Installing OS X 10.5 Leopard using Firewire Target Mode.

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I would like to upgrade the OS on my PB G4 12" from 10.3.9 to 10.5.6, but the optical drive in the PB no longer reads DVD's for some reason...so I can't just insert the disc. I have tried connecting it to my iMac G5 2.0Ghz via firewire target disk mode, to use it's internal Superdrive, but neither computer will actually see each other in this mode. It's NOT working for some reason. Is there too much of an age/OS difference for them to communicate this way?

I have tried booting up over the network, but that doesn't work either. What would you guys suggest? I have the retail Leopard install CD.
 
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Well in firewire target mode, the computer you booted into that mode wouldn't "see" the other computer at all. Are you sure you did it right?
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode


Also, are you sure your PowerBook meets the minimum requirements?

And finally, are you using a retail version of Leopard? If you are using the OEM version (gray discs) that came with another Mac, then it won't work… those are machine-specific. In fact, I don't think any PPC Mac shipped with Leopard, so any gray ones would have to have been for Intel Macs.
 
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Yes, my computer meets the minimum requirements, and I know that I was doing the target disc mode correctly as I've done it MANY times in the past with older macs. Won't work on this computer though for some reason. I can get both of the computers to enter target mode (separately of course, not at the same time)

The computer that it booted up and on never displays a disk image of the other computer, not even an error message. Could it be that one has Firewire 400 and one has Firewire 800 or something like that?

Target computer is a PB G4 12" 1.33Mhz, 768MB RAM, plenty of HD space available...and yes I'm using the retail version of the disc, NOT the grey version. I know this disc works on PPC computers, because I used it to upgrade my iMac G5 from Tiger with no trouble at all. Thanks.
 
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Yes, my computer meets the minimum requirements, and I know that I was doing the target disc mode correctly as I've done it MANY times in the past with older macs. Won't work on this computer though for some reason. I can get both of the computers to enter target mode (separately of course, not at the same time)

I'm a bit confused here and may be misunderstanding what you meant. You are saying your Macs will enter TDM, but "separately"? You only boot the PowerBook into TDM, not both. Plug in the Firewire cable first with both fully booted normally. Then reboot ONLY the PowerBook in TDM. When done, it will mount on the iMac as an external drive.

If that is how you are doing it, then the problem "could" be a bad cable or adapter for converting the FW400 to FW800. You could try a new cable. Besides that or some hardware problem, I don't see what else it could be.

Of course… I do have one more trick up my sleeve. The instructions below "should" work for Leopard also.
Install OS X Snow Leopard from a USB flash drive | Mac Help from Maciverse
 
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Thanks for the response! Are you saying that I need some sort of convertor for 400 -> 800? I thought I could just connect them with a 6-pin 400 Cable and it would default to 400mb/s...no?
 

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Thanks for the response! Are you saying that I need some sort of convertor for 400 -> 800? I thought I could just connect them with a 6-pin 400 Cable and it would default to 400mb/s...no?

No. :) Yes, you need a converter (adapter) as lifeisabeach stated.
 
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Ah, ok. So if I connect the two computers in this way, can I install Leopard directly to the laptop from the iMac's internal DVD drive?
 
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Alright, according to Everymac.com...my iMac has Firewire 400, NOT 800. (The connection looks different, I thought they looked the same...I've never used FW 800 before!) So that isn't the problem. I guess I have a bad cable or something.

One question still stands, though...WILL I be able to install Leopard over firewire (400) to the powerbook G4 using the iMac's internal drive? If no, is there a work around?
 
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One question still stands, though...WILL I be able to install Leopard over firewire (400) to the powerbook G4 using the iMac's internal drive? If no, is there a work around?

You "should" be able to install Leopard over Firewire using the iMac's DVD drive. Hopefully your problem was just a bad cable. If not, yes, there is a workaround. I already posted it.
 
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I thought PPC macs couldn't start up from USB drives?

Umm… umm… ah…. aww shoot. I think you're right. *smacks heads*

Here's a tip that will make any external Firewire or USB drive a bootable install drive on Intel Macs. It might work with a PPC Mac, but make one change in the directions… don't use GUID Partition Table… pick Apple Partition Map.

Other option would be to get an external Firewire DVD drive.

Of course you could just replace the drive in your PowerBook. You can order one from iFixit and use their handy-dandy repair guide, if you are up to the task of doing it yourself.
PowerBook Repair - iFixit
 

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Ah, ok. So if I connect the two computers in this way, can I install Leopard directly to the laptop from the iMac's internal DVD drive?

I thought PPC macs couldn't start up from USB drives?

A USB drive has nothing to do with using fw tdm. Are you trying to install from the internal drive on the iMac via firewire or a USB drive?
 
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A USB drive has nothing to do with using fw tdm. Are you trying to install from the internal drive on the iMac via firewire or a USB drive?

His comment about USB was in reference to a tip I linked to in making a bootable USB thumb drive with an install disc imaged to it.
 

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Ahh, didn't check that one out.
 
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Lol...I still don't have a definitive answer, guys. Any more ideas as to how I could accomplish this? Or am I in uncharted territory here?
 
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Lol...I still don't have a definitive answer, guys. Any more ideas as to how I could accomplish this? Or am I in uncharted territory here?

Any reason why you don't consider the suggestions from my last post definitive? New firewire cable… new Superdrive… or external firewire drive with install DVD cloned to it. There are no other alternatives.
 
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I attempted to install using an external DVD drive, and it seems as though my FireWire port is fried... :( The PB doesn't recognize the drive at all, I also tried a different cable, and tried Target Disk Mode from another computer...all to no avail. In Apple System Profiler, it says "no information found" under the FireWire menu.

I tried reseetting NVRAM in Open Firmware as this page states: Dead firewire bus on G4 PB...can the .kext be removed from open firmware? [Archive] - The macosxhints Forums which actually seemed to work...I reset NVRAM, and after startup System Profiler now said max speed: 400Mb/s, so that means the port was recognized...right? Well as soon as I plugged in the external drive it went back to "no information found." :mad:

Subsequent attempts have yielded the same results, and now I can't get it to recognize the port AT ALL.

I'm assuming the only fix now is to either repair the FireWire port, or replace the bad internal DVD drive? Where do you guys buy your replacement parts? The eBay drives are looking pretty good right now, as I don't think a large investment into this computer would make sense given it's age and condition. Thanks!
 
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I attempted to install using an external DVD drive, and it seems as though my FireWire port is fried... :( The PB doesn't recognize the drive at all, I also tried a different cable, and tried Target Disk Mode from another computer...all to no avail. In Apple System Profiler, it says "no information found" under the FireWire menu.

I tried reseetting NVRAM in Open Firmware as this page states: Dead firewire bus on G4 PB...can the .kext be removed from open firmware? [Archive] - The macosxhints Forums which actually seemed to work...I reset NVRAM, and after startup System Profiler now said max speed: 400Mb/s, so that means the port was recognized...right? Well as soon as I plugged in the external drive it went back to "no information found." :mad:

Subsequent attempts have yielded the same results, and now I can't get it to recognize the port AT ALL.

I'm assuming the only fix now is to either repair the FireWire port, or replace the bad internal DVD drive? Where do you guys buy your replacement parts? The eBay drives are looking pretty good right now, as I don't think a large investment into this computer would make sense given it's age and condition. Thanks!

Hmmmm… well I guess you found one alternative I hadn't thought of (a fried firewire port). I certainly wouldn't spend a heap of cash fixing it either. I can't recommend any place in particular to get parts, though iFixIt that I linked to earlier has replacement parts and tutorials to help get you through it.
 

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