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SuzyCreamcheese · Mar 17, 2006, 04:51 PM

1.42GHz eMac came with 10.4 installed.
I need it to run in 10.3.6.

I installed 10.3.4 from a retail OS installer and while the installation went okay, my display output is only 800x 600 (with 1.5" of black border all around)... and that is the only choice in the Displays preferences pane.

I realize that I am probably missing the right driver for the video card (ATY, RV351) but I have no idea where I can find such that will work under 10.3.6.

I have also net-installed 10.3.6 a baseload which was created on a 1.25 GHz eMac but this had an ATY,RV280 card installed and clearly this driver doesn't do anything for the ATY, RV351.

I don't want to copy drivers from 10.4 to 10.3.6. I have already tried this anyway with less than satisfactory results... I just want it to work in the most correct way. I hate workarounds. I want things to work without cheating. Stamps foot. Petulant girl.

Can anyone advise what I need to do to get the full display options, and a full display?

Thanks in advance.

Suzy C

PS It's a school computer (part of a lrge network) and our standard OS load is 10.3.6. We cannot move to 10.4 yet.... otherwise we would.

OreoCookie · Mar 17, 2006, 05:27 PM

You cannot install an OS which is older than the OS which was in the box of your eMac. So the only thing you could try is to upgrade to 10.3.9, which is the last update of 10.3. If the proper drivers are part of 10.3.9, but as far as I know, these machines came out in May 2005 with 10.4. So unless they work with 10.3.9, there is no other option other than to not use the computer.

Mister Elf · Mar 17, 2006, 06:16 PM

Why don't you just expedite the move to 10.4? Since OSs older than 10.4 will no longer run on new machines, you'll have to stop purchasing new machines (a pain!) or hack operating system files (which, as a public school, you don't want to break the law...people may become upset

)

What's keeping you away from 10.4?

OreoCookie · Mar 17, 2006, 06:53 PM

They want to have a homogeneous network. Under these circumstances, it is not possible.

Mister Elf · Mar 17, 2006, 07:34 PM

I understand that, I really do, but there's a point where you just have to bite the bullet and upgrade. Both Panther (10.3.9) and Tiger (10.4.0) are nearly a year old. While I know that major updates every year are a daunting task, the fact that you cannot buy new machines until you upgrade should be a major kick in the pants to start the process.

SuzyCreamcheese · Mar 17, 2006, 07:35 PM

Thanks for the advice...

I have to disagree with the opinion that a less than in-the-box-system cannot be used, because I have done this. And it wasn't hacking... it just worked. Maybe it is the different video card which is the problem. In fact, I'm sure it is.

I would love to move on to 10.4. We've only been using OS X for 18 months so this may give you some idea of how slow the school system is to adopt changes... Add to this that we have 4 technicians dealing with over 1000 Macs, servers, repairs, 4000 user accounts etc, taking on the task of reconfiguring all these computers to accommodate two more is not where we want to go.

So, many thanks for the feedback. It is much as I expected but I am a cock-eyed optimist.

And we still have to consider the implications of what happens when we have to start buying Macintels. I know we can mix the old with the new under 10.4 but it adds yet another tier to the fray. Life can only become more exciting eh?

ChrisF · Mar 17, 2006, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by SuzyCreamcheese

Thanks for the advice...

I have to disagree with the opinion that a less than in-the-box-system cannot be used, because I have done this. And it wasn't hacking... it just worked. Maybe it is the different video card which is the problem. In fact, I'm sure it is.

No, it's not just the video card. Items like power management- and the related fans, as well as drivers for USB, firewire, network may only work as expected in the version of OS which shipped with the Mac. There have been very limited instances in which earlier versions will actually run but this is ill-advised and may not give stable or expected results.
Note also that 10.3.6 leaves a wide number of unpatched security vulnerabilities which are only a (partially) addressed with 10.3.9 and later... that may sooner or later leave you with a larger headache than just patching the thing to 10.3.9 and distributing a new net build to the other machines.

SuzyCreamcheese · Mar 18, 2006, 12:26 AM

Sound advice... though we are locked down pretty tight in many, many aspects, and we are not complacent as far as security is concerned. If anything, we are too secure for many curriculum needs.

Everything works under a 10.3.6 install except for video output and we have checked usb, firewire etc for their abilty to function. Old systems on new machines have not given us any problems so, in this instance, I think it is just the video driver which is preventing us form loading the 10.3.6 system successfully.

I guess you have to be here to fully understand the safety measures employed to keep the network secure.

10.3.9, hopefully, will be an option soon but for now we are stuck with 10.3.6... mostly because of administrative applications from Apple (PowerGrade and PowerSchool).

Thanks again for advice far and away more helpful than anything gleaned from Apple.