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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4 Apps
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.

[robg adds: I haven't tested this one.]
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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4 | 42 comments | Create New Account
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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: schoschie on Wed, Feb 4 2009 at 9:05AM PST
This is crazy! A real old-school hack. I tip my hat.

And I'm wondering – is Apple checking for PowerPC platform in iMovie 09 because it uses code that is specific to Intel and won't compile on PPC, or – so that iMovie simply won't run on PPC, no matter what, just so that more people are forced to upgrade to Intel Macs?

The former would be expected, but I distrust large corporations enough that I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: Typhoon14 on Wed, Feb 4 2009 at 9:19AM PST
iMovie 09 does not require an intel Mac, it simply requires a fast PowerPC. Specifically, a G5 of a least 1.5 ghz. In other words, the check is there simply to prevent it from being run on old systems where performance is going to be very subpar.

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: momerath on Wed, Feb 4 2009 at 7:20PM PST
Just a suggestion: I find <a href="http://ridiculousfish.com/hexfiend/">Hex Fiend</a> to be the hex editor of choice. It handles large files much more quickly and gracefully.

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: r0n on Wed, Feb 4 2009 at 11:50PM PST
Good one, I was using 0xED ;)
http://www.suavetech.com/0xed/0xed.html


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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: Franco on Sat, Dec 19 2009 at 3:08PM PST
When using 0xED, be sure to set it in "overwrite" mode, and select "big endian", otherwise iMovie will crash upon launch after saving.

When I downloaded and installed 0xED, this was *not* the default setting.

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: TomStockwell on Fri, Mar 13 2009 at 8:52PM PDT
Hi, I'm disparate to use your technique to get iMovie on my G4. I'm new to what your describing so I need some more help. In your instructions it seemed like you were saying that I should go ahead and do the install of the iMovie App first and then do the edit (of MacOS>iMovie) in Hex Fiend. However I couldn't see the file once it was installed. I could however drill down to the file and open it by extracting it, using Pacifist, to my desktop and then editing it in Hex Fiend. However Hex Fiend only had a "find" function and I couldn't find the three number combination you said to look for.

What am I doing wrong???? Please Help! Thanks! -t

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: sgalliver on Thu, Feb 5 2009 at 9:13AM PST
Great hint. Now, how about a hint on installing iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4 in the first place, for those of us without (easy) access to a newer Mac? :-) (The iLife '09 installer won't install iMovie on unsupported hardware.)

Many thanks.


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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: SSM on Thu, Feb 5 2009 at 10:34AM PST
I have the same question - How DO you install iMovie 09 on a G4?!?!?!?!?!?

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: SSM on Thu, Feb 5 2009 at 7:43PM PST
Update - I did some snooping online. Download and install Pacifist <http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12743>;
This will let you open the iLife install package from the disc and install iMovie, bypassing the normal MacOS installation process that checks versions. Then (BEFORE YOU OPEN iMove!!!) make the changes described in the original post.

Just got don doing this on my 1.67 GHz Powerbook G4, and it works beautifully. iMovie takes about 30 seconds to load (perhaps a bit longer than it should normally) but I have full functionality after that!!!



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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: TomStockwell on Fri, Mar 13 2009 at 9:11PM PDT
I just went back through the hex data again and was able to find: 15fb90 15fc70 and 15fe00 with 7C 08 02 A6 in one of the fields so I edited those to read: 4E 80 00 20, but I can't figure out how to get it back in the install folder.... t



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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: VirtualWolf on Sun, Feb 8 2009 at 3:43PM PST
Any chance of a similar hack for GarageBand so we can download lessons from within the app on PPC? :D

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: baconismidog on Wed, Feb 11 2009 at 11:39PM PST
Here is what I do for Garageband lessons

US instructions for downloading the next 9 free lessons:

IMPORTANT! Each time you don this -> make sure GarageBand is closed by choosing Quit from the menu or hitting ctrl-Q from Garageband.

Go to this link using Safari (not Firefox for this one guys...)

http://store.apple.com/us/lessons/home

Click "Download on the free lesson you want. You will see a bit of spin and then GarageBand will initialize. Choose download. You will then see the "Learn to play" error message but don't worry - it is downloading. You can verify that it is downloading by trying to close GarageBand - it will notify you if you continue you will cancel the download.

These can be big, so be patient. When it is finished, you can then go here:

/Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Learn To Play/

and see your new lesson!!!

Close GarageBand (imporant!) and repeat until you have all the lessons.


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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G5 1.8ghz
Authored by: Idntknow5572 on Thu, Feb 12 2009 at 11:42AM PST
I have an 1.8Ghz G5 Imac. Apple claims you need at least a 1.9 mhz G5 to run Imovie 09, but I read on this forum that you can run Imovie on slower machines by editing the code. Does Imovie install on my g5 without having to edit someting or do i really need the Hexedit?
I'm a Mac newbie so i hope somebody can help me figure this out before I decide to buy it and maybe spend a lot of money on an application that doesn't work anyway (Imovie is the main reason for buying Ilife).

