Is there a “hack” to make MacOS X 10.5 “Leopard” run on the Power Mac G4 Cube?
Officially, the Power Mac G4 Cube is only capable of running MacOS X 10.4.11 “Tiger” and lower. However, as first discovered by the always excellent Low End Mac, it is possible to essentially “trick” the MacOS X 10.5 “Leopard” installer DVD to think that a Power Mac G4 Cube has an 867 MHz processor prior to installation and then switch it back to the actual speed afterwards with a simple Open Firmware modification. Using the same method, GenThree went a step further and created an application called LeopardAssist that provides a GUI for the previously text-based procedure. Please note that GenThree is no longer officially supported by the developer and keep in mind that MacOS X 10.5 “Leopard” does not support the MacOS 9 “Classic Environment” even when running on systems that support “Classic” when booting MacOS X 10.4 “Tiger” (like the Power Mac G4 Cube). This may be a major disadvantage for some users. Your results may vary — this is a “hack” after all — and it is not supported by
