Thread

Tiger install discs...

· Troubleshooting · 8 posts · May 23, 2005 — May 28, 2005 View original thread ↗

#1 Mon, 23 May 2005 - 12:51

I recently acquired Tiger 10.4 through a friend who purchased it for me while he ordered one for himself. What neither of us realized was that Tiger only ships on DVD which is useless to me because I do not have a dvd-rom drive. I presently have a G3 Indigo 500mhz (running Jaguar 10.2.8) which I've had since new three years ago and I'm very happy with.

Apple says that you can exchange the DVD install disc for the CD versions by mailing it back to them along with an additional $9.95 (U.S.), but I'm under the impression that this may well take some time. I'm very annoyed that Apple doesn't offer the option of ordering the CD versions initially when ordering. Even if you purchase Tiger in person from an Apple retail store you'd still have to exchange the DVD via mail. Arrgh! If I'd known this ahead of time I never would have bothered.

Anyway whats done is done. No matter what I still have to exchange the discs no matter how long it takes. Still in the interim there may be alternatives and any advice and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

1. Could my friend format Tiger from DVD onto CDs for me and then I'd have install discs readily at hand if ever needed down the road?

2. Is it possible to use another computer such as my friend's PowerBook to install Tiger onto my computer from there, and if so then how easy/hard is it and what is required to do it?

#2 Tue, 24 May 2005 - 02:18

please do a search of the forum, as this exact question has already been asked (though IIRC, unsatisfactorily answered).

#3 Tue, 24 May 2005 - 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogika

please do a search of the forum, as this exact question has already been asked (though IIRC, unsatisfactorily answered).

I have looked through this forum as well as Apple's and have also talked with my local Apple tech guy. The solution until I receive the install CDs appears to be rather simple considering all the fuss. I simply connect my G3 to my friends G4 (which has a dvd drive) via firwire. I then use "target disk mode" by restarting my computer while holding the T key and thus set up my G3 as the "target" disk. The G4 (the "host" hard drive) is then restarted with the Tiger install dvd and then he selects my computer (which should now show up on his) as the destination disc to install Tiger.

After install I restart my computer normally and all should be well barring any unforeseeable glitches. I've never had any hardware or softeware issues in the three years I've had my G3 and neither has my friend with his G4. I've also confirmed that my firmware is more than adequate in terms of compatibility. So with patience and perhaps a smidgen of prayer it should go allright and serve until the actual Tiger install CDs arrive.

If it doesn't work then I can aways reinstall my Jaguar CDs and upgrade it all back to 10.2.8. Hell, if I'd realized all this hassle I'd never have bought Tiger since I've no real complaints with my current setup. I'd have put the money towards getting the remaining 512 RAM to upgrade my machine to 1G, and then that would have served fine until I eventually upgrade to a new computer sometime down the road.

#4 Tue, 24 May 2005 - 14:55

Well, there was news about Tiger being a DVD install long before it came out. While a DVD drive isn't listed in the system requirements section of the Tech Specs page, it is listed in the System Requirements of the upgrade page.

#5 Tue, 24 May 2005 - 15:06

I have read that it can be done with the help of an iPod, or any other external Firewire disk.
Create an image of the Tiger install DVD and 'Restore' the image to your iPod.

Then you should be able to boot from the iPod like if its the Tiger install DVD!

#6 Tue, 24 May 2005 - 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warp9

Does your system have Firewire? I'd guess so, as it's an installation requirement.

You could boot your system into firewire target disk mode, plug it into another system, run the installer, and do the install on your system. Should work fine. Pretty easy.

#7 Fri, 27 May 2005 - 09:41

Last night I picked up the appropriate 6-6 pin firewire cable and tomorrow my friend is bringing over his G4 PowerBook and we're going to give it a try to install Tiger by "target disc mode." Here's hoping it works.

#8 Sat, 28 May 2005 - 21:05

Eureka! Installed Tiger successfully using the "target disc mode" method and firewire.

One little thing though: the "host" computer rebooted fine, but the "target" did not. And when I hit the reset or restart button the computer took forever to reboot and actually seemed to freeze. On intuition I then restarted while holding the "X" key down and the computer rebooted instantly and quickly to the Setup Assistant. Very Nice.

I've already upgraded to 10.4.1 and this week I'll dispeatch the install DVD for exchange for the install CDs.At least now in the interim I have Tiger installed and can pole around and explore it at my leisure.