[aciesunguis]

Hi all!

I have a PowerBook G4 and I want to reinstall OSX Tiger on it and erase the hard drive. Unfortunately the CD drive is broken so I can't use the system disks that came with it to do it (have also tried connecting an external disk drive and running the reinstall through that but it isn't working either).

Please can you help!

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Hello aciesunguis

I am no pro with this operating system but I will see if I can help with your problem

A format will be pretty straight forward, what you can do is take the hard drive out and attach it to an external caddy, then attach that to a computer and format the drive like that. Now that will erase the hard drive of any data stored on it. Where you may have a problem is the re-installation.

Unfortunately the CD drive is broken so I can't use the system disks that came with it to do it (have also tried connecting an external disk drive and running the reinstall through that but it isn't working either).

What you need is for your computer to boot off a usb device, without this you will be unable to do that. That booting option is located in the BIOS (normally) but please note I am not familer with this type of operating system / computer. Normally to get access to a BIOS you press either F2 or delete upon bootup where you will be loaded into a blue screen (again normally)

Please be aware I am going from experience on another type of operating system.

To claify the format would be straight forward and easy enough but you may have problems with the re-installation.

I hope I have helped.

Regards

[wizzy2k5]

Hello aciesunguis

I am no pro with this operating system but I will see if I can help with your problem

A format will be pretty straight forward, what you can do is take the hard drive out and attach it to an external caddy, then attach that to a computer and format the drive like that. Now that will erase the hard drive of any data stored on it. Where you may have a problem is the re-installation.

Unfortunately the CD drive is broken so I can't use the system disks that came with it to do it (have also tried connecting an external disk drive and running the reinstall through that but it isn't working either).

What you need is for your computer to boot off a usb device, without this you will be unable to do that. That booting option is located in the BIOS (normally) but please note I am not familer with this type of operating system / computer. Normally to get access to a BIOS you press either F2 or delete upon bootup where you will be loaded into a blue screen (again normally)

Please be aware I am going from experience on another type of operating system.

To claify the format would be straight forward and easy enough but you may have problems with the re-installation.

I hope I have helped.

Regards

[peterm]

Do you have an OS on an external drive?
Cheers
Peterm

[macmaxbh]

There are several methods of installing OS X on a machine without using the CD drive on the machine. However, you'll need another Mac to do them.

a) Install via FireWire Target Disk Mode. Turn off the PowerBook, turn on the other Mac. Connect the PowerBook to the other Mac with a FireWire cable. Turn on the PowerBook while holding down "T". The PowerBook's internal hard drive should mount on the other computer his should turn your PowerBook into the world's most expensive FireWire hard drive. Then you can put the OS X install media in the other machine, restart the other machine, then go through the install process. When you reach "Choose a disk for installation", just choose the PowerBook's internal HD (and the "Erase and Install" option).

b) Copy the media onto another FireWire drive, then booting up from that drive (hold down "Option" as you start up to get to the startup chooser). See the instructions here.

wizzy2k5--Thanks for helping out! I just wanted to point out a few differences between Macs and PCs that come into play here, in the hopes you find it interesting (I'm not trying to be critical or mac-snobby or anything. Just wanted to give you a few new facts, in the hopes that you'd do the same for me in your realm of experience). I do just want to point out that FireWire Target Disk Mode is a lot easier for Mac users then dissembling their computer. Only the new MacBooks and the MacBook Air do not have FireWire ports, and the MacBook Air has a feature called "Remote Install Mac OS X" due to its lack of a built-in CD drive which would be easy here, and the new MacBook's hard drive is extraordinarily easy to access. The other thing is that PowerPC based Macs (like the PowerBook) can only boot from FireWire drives--the new Intel Macs can generally boot from both FireWire and USB drives.

Edited by macmaxbh, 05 December 2008 - 04:53 PM.

[wizzy2k5]

Thanks for the information macmaxbh

I am not familer with them as I have never used one before and would probably stick to Desktop computers as I find them easier I have heard of Firewire and also Remote Installations (mainly down to servers etc..) but never done any in practice so this information was useful for me

Just wanted to give you a few new facts, in the hopes that you'd do the same for me in your realm of experience

I will try and help anyone I can if I know things