OS X 10.3.3 @ Thrift Store: Score or Worthless?

Recovery discs only work with the model they shipped with, so unless your machine is the exact model for those discs, they will not work.

Stick it in the drive and see if you can run Apple Hardware Test. I also don't know about the Techtool disc, but it's worth a try.

kafkasyrup said:

Hello all,

First time poster here, so pls go easy on me. I have a late '05 iBook G4 with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme. I currently have OS X 10.5.8 loaded on the machine. Yesterday, I bought an unopened/new set of 10.3.3 install/recovery discs for iBook G4 and a Applecare Protection Plan Techtool Deluxe disc w/accompanying manuals. It seems to me that finding recovery discs on the cheap is pretty difficult to do, so I got them to use in case my current setup goes south. Can I use the 10.3.3 discs to re-install and then update to the 10.5.8? In other words, did I buy something useful or did I waste a whole dolllar? Any insights would be appreciated. Thx

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kafkasyrup said:

Hello all,

First time poster here, so pls go easy on me. I have a late '05 iBook G4 with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme. I currently have OS X 10.5.8 loaded on the machine. Yesterday, I bought an unopened/new set of 10.3.3 install/recovery discs for iBook G4 and a Applecare Protection Plan Techtool Deluxe disc w/accompanying manuals. It seems to me that finding recovery discs on the cheap is pretty difficult to do, so I got them to use in case my current setup goes south. Can I use the 10.3.3 discs to re-install and then update to the 10.5.8? In other words, did I buy something useful or did I waste a whole dolllar? Any insights would be appreciated. Thx

Click to expand...

Even if you test it and it works, the best you could do after installing would be to update to 10.3.9. You need 10.4 disks to go to 10.4.11 and/or 10.5 disks to go to 10.5.8. You can't install 10.3.x and expect to update to 10.5.8 this way.

Also, unless you are capable of installing the OS and do so, I would not at all trust the Techtool disk. One of those came with the G5 my boss bought for me back in 2005 and it never really worked well then. Trying to use it on say your Leopard install just might introduce more problems instead of fixing any as this is an outdated version.

kafkasyrup said:

Hello all,

First time poster here, so pls go easy on me. I have a late '05 iBook G4 with Bluetooth and Airport Extreme. I currently have OS X 10.5.8 loaded on the machine. Yesterday, I bought an unopened/new set of 10.3.3 install/recovery discs for iBook G4 and a Applecare Protection Plan Techtool Deluxe disc w/accompanying manuals. It seems to me that finding recovery discs on the cheap is pretty difficult to do, so I got them to use in case my current setup goes south. Can I use the 10.3.3 discs to re-install and then update to the 10.5.8? In other words, did I buy something useful or did I waste a whole dolllar? Any insights would be appreciated. Thx

Click to expand...

I think the 2005 iBook came with Tiger 10.4.2 OEM Discs. I sold my set of those discs but, for some reason, I still have a spare disc no. 2 from the two disc set. (It probably has applications on it, not sure.) You could possibly ring up Apple to get the discs, they do have to supply seven years of back up and those machines were manufactured through the end of 05 into 06. If you want disc 2, send me postage and it's yours, and you might get some help from Apple, especially if you have another mac under warranty.

Oh, and the 12" 1.33ghz iBook G4 OEM Discs are identical to the 14" 1.42ghz OEM discs for the iBook G4s. Someone on this site has the original iBook discs (coughskatenycough) and maybe you could get him to make you a copy of disc one and I'll send disc two.

skateny said:

Stick it in the drive and see if you can run Apple Hardware Test. I also don't know about the Techtool disc, but it's worth a try.

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