Thanks,
Danny

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: wakeum13 on Wed, Mar 4 2009 at 10:16AM PST
I tried this out end everything works perfectly on my 1.67 GHz Powerbook G4 except I can't export movies to my MobileMe gallery. I am logged on in the system preferences but still no go. Any suggestions?

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.1) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Fri, Mar 27 2009 at 12:57AM PDT
Does anyone try this hack on iMovie 8.0.1?

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.1) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: RunAway on Fri, Mar 27 2009 at 6:37AM PDT
Hi, for iMovie 8.0.1 you have to use new offsets with same procedure.
So here new "magic" addresses:
162ff4: 4E 80 00 20
162e70: 4E 80 00 20
162d90: 4E 80 00 20

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.1) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Fri, Mar 27 2009 at 6:48AM PDT
Thank you RunAway, works great on my PB G4 @1.5 Ghz!

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.1) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: tonynickles on Sun, Mar 29 2009 at 10:51PM PDT
Yes I updated to 8.0.1, but I had to reinstall/replace "imovie" exec file in the imovie 09 app. and all was great...even runs faster....but there is a glitch.....can export NOTHING! Can any one help or make a hack for 8.0.1? Powerbook g4 1.67 1.5 ram

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: Krystalec on Thu, Apr 9 2009 at 9:48PM PDT
Hi!... I have a 1.67GHz Powerbook G4 and I have tried the installation suggestions listed in this thread for iMovie 09. However after I apply all of it -- then save and close my Hexeditor and try to open iMovie 09.....I keep getting a small window that states "iMovie has unexpectedly quit"....they I try to relaunch and the same error keeps appearing over and over again.

I tried re-installing the software and trying agin...but the same window keeps appearing.

What should I do?... Any suggestions?...

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.2) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Tue, Apr 14 2009 at 9:49PM PDT
RunAway, did you try the patch to iMovie 8.0.2? Thank you!

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.2) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: RunAway on Wed, Apr 15 2009 at 4:25AM PDT
Yep, and the magic number are....
162f84: 4E 80 00 20
162e00: 4E 80 00 20
162d20: 4E 80 00 20
ta daan! (same procedure as for other versions, same results)

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.2) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Wed, Apr 15 2009 at 10:54AM PDT
You did the hack! Thanks a lot!

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??????
Authored by: stewartfan on Fri, Apr 17 2009 at 7:13PM PDT
I tried this so many times and no dice...PLEASE HELP!!!

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??????
Authored by: palahala on Sat, Apr 18 2009 at 5:21AM PDT
Seriously, what kind of response do you expect?

(what did you try, what went well, what did not, what errors do you get, what's your exact machine configuration, ...)

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: ipcray on Fri, Apr 24 2009 at 10:46AM PDT
Please!!!!

Does anyone have the addresses and changes for the final version of imovie '08 (7.1.4)?

On late powerbooks like mine it was supposed to be excellent after the workaround.

I dont own 09 yet.....

Thanks in advance for any help!

PS- the old teksanity link seems to be gone.

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Fri, Jun 5 2009 at 5:22AM PDT
This is the link to download from teksanity:

http://www.teksanity.com/iMovie/iMovie_08_on_G4/Downloads.html

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Fri, Jun 5 2009 at 6:01AM PDT
Is the hack still functional with iMovie 8.0.3? Thanks in advance!

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.3) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Sat, Jun 6 2009 at 10:16PM PDT
RunAway, did you patch iMovie 8.0.3? Thanks in advance!

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.3) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Sat, Jun 20 2009 at 5:54AM PDT
Anyway, the hack for iMovie 8.0.3 is:

Position: New value

16bf0c: 4E 80 00 20
16bcec: 4E 80 00 20
16bc0c: 4E 80 00 20

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: lenavo on Sun, Jun 21 2009 at 9:53AM PDT
Thanks for this trick. I did it and iMovie opened in my PowerBook G4 1,67Ghz under OSX 10.5.7. However before each opening a window opens and says (in French sorry!)
"Composant QuickTime manquant
Le composant QuickTime nécessaire à l'affichage, l'édition, l'importation et l'exportation de films haute définition n'est pas installé. Il est intégré au programme d'installation d'iMovie ; veuillez le réinstaller."
That means:
"Component QuickTime missing
The component QuickTime needed for display, editing, import and esport of high resolution movies definition is not installed. It is integrated in the installation program of iMovie; please reinstall it."
I was supposing that it was the Library/QuickTime/AppleMPEG2Codec.component which is on the iMovie package and I copied it in my root/library. But I still have teh same message. I opened an old file .mov and it was recognised and loaded.
Before to go farther, is it another way to treat this problem ?

