06-13-2007, 01:46 AM

Hello everyone! First off I am completely new to Macs. I have spent a totally of maybe 5 mins. on a Mac.

I recently picked up a PowerMac G4(PCI/Yikes! version I think). It didnt have a harddrive in it when I got. I put a 40g harddrive in it and downloaded a couple OS 9 programs using torrent sites.
So far I havent had any luck getting any of these OS's to boot up. I have tried holding "c" during start up but no luck, I just keep getting a box with a ? mark and something else (2 faces?) flashing back and forward.
I tried burning the OS as .iso and .dmb files still no luck. I also tried a OS 8 install file.
Could someone help point me in the right direction, so I can get this bad boy working and see with this Apple stuff is all about?

06-13-2007, 07:22 AM

The CD's need to be bootable I think, plus you'd better off getting a new operating system instead of illegally downloaded ancient versions of OS 9.

Grab a cheap internal DVD drive and buy OS X:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...&nplm=MA453Z/A

06-13-2007, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by Alexis

The CD's need to be bootable I think, plus you'd better off getting a new operating system instead of illegally downloaded ancient versions of OS 9.

Grab a cheap internal DVD drive and buy OS X:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...&nplm=MA453Z/A

It already has a internal DVD drive. I wanted to run OS X but I was told by someone that I would need a gig of ram to run it because of my slow 350MHz processor. All I have now is 256MB of ram, so I just wanted to mess around with OS 8 or 9 until I can pick up some more ram.

06-13-2007, 09:25 PM

You can purchase an older version of OSX like 10.2 Jaguar or even 10.3 Panther on Ebay for not very much. Both would run at least ok till you can upgrade the RAM. I have that very machine in my collection and ran Jaguar till I was able to upgrade.

Talk about pirated versions of Mac OS is not allowed here on the forums.

06-14-2007, 05:05 AM

If you've already got a DVD drive, it makes life a lot easier!

OS 10.4 Tiger will run fine on a 350Mhz processor. I'd recommend 512Mb RAM though. SDRAM costs literally peanuts to buy off ebay.

06-14-2007, 06:11 AM

Originally Posted by Alexis

If you've already got a DVD drive, it makes life a lot easier!

OS 10.4 Tiger will run fine on a 350Mhz processor. I'd recommend 512Mb RAM though. SDRAM costs literally peanuts to buy off ebay.

SDRAM pc100 or pc133 right?

06-14-2007, 02:01 PM

Ok so I just won 2 PC100 256mb sticks off Ebay. That puts me at 768mb of ram. You guys think I can run OS X Tiger with this? (This is the lastest OS right?) I'm not looking to be blazin fast just...descent. Oh and please tell me I can move all my iTunes from my PC to the G4.

06-19-2007, 09:18 PM

Ok, I have OS X up and running on my G4 now and typeing on it as we speak. BUT I'm having a problem. Everytime I restart or shutdown, my desktop,dock settings,dash board settings,safari secttings, etc... goes bye bye