A cry for help part 2

13 Feb 2009 19:51:27

Paul Jeram

OK, having tried the suggested methods for reinstalling the OS onto a stricken PowerBook G4 (with a broken internal DVD drive) the following happens

1) If I try to connect an external USB DVD it will not boot from this (apparently only Intel Macs will do this)

2) If I boot the Powerbook into Target Disk mode and try installing the OS from my iMac I cannot install the OS. Apparently I have to re partition the HDD on the PowerBook as a GUID Partion Table. I cannot do this as this is the PowerBook is a PPC Mac not an Intel Mac. Intel Macs require a GUID partition to boot from and PPC Macs require an APM Partition Table.

The iMac will not partition as APM and the PowerBook will not accept a GUID partiton ;-(

So, does anyone in the Gosport or Fareham area have PPC Mac with a firewire port and about an hour and a half free at some point to help me re-install the OS?

Or can anyone shed any more light on this??

Paul

Re: A cry for help part 2

14 Feb 2009 10:26:13

Lionel Ogden

Would an alternative be to fit a replacement DVD drive? You could look at bookyard.com. They carry spares both new and second hand, for all sorts of Macs.

Re: A cry for help part 2

14 Feb 2009 13:45:56

Terry Willis

I think the simplest answer here is you need an external Firewire DVD drive. Even accepting there will be other solutions to your initial problem, you will need to load data from CDs/DVDs at some time. Although you could use other shared drives when networked and up and running on other machines, there will be occasions when another drive is important. eBay would be a good source, but for a temporary solution you could borrow one of mine, or alternately we could load the OS from my Powerbook!

Re: A cry for help part 2

14 Feb 2009 17:12:45

Mick Burrell

I've not actually tried it, but are you saying Disk Utility on the iMac will not partition the target disc of the PowerBook to APM? I thought both PPC and Intel machines can use APM.

Re: A cry for help part 2

14 Feb 2009 17:49:12

Terry Willis

For those interested in APM or GPT HDD partition tables, this tech note explains it very well: http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2006/tn2166.html

Re: A cry for help part 2

14 Feb 2009 17:51:31

Terry Willis

From the above...

IMPORTANT: While Intel-based Macintosh computers can boot from GPT and APM, Apple only supports booting Mac OS X on these machines from GPT. Apple's GUI tools, like the Installer, will prevent you installing Mac OS X for an Intel-based Mac on non-GPT disks.

Re: A cry for help part 2

15 Feb 2009 18:56:55

Paul Jeram

Thanks for the advice guys. External Firewire DVD drive on its way from Ebay. I have managed to 'fix' things in a round about way using good old Super Duper.

Booted the Powerbook into Target Drive Mode whilst connected to my Macbook. Then made a full backup of my Macbook onto the Powerbook hard drive. Super Duper makes sure this is also a bootable drive and hey presto!! One working Powerbook!! A few simple changes to the IP address and Machine name to aviod conflict on the network and it works fine.