Boot PowerBook G4 from USB drive?

[littlecody8]

I have a 2005 12" 1.5ghz powerbook g4 aluminum. It currently has OS X Tiger 10.4.11 installed. I want to install Leopard but the only way I have to install it is from a bootable usb drive. I did a quick google search and apparently the powerbooks don't boot from usb like the intel MacBooks do? Is there anyway to get it to boot from the Leopard install usb? Please let me know.

 

[littlecody8]

I'm using my old iPod classic as a boot drive via firewire. So far so good. I'll update when it finishes.

 

[chas_m]

Firewire yes, USB no.

 

[Slydude]

Some PowerPC Macs are able to boot from a USB drive. Several, and perhaps all, of the G5s can if a USB 2 drive is used. It was slow on my 2 GHz G5 though.

There are some reports of some G4s booting as well but the process is far from intuitive for the casual user. Check this hint Boot PowerPC Macs via USB 2.0 drives - Mac OS X Hints for more details. The G4 info is in the comments so be sure to read those. The older the machine the less likely it will work though.

 

[littlecody8]

I did that and it didn't work. Mine is just one that cannot usb boot. Using the iPod as a boot drive with the firewire cable worked though. Leopard running nicely. Although probably going to upgrade the 512mb ram to the max. 1.25gb if I'm not mistaken?

 

[Slydude]

Try running your machine through the information at Apple PowerBook G4 Memory, iBook G4 Memory, PowerBook G3 Memory, and iBook G3 Memory Upgrades. They are listing some models as upgradeable to 2 GB. There are some pretty Mac savvy folks there it might be worth a phone call to see just how far it can be pushed.