alternative is to get hold an old copy of iPartition by Coriolis Systems from which you can make a bootable disc.
I have a disc myself and it's very good at moving / resizing partitions without destroying any data, but costs about $50, if you can still even find an old version compatible with your system.

Not much help really, sorry

Cheers

Hugh

jrsx · Dec 3, 2013

Hughmac said:
Unfortunately not, at least not with Tiger.

It would be expensive to buy a Leopard disc just to be able to partition your drive as you would want it (I've just checked on eBay and it could cost $70-80), but as I have the same model iBook at home I can assure you 10.5 works very well if you choose to go that route.

One alternative is to get hold an old copy of iPartition by Coriolis Systems from which you can make a bootable disc.
I have a disc myself and it's very good at moving / resizing partitions without destroying any data, but costs about $50, if you can still even find an old version compatible with your system.

Not much help really, sorry

Cheers

Hugh

The partition would be dedicated entirely to Lubuntu, so I think I will just use the built in partitioning method, and then uninstall grub so I can just hold alt/option at bootup. I don't like grub....

jrsx · Dec 7, 2013

So I thought of a different way to partition, destructively, but still get all my data back. So I am going to clone my HD to an external drive, and then partition into 2, but how can I clone the external HD back onto 1 partition?

Hughmac · Dec 7, 2013

You need a firewire external drive, then the clone will be bootable.

Either use Carbon Copy Cloner or Disk Utility to clone, then select the external as startup disk in System Prefs.

Once booted to the clone you can use Disk Utility from there to partition the internal HDD and then restore to one of the new partitions.

Done it successfully loads of times, in fact I've just (yesterday eve) restored a working system from my PowerBook to an eMac that's being brought back into use.

Cheers

Hugh

jrsx · Dec 7, 2013

Hmmmm so it can't be a USB drive? Thats the connector I'm getting...
Is there anyway to clone it back on without firewire?
Would a boot command from OpenFirmware be able to boot the USB external drive?

Hughmac · Dec 7, 2013

No idea, sorry.

If you're going to stay with PPC a firewire external drive enclosure is invaluable for keeping backups as they are so easy to restore if you need to.

Booting to USB is flaky and slow to say the least, with varied results as has been discussed.

Cheers

Hugh

Intell · Dec 8, 2013

You can clone it to a USB drive. I've done that before with great success.

Hughmac · Dec 8, 2013

Sorry, yes of course, you're right, but I find it easier to boot from a firewire clone.

I have a generic Tiger and a generic Leopard install on a firewire drive which I can boot to, then I can use that running system to restore from a USB drive to the internal hard drive.

I was surprised the other day when a USB backup booted to my Pismo and ran (took 20 mins or so to get the system up and running) - I thought I'd try it and see what happened.
Don't suppose it will do it every time with no firmware jiggery pokery, but nice to know it sometimes works

Cheers

Hugh

jrsx · Dec 8, 2013

Intell said:
You can clone it to a USB drive. I've done that before with great success.

Haha its funny I took a look at Tom Vilsack's thread on booting a USB SSD the night I posted about not being able to boot from a USB HD (below).

----------

jrsx said:
Hmmmm so it can't be a USB drive? Thats the connector I'm getting...
Is there anyway to clone it back on without firewire?
Would a boot command from OpenFirmware be able to boot the USB external drive?

here ^

Hughmac · Dec 8, 2013

No no, I think Intell was correcting my comment. You CAN easily clone to a USB hard drive, but in my opinion as non-too-clever at software hacks, difficult to get the clone restored to the internal HDD from USB.

There is a way, (I've only just remembered, sorry) if you boot to an OS X disc, of using Disk Utility (from the DVD) to restore one volume to another, even if one volume is on a USB connection.
Be prepared to start the job at bedtime and get up in the morning to find it's only just completed.

If you do your backup first (which is always a useful thing to have with any old machine) then you can try some of the options suggested so far ...

Cheers

Hugh

jrsx · Dec 8, 2013

There is one problem-my Mac simply does not-cannot-will not boot from a USB stick on Linux, at least. Apple says it will with Mac OS X on a USB stick, I haven't tried yet. Oh well I guess I'll just have to wait and see if OS X will boot from that HD.

iBook G4 partition

Suspended

macrumors 65816

Suspended

macrumors 65816

macrumors 65816

macrumors P6

macrumors 65816

macrumors P6

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors P6

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

macrumors 603

macrumors 65816

Our Staff