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Maniakul

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 8, 2007
12
0
Hello, i got today a Mac G4 with 768 Memory of RAM, 30giga IBM 5400 RMP, ATI Rage Pro 128 and 400 mhz i belive but im not sure about CPU. Im really excited about this but i got no ideea how to instal an OS and what OS i can run on this Mac since im a real noob to mac because im a windows user since like ever so i dont have any os on the mac. Anyway i intend to use this computer for internet mostly just surfing chatting and basic stuff nothing much. Need some serious help please.
 
You don't have an operating system on it? If not, go buy a copy of os x Tiger now, along with iLife (and iWork if you feel like it). Install Tiger (put the disk in the tray, close it, and restart holding down the "C" key until you get a menu... proceed from there. Then insert the iLife disk and install all that once you get set up. There, you're ready to go... though the G4 is old, it's good... so good luck.
 
Ok, but some guy said i have to do a firmware update before i can instal an OS, how do i do that?:)
 
Ok, but some guy said i have to do a firmware update before i can instal an OS, how do i do that?:)

What model do you have? An old PowerMac?

Some older Macs do require a firmware upgrade before upgrading to OS X. Here is the list.

The problem for you is-if you require a firmware upgrade you will have to already have an OS on your computer to perform the firmware upgrade. Either OS 8 or OS 9.
 
Its 400 mhz 768 ram 30 giga 128 ati rage pro and a G4 box. Dunno if its that old and if its require a firmware. But i can instal mac os 9 and do the firmware then instal mac os tiger 10.4.10?
 
During the install process it will tell you whether or not you need to update the firmware. Just try it first. If it has 768 mb of ram, it should have ran OSX. Enjoy!
 
Thanks, well i hope i will just try to instal Mac OS X 10.4.10 i belive, is it on dvd or cd? because im not sure if i have a dvdrom :D
 
oh i forgot to mention that the mac os already had mac os x 10.4.xx tiger version. do i still need to update the firmware to instal tiger mac os x 10.4.10?
 
Im such a noob windows user and starting to get inlove with mac :D so i found out exactly what mac i have and as i said i had tiger X on it but hard drive was formated its g4 version with digital audio http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58418
cheers :) can some1 confirm 100% that i just need to buy mac os x tiger 10.4.10 and instal it without any complication like firmware update and if this os its the best os i can run on this system? sorry im such a mess i hope some1 will read my humble and pathethic post. and yea my english sucks
 
Im such a noob windows user and starting to get inlove with mac :D so i found out exactly what mac i have and as i said i had tiger X on it but hard drive was formated its g4 version with digital audio http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58418
cheers :) can some1 confirm 100% that i just need to buy mac os x tiger 10.4.10 and instal it without any complication like firmware update and if this os its the best os i can run on this system? sorry im such a mess i hope some1 will read my humble and pathethic post. and yea my english sucks

Yeah the firmware update must have been done already since it already had Tiger (10.4) on it. Tiger is the latest OS until October when 10.5 Leopard comes out.
 
Howdy!

I've tinkered with Leopard on a G4 1.5Ghz and I would *not* reccomend it at all... unless something gets improved by the October timeframe, at least! Buy Tiger (10.4) from any local Apple retail store, or apple.com

Follow the steps the other guy said and you should be good -- don't worry about any firmware updates with that one.
 
Heya, and welcome to Apple!

Even at that speed, you'll get a decent amount out of that machine. If you need a dvd drive, let me know (PM me), I have a couple spares and could just send you one for the cost of shipping...
 
Hang on... I thought you said you had OS X installed already?

If so, you just need to run software update.

Also, your CD drive should be a DVD-ROM
 
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