need help with partition and install OS X 10.3

[koaster]

Hello, I am new to the forum, I hope someone can help me with my question. I currently have a G4 Tower (Dual 867) with 1 gig of ram, non-super drive.

I want to partition my current HD (which is not) and do a clean install of OS X 10.3.
I was wondering if anyone can help me with the steps. I tried to use disk utility but it won't let me select my current HD (disk) to do a partition.

p.s. I already backed up my programs just need help on the next step. Thank you for your time.

(moderators if this is the wrong section to post this please forgive me and redirect me to the correct section. Thanks.)

 

[rdowns]

Re: need help with partition and install OS X 10.3

Originally posted by koaster
Hello, I am new to the forum, I hope someone can help me with my question. I currently have a G4 Tower (Dual 867) with 1 gig of ram, non-super drive.

I want to partition my current HD (which is not) and do a clean install of OS X 10.3.
I was wondering if anyone can help me with the steps. I tried to use disk utility but it won't let me select my current HD (disk) to do a partition.

p.s. I already backed up my programs just need help on the next step. Thank you for your time.

(moderators if this is the wrong section to post this please forgive me and redirect me to the correct section. Thanks.)

In disk utility, select the factory drive name (i.e. 328.GB ST12345), not your HDs name. Partition will be one of the tabs that appear at the top of the window.

 

[whocares]

I won't let you partition your HD because it's your boot drive. You need to insert the Panther disk and reboot holding down the 'C' key. Keep the C key down until the Apple comes up on the screen.

This will boot from the Panther CD and launch the installation process. Once the installer is loaded and you gain control of the system, go the the file menu (I think, it's the menu closest to the apple menu anyway). In there should be disk utility. Launch it and partition you drive.

This will erase all data on the disks, but that's ok as you have a backup. When partitioning is done, quit disk utility from the file menu and you will return to the installtion app. Thereafter, just follow the steps...

A few words of advice before you start: choose wisely your partitioning scheme. Once it's done and everything is installed, it's a *real* pain to change again!

 

[Crikey]

More advice

Another word of advice to follow "whocares": Don't restart your system under Panther (whether you booted from the install CD or the hard disk) with any FireWire drives attached. There is a bug between Panther and FireWire drives that results in data loss. Until you get a chance to patch your drive firmware and run Software Update to bring Panther up to date, connect your FireWire hard disks after Panther is already running and "eject" them before you shut Panther down.

Good luck!


Crikey

 

[koaster]

Wow thanks guys for all the help (not trying to sound ghey, just greatful=)

one last Q, you mentioned booting from my Hard disk, does that mean I can boot up with Panther if I have the file on my HD already? (like not a CD) If so, how would I do it? (sorry to sound stupid)

Thanks for your time.

 

[whocares]

Originally posted by koaster
one last Q, you mentioned booting from my Hard disk, does that mean I can boot up with Panther if I have the file on my HD already? (like not a CD) If so, how would I do it? (sorry to sound stupid)

I'm not quite following you, do you mean you have the panther files on your HD? Two questions: how and why? Downloading from P2P ain't cool.

To get back to your Q, if you have the .dmg files of the install CDs, you need to burn those files to a CD-R using Disk Utility. And then boot from the CD. The problem is you can't partition your boot drive. If you just have a copy of a Panther system from another computer, well you're outta luck or down $169 to install it properly on your own comp.

Another solution is booting from another HD, for eg. an external HD on which an OS is installed (9, Jaguar, Panther, ...)

 

[whocares]

-koaster

I think I just got your previous message... Do you mean you have Panther already installed and running on your HD? If this is the case I'm sorry for the bad tone of my previous post.

You now have two options:

*do as I stated in my first post.
*copy your entire boot drive to another HD using CarbonCopyCloner (available at www.versiontracker.com)

This is to get around the fact that you can't partition your boot drive (the drive from which the system loaded).

If you have another HD (either internal or external) you can just copy your drive, partition it, and recopy the stuff right back. No need to reinstall Panther!

Hope this helps.

 

[koaster]

Hey thanks guys!

And to answer you Q about my copy of panther, no I did not DL it, just wondering if it was possible to boot from my HD instead of booting from CD since I had/have the problem of booting from my CD-ROM drive. Well I will see how things go after. Thanks again guys, been great help.

ttyl.