Tiger DVD (Intel)

[Zeke_D]

I am in need of an intel Tiger disc. My existing tiger retail disc is PPC only. So no dice on my C2D MacBook. I'm poor, so hopefully someone has one they no longer need and will hook me up.

 

[pigoo3]

I am in need of an intel Tiger disc. My existing tiger retail disc is PPC only. So no dice on my C2D MacBook. I'm poor, so hopefully someone has one they no longer need and will hook me up.

There is no such thing as a "Intel Tiger Disk". All full install retail Tiger disks (black discs) will install on either a PPC or Intel based Mac...assuming that the particular model Mac was designed to run on the exact version of Tiger being installed.

I mention "full install retail Tiger disks"...because there may be some "upgrade" or "drop-in discs" floating around that may have other requirements.

If you're trying to use gray/silver colored discs...they won't work since they are model specific.

As far as cost. Black full install Tiger discs are still selling for a pretty good price. Probably at least $50-$75.

Unless you absolutely need Tiger (OS 10.4) on your Core 2 Duo MacBook...why not just install Snow Leopard OS 10.6 ($29)...and eventually upgrade to OS 10.7 Lion ($29).

- Nick

 

[Zeke_D]

Everyone keeps telling me, but my retail Tiger DVD is definitely PPC only. I even tried booting it, and no dice. My Leopard DVD boots, and is good for PPC or intel, but of course it is an upgrade disc and requires tiger installed.

 

[pigoo3]

Everyone keeps telling me, but my retail Tiger DVD is definitely PPC only. I even tried booting it, and no dice. My Leopard DVD boots, and is good for PPC or intel, but of course it is an upgrade disc and requires tiger installed.

Here's the deal. Don't forget that Tiger was released April, 2005...and the first Intel Mac (an iMac) was released January, 2006 (9 months after the release of Tiger, OS 10.4).

The first model introduction of every Intel Macintosh (iMac, Mac-Mini, MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac Pro) all ran a version of Tiger. The earliest version of Tiger to run on an Intel Mac was OS 10.4.4.

So if your Tiger disk version is older than OS 10.4.4...then that would probably qualify it as "PPC Only".

If you're trying to install Tiger on a 13" C2D MacBook...the OLDEST C2D MacBook (from 2006) requires (at a minimum) OS 10.4.8. Possibly a newer OS version if the C2D MacBook is a newer model. The NEWEST (and last) MacBook model from 2010 requires at least OS 10.6.3 (no way Tiger would install on this C2D MacBook...and probably a lot of older MacBooks as well).

So there are possibly MULTIPLE reasons why this Tiger install disk may not install on your C2D MacBook.

- Nick

p.s. The photo above is of a Leopard disk...what does your Tiger disk look like?

 

[Zeke_D]

Yeah, I believe this Tiger disc is 10.4.6. I was hoping to run tiger from an 8GB USB stick, and then go with Leopard when I get a good deal on a hard drive. But it looks as if a) I can't install to a USB stick or an external IDE hard drive and/or boot from them either. b) even when I do get a hard drive, I will still need to either purchase Snow, or acquire a tiger disc to do a virgin install, then upgrade with my Leopard disc. I was expecting to just pick up a sata drive for $20, and be on my way, but it looks as if it is gonna be a lot more complicated than I originally thought.

Here are my discs:

 

[pigoo3]

Yeah, I believe this Tiger disc is 10.4.6. I was hoping to run tiger from an 8GB USB stick, and then go with Leopard when I get a good deal on a hard drive. But it looks as if a) I can't install to a USB stick or an external IDE hard drive and/or boot from them either. b) even when I do get a hard drive, I will still need to either purchase Snow, or acquire a tiger disc to do a virgin install, then upgrade with my Leopard disc. I was expecting to just pick up a sata drive for $20, and be on my way, but it looks as if it is gonna be a lot more complicated than I originally thought.

Here are my discs:

Thanks for the photos...that REALLY helps!

I looked up your model MacBook...and the MacBook (2,1), C2D, 2.0ghz...requires (at a minimum)...Mac OS 10.4.8. If your Tiger disk is 10.4.6...then that version is slightly too old...and could very well be the reason that it's not working.

Like you mentioned previously...your OS 10.5 Leopard...is an "upgrade" disk. And will only work if OS 10.4 is already installed. Your best option is to buy a 10.5 standalone/full install (not an upgrade disk) from e-Bay for close to $100...or purchase a 10.6 Snow Leopard install disc.

