Panther on iBook G3 (Dual USB)?

[Hugh]

Hi I have a really dumb question here guys and I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask. I have a G3 Dual USB iBook, and I want to install Panther on it. I have the original discs that I bought way back when, so and I have let it check the disc so I know it's not the CD (I THINK).

My problem is it keeps stalling during the install, I've been searching the web and here, but I can't seem to find anyone that has the same problem as me. Any idea why it keeps stalling? It's not stalling at the same spot each time, I've check to see if there are any Firmware updates for the unit and there doesn't seem to be any. At least none on the disc.

The Dual iBook G3 is able to run Panther right? The the funny thing I was able to install Panther on a PowerComputing Tower Pro with a G3 upgrade and it worked fine, so I don't get this problem at all.

Any suggestions on what I can do. The version I have is 10.3.0 discs.

Just as a side note, the first time I tried to install Panther it got to running installer scripts but it never asked for disk 2, then stalled.

Thanks!

=Hugh

 

[dustinschings]

Your model goes up to Tiger, so it should run it fine. I would try to re-burn the first CD perhaps. If that fails, get a FireWire cable and put the iBook in TDM and install Panther from the other PowerMac you have. Good luck!

 

[Hugh]

Well I got a really dumb question, I have an external USB CDR (self powered) drive, it's USB 2.0/1.1. Can I use that or is my only other option is target mode?

Thanks!

=Hugh

 

[dustinschings]

PPC don't boot to USB without a new tweaks to the open firmware. I have never had luck even after the tweaks. I would stick with FireWire. It is the easiest really anyways. Are you familiar with TDM?

 

[Hugh]

That sucks that the Mac OS X on the PPC machines will not boot externally. I am not familiar with TDM, for I don't have another PowerPPC Mac to do it with.

I'm leaving this open, but this unit is going back to the place I bought it from for a refund (they are refunding me) because it turns out it has a faulty CD-ROM drive, which is the problem. But I bought another unit off them (a different one, and it's a faster unit too!).

I was eventually able to install Panther on the unit, but when I went to install Mac OS 9 it told me it couldn't read the disc, when it installed fine earlier. Also it was having problems reading other CDs too.

Thanks!

=Hugh

 

[dustinschings]

Bummer. I actually don't have a lot of experience with the white iBook G3 models. I can only recall have 2 ever. One was a basic 500MHz model I believe and the display would mess up if the screen wasn't at a perfect angle, and the other was the 900MHz mode but the GPU was flaky on it and went out finally. Seems to have been a very common issue on both of them. What I took away from it was the G3 snow models were simply unreliable from the very first to the very last. I haven't had one since 2009 though. All iBook G4s since then.

That said, it gave me invaluable knowledge on opening them from the many times I did it. They are a major PITA, but once you have done it 3-4 times, they aren't even that bad anymore.

 

[Hugh]

I would get an iBook G4, but from what I can tell, they can't run OS 9. I need to run OS 9 for my apps that will not run in Classic mode. :/

=hugh

 

[dustinschings]

That is a great reason to opt for a G3 then! Best of luck!

 

[0248294]

You can boot PowerPCs from USB, I have done it successfully in the past. Try the USB CD drive first. First, just try holding C, making sure there is no disc in the internal disc drive. It might work. If not, follow this guide.

 

[Hugh]

Okay, here is a dumb you guys say 10.0-10.3 can not boot externally. What about 10.4? I've been searching for people selling the CD version and I'm not finding much luck that is in a decent price range. I can get the DVD version dirt cheap, but not the CD version..

Thanks!

=hugh

 

[eyoungren]

Okay, here is a dumb you guys say 10.0-10.3 can not boot externally. What about 10.4?

It's not about the version. It's about hardware.

Certain Macs are unable to directly boot from USB because Apple locked that feature out for those models. Whether it's 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 or 10.4 it doesn't matter.

For those models Apple has done this to, you need to launch into Open Firmware first and use a command that will allow booting from USB.

 

[dustinschings]

This site has the Tiger CD images (and DVD I believe) free to download. Along with all other PowerPC supported OSes.

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-osx-mac-os-10-ppc

 

[Hugh]

Sorry for the delayed response but I got real busy...

Thanks eyoungren, that was my impression that you can not boot externally OS X on this a few machines. Although I can boot OS 9 via USB and have none it plenty of times. So my question is what was Apple thinking when it came to locking out OS X?

Also I no long have this machine, I sent it back and got another one, this time a 600Mhz 16mb VRAM unit. Still only have CD-ROM drive and it's very picky about what media I burn for it. This is the first time I've seen this, and yes I am buying the discs the same speed (or slower), but one brand just works and others don't. :/

=Hugh