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I Want to Upgrade to 10.5 Leopard

N

njaremka

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 11, 2010
494
0
I have an older iBook G4 running OS 10.3 (yeah, I know...). Is there any reason i would NOT want to upgrade to 10.5? Will I have issues upgrading to 10.5 without having 10.4 installed? (Can I skip right from 10.3 up to 10.5?) Should I try to find a cheap 1GB memory stick, too?

The specs on the machine are:
iBook 14" 1.33GHz SuperDrive
80GB Ultra ATA drive
Keyboard & Mac OS X - U.S. English
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
AirPort Extreme Card
768MB DDR266 (256MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)​
Bluetooth Module
 
njaremka said:
I have an older iBook G4 running OS 10.3 (yeah, I know...). Is there any reason i would NOT want to upgrade to 10.5? Will I have issues upgrading to 10.5 without having 10.4 installed? (Can I skip right from 10.3 up to 10.5?) Should I try to find a cheap 1GB memory stick, too?

The specs on the machine are:
iBook 14" 1.33GHz SuperDrive
80GB Ultra ATA drive
Keyboard & Mac OS X - U.S. English
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
AirPort Extreme Card
768MB DDR266 (256MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)​
Bluetooth Module
Click to expand...


To get to 10.5 from 10.3 you will need the retail install disk for leopard rather than the upgrade disk. but yes i would definatly upgrade to leopard if i was you.

I would also try to find that 1 gb ram stick, because leopard will run smoother on 1gb than 768
 
thanks for the information on the installation disc. i guess that narrows down my search...
 
Yes, max the RAM out to 1.25GB, OS X loves 1.0+ gigs of RAM.

Is that the original 4200rpm HD? If so, Leopard may run slower with it.

Also note that some SuperDrives do NOT read the double layer Leopard DVD. If yours doesn't work, you will need a Mac that can read the disc, as well as a Male/Male Firewire 400 cable, and you will have to install via Target Disk mode.

I had this problem with both my G4 tower (Had a SuperDrive) and my eMac (Combo Drive). I had to put a double layer DVD burner in the tower for it to work, and had to install Leopard via Target disk mode on the eMac. Just a heads up in case you get confused when trying to boot from the disc, and it keeps spitting it out.
 
yeah, everything is original in it, except the battery. i have a late-2009 MacBook Pro that i can use for target disc mode, or i could load the disc image to a flash drive or something if needed.

i started looking for memory sticks, and i found some cheap 1gb'ers. anyone know where i can get my hands on a 10.5 installation disc? ;)
 
you can buy of ebay , but be careful when choosing the seller, some disc's go around , and often get scratched , so if you would buy one from a seller who bought it from a seller......who bought it from a seller .... you could end up paying for a disc that does not work any more because of to many scratches , as lots of people recently want OSX leopard disc's ,and supply is short and just buy them to make a copy and sell the original again

so i would look for a seller that looks honest in the description and try to read between the lines , a important skill when it comes to Mac's and ebay , to many are just after the quick cash
...sold as is in the description and no returns accepted ;)
... read hands away from the buy it now button
 
MacHamster68 said:
you can buy of ebay , but be careful when choosing the seller, some disc's go around , and often get scratched , so if you would buy one from a seller who bought it from a seller......who bought it from a seller .... you could end up paying for a disc that does not work any more because of to many scratches , as lots of people recently want OSX leopard disc's ,and supply is short and just buy them to make a copy and sell the original again

so i would look for a seller that looks honest in the description and try to read between the lines , a important skill when it comes to Mac's and ebay , to many are just after the quick cash
...sold as is in the description and no returns accepted ;)
... read hands away from the buy it now button
Click to expand...

that sounds like resonable advice, thanks. i was more worried if there was a lisence limitation for installations or something. i would hate to purchase a disc only to find out that i cannot install or activate it because its been around too many times. i actually found a couple that are local to me, so i might try to email the seller to meet up for the exchange. that way, i might could get a look at the condition of the disc before any money exchanges hands.
 
njaremka said:
that sounds like resonable advice, thanks. i was more worried if there was a lisence limitation for installations or something. i would hate to purchase a disc only to find out that i cannot install or activate it because its been around too many times. i actually found a couple that are local to me, so i might try to email the seller to meet up for the exchange. that way, i might could get a look at the condition of the disc before any money exchanges hands.
Click to expand...

before you do that you can only use the retail versions , the grey disc's are a no go area as they are model specific , if you did already know does not matter , i cant tell it to often
41854357654Mac_OS_X_Leopard_1056_RETAIL_DVD_200MB_Mac_App.jpg
what you need
 
MacHamster68 said:
before you do that you can only use the retail versions , the grey disc's are a no go area as they are model specific , if you did already know does not matter , i cant tell it to often
41854357654Mac_OS_X_Leopard_1056_RETAIL_DVD_200MB_Mac_App.jpg
what you need
Click to expand...

i knew i needed the retail version. is there a way to tell from the pictures if its a "Retail" version or an "Upgrade" version? i have two macs, so i know what the OEM "Grey" discs look like.
 
Leopard on my iBook runs great with 1gb of ram. The one pre-installed was a 512mb, and I picked up a second 512mb to put in the user slot, and 1gb of ram is just great for Leopard. I have to say though, 512mb total in my higher iMac doesn't seem like that much of a difference.

I picked up one for $50 off eBay a couple years ago, so I can't pinpoint the going rate now. However, I can tell you to not jump on one when you see it. Set a price for yourself, put in a bid, and walk away. Too many times, budgets are blown in the heat of a bidding war. :) Just bid wise.
 
SkippyThorson said:
However, I can tell you to not jump on one when you see it. Set a price for yourself, put in a bid, and walk away. Too many times, budgets are blown in the heat of a bidding war. :) Just bid wise.
Click to expand...

i am well aware of how ebay works, but thanks for the tip ;)

i am still in the "whats my budget going to be" stage. i'm trying to figure out if this will be worth it.
 
the retail and upgrade came in different boxes and the disk look a bit different
the upgrade version says "cpu drop in " and came in a plain blackish colored box and a sticker not for resale , as the upgrades came only with a new Mac just at the time when leopard was released so a couple of Mac's sold still had tiger on them and apple just dropped in the upgrade dvd in the box of the Mac
leopardupgrade103107.jpg

but you can convert a upgrade into a normal install disc , so if you get one not everything is lost
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/380408/
but try to get a retail version makes things easier
 
Last edited:
excellent! thank you!

MacHamster68 said:
the retail and upgrade came in different boxes and the disk look a bit different
the upgrade version says "cpu drop in " and came in a plain blackish colored box and a sticker not for resale , as the upgrades came only with a new Mac just at the time when leopard was released so a couple of Mac's sold still had tiger on them and apple just dropped in the upgrade dvd in the box of the Mac
leopardupgrade103107.jpg

but you can convert a upgrade into a normal install disc , so if you get one not everything is lost
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/380408/
but try to get a retail version makes things easier
Click to expand...
 
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