[G4] firmware: update needed?

[Eric Smith]

Ronald Steinke wrote:
> On Mar 12, 2008, at 2:18 PM, Eric Smith wrote:
> 
>> * One way to run Leopard on an under-spec'd system would be to install it
>> on a conforming system and then simply move the disk to another machine.
> 
> There is one thing drastically wrong with this approach.
> 
> When you do the install on the first machine, the installer puts in 
> portions of the software that are specific to THAT machine. If you move 
> the hard drive with that installed software to another machine, you may 
> not have all the portions that the second machine needs and you may have 
> portions that are only applicable to the first machine.
> 
> In other words, you take a chance on getting the proper software 
> installed to run the second machine properly. You may win, and you may 
> lose, it's up to chance on that.
> 
> My recommendation is to use a Firewire connection and start the older 
> machine in Target Mode, do the installation and select the older hard 
> drive as the destination of the installation. I did this with a 633MHz 
> G4 and Leopard runs as well as I can ask it to.
> 
> YMMV, good luck.

I guess I don't understand how that is any different than installing
Leopard on a separate disk on one machine and then moving it to another
machine. When you have your system in target disk mode, all you're
doing, as I understand, is making its disk available to another system
as a firewire disk.

In other words, how is it different than removing the disk from machine A,
putting it in machine B to install the OS, and then replacing it in
machine A? (Other than just the convenience of not physically removing
the drive.)

Eric