Leopard on iBook G4 with 256 MB Memory

[crystalwalker27]

Hey,
So I'm new to posting on this site but I've used it quite a bit. But I can't seem to find my specific problem... Here it is:

I have an iBook G4 with these specs:
Machine Name: iBook G4
Machine Model: PowerBook6,3
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (3.3)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 256 MB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.7.7f0

What can I do to get Leopard on here? I've seen the "Install Leopard on Unsupported Macs Guide", but you need a DVD burner for that... I don't have one... Also I would rather not go through all that Terminal stuff to do it.

So HOW DO I GET LEOPARD please!
Is there a way I can do this that is relatively cheap and won't involve a total overhaul of my computer?

Help please!

Thanks so much, and, again, sorry if this was posted before!

 

[sabregreen]

Do you have an older iPod like 4g an earlier? Or do you have an external USB or Firewire drive? You can "restore" leopard on one of those and can use it as a boot disc.

 

[mkrishnan]

What's on your iBook now...Tiger or Panther? Why, oh why would you possibly want to put Leopard on an iBook G4/800 with 256MB of memory? I mean, I sold my iBook G4 only last year, and I loved it, and Tiger was great on it, when it had 1.125 GB of memory....

 

[crystalwalker27]

My iPod is a 30GB from 2005... I'm not sure what exact model it is... but it was the first colour ipod to come out.

I just want Leopard... lol. I have issues. I love doing stuff to my mac.
I have Tiger right now, which is fine, but I would also like to upgrade my memory so it's faster and more efficient, because although I don't have alot of stuff on it right now, it's realllllllly slllllllow.

 

[crystalwalker27]

My USB is only 1 GB So I dont think it would be able to hold it... I have the Leopard disk... Just not the capacity for it...

 

[mkrishnan]

I would also like to upgrade my memory so it's faster and more efficient, because although I don't have alot of stuff on it right now, it's realllllllly slllllllow.

Get a 1GB memory module to up your memory to 1.125 GB (the most that iBook can have... the listed max memory for the first iBook G4 is 640MB in the form of 512 + 128 soldered, but you can actually put a 1GB module in the slot and it works fine).

Then get Leopard. Otherwise Leopard will be even more ridiculously painful than Tiger is now....

As for installing the Leopard disc... if you have the 30GB iPod Color, it should have an available firewire cable to connect with (in the picture below, the rightmost connector is FW and the middle one is USB). You could restore onto that and boot the iBook off it (FW only, not USB), but AFAIK you have to restore Leopard onto the iPod from a Mac that actually meets Leopard's installation requirements.

Otherwise, you have to suck it up and do "all that terminal stuff."

 

[crystalwalker27]

Alright, thanks guys! I found a good deal for a 1 GB on ebay so I will purchase that and continue my pursuit...

And just in case you were wondering "that terminal stuff" IS a technical term... lol.

 

[econoline06]

Hey,
So I'm new to posting on this site but I've used it quite a bit. But I can't seem to find my specific problem... Here it is:

I have an iBook G4 with these specs:
Machine Name: iBook G4
Machine Model: PowerBook6,3
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (3.3)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 256 MB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.7.7f0

What can I do to get Leopard on here? I've seen the "Install Leopard on Unsupported Macs Guide", but you need a DVD burner for that... I don't have one... Also I would rather not go through all that Terminal stuff to do it.

So HOW DO I GET LEOPARD please!
Is there a way I can do this that is relatively cheap and won't involve a total overhaul of my computer?

Help please!

Thanks so much, and, again, sorry if this was posted before!

I'm sorry to not offer "good" advice or help you out any but I have to say it...you shouldn't even try to run Leopard on that machine. It is far too old. The experience will be painful to say the least. I had it installed on an iBook G4 1.2GHz with 1.25GB of RAM and it was pretty darned slow. I suggest you save your pennies and get a refurb MacBook.

 

[dnguyen]

if you can manage to get the leopard install files to an external HD (even better if it's firewire because then you're computer would recognize it as a boot disk), you set it to install from the external HD.

if you don't have a firewire drive, you can still use an external HD that's not firewire by booting up your ibook with an older install cd such as the Tiger cd's (or whatever) that came with your ibook, and then after it boots, you can tell it to install your external hd.

this is what i did, if it's confusing you can try googling something along the lines of:

leopard ibook install -- and there should be a guide somewhere. btw i installed this on my 1.33ghz ibook g4 w/ 1.5gb ram and it's running pretty well.

 

[sabregreen]

Yes, the first iPod Photo does support firewire. I am almost positive it was the last one to support it though. You can restore the Leopard disc onto that and boot up from that. Hold down the option key or apple key when you boot. It should show up as an option.

 

[26139]

Yeah...

I have Leopard on my 1.5ghz, 1.25 gig ram 12" powerbook...and it doesn't run all that well.

Upgrade the ram and stick with Tiger.

 

[sabregreen]

Really, I thought it actually ran pretty damn smooth on my 12" powerbook 1.25 ghz with 768 ram. Really smooth considering its a powerpc.