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Just got a cheap iBook.

Go to the disc utility setup and then click on the partitions tab. Click 1 partition and then options you can select the correct partition map. Select APM and and apply. Now you can install Leopard onto it.

If you are using your Mac Mini Leopard install discs.... it won't work. You need a Leopard Retail install disc or family pack.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
Go to the disc utility setup and then click on the partitions tab. Click 1 partition and then options you can select the correct partition map. Select APM and and apply. Now you can install Leopard onto it.

If you are using your Mac Mini Leopard install discs.... it won't work. You need a Leopard Retail install disc or family pack.
Click to expand...

I changed the partition type and then tried install again and it still wanted GUID. This was through target mode. What I think im going to do is install everything to the HDD in the iBook under a GUID partition then clone the drive, reformat it to APM and then clone all the files back.
 
Make sure that the iBook's HDD is large enough that it will clone from your Mac Mini's HDD.(edit: N/M, just read the specs in your sig :p)

1. Put iBook into T-Mode. Plug it into your Mac Mini with a firewire cable and wait for it to mount on the Mini's desktop.
2. Open up disc utility on the Mac Mini, no need to boot from the CD. It's in the utilities folder.
3. Select your iBook's HDD and then partition it and format it for APM.
4. Download SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner(both free) and then use that app to clone your Mac Mini hard drive to the iBooks HDD.
5. Once it's done, Restart your iBook. Your iBook is now a clone of your Mini.

Please be aware that this violates the EULA since you won't have a license to use this on another computer. This is why I suggested purchasing a Leopard Retail DVD or family pack.
 
Thank you! I have the copy going right now, I installed leopard through the disk to the ibook under GUID and now making a disk image of that and saving it on my mini. Then reformating to APM and re-applying disk image to ibook hdd. I didn't clone my mini's drive because it has snow leopard.
 
Well I ended up having to go to the apple store and even they couldn't get the OS to install on it own through an external HDD. So the genius said he thought it was the logic board I put in was defective. So I'm getting an exchange from the company I got it from...:mad:
 
That's a whole lot of trouble for an iBook, but your needs for it are realistic.. so do what you will I suppose. Just don't let yourself spend 3/4 the way toward something Intel patching up a G4. :)
 
Hello:

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I am in a similar situation. I've just gotten a 12" iBook 1.07GHz G4 with a 30GB HDD for my daughter. I also had to replace the frame, which was broken in three places, and the display bezel. It runs fine, but it seems the Mac got sat on or something before I got it...

Anyway, it's running Panther, takes up 10GB with basic apps, including Office for Mac, leaving 20 Gigs for her pics and iTunes. I would like to upgrade this iBook to Tiger for USB camera support among other things, but in looking through forums & etc., I haven't seen a good answer as to whether this machine will go to to Tiger without a fight, though I can't imagine that it would be a problem with the retail disks. (Discs?) Also, how much extra space will Tiger use up, and should I just swap out the HDD for a 160? BTW, it's got 1.25GB of memory (max?), which I think is plenty.

I hope pvmacguy's efforts are successful, and I hope mine aren't as complicated. I don't mind the extra investment in a used machine, since when she goes off to college, she gets a brand new Intel MB, and the G4 comes back to me.

Thanks for any advice.
 
JimmyMac2 said:
Hello:

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I am in a similar situation. I've just gotten a 12" iBook 1.07GHz G4 with a 30GB HDD for my daughter. I also had to replace the frame, which was broken in three places, and the display bezel. It runs fine, but it seems the Mac got sat on or something before I got it...

Anyway, it's running Panther, takes up 10GB with basic apps, including Office for Mac, leaving 20 Gigs for her pics and iTunes. I would like to upgrade this iBook to Tiger for USB camera support among other things, but in looking through forums & etc., I haven't seen a good answer as to whether this machine will go to to Tiger without a fight, though I can't imagine that it would be a problem with the retail disks. (Discs?) Also, how much extra space will Tiger use up, and should I just swap out the HDD for a 160? BTW, it's got 1.25GB of memory (max?), which I think is plenty.

I hope pvmacguy's efforts are successful, and I hope mine aren't as complicated. I don't mind the extra investment in a used machine, since when she goes off to college, she gets a brand new Intel MB, and the G4 comes back to me.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

Tiger was distributed on a single DVD install disc and a Utilities CD-ROM. It will run on your hardware with no problem, but I would strongly recommend upgrading to a larger hard drive especially if she has a music library anywhere near even half the size of my own. The Tiger install by itself is 3.2GB but that does not include extra applications. You can also save space by removing foreign languages post-install.
 
I would definetly recomend upgrading the HDD especially if music etc is going on there. Not to mention how old is that 30 gig? If it's the original one it's possible it could go at any time.
 
Upgrading the HDD will also give quite a speed boost too. That iBook will run Leopard too if you can find the retail DVD for the same price as Tiger. I would do a full install but back up anything you have installed first. Click on the customize tab and uncheck the printer drives, extra languages and X11. I like to keep the additional fonts installed because sometimes some stuff on the web will just be ???? since it can't read the right fonts.
 
The genius bar will install any os for you. Because I couldn't get it to install on mine and I thought it was the disk I went up there and he tried to install leopard no questions asked and for no $$.
 
Finally got my replacement logic board from the defective one I recieved. Installed it last night and got leopard installed and that little machine runs great! I was surprised it actually had some pep to it and no spinning beach balls.. :)
 
Okay...

I've been super busy for a couple of weeks, but I finally got the time to sit down and start the upgrade. Swapped out the HDD with a 160 and installed Tiger right off of the DVD. As I had hoped, it was simple and straightforward, and everything, including the webcam, was working wonderfully. So thanks for everyone's advice about Tiger and the HDD!

However - after a couple of days, the iBook started to exhibit one of the apparently common freeze-up problems I have read about. After an hour or more of normal operation, the computer would freeze. No video problems like some posts have reported, just no response. Only way to shut down is by holding down the power button. Upon rebooting, it gets past the gray "apple" screen to the OS startup screen (blue), then hangs. If I let it sit for an hour or so, it will boot all the way up, but will freeze again, and it has gotten steadily worse, till now it only takes a few minutes.

I have read about squeezing the case, or shimming the video chip or another chip on the back of the logic board, but like I said, there is no apparent video failure. I'm willing to bet that there is heat involved, either thermal-runaway or heat sink failure. I've checked the heat sink (do those sticky pads really work?) and done a visual of the logic board, cannot find anything obvious. But failure of just one tiny resistor, and subsequent overheating of a major component from excessive power would look exactly like this...

I've read posts that have stated that this problem, or the similar one with display degradation, have appeared after hard disk upgrades or similar work, as in this case, and it does put cracked connections from flexing the logic board high on the list of suspects. I noticed that when you tighten down the little nut in the middle of the heat sink, it pulls the logic board up a significant distance.

By the way, I put the original HDD back in, and get identical behavior. Boots, freezes, won't boot, cools down, boots, etc. So it's not the disk. Could it be the controller? The freeze-ups do not seem to coincide with disk activity, but I can't tell for sure.

I haven't heard the fan running, but at this point, it's not all that hot when it bellies up. I've ordered a new fan, anyway. So has anyone seen or heard of a solution for this "well-known" problem with iBooks? Failing that, any reasonable ideas acted upon.

Thanks for you assistance.
 
Jim, the replacement logic board I recieved the first time from the company for my gf's ibook that I was working on did the same exact thing. Only I wasn't even able to install the os before it would have total lock up. It was the GPU over heating and shutting down all processes. You most likely will need to replace the logic board.
 
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