[G4] firmware: update needed?

[John Baltutis]

On 03/11/08, Karen H <piddlepot at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks John for your speedy reply. I borrowed a hard drive and have
>successfully updated the firmware to 4.2.8. It might be my imagination, but I
>think it's running faster. Thanks for your comments, and suggestions on newer
>OSs...

Glad to see you had no problems.

> I might have access to a *legal* copy of Tiger install disks once the current
>user upgrades to Leopard. Would those work on a G4 if they came with an intel
>2.4GHz aluminum imac? I'm a little hesistant to try a new OS when I have a
>30GB hard drive and 640MB of ram...

First thing I'd do is put a second HD (up to 150 GB, although when you format
it, the max you'll be able to use is 128 GB) into the machine, put a bootable
backup/clone of what's on the 30 GB HD to it, boot into it to ensure that works
exactly like the original, then get another one to replace the 30 GB HD. It's
basically too small to be of use and, IIRC, is the original that came with the
machine, so you're pushing its reliability. I see in a later post you've upped
the RAM, which is the second thing to do.

IMO, only use retail OS X install disks. Machine specific ones usually require
that hardware for installation, so I doubt that those will work with your
machine. BTW, I'd skip Tiger and make the leap to Leopard. Tiger's almost three
years old, Leopard's five months and with the 10.5.2 update much stabler than
the original.