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.4) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Sat, Jul 18 2009 at 12:48AM PDT
For iMovie 8.0.4:

• Position: New value
• 16bd38: 4E 80 00 20
• 16bb18: 4E 80 00 20
• 16ba38: 4E 80 00 20

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No hex editing needed!
Authored by: IvanQ on Sun, Aug 23 2009 at 6:51PM PDT

It's possible to install iMovie '09 the official way (without Pacifist), and to run it without any hex-editing.

(1) To install: You just need to edit one file inside the iLife '09 metapackage-- inside the text file iLife '09.mpkg/Contents/Distribution.dist, find the function hasSufficientHardwareForiMovie and add the line return true; at the top. (Of course, you need to first copy the whole iLife package to your hard disk so that you can actually rewrite this file. You can get away with using symbolic links cleverly to avoid actually copying the big files.)

(2) To run: I found a secret user-default setting inside the executable-- it turns out all you need to do is execute (in Terminal)

defaults write NSGlobalDomain allowG4Launch -bool YES

and iMovie will start. (I figured this out with the help of machodis and the hex addresses posted here. Machodis rocks, by the way-- it shows you all the strings involved in Objective-C function calls.)

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No hex editing needed!
Authored by: Steve Hoge on Fri, Aug 28 2009 at 10:50AM PDT
OK, this succinct solution ought to be advanced to the status of an official Hint!

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No hex editing needed!
Authored by: joelseph on Mon, Sep 28 2009 at 6:15PM PDT
IvanQ,
You have earned the official title of Mac Man of the Hour for posting this hint. I wish I had found it a month ago when you first posted it. If you lived next door, I'd bring you a tray of chocolate cookies right out of mom's oven.

Kudos and thanks!

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No hex editing needed!
Authored by: Sven G on Wed, Oct 14 2009 at 4:14AM PDT
The "defaults write" trick (which only works for the current user, so it must also be repeated one time in other user accounts), however, only seems to work if you have a Core Image-compatible video card: for example, on a year 2005 iBook G4 it works as expected (iMovie launches without any complaints), while on a year 2000 Power Mac G4 (upgraded) with an older Radeon 9000 card there still pops up a message saying that a Core Image-compatible video card is needed.

So, it looks like hex-editing the iMovie executable is still needed for such systems.

Now, waiting for the new 8.0.5 offsets... ;-) :-)

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: linzio on Wed, Oct 14 2009 at 1:45AM PDT
These addresses seem to be missing in recent iMovie (installed Aug '09)
Anyone have any ideas re correct locations and replacement values?
Cheers

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Run iMovie '09 (8.0.5) on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: mmhappy on Wed, Oct 14 2009 at 4:02PM PDT
Manual patch for iMovie 8.0.5:

Position: New value

16c584: 4E 80 00 20
16c364: 4E 80 00 20
16c284: 4E 80 00 20

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: rampage on Thu, Dec 3 2009 at 2:59PM PST
On Feb 4, someone posts that you need a G5 of a least 1.5 ghz.
Then, On Feb 12, someone posts that you need at least a 1.9ghz chip.
After reading the specs again at apple store, imovie 09 can run on a 1.9ghz imac, but if you have a powermac you need dual 2.0 ghz processors..
That seems like bs. How can it run on a single 1.9 ghz but not a dual 1.8 ghz... It does seem like they are trying to force people to intel architecture...
This is a good post, I was going to spend $80 to get ilife '09 so I could have a version of imovie that will import AVCHD lite video from a new camera I am thinking of buying... But if apple is bumping up the requirements just to force people to buy new macs, I think I will look for the software somewhere else besides apple store...
Edited on Thu, Dec 3 2009 at 3:02PM PST by rampage


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Doesn't work for me at all (help)
Authored by: Kapila on Thu, Jan 7 2010 at 6:02AM PST
I installed iMovie 09 and HexEdit, etc.. on my G4 Powerbook but the addresses given simply don't have the values 7C 08 02 A6 at them.

What I see when I use Go To Address is:
15FB90: FF 80 68 00 | 40 9E 00 40 | 88 01 00 5B | 2F 80 00 00
What am I doing wrong?

(I tried just replacing the values at the addresses with 4E 80 00 20 anyway, but this didn't work)

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: pmbruning on Sat, Jan 23 2010 at 4:33PM PST
I did it! This took me a couple of days to figure out because I've never hacked anything and I am no "Genius." But finally, after downloading with Pacifist, and editing with Hex Fiend (HexEdit didn't open for me), iMovie opened on my iBook G4 with 1.2 GHz PPC running OS 10.5.8.

Thank you for your awesome hints!

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: simcctv on Mon, Jan 25 2010 at 5:17AM PST
Fantastic&#65292;imovie run on my PPC now. I have question here do u happen to know how to locate the address of changed hex?

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Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4
Authored by: simcctv on Mon, Jan 25 2010 at 5:18AM PST
Fantastic,imovie run on my PPC now. I have question here do u happen to know how to locate the address of changed hex?
Edited on Mon, Jan 25 2010 at 5:19AM PST by simcctv


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