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sbone

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2010
1
0
I recently purchased a 2nd hand g5 from a friend. When he bought it around it was not formated. The software update i have is 10.5.8, I have purchased a copy of snow leopard (box set with ilife and iwork on it too), Now i tried installing snow leopard and it wouldnt let me "My mac is not intel based" i tried the other installing via the other options, i need to have 10.6 or greater.

my question is how do i get 10.6 on mac or how do i reformat the g5, its driving me crazy...

regards
 
Sounds like you have an earlier G5 with the pre Intel chip (manufactured, if I remember rightly by IBM). Unfortunately, these machines will not run the Leopard OS. OS 10.4 is the latest that is compatible.
 
Sounds like you have an earlier G5 with the pre Intel chip (manufactured, if I remember rightly by IBM). Unfortunately, these machines will not run the Leopard OS. OS 10.4 is the latest that is compatible.

Wrong. G5's can run up to 10.5.8. He even said it's already running 10.5.8.
 
I recently purchased a 2nd hand g5 from a friend. When he bought it around it was not formated. The software update i have is 10.5.8, I have purchased a copy of snow leopard (box set with ilife and iwork on it too), Now i tried installing snow leopard and it wouldnt let me "My mac is not intel based" i tried the other installing via the other options, i need to have 10.6 or greater.

my question is how do i get 10.6 on mac or how do i reformat the g5, its driving me crazy...

regards


Sounds like you have an earlier G5 with the pre Intel chip (manufactured, if I remember rightly by IBM). Unfortunately, these machines will not run the Leopard OS. OS 10.4 is the latest that is compatible.

The G3/4/5 are CPUs using the PowerPC architecture and are made by IBM. Macs used PPC CPUs until 2006, when Apple changed to the x86 architecture using Intel CPUs.

A G5 and even a G4 Mac can run Mac OS X up to version Mac OS X 10.5.8, only Snow Leopard will not run on any PPC Mac, as Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) got rid of the PPC code.

Names of Mac OS X releases:
  • Mac OS X Public Beta: "Kodiak"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.0: "Cheetah"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.1: "Puma"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.2: "Jaguar"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.3: "Panther"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.4: "Tiger"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.5: "Leopard"
  • Mac OS X Version 10.6: "Snow Leopard"

Thus again, OP, you can't run Mac OS X 10.6 on any Mac using a G3/4/5 CPU. It is even hinted at on the Mac OS X page by Apple, as they wrote there:

General requirements

  • Mac computer with an Intel processor
  • 1GB of memory
  • 5GB of available disk space
  • DVD drive for installation
  • Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
  • Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
 
As spinnerlys stated. Being that you own a G5 (non-intel) Mac. You cannot install 10.6 - Snow Leopard because apple dropped support for the PPC architecture in 10.6. You can only go as high as 10.5 which is Leopard.
 
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