LeopardAssist originated from LowEndMac in Dylan McDermond's December 6th 2007 post "Faking Out the Leopard Installer with Open Firmware". The simple techniques he used in that article became the basis for the structure we were about to use.
LeopardAssist does just what was posted in his article. Using a temporary Open Firmware "trick", it changes the reported CPU speed to 867mhz and starts the installer from CD.
The application writes a script into your computers Parameter RAM (PRAM) changing the CPU entry in the device tree to 867mhz. On restart, Open Firmware loads as normal with the 867mhz script in place, switches to CD or DVD and boots from it, where the Leopard installer takes over.
This simple trick means you don't have to modify your DVD to install Leopard. Finally, when installation is done or when installation is ready to reboot, you simply flash the PRAM back to restore the original CPU speed and restore booting from the hard disk.
That's all there is to it!
DOWNLOAD
Current Version is 2.0. This release overhauls the codebase at the request of testers worldwide. It attempts to improve support across all systems, including ones previously known unsupported or problematic. This version also sports a completely rewritten user interface.
- Eliminated Boot File, data is written directly to PRAM
- Major Bug Fixes
- New User Interface
- Tested on second generation PowerPCs (eMac G4)
DOWNLOAD VERSION 2.0 (988KB)
Older Releases
Many changes have been made in the latest versions and use of the latest version is always recommended. We provide the older versions as a service to the community.
DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.2 (1.0MB)
DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.1 (1.0MB)
Current Version is 2.0. This release overhauls the codebase at the request of testers worldwide. It attempts to improve support across all systems, including ones previously known unsupported or problematic. This version also sports a completely rewritten user interface.
- Eliminated Boot File, data is written directly to PRAM
- Major Bug Fixes
- New User Interface
- Tested on second generation PowerPCs (eMac G4)
DOWNLOAD VERSION 2.0 (988KB)
Older Releases
Many changes have been made in the latest versions and use of the latest version is always recommended. We provide the older versions as a service to the community.
DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.2 (1.0MB)
DOWNLOAD VERSION 1.1 (1.0MB)
We offer LeopardAssist to the public, free of charge in the hopes it will help get Leopard on to those older machines. Consider it a service to the community, and we hope you find it useful.