Mac OS X Leopard on a First Generation iMac G4

Officially, this is not supported. Mac OS X Leopard will only install on a PowerPC G4 system that is approximately 867 MHz or faster. However, I recently came into an iMac G4 that is 700 MHz, so it would seem I’m cut off. Right?

Nope!

I managed to install Leopard on my iMac G4 and it runs just as smoothly as the latest version of Tiger. How did I do it? I found a list of steps elsewhere on the internets that I’ve refined and will share here.

Step 1: Create a Leopard DVD Disk Image

I imaged my retail copy of Leopard using Apple’s own Disk Utility that comes with OS X. I had read to do this, and I did it, but I suspect you may get away with skipping this step. If you want to be safe, go ahead and create an image.

Step 2: Find a USB Stick

If you have a USB stick, great. My iMac G4 only has a CD-ROM drive, so I can’t use the Leopard DVD. In fact, like the previous step, you may be able to skip this if your computer has a DVD-ROM. However, these are the steps I took, and it’s pretty cool to boot off a USB, so you can still do this if only for the fun of it.

What you’ll want to do is format your USB stick and make sure you put an Apple Partition Map on it by going into the formatting options. Presumably this enables the USB stick to boot.

Step 3: The Terminal

After I formatted my USB stick, I was then instructed to enable owners on it. I’m not entirely sure this is necessary, but it’s painless to do. Better safe than sorry.

Open the Terminal and enter the following command: sudo vsdbutil -a /Volumes/device

You may be required to enter a root password.

Step 4: The Clone!

Again, if your computer has a DVD-ROM and you have a copy of Leopard, these steps up until now may not be neccesary. Otherwise, the next step here is to clone that image you made (or clone the DVD directly) onto the USB stick.

I was made aware of some software called Carbon Copy Cloner which is free to use. It’s also pretty straightforward to use. Just make sure you check the option to erase destination files on the USB stick before cloning.

Step 5: The Moment of Truth

Whatever your intended method has been so far, this is where it all comes together. Put your DVD in your DVD-ROM, or your USB stick in a port, and reboot your Mac. Keep the Control+Option+O+F keys all firmly pressed until you enter the Open Firmware screen.

The point here is to trick Leopard’s installer into thinking your computer is a 867 MHz or faster machine. Also, if booting from USB, it’s entirely possible that your Mac doesn’t natively boot from USB… but it is capable.

These are the commands I entered:

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int ” clock-frequency” property
boot usb1/disk:3,\\:tbxi

If you’re going to attempt booting from a DVD, you won’t need to enter that third command. That just forces the Mac to boot from USB… you won’t want that. usb1 may not work for you, either. It depends on which USB port you’re booting from. It could be usb0, usb2, etc. Keep that in mind.

With any luck, the machine will boot the installer, and it will be none the wiser. The only problem you may encounter is the slow speed at which it installs. On my 700 MHz iMac G4, it took just under 4 hours. Worth it, though!

Why Apple Needs a Netbook

I’m not going to post any definitive, groundbreaking reasons that will absolutely make the case for Apple actually shipping netbooks, if only because it’s a futile effort anyway. It’s a waste of time, Apple’s going to do what Apple’s going to do.

But there’s something I’ve been thinking about today that I believe is a pretty modest reason, and a bit substantial too.

Over the last two-to-three years, I’ve become a pretty big Apple user. The problem is that this is looking very appealing to me. Recently I’ve been wanting a netbook anyway, running Windows or otherwise. But the fact that there’s a netbook out there that’s running Snow Leopard near perfectly makes me want that Dell even more than any other.

Apple’s problem is the potential losing of money in a market they’re not even in (yes, losing, since ownership of Mac OS X is pretty much 1:1 with a Mac and nothing else, if OS X is being bought and there’s no Mac it’s being put on, I think we can count that as a loss). It wouldn’t be very hard for a company like Dell to purposefully manufacture netbooks with the intention of being perfect Mac OS X machines. Obviously they could never admit it, or legally promote it. But they can get away with making the hardware, and letting the Hackintosh community do the rest. And from what I’ve read, the process of installing Snow Leopard on to that Dell netbook is a lot easier than it’s ever been on previous machines.

So if it’s easy for people to install Mac OS X on a netbook, and buy that netbook for $300-$500… where’s the incentive to buy Apple hardware? Other than support?

iMac Fund Begins!

I had been a Windows PC user since 1994. I was 9 years old at the time, and new to computers. Back then it was Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS, hardly user friendly compared to today. Up until 2005 I had a vague impression of Macintosh computers. And in 2005 I became greatly interested in the Apple world, and I’ve been following ever since.

Early 2006 I bought an old Power Macintosh G3 on eBay (the old “Blue & White” one) which ran Mac OS X Tiger pretty damn well. Not bad for a seven-year-old computer at the time running the latest version of Apple’s operating system. You wouldn’t find a PC that old running Vista.

In June 2007 I got my first brand new Mac, specifically the white MacBooks. I’m now using it as my main computer, and it’s functioning as a Desktop since I have it connected to an external display, keyboard, and mouse. And speakers. It’s currently the best computer I’ve ever owned. I say that as my loyal PC sits tucked away, still running, but stuck doing specific tasks. Like a cute little puppy.

I’ll be an Apple customer for life. I’m hooked.

Except that my MacBook isn’t really doing it for me. As I said, I’m using it as a Desktop replacement. What I’d really like is a proper desktop Mac, an iMac, that I can sit at and is a permanent fixture on my desk. Now that Apple has refreshed their desktop lineup (March 3rd) I find it’s time for me to finally get serious about saving up for one.

Today marks that day. The day I start saving. I’ve had a separate bank account, at a separate bank, from my normal bank since this last summer. It’s been sitting at $0 this whole time. Not anymore.

This is the best way you can save for something. Get a whole different bank account at a different bank, put money in it, and just forget it even exists. Out of sight, out of mind.