Installing Yellow Dog Without an Optical Drive

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Installing Yellow Dog Without an Optical Drive

Postby ConnorCimowsky » 18 Aug 2010, 00:19

Hey there everyone,

I've been trying to install Yellow Dog on my iBook G4, which doesn't have a functional optical drive; I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried booting a different Mac into target disk mode with the disc in, I've tried cloning the install image onto a FireWire hard drive, and I've even transplanted the optical drive from a USB disc reader into a FireWire hard drive enclosure; all with no luck.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks a lot!
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Re: Installing Yellow Dog Without an Optical Drive

Postby aguilarojo » 05 Sep 2010, 22:31

ConnorCimowsky wrote:Hey there everyone,

I've been trying to install Yellow Dog on my iBook G4, which doesn't have a functional optical drive; I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried booting a different Mac into target disk mode with the disc in, I've tried cloning the install image onto a FireWire hard drive, and I've even transplanted the optical drive from a USB disc reader into a FireWire hard drive enclosure; all with no luck.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks a lot!


Hi ConnorCimowsky,

First, you absolutely need a working optical drive. The specs I'm referencing regarding what you need are posted here. I'm well aware that everyone is watching their expenditures these days so I understand the careful evaluation necessary in considering either repairing the internal drive you have, purchasing a new one or making a completely different decision. Considering the cost of repair has to be measured against the cost advantage of just getting a new internal one designed for that G4 you own.

Second, you also have the option to borrow or buy an external optical drive to read the YDL DVD you already have. If the YDL DVD has been built correctly you should be able to boot it from either an internal or external optical drive.

YDL to function however can only boot from an internal hard drive. This by necessity implies that some decision was made to partition the Apple HD to for YDL only or to allow OS X to have it's own partition. The instructions for doing this are here. Again these details although not directly related to your problem of needing an optical drive are related to the overall installation procedure employed.

Regarding where you may get either repair services or a replacement optical drive I'd recommend Other World Computing (OWC). I've had good experience with their services, as you explore their site and before you purchase anything make sure that you speak with someone that can satisfy you regarding what they offer and what you are getting. General advice perhaps best practiced anywhere.

I've been able to use an external optical drive which I acquired from OWC to boot a YDL install disk from, so doing such a procedure wasn't impossible for me. However I've had a lot of experience insuring that all the other factors essential in completing a YDL installation were properly addressed -- which is why I went through a brief overview of some the things which can be overlooked. I omitted for instance the standard and necessary practice of insuring that the .iso you downloaded and burned your YDL DVD from actually matches the official SHA1SUM value published by Terra Soft/Fixstars. If it didn't (meaning that the SHA1SUM test failed to exactly match each digit of the official value), then the YDL DVD you burned is itself faulty and not worth the time.

Good Luck!!

Everything on the Earth has a purpose.
Every disease an herb to cure it.
And every person has a mission.
This is the Indian Theory of Existence.
-- Morning Dove, Salish (1888-1936)
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