Good luck,

- Nick

 

[Zeke_D]

$130 is way too much! plus the cost of a drive. I was hoping to use the macbook to switch my wife... oh well. This unit has a wonky optical drive, and the case is cracked. I guess I will just shelf it until I can acquire another 2,1 macbook and part a working unit together.

 

[cwa107]

Nick: Tiger never shipped in retail form for Intel.

Think about it - all Intel Macs only ever shipped with an Intel version of 10.4+. So, there was no reason for Apple to produce a retail version of Tiger for Intel and they never did. The first retail version of OS X for Intel was Leopard.

Zeke_D: Your best bet is going to be to try to source the original OS discs that came with that machine. It's not going to be easy, because there were several different revisions of the original MacBook and at least two that came out during the time Tiger was the latest and greatest (just prior to Leopard).

You may want to consider calling Apple directly and ordering replacement system discs. We've had more than one member tell us that they had success in ordering them as a "spare part", for as little as $20 sometimes.

 

[pigoo3]

Nick: Tiger never shipped in retail form for Intel.

Think about it - all Intel Macs only ever shipped with an Intel version of 10.4+. So, there was no reason for Apple to produce a retail version of Tiger for Intel and they never did. The first retail version of OS X for Intel was Leopard.

Ok...I wrote a REALLY long post about how there must have been a retail version of Tiger which included compatibility for Intel Mac's...but then I kept researching...and found the answer I was looking for.

Here's a link & quote from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Tiger

"Tiger was initially available in a PowerPC edition, with an Intel edition released beginning at 10.4.4. There is no universal version of the client operating system, although Tiger Server was made available on a universal DVD from version 10.4.7. While Apple shipped the PowerPC edition bundled with PowerPC-based Macs and also sold it as a separate retail box, the only way to get the Intel version was bundled with an Intel-based Mac. However, it was possible to buy the "restore" DVDs containing the Intel version through unofficial channels such as eBay, and officially through Apple if you could provide proof of purchase of the appropriate Intel Mac. These grey coloured "restore" DVDs supplied with new Macs, are designed to only restore on the model of Mac that they are intended for. The retail PPC only DVD can be used on any PPC based Mac supported by Tiger."

So yes it does seem (from the quote above)...that there never was a retail version of Tiger sold that included compatibility for Intel Mac's (just the gray/silver discs for Intel Mac's).

- Nick

 

[cwa107]

This conversation has been hashed out before. But what it boils down to is that there was no need for a retail 10.4 for Intel, because no Intel Mac owner would have a need to upgrade (since their machines sold with Tiger and replacement system discs could be purchased through Apple's parts department).

 

[Zeke_D]

An acquaintance of mine has an identical MB, and she let me borrow her silver discs. After installing with those discs, I was able to remove apps and features to get it to 8.9M bytes. (just shy of being able to go on my 8GB USB drive [8.2M bytes]) Anyway after installing Adobe CS3 and Office 2004 with all the updates and upgrading to 10.5.8, I am sitting pretty at less than 16M bytes. Anyway its up and running now.

 

[pigoo3]

This conversation has been hashed out before. But what it boils down to is that there was no need for a retail 10.4 for Intel, because no Intel Mac owner would have a need to upgrade (since their machines sold with Tiger and replacement system discs could be purchased through Apple's parts department).

Yeah...that makes sense.

I did the math...and from the time of the introduction of the first Intel Mac's (Jan, 2006) till the release of OS 10.5 Leopard (October, 2007)...21 months had gone by.

What I was thinking was...some of those early Intel Mac owners certainly sold their Mac's before Leopard was released...and you know how the original gray /silver disks don't always get passed along.

So think of the predicament someone buying a used Intel Mac BEFORE Leopard was released...and needing to reinstall the OS (Tiger)...for example, due to a crashed HD, a replacement HD, or accidental wiping of the HD. Their only recourse would be to call Apple...and get a replacement set of gray discs for their exact model shipped. No easy/fast solution by going to the nearest Apple Store.

- Nick

 

[cwa107]

Yeah...that makes sense.

I did the math...and from the time of the introduction of the first Intel Mac's (Jan, 2006) till the release of OS 10.5 Leopard (October, 2007)...21 months had gone by.

Yeah, this actually came up quite a bit during that period, because Leopard had been delayed several times due to the iPhone.

 

[Zeke_D]

I was lamenting not having a hard drive for this macbook. I knew it was only a matter of time. I remembered I still had my old windows laptop. It had a 320GB sata hdd and 4GB of DDR2 memory. I am currently using disk utility to copy the disk from the external I was using to the new internal sata.