What is Mac OS X v10.4.2 Tiger / Install Disc 1 / Bad Machine or Unsupported G3 MOD?

Ever wanted to install Mac OS X Tiger on an older PPC machine (that you've no doubt upgraded with a new HDD and RAM, possibly even a CPU swap!) but Tiger says that your machine is "unsupported" when you go to install it? Or you're getting a gray prohibitory sign when trying to boot your G3 with the Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger install disk? Search no longer, this is the solution!

This is a very simple mod which modifies the badMachines line of the installer distribution so that the installation will start regardless of your machine's build. The reason these machines are in this list to begin with is usually because they don't have a built-in FireWire port. I based this mod on the CD version of the Tiger installer instead of the DVD version so I could install it on my iMac G3 which still has its original CD drive. I mostly followed the guide here to build this.

USAGE:

1. If you are doing this on an iMac G3, first make sure that your iMac G3's firmware is updated.
2. Download the modified disc 1 image linked on this page
3. Download discs 2-4 from this page: Mac OS X v10.4.2 Tiger. Install Discs 1-4 (CD)
4. Burn all these images to CD's or USB sticks (this DMG file can be burned as is, no need to convert it to ISO)
5. Boot the 1st installation disc, and proceed with installation as usual (DON'T try to start the installation from within an existing installation, it will still complain about the machine not being supported)

I've tested this with my Tangerine iMac G3 Revision D with only 256 MB of RAM and the stock 6GB hard drive before I updated it and ran into no installation issues! Obviously your performance will vary based on the hardware in your actual device.

See also: XPostFacto, an utility that runs in Mac OS 9 and allows an user to do the same thing.

 

Download Mac OS X v10.4.2 Tiger / Install Disc 1 / Bad Machine or Unsupported G3 MOD for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 10.4 up to Mac OS 10.4

Compatibility notes

From lowendmac.com: 

* The Kanga PowerBook has never been certified for any version of OS X.

Emulating this? It could probably run under: QEMU