[epimetheus]

Howdy all,

My sis-in-law inherited my old G3 dual-533 some time back. It's actually a nice setup with 2GB ram, 2 internal HDs, 64MB vid card, etc.

Last weekend she wanted me to install Tiger on it and realized after the disc ejected that the machine only has a CD-RW drive, not a DVD. Next day, I brought my laptop and external Firewire Drive, made an image of the Tiger DVD, tried target mode with laptop and a few other tricks and still couldn't install.

Other than putting a DVD drive in the G3 (which is a bit overkill for what she does on the Mac), is there any other way for me to install Tiger on this G3? I've considered pulling one of the internal drives out, putting it in my G5 and then installing that way, but I'd like to have a simpler solution if possible.

Thanks for any ideas/advice!

[dimmer]

How did you try target disk mode? I would have thought that starting the G3 in TDM with the PowerBook connected and the Tiger DVD in it's drive everything should have worked fine.

[angelmb]

Well, if what dimmer says doesn't work for you, I would buy a DVD drive, really. They are really inexpensive these days… even for dual layer burners, I know they are overkill for most people but I don't know if there is still possible to find a Combo drive, (read DVDs & burn CDs) that would be likewise OK. I just installed a Pioneer dvr111 onto my G4 Power Mac, it was something like 39 € (euro) and I think it is even cheaper in the United States.

BTW, I think it has to be a Power Mac G4, G3 line can not over get 1 GB RAM, plus I think G3 models were not 'dual friendly'.

[chris v]

Do it the other way around -- Put the DVD in the laptop, boot the laptop Target Disk mode, then open the DVD on the other machine, and you should be able to boot from it, if the machine supports Firewire booting. I did this with my Quicksilver, which only had a CD-RW in it.

Also, if it's a dual 533, it's not a G3, it's a G4, which may make a difference, as the Blue & White G3 boxes did not support Firewire booting, but the G4's did. Is the machine aqua blue & white, or is it more of a graphite grey?

[imitchellg5]

Tiger came on a special order CD also, look around ebay and you might be able to find one.

[fesdds]

I have a quicksilver 733 with the same problem, no dvd drive. I did what chris v said and installed Tiger. It's been running for 3 months now and just fine. One time it got a little upset on a restart, but I started again and I've been good to go.

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by chris v

Is the machine aqua blue & white, or is it more of a graphite grey?

adding some help here…

[OreoCookie]

I think you are talking about a Dual G4 533.
You can purchase install CDs from Apple for something like $20 if you have a legit copy of Tiger (as in retail).

[Gossamer]

I've used Disc Utility to image the DVD to a partition on an external FW drive, then installed from that on a G4 Cube. The installation is MUCH faster than from an optical drive.