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Installing OSX on "Blank" Powerbook G4

tevion5

tevion5

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
1,967
1,603
Ireland
There is a Powerbook G4 being sold locally for a good price but it doesn't have OSX installed on it. I know each device needs it's own specific install dvd to actually put OSX on it but I was wondering if I can find copies of the iso's of these old discs as I hear they they are also not cheap. Are there any other way's of getting leopard installed on this thing without having an original install disc at hand? Surely people lost these discs back in the day, what did they do then?

All help appreciated :)

P.S. it's this powerbook
 
There are ways and there are ways.

But other than a specific system disk, or a retail disk talking about it is seriously frowned on by the mods because it's considered piracy. And it doesn't matter how old the OS is, Apple still has the copyright.

Please note that I am not accusing you of anything, nor am I being hostile. I'm simply informing you of how it is the mods will view your question.
 
I didn't take the question that way. OP appears to be under the impression that s/he must obtain the machine specific disks before installing OSX and then upgrading to Leopard?

If so, that's an unnecessary step. All that is needed is a retail copy of Leopard. You can do a clean install from that. Of course, any retail version of Leopard can then be upgraded to the final version 10.5.8 directly from Apple's servers. Or, as I prefer, you can download the combo updater and have it on hand.
 
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That may be, but the OP mentioned ISOs and there never have been ISOs of the install disks, except perhaps (and I do not know this for fact) internally at Apple.

Any ISO you can find online is not a legitimate copy as the only legitimate ones are Apple branded disks.

If the OP was simply not aware of that, no harm, no foul.
 
I've seen machine specific ISOs on various sites. Do the mods frown on that? If Apple still had them on hand, they would send them to you for the price of postage if you own the machine that they go with.
 
Swampus said:
I've seen machine specific ISOs on various sites. Do the mods frown on that? If Apple still had them on hand, they would send them to you for the price of postage if you own the machine that they go with.
Click to expand...
No idea. Again, I'm not trying to be hostile. If there were indeed, ISOs available to customers then this is not something I was ever aware of.

I'm just relating things based on my knowledge. If I am in error then I apologize to all involved.
 
No, you're right. I've never seen Apple make machine specific ISOs available for general download. I just can't imagine that they would raise an eyebrow about it when there are far more egregious violations that occur. Their viewpoint seems to be that the owner of the machine has a right to those disks since they would mail them for free when asked (and when available).

Anyway, policy is policy. I'm not trying to be confrontational either. :)
 
No worries, it's cool! :cool:

I just don't know where to go with the mods sometimes. I've been nailed for posting a link to an eBay auction that wasn't mine, yet I've witnessed other violations that flew under the radar.
 
To clarify for OP:

Regardless of how one feels about the ethics of sharing machine specific disks, we're not allowed to help you with that here. They're out there. You just have to look.

However, if your ultimate goal is to install Leopard, they are unnecessary. All that you need is a retail copy of Leopard. I suggest that you price a source on that before making your purchase. You might find that it doubles your investment.

Possible tip: I don't know if this is true. It falls under the category of random things that I've read on the interwebs, but I've recently seen folks claim that they got a good deal on Leopard directly from Apple specifically because Apple no longer had their machine specific restore disks (Leopard was offered as an alternative at a very low cost). It's worth a phone call to Apple to see if this might work for you too. It might just depend on who you get on the phone?

Good luck!
 
I understand that it is generally considered piracy, but i tend to disagree on whether sharing machine specific images is piracy. When the computer was shipped from apple it came with a license for a specific version of OS X, if you were to download a machine specific image you would still be within your license, because the disk can only be used on your specific model of machine to restore the OS it originally came with.

I can completely understand universal images, but machine specific images can only be run on the machines that were originally licensed to use them.



Anyways to be more on topic, i don think your going to get much help here as it is fairly frowned upon to share these images, even if you are acting within the terms of your license. I hear apple will sell you a leopard disk for $10, but i haven't personally tried it.
 
alexrmc92 said:
...I hear apple will sell you a leopard disk for $10, but i haven't personally tried it.
Click to expand...

I think we've been reading some of the same threads.

OP, if that doesn't work, try refining your search by using the part numbers: MB427Z/A, MB576Z/A, MB021Z/A, or MB022Z/A. Any of these will work and you'll end up at the same place (10.5.8), so just go with whatever you find the best deal on.
 
Swampus said:
No, you're right. I've never seen Apple make machine specific ISOs available for general download. I just can't imagine that they would raise an eyebrow about it when there are far more egregious violations that occur. Their viewpoint seems to be that the owner of the machine has a right to those disks since they would mail them for free when asked (and when available).

Anyway, policy is policy. I'm not trying to be confrontational either. :)
Click to expand...

this should be ok to post:
Google "ppc leopard iso" . It only takes a simple google to have your needs answered.
 
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Thanks for all the advice :)

I'll see if I can perhaps swindle a disc off Apple before I try anything else. I know Leopard Retail discs still sell for high prices on ebay. Almost as bad PCIe Power Mac GPU's! :p

Does the fact that I would legally own the laptop count for anything? I mean if it belonged to me surely I would entitled to the disc? Also I personally own a Power Mac G5 running 10.5.8 in my name already but I suppose that's a separate licence.

I'll see what happens :)
 
tevion5 said:
...Does the fact that I would legally own the laptop count for anything? I mean if it belonged to me surely I would entitled to the disc? Also I personally own a Power Mac G5 running 10.5.8 in my name already but...
Click to expand...

Well, it used to be the case that Apple would think that you were entitled to the machine specific disks. It didn't matter if you were the second, third, fourth, or fifth owner. That's what I would ask for. When they tell you that they don't have it, I would then try to bargain for a Leopard disk as a substitute.

I've swapped boot disks between G4s and G5s without much problem. In this case, you'd have to clone it. Some things might need to be replaced. TenFourFoxG5, for example, might need to be replaced with TenFourFoxG4. It's probably best to do a clean install if possible.

Honestly, if Apple doesn't sell it to you, I'd follow MrPilot's advice and not even feel guilty about it.
 
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