Mac Mini G4 Leopard Install via Firewire or USB

RussWWFC said:

Right. I have a 1.25 Mac Mini G4 with Tiger installed, but the DVD Drive is a bit flaky. And I wanted to install Leopard to bring it a bit more up to date. I have the DVD, but it will not boot from it.



So I wanted to boot from USB or Firewire. It's widely mentioned on the web that you can't boot G4 Mac Minis via USB, so it looks like Firewire is my option, via Target Disk mode



I have a 2011 iMac that I could use, but also an external disk by Western Digital that I can use, and I'd prefer the latter option.



So I need a guide, I'm far from a computer or Mac novice and have watched few Youtube videos, but they never seem to fit my exact needs.



So firstly I need to know what format my external hard disk to/how to make it bootable (I am guessing it won't be simply a case of copying the DMG I have extracted over, and that I will have to find storage for the files already on there



And then secondly, how to use it on my Mac Mini (like what keys to press when I turn it on)



Thanks in advance for any help

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RussWWFC said:

Is there more details on that target disk mode?

On USB, I press ALT (the Option equivalent) I get a blue screen. And the mouse on the left hand side is a watch for 10 seconds, then a normal pointer. But I can only move it up and down, not left or right

And the arrow keys on the keyboard do not move anything

But I can see:

One the left: A refresh button
Middle: The hard drive
Right: A forward arrow


I have tried installing from within OSX, but it reboots as per normal after a restart

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RussWWFC said:

Thanks, seems like I have a couple of chances to succeed then, Had a brief look at open firmware, looks a bit daunting but I have been googling, and will take another look when I have more time to install leopard

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