Hi im getting conflicting information on how to install OSX tiger on my old imac G3's. Some people are saying you have to install OS9 first while others are just installing OSX. Could someone clear up, describe, or point me to a website that gives me a basic run down on how to install tiger on my old mac. I have updated to firmware 4.1.9 and I have both OS 9.2 and tiger. Also can I use an external dvd drive in OS9 to boot OSX as only one of the imacs has a dvd drive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Quick quide as to which and what now how:
If it has FireWire, boot off the CD and install.
If it doesn't have FireWire, Install 9.whatever, then use XPostFacto 4.

Yes they all have firewire.
"If it has FireWire, boot off the CD and install." The cd being OS9 or Tiger?

Thanks

What processor speed iMac do you have? Anything less than the 350 MHz iMac won't run it, due to it not having FireWire. No Firmware upgrade will help, if that is the case. Also, make sure you have more than 256 megs of RAM, as that is another Tiger minimum.

Im pretty sure they are all over 400mhz. They all have 256mb ram. They are only going to be used for light word processing and surfing the net.

Thanks

On systems like that, i'd use panther (10.3). A bit snappier, and not as hardware hungry as tiger.

In saying that, if you'd like to install tiger, you need a DVD drive, 256+MB ram, Firewire.

True. My main concern is just getting anything over 10.3 on it really. So just to confrim i have to install OS9 first and then install OSX.

Cheers

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(csw05 @ May 8 2006, 06:15 PM) [snapback]170698[/snapback]</div>
No! You don't need to do that.

Just pop the OSX CD/DVD into the computer, and hold C after turning the computer on until you can be sure the computer is reading off the CD/DVD, and follow the install prompts.

Good luck.

Keep in mind that if the iMac G3 doesn't have firewire, Tiger is not officially supported and will not install on the machine. However, a third-party utility such as XPostFacto will work wonders if you still decide to install Tiger onto the machine.

As others have suggested, just keep it at 10.3.9 - you're pushing it to run Spotlight and Widgets with 10.4 (which to be honest you're not missing out on at all).

If the firmware has been updated, you don't need to install OS 9 then install OS X. You should be able to boot from the Install CD/DVD without hassles.

JB

Do you need to use OS9 ?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Paxton @ May 8 2006, 06:24 PM) [snapback]170701[/snapback]</div>Just to expand on that. The 'C' key only works for the built in cd/dvd drive. If you want to boot off an external, hold down the 'option' key instead at boot chime, and wait for it to show up the available boot disks.

You may have the need to run Classic applications at some point, which is unlikely these days, but you may find some old software you want to get all nostalgic about like me at times... So, installing 9.2 can be beneficial before installing OSX straight over the top of it, as you can run the classic environment within. That said, I would probably only install 9.2 on one machine, and then burn the system folder to a CD and copy that system folder to your other OSX machines "Macintosh HD". (the same place as your osx system folder) Saves alot of time from installing 9.2 to multiple machines and then osx over the top.

Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone. This has really helped. I think i will go with 10.3 as Byrd is right. I have no use for the wigets etc. and with the little ammount of ram i have in the macs its best saved for something else.

Cheers To you all!!!

I would just like to clarify that although Tiger isn't supported on non-FW Macs, that doesn't preclude them from running it.

I had my 333MHz Tray-loading G3 iMac (256MB RAM) running it up until very recently. To install it at the time I had to take out the HD (a 40GB replacement), put it into an external FW case and install it via my PowerBook. Then I simply put the HD back into the iMac and away I went.

I have since upgraded the iMac to a 350MHz (non-FW) model and simply swapped the HDs over so it is now running Tiger.

Having said all that I too believe that Panther probably gives these machine their optimum performance. But it CAN be done!!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GimliNZ @ May 8 2006, 08:43 PM) [snapback]170757[/snapback]</div>Seconded!
I installed Tiger onto my iMac G3 333 tray load CDROM using an external USB HD. Tiger was installed onto the disk whilst connected to my PB G4. I then used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the installation from it onto the iMac.
This required OSX 10.1 to be installed from a CD onto the iMac, and for the 10.1 compatible version of CCC to also be installed. (direct use of the Unix ditto command is an alternative to using CCC) I used a small 1.5GB partition for the minimal 10.1 install, and a 6.5GB for Tiger, to remain within the 8GB boot partition limit for these machines. The iMac has been upgraded to a 120GB 7200RPM HD, from the original 5400RPM 6GB drive.

I only had 128MB of RAM installed at the time, and Tiger would run, although obviously there was a lot a lot of VM activity and the machine was a slug. Since then I've upgraded to 256MB and performance is better, but still marginal from a usability point of view. The VM swap file location has also been moved from the 6.5GB partition to another larger one. My use for the iMac, is as a network backup file storage site, and for our iTunes library - used to play through the stereo via Airtunes. (note: airtunes needs 10.3.8 or better). Internet surfing is OK, and simple word processing, email and spreadsheet tasks are passable - but the iMac is not used for this.

More recently I installed a slot load combo drive into the iMac surplus from upgrading my PB to a superdrive. Attempting to run a new OS installation from my Tiger DVD onto the iMac pulls up a failure dialog - because there is no firewire. However, a Panther installation DVD proceeds happily. There would be a few mac models that are non firewire (ie SCSI port equipped), but equipped with an original DVD ROM drive that fall into this category.

So Tiger CAN be installed on older machines using work arounds. However, the value of doing this entirely depends on the tasks you intend to use them for.