How can I re-install OSX when my DVD drive is broken?

[DanE]

I've had this problem for a few weeks. After downloading some updates, my Powerbook G4 stated that the harddrive was getting full and after I turned it off I've never been able to start it back up again. My DVD drive is broken so I can't use the OSX restore disk to re-install onto my internal drive. After starting a Thread about my problem someone told me to use the fsck option to resolve the problem. I didn't get very far with this as it wasn't finding any faults or allowing me to boot up in safe mode.

On a visit to my brothers, I managed to use his MacBook to view my harddrive and copy my files across as a backup and create some more internal harddrive space (up from 1Gb to 3Gb on a 10Gb drive). This also confirmed that the internal harddrive was working ok (I had wondered whether it was broken) and that it wasn't full. So now I want to re-install OSX so that I can start using my mac again. My brother and I tried to install from the DVD drive on his MacBook onto my internal harddrive (connected by firewire) but the installer wouldn't allow it as it's a firewire drive. We had the same problem with our attempt to install OSX onto my LaCie firewire drive.

If I manage to borrow a USB DVD drive will I be able to boot up from the Restore disk and re-install the OS onto my internal drive?

Any other ideas as to how I can fix this?

[Alexis]

I believe the external DVD has to be Firewire, not USB for OS X installation