Project G3: Getting Leopard on an Unsupported Mac

[MacPro2006VBox]

I’m going to try updating QuickTime to 7.2 final...

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

And.....even that broke it.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

So, don’t use QuickTime.... at all. iTunes will handle MP4’s and MOV’s downloaded from YouTube just fine... QuickTime just results in the audio playing but no video.

 

[christiann]

Here are the other builds for anybody interested in this project.

Thank you so so much

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

So, what’s new in version 303 compared with 241?

 

[christiann]

Btw, I added tons of things and renovated the post. Got 9A303 downloaded.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Btw, I added tons of things and renovated the post. Got 9A303 downloaded.

9A303 while it boots the copy of the Finder it has crashes.... has to do with Carbon.framework.

 

[christiann]

9A303 while it boots the copy of the Finder it has crashes.... has to do with Carbon.framework.

Did you clone an install from a supported Mac or burn it to a DVD? A DVD didn’t work for me but I will try it on my G4 and clone it

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Did you clone an install from a supported Mac or burn it to a DVD? A DVD didn’t work for me but I will try it on my G4 and clone it

I was able to use the same method as I did for 241. 303 has a broken Carbon framework.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Reinstallation of 9A303 is in progress. Will try taking the carbon framework from 9A241 to see if that fixes anything.

 

[Project Alice]

9A303 while it boots the copy of the Finder it has crashes.... has to do with Carbon.framework.

I was able to use the same method as I did for 241. 303 has a broken Carbon framework.

Reinstallation of 9A303 is in progress. Will try taking the carbon framework from 9A241 to see if that fixes anything.

I'm not sure why you can't boot 9A303. I've had no problem booting it.




Once booted however, it's basically useless. Finder hangs and relaunches when opening any finder window. This is why I have actual photos instead of screenshots.
It only does it on G3s, not G4s. Not sure why.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

I'm not sure why you can't boot 9A303. I've had no problem booting it.

View attachment 1763803 View attachment 1763804


Once booted however, it's basically useless. Finder hangs and relaunches when opening any finder window. This is why I have actual photos instead of screenshots.
It only does it on G3s, not G4s. Not sure why.

It’ll boot fine but I’m faced with the same issue as you. Replacing the Carbon framework with the one found in 9A241, results in inability to login. It’ll kick me back to the login screen. Likewise, replacing it with the one found in Tiger results in the system not booting the whole way, sitting there spinning at the boot screen.

 

[Project Alice]

It’ll boot fine but I’m faced with the same issue as you. Replacing the Carbon framework with the one found in 9A241, results in inability to login. It’ll kick me back to the login screen. Likewise, replacing it with the one found in Tiger results in the system not booting the whole way, sitting there spinning at the boot screen.

WTh. I think my eyes have been changing words lately, lol. I could've sworn I read you said it wouldn't boot.

I haven't been playing with my Macs as much lately, I go through phases. One of these days I'll play with this build again. I wonder if we could swap the entire Finder.app?
I was able to use this build on a G4, and Finder was still way buggier than 9A241 was, though not as crippling as on the G3. The subsequent build is more stable. I'd really like to try to get 9A410 or at least 343 working. It gets further than later builds.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

WTh. I think my eyes have been changing words lately, lol. I could've sworn I read you said it wouldn't boot.

I haven't been playing with my Macs as much lately, I go through phases. One of these days I'll play with this build again. I wonder if we could swap the entire Finder.app?
I was able to use this build on a G4, and Finder was still way buggier than 9A241 was, though not as crippling as on the G3. The subsequent build is more stable. I'd really like to try to get 9A410 or at least 343 working. It gets further than later builds.

9A303 is the last that boots on a G3, despite the fact that it is broken in terms of the Finder. 9A410 would be nice.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

I plan on hacking in the intro music from Jaguar for the heck of it... once we figure out how we can image a system without the restore being unable to boot.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Anyone try build 9A283 yet?

 

[Project Alice]

Anyone try build 9A283 yet?

It isn’t available even on the beta archive

 

[Sydde]

If you are having trouble with Finder, perhaps you could obtain a PPC version of PathFinder. It is superior to Finder in many ways and just a small change in, as I recall, /Library/loginitems.plist allows you to use it entirely in place of Finder (this is what I was doing on my Cube). The tricky bit, though, is getting a reg, though Cocoatech (the author) might be able to help.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

If you are having trouble with Finder, perhaps you could obtain a PPC version of PathFinder. It is superior to Finder in many ways and just a small change in, as I recall, /Library/loginitems.plist allows you to use it entirely in place of Finder (this is what I was doing on my Cube). The tricky bit, though, is getting a reg, though Cocoatech (the author) might be able to help.

I tried to reach out and received an automated response.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Anything new yet?

 

[Person132]

Hi, I saw this forum and thought I could help testing out builds. I have a clamshell running at 466mhz with maxed out ram. Just ask me what you need tested and I can do it.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Hi, I saw this forum and thought I could help testing out builds. I have a clamshell running at 466mhz with maxed out ram. Just ask me what you need tested and I can do it.

I’ve done a decent amount of testing on my G3, and 9A241 is the most usable of the few builds that boot, with 9A303 being almost completely unusable due to the Finder not cooperating. I would test 9A283 or 9A241e but those haven’t been leaked yet.

