Problems installing Tiger on iBook G4

[mectojic]

EDIT: SOLVED!! Just had to read a few older threads on Macrumors (thanks @TacticalDonut !) The only problem was that I needed to change the system time. My Tiger iso was fine, and it had nothing to do with OS9 Installation!)

Hi all, I have an iBook G4 14" 1.33GHz, and when I try to install OSX Tiger from USB, it remains stuck forever on the Mac logo with an endless spinning wheel.

Here's what I tried to do, and why I'm worried that I somehow destroyed the iBook:

1: I attempted to install OS 9 on Unsupported G4. I followed the steps on mac-classic.com and to my great surprise it worked (although I could only install the System Folder – installing the extras caused a crash during installation). I couldn’t change the screen resolution though, so it was stuck as a small box surrounded by black. (As a note, I set up the disc with 3 partitions, each 20 GB, all Mac OS Extended)

2: Having installed a stable (if unsatisfactory) OS 9 on one partition, I wanted to install OSX Tiger. I attempted this with the same successful method I’ve done for all my old Macs – through a bootable USB in Open Firmware. I’m able to perform all the commands, but when I perform the boot ud:3,\... command, it does go into the OSX Apple logo, and then the spinning wheel never ends.

So I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ve tried resetting the NVRAM, no luck. No idea what else I can try.

Can someone please help me out? I am probably just going to sell this iBook, but I feel bad selling it in this broken state.

Edit: is it possible that for such a late iBook G4, I can't use the basic OSX Tiger iso / dmg that I found online? I admit I've never installed Tiger on such a late machine. If that's causing the problem, can someone link me a Tiger iso that works with this model?

 

[Project Alice]

It’s going to be one of two things.
Either it’s because you’re installing over USB (I’ve only ever gotten Linux to boot on USB on PPC Macs, OS X usually does something strange like this). FireWire is faster and superior in every way, and works like a charm. Having a PPC Mac hobby is almost impossible without a FireWire drive for such things.
Is there any reason you can’t install from a DVD? Albeit slower it’s much easier than playing around with USB.

OR it is that you are using retail Tiger 10.4.”0”. Personally I’ve been able to install 10.4.0 on my 1.33 iBook, but a few things, most notably the trackpad didn’t work properly until I upgraded to 10.4.11. It’s best to use a newer base with the newer machines.

As to OS9 I’m pretty sure that isn’t a compatible “unsupported” model. I’ve never tried installing it on mine. There are some G4s that OS 9 doesn’t communicate with but I don’t remember which ones.

 

[mectojic]

It’s going to be one of two things.
Either it’s because you’re installing over USB (I’ve only ever gotten Linux to boot on USB on PPC Macs, OS X usually does something strange like this). FireWire is faster and superior in every way, and works like a charm. Having a PPC Mac hobby is almost impossible without a FireWire drive for such things.
Is there any reason you can’t install from a DVD? Albeit slower it’s much easier than playing around with USB.

OR it is that you are using retail Tiger 10.4.”0”. Personally I’ve been able to install 10.4.0 on my 1.33 iBook, but a few things, most notably the trackpad didn’t work properly until I upgraded to 10.4.11. It’s best to use a newer base with the newer machines.

As to OS9 I’m pretty sure that isn’t a compatible “unsupported” model. I’ve never tried installing it on mine. There are some G4s that OS 9 doesn’t communicate with but I don’t remember which ones.

I just edited my post, turns out the problem was actually the system time (the iBook battery is dead, so no system time preservation anymore)!

Thanks for your help anyway. I don't own any Firewire drives or original install discs, so USB has been my only choice for everything.

 

[Project Alice]

I just edited my post, turns out the problem was actually the system time (the iBook battery is dead, so no system time preservation anymore)!

Thanks for your help anyway. I don't own any Firewire drives or original install discs, so USB has been my only choice for everything.

You can burn the image you used for the USB onto a DVD. They don't have to be original. Other versions of Mac OS X can be obtained here.
I'm glad you got it working though! Still I'd recommend getting some FW devices. If you ever end up with a G3 or a G4 tower, you won't want to be using USB 1.1 for anything short of a keyboard or mouse.

 

[AphoticD]

You can burn the image you used for the USB onto a DVD. They don't have to be original. Other versions of Mac OS X can be obtained here.
I'm glad you got it working though! Still I'd recommend getting some FW devices. If you ever end up with a G3 or a G4 tower, you won't want to be using USB 1.1 for anything short of a keyboard or mouse.

Installing Tiger over USB 1.1 isn’t bad. Takes about 30 mins on a Titanium or iBook G3.

 

[MBAir2010]

in my experience from 2 decades ago one needed the exact OSX for that mac,
ex My powerbook could only install tiger 10.4.6 DVDs.
im glad the upgrade.installed worked for you!

 

[Project Alice]

Installing Tiger over USB 1.1 isn’t bad. Takes about 30 mins on a Titanium or iBook G3.

30 minutes? Tiger barely installs that fast on a PBG4 with FW800.

in my experience from 2 decades ago one needed the exact OSX for that mac,
ex My powerbook could only install tiger 10.4.6 DVDs.
im glad the upgrade.installed worked for you!

