Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Help! PowerMac G5 (7,2) OSX Install not working!

hartleymartin

hartleymartin

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 15, 2016
207
47
Sydney, Australia
I have a PowerMac G5 7,2 which I managed to get all the hardware working, but now I cannot get OSX to install. I have a set of 10.4.8 and 10.4.9 CDs but obviously, these only came with drivers for the Intel-based Macs.

What installation discs do I need to get a my PowerPC Mac to install OSX?
 
hartleymartin said:
I have a PowerMac G5 7,2 which I managed to get all the hardware working, but now I cannot get OSX to install. I have a set of 10.4.8 and 10.4.9 CDs but obviously, these only came with drivers for the Intel-based Macs.

What installation discs do I need to get a my PowerPC Mac to install OSX?
Click to expand...

Don't forget, MacintoshGarden has the dmgs online. So you can download them and stick them on a USB to install with.(or can PowerMacs not do that?)

Could probably save you from shelling out $30-50
 
  • Like
Reactions: SELLERTHINK
I like imodfrenzy's idea. Save your money, don't spend it on Mac's old OS abandonware.

If you do end up creating a USB installation thumb drive, make sure you format the USB drive with the Apple Partition Map format option. (not the defacto GUID partition map. The older Mac G5's can't boot from a GUID PM. Trying to save you time, I had to figure this out the hard way);)

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-osx-mac-os-10-ppc
 
Last edited:
I had originally bought this G5 as "not working" with the intention of doing an ATX case conversion. Turns out that it only needed a dust-out, replacement HDD and a replacement graphics card. I got Lubuntu 16.04 installed and everything works. Once I've got OSX installed, I'll probably try to sell it on to a retro-mac enthusiast.

Anyone in Sydney, Australia wanting to give a good home to a G5? I'd only be looking to recover my expenses for the work I've done to it.
 
It would likely have shipped with 10.2.7, the PowerMac G5 restore disc images are available as iModFrenzy detailed above.

OS X 10.2.7 is quite limited, you'd be better going to 10.4/10.5 for anything other than an out of the box experience. For the later versions you'd require retail (i.e. not grey) OS X Tiger or Leopard media.
 
Just scored a 10.5 for PowerMac G5 disc of eBay. Either way, the G5 isn't getting used since I now have a 2008 Mac Pro and I think it would be best to pass it on to a proper enthusiast or sell it on eBay.

It might not be able to do much now since software support from Apple ended several years ago, but it does run the latest version of Linux compiled for PowerPC architecture and can make a perfectly usable, if relatively low-powered Linux machine.

Between Firefox, VLC and LibreOffice there is 90% of the functionality of a home computer. I even have a spare 1050p display that will take the DVI input and function quite happily with the graphics card.
 
Last edited:
For some reason 10.5 has not yet arrived, but I did have an old G5 install disc with 10.2.7 on it.

Is there somewhere I can download the upgrade software? I have a couple of 10.4.x discs, but they are all for Intel-based Macs and I cannot find PowerPC versions.
 
Hold Option, and wait for it to get to the menu. If it spits out the disc, put it back in and hit the refresh button. That sometimes fixes the issue, I nearly always have to do this with my Quicksilver in order to get it to boot from any disc.
 
Okay, so the convoluted story about the PowerMac G5 boils down to this:

I found a PowerMac G5 specific Install CD for OSX 10.2.7 That has installed and works perfectly, except it is so old that you cannot do anything with it (internet won't work, can't get LibreOffice to work, etc)

I have an install CD set for 10.4.8 "For Mac Computers" It boots off the CD, but then says that OSX Tiger cannot be installed. Huh?
 
Aside from hunting around eBay, is there a way of getting an OSX 10.4 installation for the PowerMac G5 that I know will work? The downloads from Macintosh Garden have not worked for me.
 
hartleymartin said:
Aside from hunting around eBay, is there a way of getting an OSX 10.4 installation for the PowerMac G5 that I know will work? The downloads from Macintosh Garden have not worked for me.
Click to expand...

You need a retail (ie non-grey) disc.

Grey discs are restore CDs bundled with a new Mac and are usually restricted to the machine type they shipped with. If your 10.4.8 is grey then it's almost certainly from an Intel mac and won't work on PPC.
 
Indeed, burning the image to the disc not just copying the file over.

I'm going to hunt around for a retail version of OSX 10.4.x That should install onto a PowerMac G5. I have found retail versions of 10.5.x but that doesn't support classic environment, which is what I'll want for games.
 
hartleymartin said:
Indeed, burning the image to the disc not just copying the file over.

I'm going to hunt around for a retail version of OSX 10.4.x That should install onto a PowerMac G5. I have found retail versions of 10.5.x but that doesn't support classic environment, which is what I'll want for games.
Click to expand...

Are you burning to -R? You could also try the write to USB stick route (guide on here somewhere).
 
Yup, was burning to CD-R.

Most infuriating thing was that the first 10.4.11 CD worked at first, then kept coming up as an error while copying over the files, saying to start over.
 
hartleymartin said:
Yup, was burning to CD-R.

Most infuriating thing was that the first 10.4.11 CD worked at first, then kept coming up as an error while copying over the files, saying to start over.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1518246994][/doublepost]
hartleymartin said:
Yup, was burning to CD-R.

Most infuriating thing was that the first 10.4.11 CD worked at first, then kept coming up as an error while copying over the files, saying to start over.
Click to expand...
Hi harrleymartin , do you still have the 10.2.7 gray OS X install dvd ? Where can I get one ? , that's the original OS X for my machine. Also do you think is better to skip that version and go into 10.3 or 10.4 what's the best version for our machines ? Thanks
 
iModFrenzy said:
Don't forget, MacintoshGarden has the dmgs online. So you can download them and stick them on a USB to install with.(or can PowerMacs not do that?)

Could probably save you from shelling out $30-50
Click to expand...


Right MACINTOSH GARDEN is G5 Heaven.
I burned my is OSX DISC on a windows laptop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back