Powerbook G3

[solipsistnation]

MacOS X 10.3 is surprisingly usable on a PowerBook G3 (Wall Street, 233MHz, no L2 cache). I'm not going to be ditching my AlBook any time soon, but I can certainly use this as a backup ssh and web client machine.

I'd have installed 10.4, but it doesn't have a DVD drive...

Comments

[anitra.livejournal.com]

Going through the process to obtain CDs for 10.4 is a big pain. We had to upgrade only Mac where I work - an aging iMac with a slot-loading CD drive. The steps are as follows:

1) Order the DVD through regular means. Wait for it to arrive.
1a) Try everything concievable to get the iMac to boot from an external DVD drive.
2) Fill out a bunch of paper forms.
3) Send the DVD back with the paperwork and an additional $10. Wait for the CDs to arrive.
4) Once the CDs arrive, watch the iMac constantly during the install, since there were several steps that required input, in addition to swapping out the CDs.

I don't want to do that again... I'm starting to push that we get a newer Mac at work for testing - maybe once 10.5 comes out, we can get a Mini.

[sharp-blue.livejournal.com]

Or, if the DVD-less Mac has firewire: use another Mac that does have a DVD drive as an external firewire DVD drive using target disc mode. I used this method to install Tiger on my sister's Indigo clamshell iBook and it runs beautifully.

[anitra.livejournal.com]

In our case, no Firewire, and no second Mac (although this would have been a beautiful opportunity to install 10.4 on my iBook...)

FYI to anyone who didn't know: You can't boot from a USB-connected external drive.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

No firewire for me-- cheesy old Wall Street G3...

[jon3.livejournal.com]

I'm curious is 10.4 big enough to require a DVD, or do they just prefer that format now? Is there any way to pare down an install by hand to be smaller? Isn't that stuff all mach/unix based?

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

10.3 was 3 CDs, but I only used 1 when installing. Of course, I left off all the localization stuff I could, and all extra software.

I suspect it's a combination of there being enough that it's worth using a DVD and the simplicity of having a single piece of media and not having to swap during the install. Plus it's cheaper to manufacture and package _one_ disc than 3 or 4.