I am wanting to put mac os x on my g3?

Question

ok, yeah my g3 dosn't have the recomended memory. And no fire wire or dvd drive. can I install from a location on my network?

Answer 1

Even though Apple does not support installing 10.4 on a computer without built-in Firewire, it is still possible to install it and get certain third-party FW cards to work. Also, it is possible to use 10.2.8 with as little as 64MB of RAM although you may not be happy with the performance. If you like to putz around with wierd stuff, go for it and see how you like it. After all, I once installed 10.2.8 on a PowerMac 8600 and the performance was not bad. OK, I admit, it had 1024 MB of RAM. That didn't hurt.

Up to 10.3 was made available on CD as an option so you may still find that format instead of DVDs. Otherwise, try and external Firewire DVD drive after you buy a Firewire PCI card that will work (see link below). No guarantees, mate.

You didn't mention which G3 you have (beige or blue & white). You should do any firmware updates before you attempt the X install. For a beige G3, if your hard drive is ATA over 8GB, you should create two or more partitions, using Drive Setup utility, such that the one listed uppermost has less than 8GB of volume and install on that one. Partitioning will erase all data on the entire drive, so forwarned. The installer will not accept a larger size of ATA volume for a beige G3. Blue and White G3, no limit on install drive volume.

Answer 2

If your g3 has a cd rom, you can install 10.2 or maybe even 10.3 but your out of luck on 10.4, one of it's requirements is to have firewire installed. Look for install cds that will be compatible with your g3.

Answer 3

You can't use OS X if you don't meet basic or recommended requirements. Either buy memory, an external dvdrw drive, and maybe a new hard drive, OR get a new mac.