Sadly you can’t update iTunes very far (due to QuickTime not being able to be updated past final 7.2 without breaking your install.) but you can slightly (manually) update Safari to 3.1.1, which allows for it work instead of crashing.

 

[Person132]

I’ve done a decent amount of testing on my G3, and 9A241 is the most usable of the few builds that boot, with 9A303 being almost completely unusable due to the Finder not cooperating. I would test 9A283 or 9A241e but those haven’t been leaked yet.

Sadly you can’t update iTunes very far (due to QuickTime not being able to be updated past final 7.2 without breaking your install.) but you can slightly (manually) update Safari to 3.1.1, which allows for it work instead of crashing.

Oof, okay I guess all we can do is wait until someone finds and leaks the builds.

 

[Person132]

Oof, okay I guess all we can do is wait until someone finds and leaks the builds.

So I see what you mean about the newer versions, I managed to get the installer to boot, but it hangs at a blue screen then shuts off. This is on all versions past 9a303.

 

[MacPro2006VBox]

Hi all. Welcome to the community WikiPost. We will be discussing Leopard on G3’s.

If you want to discuss this project (as well as Snow Leopard on PowerPC Macs, which covers the 2008 WWDC build as well as build 10a190), you can chat on the joint Discord here: Mythical OSX on PowerPC Mac

This thread has guides and discussions about this topic.

View attachment 1758275

Let's begin here:

9A466 is confirmed NOT working on G3s.

Macintosh Garden download link to the builds

THANKS TO @Project Alice, any of the G3 builds that were previously locked up on BetaArchive are freed. So kudos to them.

The G3 patcher script development will continue as of April 14, 2021. Looking for people willing to work with us on the script.

Currently looking for testers (any G3 non- Old World Mac that runs Tiger but not Leopard)

Here are the TESTED BUILDS:

Build version:	Working: (Y/N)
9A241	YES, NATIVE
9A241e	UNTESTED (NOT LEAKED YET) - based on testing of 9A241, it is likely to also work on G3’s.
9A283	UNTESTED (NOT LEAKED YET) - based on testing builds 9A241 and 9A303 - which come between this build, it is likely to work on G3’s as well.
9A303	YES, NATIVE (CRASHING Finder: issue with Carbon library)
9A321	NOT WORKING
9A343	NOT WORKING
9A377a	NOT Working
9A410	NOT Working
9A466	NOT Working

Many threads have not been updated since 06/07 since Leopard was announced.


*This is the only current thread out there right now!*

Make sure you have 750MB of RAM or else this will be horribly slow.




Thanks to @Jack Neill for finding the download link.

Thanks to @bunnspecial, and @dosdude1 for answering our questions!

Spoiler: Editing the installer

Here are the steps to modify the installer:

*At this time, Apple did not change to Xar on package contents until the first beta that actually looks like Leopard. It’s basically Tiger with backups and new features. So don’t worry about DarwinPorts and Xar.*

1 First step: Download the first beta build of Leopard (9A241 to 9A303)
here.
Extract it.


(MAKE AN IMAGE OF YOUR LEOPARD BETA and burn to Dual Layer DVD or USB FLASH)

2 Step two: Inside the Leopard build, go to installation inside system. Then look for and then find the file named OSinstall.mpkg.

1. Open with TextEdit and delete OSmodelCheck.
2. Next, change hwbeSupportedMachines to the model identifier of the Mac you are installing it on.
3. Delete the BadMachines.
4. *I used part of @suneohair guide on this. Credit to them for this part* Ok, here are the instructions: In this line below, change the return false to return “true” to install on a G3. No quotes. Here is the large line below: var minRam = 512;
   function checkSupportedMachine(machineType){
   // Fail on G3
   if (1 != system.sysctl('hw.vectorunit') ) {
   return false;
   }
   
   var badMachines = ['MacBook3,1','iMac','PowerBook1,1','PowerBook2,1', 'AAPL,Gossamer', 'AAPL,PowerMac G3', 'AAPL,PowerBook1998', 'AAPL,PowerBook1999'];
   
   if(machineType){
   var length = badMachines.length;
   
   // Fail if any of the compatible values match the list of badMachines
   for( var j = 0; j < length; j++ ){
   if(machineType == badMachines[j]){
   return false;
   }
   
   }
   
   }
   
   // require 867Mhz+
   if (system.sysctl("hw.cpufrequency") < 866000000) {
   return false;
   }
   
   return true;
   }
5. Change require 867MHZ to just below your current processor speed.
6. Edit the RAM to just lower than what you have in the MinRam line. Change to something like 256.
7. Save the document in text edit. Then exit.

You have successfully edited the installer. Make sure that you saved. Now proceed to install.

Install w Dual Layer DVD, A usb flash drive or a firewire drive, etc.

Continue reading after you’ve installed!

I have added several kexts for post install patches for the G3 Macs (I forgot who posted them, and cannot find the thread)

We would also like to merge with https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ads/defunct-native-os-x-10-5-on-a-g3.1913119/ as we could advance further into this project with their help.

I (christiann) have a basic script that is supposed to modify the installer. it is old and I have no idea if it works, but I will still upload it.

All of the legacy G3 files for Leopard are below,

Regards,

The G3 Community

How’s the script coming along?