Mac OS 7.6 on a Sawtooth G4 (I belive)

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Greetings. I have been searching for a while and finally found a site that I think might help me.

I read in an earlier post of the person who was trying to boot his Sawtooth G4 with OS9.

I believe that I have a Sawtooth G4, but I have a Mac OS 7.6 CD-rom. I *don't* think it was machine specific, as OS7.x was 'freeware' from Apple... correct?

I am unsure of the memory, but the HD is 6gig.

I have tried to hold the C to boot from the CD drive, but it seams to bypass it altogether.

if it won't read from the CD-rom, can I assume that the reader is bad? How can I tell if the HD is bad?

When it finishes its 'boot' it is flashing the Mac smiley face and the "?" icon (missing OS/ boot error... correct?)

I am trying to get this to work so I can 'test the waters' so to speak.

Any help or wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sam
 
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G'day and welcome to the forums Sam.

OS 7.6 is pretty old and did work on early G3's so I guess at a pinch you could install it on a G4 but first you have to get it to boot from the disc. It was not freeware as such but a purchasable item, and it also came with machine such as Performa models such as the LC680.

It i possible the disc is in fact model specific which is why it will not boot. Next option is the CD has failed. Look at this:-

Mac OS 7.6 - WikiMac

And a Mac How to Install:-

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA38095?viewlocale=en_US
 

Slydude

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The disc you have may or may not be machine specific. If it is a machine specific disc I believe the machines it was designed to boot are listed in the fine print on the label.

If that is indeed a "Sawtooth" motherboard it may not boot from the 7.6 CD even if the disc is good. According to the MacTracker application that Mac shipped with OS 8.6 which usually meant that it needed at least that OS to boot.
 
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Mac Mini Core i7 2012 | White 2009 MacBook 2 Ghz | 733 Mhz G4 Quicksilver
To get that G4 to boot, as has been said, you will need a minimum of Mac OS 8.6

That said, you are better off sourcing OS9 or OSX 10.4 Tiger to get the most out of that machine
 
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Thank You

Thank you all for your help.

I will give it a shot (7.6) to day after work.

Looking at the fine print on the CD, I don't see any thing specific printed as it might or might not pertain to a certain Mac system.

Thanks again and I will keep you posted on my progress.

:D

Sam
 

dtravis7


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At least two posters here have told you the Sawtooth G4 REQUIRES Mac OS 8.6 to boot and run. This is straight out of the specs.

Details

G4/350 (Sawtooth) quietly introduced 1999.12.01 at $1,599; discontinued 2000.02.16.
G4/400 (Sawtooth) introduced 1999.10.13 at US$2,499
G4/450 introduced 1999.08.31 at US$2,499
G4/500 introduced 1999.08.31; available 2000.02.16 at US$3,499
requires Mac OS 8.6 through OS X 10.4.x, 10.5 not officially supported

Power Macintosh G4/350-500 (Sawtooth/AGP Graphics)
 
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Thank you all for the information.
In your opinon... which would be the better of the three? OS8(.6) OS 9 or OS X? My guess is that this is a low end type of system, (based only on that I can't get it to boot). Having used M/S for so long I know that a high end OS on a low end system is a bad experience?

Thank you again for you patience and understanding.

Sam
 

pigoo3

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Thank you all for the information.
In your opinon... which would be the better of the three? OS8(.6) OS 9 or OS X?

My first thought is install OS 10.4...so that you would have as modern a setup as possible.

But if you have older software that requires OS 9...then installing OS 9.2.2 would be the way to go.

But keep in mind, your G4 is a "dual-bootable" computer. So you can install OS 9 & OS X and boot into either OS on startup.

Lastly...you could install OS 10.4...and run any OS 9 software in "classic"...an OS X emulation program that allows you to run OS 9 programs while running OS X.

But to keep things simple. If you do not have any OS 9 software...then just install OS 10.4.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. Also be aware that a retail install disk for OS 10.4 will cost you $100+ on eBay...which is probably more than your G4 computer is worth.:(
 
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Ok. I got Mac OSX. Looks like it is from 2001. (Mac OS X Instant Up-To-Date)

I get the little Mac PC and a spinning color wheel. and LOTS of time.

I am assuming that at some point it will install or do something.... correct? :)

Sam
 

pigoo3

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Ok. I got 10.4.

I get the little Mac PC and a spinning color wheel. and LOTS of time.

I am assuming that at some point it will install or do something.... correct? :)

Sam

What color is your OS 10.4 install disk(s)...black or grey? If grey it won't work...they are model specific.

- Nick
 
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Ok. The Version of the disk is 10.0.3 (White background with metalic blue X)

I think I found part of my issue... non Apple CD-rom player. Well it HAS progressed a bit. lol
Thanks,
Sam
 

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Wasn't OS 7 released to the public domain? I could have sworn I downloaded in from an Apple FTP server years ago for running it on an emulator or something.
 
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It was. :)
ok... new issue. It isn't reading the HD.

I have tried both the stock Apple HD and a 'windows' HD that I am willing to become my Apple drive.

Any ideas?
 

pigoo3

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Ok. The Version of the disk is 10.0.3 (White background with metalic blue X)

In your earlier post you said you had 10.4! Very confusing...and thus hard to help with inaccurate info.

- Nick
 
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I know originally I thought it was 10.4, but when back and actually read the fine print to fin it was version 10.0.3, and for the confusion, I am truly sorry. I FINALLY got a HD to be seen by the system and I am getting it up and running. :)

Thank you again to all for everyone's help and patience.

Sam
 
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Be aware OS X.0.x was a beta test release and you could run into more problems. As Nick suggested look for a full retail install DVD of Tiger OS X.4. Make sure the combo reader handles DVD before outlaying your money and do not buy grey model specific discs which are sold as upgrade, drop ins etc etc.
 

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