OEM iBook G3 "Custom Software Restore" discs

[mac27]

So I came across this eBay listing, for a set of four OEM software discs for an iBook G3 that are labeled as "Custom Software Restore" 1 through 4: https://www.ebay.com/itm/205997149246


I was rather intrigued right away - the first thing that caught my eye was the fact that they're orange, because the last standard iBook discs that Apple shipped in an orange color came with the clamshells several years prior to when these would have been produced. And there were only two discs in that set, with different artwork etc. These have OS 9.2.2 & 10.1.4 on them, meaning they originally must have come with one of the "Snow" iBook G3s around 2002.

The fact that they have actual part numbers and so on is also interesting. I'd be curious to know more about what these were for, if anyone knows.

 

[akator70]

It does seem a bit odd. I bought a 2001 iBook G3 new and it came with the grey discs. My 2003 iMac came with grey discs. My 2005 Minis came with grey discs.

I'm curious what you find out.

 

[mac27]

Well as they say, "curiosity killed the cat" right? The seller sent out one of those discount offers, and I was too curious to say no to it. So here they are:



They arrived today and are basically in perfect condition. These have OS 9.2.2 & OS X 10.1.4 on them, meaning they originally must have come with one of the "Snow" iBook G3s around 2002.

Here is one of the discs next to one of the orange discs for the early iBook clamshells (even though there is quite a time difference). The clamshell disc is so dark it almost makes it look yellow, but it's most definitely orange - just a lighter shade.



Anyways, I popped the first (of 4) disc into one of my snow iBooks and the disc's name shows up as "Michigan TTI iBook Restore CD":



So that is part of the mystery solved, although a Google search for "Michigan TTI" came up inconclusive. Mostly just a bunch of random businesses all with TTI in the name, so who knows what the original was.

I then was able to boot from the disc (on my 14" iBook G3 Snow, 800 MHz), but Software Restore didn't see the hard drive for some reason so I couldn't restore to it. I also tried it in my 12", but as I suspected it's too early of a machine to be compatible with it.



So that's a bummer, but anyways. TIL that Apple apparently produced custom restore discs for certain customers (?), would be curious to know more about how that worked.