Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4...slowly
From OSXHints comes a very interesting patch for those of you rolling with G4s. This one allows you to (slowly) run iMovie '09 on your elder hardware.
To patch iMovie '09 so that it will run on a PowerPC G4, Control-click on iMovie and pick Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. In the new window that appears, navigate into Contents » MacOS. Now you'll need a hex editor such as the free HexEdit; once you have that, edit the file iMovie in the MacOS folder.
Use the File » Go To Address function in HexEdit to go to the following addresses, and replace each existing entry at those addresses (7C 08 02 A6) with 4E 80 00 20. The addresses are 15fb9c, 15fc7c, and 15fe00.
What you're doing here is replacing the PowerPC instruction for mflr r0, which basically initializes the stack for the called function, with blr, which essentially causes the called function to always return, voiding the purpose of the function. So when the function is the PowerPC check, you've essentially patched your way around it.
When done, save the file and quit HexEdit, and iMovie '09 should launch on your G4.
Latest Stories on 9 to 5 Mac
- Apple patents the 3D Apple Store - Alice in Avatar-land
- Surprise: Warner admits iTunes sales slow on price hikes
- Apple ships Aperture 3: 64-bit, Snow Leopard/Intel only, 200 features, $199/£169 (demo available)
- What's coming to the Apple Store this morning?
- Apple Store Down. Can we has Core i7 MacBook Pros?
- Apple podcasts Mac advice video clips
- iPhone gains, BlackBerry loses US smartphone marketshare


Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Comments (5)
Interesting. Has anyone tried this? Post your results!
hmmmm... This is a bit misleading. Or maybe just confusing. It says right click on iMovie. Exactly where is iMovie? Clearly it has not yet been installed. If you navigate through the installer package, there is an iMovie package but no MacOS folder within it. Maybe someone, or the author, can shed a light on the situation...
Exactly. there is an iMovie package but no "MacOS folder" within it!!!
So how we can do it without it???
Not sure what you guys are missing. I see Contents > MacOS > iMovie.
I haven't tried this hack yet, but when I do I'll report in.
Does this work for '08? Cuz my G4 doesn't meet the system requirements for that either.