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Belto · Mar 7, 2006, 10:23 AM

I am finally ready to upgrade my wife's 450 mz g4 (AGP) graphics Mac to OS X (preferably Tiger). It currently has 256 mb ram, and is running system 9.0.4. We have a scsi card installed for running an old hp scanner. I intend to add another 512 mb ram before upgrading to OS X. I will also update to 9.2.

My wife is using this machine for her desktop publishing business, and would like to ease herself into the OS X environment. In other words...she wants to continue using OS 9, while learning OS X.

Which version of OS X is recommended for our setup? Would it be fast enough for Tiger?
Which install method will retain our present system OS 9, or do I have to re-install OS 9 after the upgrade?
Any problems with using scsi for the scanner?

I would like the transition to go as smooth as possible, and would appreciate any input.

Thanks

hookem2oo7 · Mar 7, 2006, 11:35 AM

OS 9 should be untouched by the X install as long as you dont erase-and-install. all of your OS9 programs and information will be preserved, and you'll have a shiny new install of X to play with...if you need OS9 programs to run under X, they'll run in classic mode, or you could reboot your system to run OS9 natively

Big Mac · Mar 7, 2006, 01:17 PM

Hookem is correct, Belto. An installation of OS X does not affect the resident install of OS 9.

angelmb · Mar 7, 2006, 03:45 PM

Firstly, I think you need to apply a firmware update yo her Power Mac G4, read here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120068

Then, check the SCSI card maker site or/and sites like macupdate.com to look for controllers/drivers available to run the card nicely with Mac OS X (if that is possible).

eevyl · Mar 7, 2006, 04:13 PM

And definitely upgrade the RAM, 256MB is the bare minimum OS X is going to "run" for profesional stuff.

CharlesS · Mar 7, 2006, 05:27 PM

He already said he's going to bump the RAM to 768 MB (definitely a good idea). As for the question "Would it be fast enough for Tiger", I had a 450 MHz G4 for a while. It was a dual, so it was a little more powerful than yours, but it ran Tiger just fine.

Dr.Michael · Mar 8, 2006, 04:45 AM

Under OS X you may find that your scsi scanner stops working because there are no drivers. I had the same problem when upgrading my girlfriends BW 350 (to 10.2 back then). She had a very good agfa scsi scanner that stopped working under os x.

Finally I used VueScan to revive it. From my experience this is the bullet you will have to bite (or buy a new scanner). So in case your scanner does not work save yourself hours of downloading and tinkering.

I also recommend Tiger. The chances that it supports your hardware are best. Also our scsi card had driver problems. They may not occur with Tiger.

barney ntd · Mar 8, 2006, 05:02 AM

I have a 400 MHz AGP graphics with an adaptec 2906 scsi card. I've upgraded to every version of OS X since 10.0, and everything has always worked EXCEPT since 10.4 the scsi card won't work with an external CD writer. It still works fine with my minolta slide scanner.

As mentioned above, it's very unlikely your scanner drivers will work in OS X, though they might work in classic. Vuescan is the answer.

Barney.

bowwowman · Mar 8, 2006, 09:49 AM

Outside of audio & some other fields, SCSI is dying technology, with OS X support quickly disappearing. CHeck w/ the scanner mfgr, if they dont have native OSX drivers, then using Vuescan will be the best fix (or buy a newer scanner that does). And 99.99% of scsi hardware will NOT function in classic mode, since it does not have direct access to the I/O subsystem.

And you really should consider adding at least 1GB of ram instead of 512mb. Tiger is a ram hog, and so are most of the apps used in Desktop publishing, even more when/if ran under classic.....

JKT · Mar 8, 2006, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

He already said he's going to bump the RAM to 768 MB (definitely a good idea). As for the question "Would it be fast enough for Tiger", I had a 450 MHz G4 for a while. It was a dual, so it was a little more powerful than yours, but it ran Tiger just fine.

A 400Mhz G3 iMac is fast enough to run Tiger, so yes a slightly faster G4 should definitely be.

ReggieX · Mar 8, 2006, 01:25 PM

I'd recommend a better video card and a faster processor, in that order.

Belto · Mar 8, 2006, 04:36 PM

Thanks for all your suggestions...you guys are a great bunch! I have a Radeon 9800 Pro video card on the way...also just bought a Dell 2405fpw monitor for her.
I've been using OS X from the start for my Powerbook....and I know my wife will love it. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!