Installing Tiger on an G4 iMac without a keyboard.

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slave187

Registered
Hello,

I recently did some work to a 15" 700mhz G4 iMac I got as a gift. I put in a new hard drive, DVD burner and an airport card. Now I'm at the point where I need to install Tiger. I have the original owner's disks, but the only form of input I have for the iMac is an old USB keyboard which was used for the PlayStation 2.

I tested the keyboard on my MacBook and found that it works fine, but only after I had to run a test to recognize what kind it was. I'm pretty sure that since I can't plug and play with this keyboard (without running a test) I won't be able to use it to install Tiger.

So this is where I'm stuck. Is my problem as easy to fix as borrowing a more modern, made-for-a-computer keyboard? And if so, does it have to be from Apple, or will a Logitech or Dell work nicely?

Thank you.
 
Any keyboard will work fine, as long as they've got the standard control, alt and delete buttons and are not foreign-style keyboards with a completely different key layout (hell, even then they'd probably work).

Why won't the PS2 keyboard work? Does it have the control and alt keys? If so, you should be able to use it just fine with the iMac for installation purposes... just be aware that when you use a Windows keyboard with a Mac, the control and alt keys are switched (Control on a Mac keyboard is actually alt [or the Windows key, I can't remember] on the Windows keyboard, and option/alt on the Mac keyboard is actually Control [or the Windows key]).
 
slave187 said:
Hello,

I recently did some work to a 15" 700mhz G4 iMac I got as a gift. I put in a new hard drive, DVD burner and an airport card. Now I'm at the point where I need to install Tiger. I have the original owner's disks, but the only form of input I have for the iMac is an old USB keyboard which was used for the PlayStation 2.

I tested the keyboard on my MacBook and found that it works fine, but only after I had to run a test to recognize what kind it was. I'm pretty sure that since I can't plug and play with this keyboard (without running a test) I won't be able to use it to install Tiger.

So this is where I'm stuck. Is my problem as easy to fix as borrowing a more modern, made-for-a-computer keyboard? And if so, does it have to be from Apple, or will a Logitech or Dell work nicely?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Yes, any USB computer keyboard will work. You may have to do a little tweaking as some keys are only available on the Mac keyboards, but for regular use it should be fine. You would basically have to use the Windows keys as the Command keys and the Alt keys for the Option keys. But once you've set yourself you should be fine. You could also use an older iMac USB keyboard if that doesn't bother you.
 
Thanks so much for the quick and detailed replies.

The reason I was worried the PS2 keyboard wouldn't work is because I hold down "C" while I reboot with the Tiger disk in the iMac and nothing happens. I thought "C" was the right key to hold down, but I'm probably wrong.

Also, I was worried the keyboard needed to somehow be tested on the iMac before I could use it. When I tested it on the MacBook I was prompted to test it before I could actually use it.

So I guess my next questions is: What key(s) do I push/hold during installation? You would think a question this simple would be in the manual, but that has gone missing long ago in my Uncle's pig sty he calls an apartment.
 
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