DVD to CD Media Exchange

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Greetings to all, from a newbie:

Sure could use some help with this. After years of using a G-4 with OS 9.1 I decided to upgrade to OS Tiger. After seeing that the OS was only available on DVD, I purchased a new Lacie External DVD drive, only to find out that Tiger cannot be installed from an external drive?

My computer qualifies in all respects for installation of OS X Tiger, except that it has a CD Rom drive. My question is, are the CD's still being made available from Apple on the Media Exchange program? If not, what else can I do?

Thanks for any help.
 

Ric

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Hi there and welcome,

there is a link in this thread that will download the form you need...

I didn't realise that you can't install Tiger from an external DVD drive ?

I'll look into it...it may be that your DVD drive doesn't support 'booting' ?

Is it a Firewire drive ?

regards

Ric
 
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Thanks for the reply Ric.

To answer your question; yes it is a Firewire equipped five year old Power Mac G-4 Tower unit.

I have since confirmed with the Apple Media Exchange Program Group that the offer of 6 CD discs in exchange of the DVD disc is still in effect (grateful for that). This is the route I will go and have already got the exchange underway.

I was notified by Lacie, the firm that makes my new (unnecessary now) external DVD drive that if I had a AGP Graphics system instead of the PCI that came with the unit I would be able to load Tiger directly. I have my doubts about this, and think I will avoid any further tinkering around and go the CD exchange route. The DVD external drive might prove handy in the future, so I will keep it. It surely sounds like a terrific storage method as the discs have over 8 Gb capacity.

Another possible installation method using another DVD drive equipped computer and targeting mine may work with the DVD disc, but makes me nervous. Obviously I'm not a techie, so you may be hearing from me again when I run up against something else. :)

For those contemplating the upgrade to OS X Tiger v 10.4+, remember that the DVD drive must be internal or you'll be going through the same hassle.

Thanks for the help
 

Ric

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Hi there,

Sorry for the confusion...I meant to ask 'does the DVD drive have Firewire ?'

For those contemplating the upgrade to OS X Tiger v 10.4+, remember that the DVD drive must be internal or you'll be going through the same hassle.

That technically isn't correct. Most external DVD drives should be able to install Tiger...as long as the DVD drive is relatively new..it's firmware is up to date.

Put the DVD into the external DVD drive hold down the option key then turn the Mac on this should give you the boot screen which should allow you to choose the Tiger install DVD...

Out of curiosity what is the exact model of the Drive you have ?

regards

Ric
 
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Hi Ric:
Here is the website that will describe my DVD drive better than I.
http://www.lacie.com/caen/products/product.htm?pid=10311

I'm getting so many differing opinions on whether this DVD drive should be able to load Tiger into my computer.

I have tried holding down the Option key while booting, but it seems to get started after having recognized the OS Tiger program, it stalls at the installation commencement point.

I must mention too that I have not got the DVD drive installed correctly yet onto my OS 9.1 system. It is not recognized yet in the Apple System Profiler and locks up my system so badly that I have to shut down to switch the DVD drive off then restart it to get the disc drawer to open. I'm sure things will go smoothly once I get OS X Tiger onto my hard drive. There might be an extensions conflict, but I would like to change the OS before trouble shooting. I'm going to get some help with this, I'm too much out of date for problem solving on newer systems and devices.

Thanks,
Barry
 

Ric

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Hi there Barry,

I'll have a look at the site later today !

If you go back to the Apple System Profiler can you get the 'exact' model number of your Mac and what version Firmware it is running ?

regards

Ric
 
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Okay Ric, here goes:

Machine = Power Mac G4 (Powermac3,4) (406)
Manufacturer Id = CHRP
Serial Number = XB1020RB-KAM
Date Manufactured = 1/15/01
ROM :
ROM Size = 3,145,728 Bytes
ROM Version = $77D (125)
+ ROM is 32 Bit Clean = Yes
ROM Sub-Version = $45F6

• Memory :
RAM Size = 939,524,096 Bytes (896.0 MB)

• Open Firmware is Present = Yes
Open Firmware Version = OpenFirmware 3
 

Ric

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Hi Barry thanks for the info,

I was notified by Lacie, the firm that makes my new (unnecessary now) external DVD drive that if I had a AGP Graphics system instead of the PCI that came with the unit I would be able to load Tiger

Have just reread the post's...

If your Mac came with a PCI video card then it would be a "Yikes Motherboard" this Mac does not support Firewire booting.

Lacie are correct in their statement above...the AGP version of the that Mac came out later and does support Firewire booting, this model is also know as "Sawtooth".

So it looks like the CD's are your only option ! All the Models since 'yours' are Firewire bootable... ;-)

regards

Ric
 
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Well thank you Ric:

Just finding something definitive as a cause of the problem is a relief in its self.

So, to recap: I can't boot up through the firewire connection because my video card is outdated.

One more question Ric. Will I be limited in any way installing DVD programs through that Firewire connection? Any other limitations. when I start using the DVD drive after getting Tiger up and running off the CD's?

Thanks
Barry
 

Ric

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Hi there Barry,

It's not the fact that you 'have' a PCI graphics card, the fact that your Model has PCI lets us know that the 'Motherboard' inside your Computer is a certain type.

Yours being a Yikes Motherboard...these were not made with the right 'boot code' as it were, in the Firewire ROM chip.

Updating the video card would not then allow you to Boot of your DVD drive.

There will be no limitation in what you can use the DVD drive for once you have Tiger installed.

regards

Ric
 
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Ric said:
Hi there Barry,

It's not the fact that you 'have' a PCI graphics card, the fact that your Model has PCI lets us know that the 'Motherboard' inside your Computer is a certain type.

Yours being a Yikes Motherboard...these were not made with the right 'boot code' as it were, in the Firewire ROM chip.

Updating the video card would not then allow you to Boot of your DVD drive.

There will be no limitation in what you can use the DVD drive for once you have Tiger installed.

regards

Ric

Aha, The light bulb came on. :p

Thank you for the clarification and the assistance. I'll keep all this on file and it might help me with other issues in future.

All the best

Barry
 

Ric

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No problem,

...when you do get Tiger installed, pop back to the Lacie website and check that the DVD drive has the latest firmware on it.

regards

Ric
 

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