Installing Mac OS X 10.2 Server on the Power Mac G4 (FireWire 800)

Last week we reported that Apple's new OS X-only booting Power Mac G4s and OS X-only booting PowerBooks have trouble booting from the Mac OS X 10.2 Server CD.

Our previous workaround involved updating the actual Mac OS X 10.2 Server installer to work with the new systems' updated ROM. Now MacFixIt reader Felix Robillard suggests disconnecting the drive, placing it in an OS 9-boot capable system (which can also recognize the Mac OS X 10.2 Server installer), and then re-connecting it internally to the OS X-only Mac:

"Install Mac OSX server 10.2 on a non OSX-only machine by pulling out the hard drive from your unsupported machine and plug it into a supported one, then install a fresh system on it and before it reboots, just shut down, pull out the hard drive and re-install it in your unsupported Mac."

Feedback on this issue? Drop us a line at late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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