Member Avatar for normanhilda

Hi I was asking about Start up disc for the i Mac G5 and G4 Tower. Blue. The problem is I don’t have any C/D for either Computer. So I wanted to know if I could Burn one. Thanks Norm.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 114 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

Dani AI

Generated

As noted, the immediate need is a bootable restore/install medium for an iMac G5 and a Blue & White G4 tower. and raised the licensing/upgrade angle; below is practical, hardware‑focused guidance that helps get either machine back to a bootable state.

First, identify the exact models and the OS they support (About This Mac → More Info or the serial on the case). PowerPC Macs are limited to the PowerPC‑compatible releases of OS X (the last full PowerPC release was 10.5). That determines which disc image you need. Restore DVDs that shipped with a Mac are model‑specific and can include drivers and bundled apps, whereas retail OS X install DVDs are more generic.

If another Mac is available: use FireWire Target Disk Mode (hold T at startup) to connect the target Mac and run an installer from the donor machine, or attach an external FireWire optical drive and boot the PPC Mac from it (hold C to boot from disc or Option to pick). If burning an installer yourself on another Mac, use Disk Utility to burn the image at a slow speed, choose reliable DVD‑R media, and in Disk Utility set the target drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with an Apple Partition Map (PowerPC machines require APM) before installing.

Troubleshooting tips: try the slowest burn speed, prefer DVD‑R for older drives, verify the image checksum, and test the disc on the donor Mac before moving it. If the internal optical drive is flaky, an external FireWire drive or Target Disk Mode usually gets around that. Keep in mind to use media that matches the hardware and ownership/licensing of the OS; Apple historically offered model‑specific replacement restore discs for legacy Macs if originals are lost.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for John A

Not legally. Go buy a copy of OS X off eBay, they're generally priced inexpensively.

Member Avatar for normanhilda

Thank you John you are right will check E bay. Regards Norm.

Member Avatar for jbennet

"i Mac G5 and G4 Tower"

i think apple do a family pack which allows you to install on many computers (i think its 3 or 5) which works out cheaper than 5 individual licences

Member Avatar for John A

"i Mac G5 and G4 Tower"

i think apple do a family pack which allows you to install on many computers (i think its 3 or 5) which works out cheaper than 5 individual licences

If the iMac and G4 Tower are both running the same version of OS X, only one copy is needed to be bought, seeing that the original poster already owns the license to run them (even if he lost the startup disks).

Member Avatar for jbennet

i mean if he wants a newer version

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.