Trying to install 10.5 to a iMac G4

[o2sys]

I have an iMac G4 1.25Ghz with 2GB ram. Since the iMac G4 doesn't support USB boot and it can't read DL DVD I can't install Leopard 10.5 Retail DVD directly.

So I removed the internal HDD and put in an external enclosure and I am trying to use the imac (intel i5) I have at work to partition it and doing a clean install on it.

The steps I'm taking are using Disk Utility (Lion OSX)
1. Partition the external HDD into two parts. 10GB (Apple Partition Map) and the rest are free space formatted as Mac Extended Journaled.

2.I load the Leopard DVD and mount it to Disk Utilty.

3. I go to restore, chose the 10GB partition as the destination and the DVD as the source. Takes a while while it transfers the files and everything finishes successfully.

4. To test it out I restart the iMac i5 to boot from the external drive and I keep getting this error message:

I have tried both Apple Partition Map and GUID partition scheme. Both give me the same error.

Should I be able to install OSX to the free partition space using the Imac i5?

The reason I want to pre-install the OSX is because the iMac flat panel is not fun to remove and reinstall the internals. There for I wanna make sure its done correctly before I put everything back in.

 

[Mal]

In theory that should have worked, not sure what exactly went wrong. There's another way though: grab a FireWire cable, connect the two computers, and boot the Intel iMac in Target Disk Mode with the Leopard DVD in it's optical drive (hold T at startup). Boot the iMac G4 with the option key held down, and select the Leopard DVD as the boot source in the screen that comes up. Install Leopard to the internal hard drive (it can remain in the enclosure only if the enclosure is FireWire, otherwise put it back in first).

Incidentally, doing it this way would have save you a lot of time upfront because you would never have needed to open the iMac G4 (I know just what you mean about how tough that is).

jW

 

[o2sys]

well is not tough, i can open it up in less than 10 min. i just dont like opening and closing things that were not meant be opened in the first place(in case something breaks.)

I opened her up to install a new ssd hdd, new fan, and more ran along with fresh thermal paste and ran in to this trouble trying to install Leopard to my new ssd.

I cant do TDM and FW as one mac is at home and the other at work.

Things I want to know are:

1. Apple Partition is the correct scheme for Imac G4, and NOT GUID right?
2. Format of the entire new hdd should be mac journaled or FAT?
3.The iMac i5 can't be used to pre-install Leopard onto my new ssd because "technically" Apple Partition wont work on Intel Mac as it need GUID?

 

[Intell]

The correct partition for the G4 iMac is Apple Partition Map and HFS+ (journaled). The reason why the new iMac cannot pre-install Leopard is because it cannot run it. It's too new to run an operating system from 2007.

 

[o2sys]

Ok thats what I thought. But the second parton do I leave it as free space?

 

[Intell]

Yes. The Leopard Installer will prompt you to format it or you can use Disk Utility.

 

[r0k]

I know it costs money but have you considered a firewire DVD drive?

 

[dolphin842]

This should work:

1) On the i5 iMac, insert the Leopard DVD and use Disk Utility to make an disk image of it.

2) Make a partition on the G4's drive with the same size of the Leopard Disk Image (maybe a little larger just to be safe).*

3) Use Disk Utility to 'restore' the Leopard disk image to that partition.

4) Hold the option key while booting the G4 to select the partition that has the Leopard disc image mapped onto it.

Installation should then proceed just as if you inserted the DVD.

* Tip: Put this partition on the 'bottom' of the hard drive as it's shown in Disk Utility, as that's the slowest part of the drive. The rest of the space 'above' this install partition can go toward the system you install, where speed will be more important.