Functional 12" Powerbook G4, Trying to Install OSX Panther

[schepige]

I have a functional 12" powerbook G4. Everything works including the internal CD/DVD drive. Currently running OSX 10.5.8 Leopard, although a bit sluggish. I wanted to do a fresh install and roll it back to something a bit faster and decided on Panther. I have retail install CDs for 10.3.2 Panther and I have the admin account under my control as well.

I've tried both booting to the CD and running the CD on the current OS to start the install. If I boot to the CD I get the circle with the clash, and if I run the CD and restart to install it boots and hangs on the apple logo. I can still start from the harddrive and everything still works fine.

Was just hoping to do a fresh install and getting it running on a slightly older OS for a variety of reasons. I feel like I'm overlooking something really simple here but I haven't figured it out. A lot of the problems I read about have to do with trying to install from a USB or something of that nature... I have the original hardware all in working condition and original, good condition copies of the retial install CDs. What am I missing?

 

[chabig]

The circle with a slash means that your CD can't boot the machine.

If your Mac starts up to a circle with a line through it - Apple Support

A circle with a line through it means that your startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a macOS that your Mac can use.

support.apple.com

The first release of Panther preceded some of the 12" Powerbooks, which would explain why your retail CD won't boot. The last 12" Powerbook required 10.3.7 or later.

 

[DeltaMac]

Which 12-inch PB G4 do you have?
There are 5 different models of the 12-inch PB
The more recent 12-inch PB needs newer than 10.3.2
The 1.33 GHz or 1.5GHz (PowerBook5,4) requires 10.3.3, for example.

You might look for a later Panther version. IIRC, the latest retail set was for 10.3.5
And, of course, Tiger is a good choice, too.

 

[TheShortTimer]

And, of course, Tiger is a good choice, too.

A better choice, in my opinion. If you have a PPC Mac that can run Tiger, I can't see the benefits in using Panther instead.

 

[schepige]

Yes, I saw that apple note about the circle with the line, but the way they worded it didn't make a lot of sense at the time, and when I booted it from the desktop it didn't do that... It's a 1.33GHz Powerbook 6,4 which would make it an early 2004. Obviously I have looked at Wikipedia and other literature, I just wasn't interpreting the 10.3.3 listing as being completely exclusive to 10.3.2, just that an update would be needed after install or something to that effect.

I was able to get a hold of the Panther retail install discs for cheap. I figured having the real thing would make it easier. Tiger is a fine option but I'll probably have to burn a DVD and find an iso seeing as I'm not looking to spend $150 on that. Seems like Panther 10.3.5 would be cheaper but still not cheap in general.

Best resource for a Tiger DVD iso or set of CD isos? I believe I came across one when looking around last week but I wasn't sure if the source was trusted.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I was able to get a hold of the Panther retail install discs for cheap.

We could have pointed you in the direction of a free (and trustworthy) source.

Tiger is a fine option but I'll probably have to burn a DVD and find an iso seeing as I'm not looking to spend $150 on that. Seems like Panther 10.3.5 would be cheaper but still not cheap in general.

Spend $150, why? In any case you don't have to burn an ISO in order to install Tiger. There's a variety of methods available to you which include creating a USB installer - and that's something I've had success with several times.

The choice is yours - Tiger is better and has access to more software, including new stuff that's been put together by members of this community.

Best resource for a Tiger DVD iso or set of CD isos? I believe I came across one when looking around last week but I wasn't sure if the source was trusted.

Right here. Totally free and trustworthy.

You can select the CDs or DVD for 10.4 (Tiger) according to your preferences. Once Tiger is installed you can download all of the updates using Software Update to bring it up to 10.4.11.

 

[iModFrenzy]

A better choice, in my opinion. If you have a PPC Mac that can run Tiger, I can't see the benefits in using Panther instead.

I went from Leopard to Tiger on my DSLD and wow is it snappy, many/most programs support tiger so think I’ll just stick with that

 

[eyoungren]

I went from Leopard to Tiger on my DSLD and wow is it snappy, many/most programs support tiger so think I’ll just stick with that

Do yourself a favor and don't mix Tiger with any PC networking you may have, including servers. Or find a copy of DAVE by Thursby. Tiger is just fine in a Mac oriented network, but becomes a networking nightmare when having to deal with PCs/PC servers.

 

[eyoungren]

I just wasn't interpreting the 10.3.3 listing as being completely exclusive to 10.3.2, just that an update would be needed after install or something to that effect.

Every Mac has a minimum OS that it can run and a maximum OS. There are some exceptions because some talented people have managed to get older or newer versions of an OS to work, but in general you can't run an earlier version than allowed.

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[iModFrenzy]

Do yourself a favor and don't mix Tiger with any PC networking you may have, including servers. Or find a copy of DAVE by Thursby. Tiger is just fine in a Mac oriented network, but becomes a networking nightmare when having to deal with PCs/PC servers.

Luckily I’ve set up a guest network which segregates it from anything else connected to that network. I don’t plan to use it with anything else so I should be good.

My main network with any important servers/devices is WPA3, so it definitely isn’t joining that. Then IoT devices are on their own locked down network too.

 

[schepige]

Just wanted to say thanks for the help everyone. I have it sorted. And the new resources and links have made it easier to finish 2 other Macbook Pros I was working on as well as an original iMac G3.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Just wanted to say thanks for the help everyone. I have it sorted. And the new resources and links have made it easier to finish 2 other Macbook Pros I was working on as well as an original iMac G3.

Wonderful news!