Unsupported versions of Mac OS X on a Power Macintosh G3?

[LeonardoIannelliRETRIEVES]

IIRC I have an old Power Macintosh G3 (Minitower) lying around, and I was thinking of playing around with it. It can run any version of Mac OS from 8.0 to 10.2.8. However, I read on Wikipedia that the beige Power Mac G3s can run up to 10.4 Tiger with third-party software, and 10.5 Leopard by upgrading the CPU to a PowerPC G4. What third party software runs Tiger on one of these Power Mac G3s, Leopard on earlier Power Mac G4s, etc.? Can said third-party software run Leopard on said Power Mac G3s via the beta builds that supported the G3 processor? How does the G4 processor upgrade work, and is it too risky to be worth it?

[anonymous74]

The tool you’re after is called XPostFacto. It will get you up to tiger on your minitower no problem, I’ve used it on a 1st gen clamshell iBook and it works great. As for processor upgrades, you can take a G4 out of a “yikes” model Power Mac G4. That would still mean you would have to hack on leopard to work, but it would be as simple as installing it on a supported machine and moving it over. Then it should work fine. You can go the route of a 3rd party upgrade card like a sonnet or similar, but those are quite rare and expensive.
Good luck! Let me know if you need any more help.

[LeonardoIannelliRETRIEVES]

The tool you’re after is called XPostFacto. It will get you up to tiger on your minitower no problem, I’ve used it on a 1st gen clamshell iBook and it works great. As for processor upgrades, you can take a G4 out of a “yikes” model Power Mac G4. That would still mean you would have to hack on leopard to work, but it would be as simple as installing it on a supported machine and moving it over. Then it should work fine. You can go the route of a 3rd party upgrade card like a sonnet or similar, but those are quite rare and expensive.
Good luck! Let me know if you need any more help.

Thanks. Where can I download XPostFacto, and what is a "yikes" model Power Mac G4?

[anonymous74]

It's on OWC's website: https://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XP ... acto3.html

The "Yikes" Power Mac G4 was the very first generation of "graphite" G4s, pretty much a blue and white g3 motherboard with a g4 processor installed.

[LeonardoIannelliRETRIEVES]

It's on OWC's website: https://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XP ... acto3.html

The "Yikes" Power Mac G4 was the very first generation of "graphite" G4s, pretty much a blue and white g3 motherboard with a g4 processor installed.

Thanks for the answers. I also have a question about XPostFacto and its spiritual successor for 10.5, LeopardAssist: Do one or both of those work with Mac OS X Leopard build 9A303, and does LeopardAssist work with 10.6 Snow Leopard build 10A190?

[anonymous74]

XPostFacto is known to NOT support any version of leopard. This likely includes the betas, but you can always try. As for LeopardAssist, I’ve never heard of it until now so I can’t speak on its behalf.
Sorry for the late reply.

[Josephlj945]

Xpostfacto will indeed install Tiger on any G3. Though it isn't full proof. My Beige always boots into OS 9 first, then I have to use xpostfacto to get to Tiger. As for Leopard, if upgraded to a G4 while it is possible to run Leopard on it, it is a huge pain, and requires much more than tricking it to install. I actually had to find a modified image of Leopard with support for PCI powermacs to get it to run on my B&W G4. I haven't even bothered with Leopard on my G4 upgraded Beige.

[LeonardoIannelliRETRIEVES]

I actually had to find a modified image of Leopard with support for PCI powermacs to get it to run on my B&W G4.

Where did you get that modified Leopard image? I think it would be useful for me.