Booting off an external DVD drive

[patton307]

I have an old eMac that was given too me, G4 800mhz, etc. The only problem is that it has a cd drom drive and not a DVD drive. I want to do a clean install with tiger, but tiger is on a DVD. I was wondering if it is possible to boot the disc off of an external dvd drive, and if so, how do I do it? Thanks

 

[dtravis7]

It will work. A Firewire External DVD drive will be your best bet. I am not sure with the EMac if it will boot off of USB. Someone else here will know. Get a good External DVD Firewire drive and hold C with the Tiger DVD in the drive. If that does not work, go into the existing OS and to Startup Disc and select that external DVD drive and Reboot. I have had to install the same way on a few older Macs and it's always worked just fine.

 

[Aptmunich]

Yeah, you can't boot the emac off USB devices, so you'll need to get your hands on another mac with built-in dvd drive or on a firewire dvd drive.

Then you can either boot off the dvd drive, or boot the other mac off the dvd drive and install the OS too the emac.

 

[Hussam1980]

Ok I know this is an old post but I am having the same problem.
I have an older G3 ibook doesn't have a dvd and want to install tiger on it, I have another mac its G4 with a dvd built-in, what' best and easiest way to do it?

PS: operating system on the G3 ibook isn't working.

Thank you.

 

[Aptmunich]

- Connect the 2 Macs via a firewire cable
- Start the G4 and hold down the "T" key
- Insert the DVD into the G4
- Start the G3 and hold down the "option" key
- Select the DVD that appears after a few seconds

 

[Hussam1980]

Thank you, just one more Q since I am new to mac, I know that firewire is something similar to usb, I have found this cable online, is that what you meant?

Amazon.com: 4 to 4-pin IEEE 1394 iLink FireWire DV Cable FOR MAC/PC: Electronics

Thank you in advance!

 

[harryb2448]

Apple did make Tiger OS X.4 available on CD's, four of them from memory, for eMac users with no combo drive. You might find them on auction sites from time to time. Here is a place that sells them BUT take a deep breath before looking at the price!

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on CD

 

[chscag]

Gosh harry, I've never seen gold plated CDs before...

Regards.

 

[6string]

Gosh harry, I've never seen gold plated CDs before...

Regards.

I think those ones were platinum!

 

[Hussam1980]

wow $300 this is nuts!

 

[Aptmunich]

Thank you, just one more Q since I am new to mac, I know that firewire is something similar to usb, I have found this cable online, is that what you meant?

Amazon.com: 4 to 4-pin IEEE 1394 iLink FireWire DV Cable FOR MAC/PC: Electronics

Thank you in advance!

Not quite: that's a 4-pin firewire connector. If you look on your Macs, you'll see that the connector is slightly bigger than that.

You need a 6-pin Firewire cable:
Amazon.com: Startech IEEE-1394 Firewire Cable 6-6 M/M - 15ft (Black): Electronics