There is a 10.4.6 retail. Some of the later machines couldn't use a base 10.4 retail. I have one such machine (iBook G4 1.33GHz 12") it came with 10.4.2 or something like that and actually took fine to 10.4."0" with no problems other than trackpad issues. After the 10.4.11 combo update everything was normal.

 

[TheShortTimer]

30 minutes? Tiger barely installs that fast on a PBG4 with FW800.

My average install time for Tiger via USB 1.1 is around 40 minutes and that's with deselecting options that I'll never need - such as the entire library of printer drivers.

 

[AphoticD]

My average install time for Tiger via USB 1.1 is around 40 minutes and that's with deselecting options that I'll never need - such as the entire library of printer drivers.

That sounds about right. Maybe I was being optimistic with 30 mins. But it seemed pretty quick.

I have been repeatedly installing Tiger via USB 2.0 onto freshly erased HDDs on my G4’s (about 10 of ‘em recently) and it takes no more than 15 mins to clean install with all the additional packages switched off. I’ll do a stopwatch test on the next one.

It takes about another 20-30 mins afterward to manually install the combo update, security update, iTunes, Safari, QuickTime, Java, etc and a few reboots in between.

 

[AphoticD]

There is a 10.4.6 retail. Some of the later machines couldn't use a base 10.4 retail. I have one such machine (iBook G4 1.33GHz 12") it came with 10.4.2 or something like that and actually took fine to 10.4."0" with no problems other than trackpad issues. After the 10.4.11 combo update everything was normal.

I find 10.4 retail will boot and install on these last gen 2005 model iBooks, but the installer video is glitchy, in a kind of black and white and the trackpad is not recognized. Plug in a mouse and you’re good to install, then update to 10.4.11 post install.

I have seen the stuck boot sequence mentioned by the OP on the iBook G4’s and gotten around it by manually setting date/time by booting the Tiger installer > Utilities (menu) > Terminal then use the ‘date’ command.

From https://osxdaily.com/2012/07/04/set-system-time-mac-os-x-command-line/

...where date is in the [mm][dd]HH]MM[yy] format, which is Month Date Hour Minute Year without any separation. This looks something like:

date 0712122318

For that example, it would set the date as “July 12 2018 at 12:23”.

 

[TheShortTimer]

That sounds about right. Maybe I was being optimistic with 30 mins. But it seemed pretty quick.

Its felt pretty quick to me as well. I've watched the installations proceed and thought to myself: "You know? This isn't bad and it's still better than re-installing the equivalent version of Windows!"

I have been repeatedly installing Tiger via USB 2.0 onto freshly erased HDDs on my G4’s (about 10 of ‘em recently) and it takes no more than 15 mins to clean install with all the additional packages switched off. I’ll do a stopwatch test on the next one.

Out of curiosity, which G4 USB 2.0 models are you working with? Are they able to boot from USB with Option held down or do you have to fiddle with Open Firmware?

It takes about another 20-30 mins afterward to manually install the combo update, security update, iTunes, Safari, QuickTime, Java, etc and a few reboots in between.

That's also been my experience too. I suppose really, the ideal solution is to create a clone with CCC or SuperDuper after the process has finished and then restore that on every computer that ever requires Tiger instead.

 

[Amethyst1]

Its felt pretty quick to me as well.

I wonder how fast it would be if installing from an SSD (hooked up via Firewire 800 or SATA) - to another SSD of course

I suppose really, the ideal solution is to create a clone with CCC or SuperDuper after the process has finished and then restore that on every computer that ever requires Tiger instead.

This is how I do it - much faster and less of a pain then going through the install-reboot-update-reboot-update-etc cycle.

 

[Project Alice]

My average install time for Tiger via USB 1.1 is around 40 minutes and that's with deselecting options that I'll never need - such as the entire library of printer drivers.

That sounds about right. Maybe I was being optimistic with 30 mins. But it seemed pretty quick.

I have been repeatedly installing Tiger via USB 2.0 onto freshly erased HDDs on my G4’s (about 10 of ‘em recently) and it takes no more than 15 mins to clean install with all the additional packages switched off. I’ll do a stopwatch test on the next one.

It takes about another 20-30 mins afterward to manually install the combo update, security update, iTunes, Safari, QuickTime, Java, etc and a few reboots in between.

I have a FW400/800/USB2 external HDD for Tiger and Leopard installers. I haven't actually timed it but it definitely feels like it takes roughly a half hour. I deselect printer drivers and language translations, but I select X11. Most commonly gets installed on FW400 on G3s, so maybe that's why its slower.

My last Tiger install was on my iMac G5, via Gigabit Ethernet. I recently set up an early 2009 Mini with Snow Leopard server and set up a bunch of netboot and netinstall images. Again I didn't time it, but it was pretty quick. Probably around 20min.

 

[AphoticD]

Out of curiosity, which G4 USB 2.0 models are you working with? Are they able to boot from USB with Option held down or do you have to fiddle with Open Firmware?

iBook and Alu PowerBook G4’s of all types via OF - usually something like “boot usb0/disk@1:3,\\:tbxi” does the trick after browsing the device tree “dev / ls” and matching with the appropriate “devalias” entry.