Installing X11 on OS X 10.4 Tiger

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 osx tiger x11 comments

After a month without X11, I've finally have X11 working on my new iBook. The installer that apple has online DOES NOT WORK. Apple mentions:

10.4 customers can install X11 by using the Tiger DVD installer disk.

In fact, you must use the installer from the Tiger disk, as the downloadable installer doesn't work, reporting that you already have a newer version of the package.

Unfortunatelly the installer is kinda hidden so here are the steps:

Insert your Tiger (10.4) install disk.

what you see when you insert the dvd

Scroll Down to the Optional Packages

use the installer for optional packages hidden below the fold

Then choose X11 under packages

choose X11

Responses to "Installing X11 on OS X 10.4 Tiger"

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 Ale says:
thank u because i had spent the whole day trying to figure out how to download x11.
Sun, 22 Oct 2006 piplewis says:
same here my X11 is giving me a hatched screen i need a reinstall. will look for optional packages as suggested
Wed, 20 Dec 2006 Bob says:
You do realize this post is the top result when searching for "installing X11 on OSX Tiger"? Thanks for helping me install X11 quickly and safely on my wife's new MacBook. She needs OpenOffice and left to my devices, I'd be cursing at the thing for hours and installing all manner of kruft to make it look like a linux box. Five minutes later X11 (and nothing else) is installed and she's off to install OOo so she can keep working on her novel and I can get back to hacking on a bit of perl. Again, thanks for helping keep the peace in our happy home. :)
Fri, 22 Dec 2006 Masa says:
When tryng to install X11 my iMac says there is newer version of X11, but there is not. What sould I do? X11 can not be installed. Should I delete something?
Thu, 28 Dec 2006 daid says:
Noting the comment left by Bob on 21 Dec 2006, I also Googled "10.4 Tiger X11 DVD," because I found the mysterious line on Apple's site that it was "on the DVD," but I didn't know where I ought look for it. Thanks for saving me a lot of trouble!
Thu, 11 Jan 2007 Dan says:
Thankyou so much, I wish the Apple article on installing X11 was this simple.
Sat, 13 Jan 2007 Fiddler says:
Holy cow is it ever hard to find out how to install this program! Thank you for making it so simple.
Tue, 16 Jan 2007 Mark says:
You rock. Saved me time, too. Thanks.
Thu, 18 Jan 2007 Rahul says:
I tried installing this software a zillion times and even tried locating for any pre-installed copies in the library folder but to no avail. After visiting this site and reaidng your concise and clear directions i got x11 and open ofice in no time. Thanks for the help
Sun, 28 Jan 2007 Rob says:
Hey there, just wanted to thank you for having this info online. Made things much easier for me. Best regards, Rob.
Thu, 01 Feb 2007 Michael Oliver says:
For Apple Remote Desktop Users (ARD) you can navigate the install CD to /System/Installation/Packages and install the X11User.pkg file remotely. Helps for large deployments.
Sat, 03 Feb 2007 Kevin says:
Thank you for the instruction! Just don't understand why the downloaded X11User package from apple.com doesn't work....
Wed, 07 Feb 2007 Melissa says:
Thank you SO MUCH. What a life saver!!!
Thu, 08 Feb 2007 Lauren says:
That's fantastic instruction...but what do you do if you lost your intstall disk??? (oops)
Fri, 09 Feb 2007 Bill Love says:
Yes - thanks. Why does Apple's installer not work for X11?
Sat, 10 Feb 2007 mike says:
Wicked post, helped alot. Thanks
Mon, 12 Feb 2007 Dr. John says:
Just installed Tiger on my 2001 Titanuim G4 Notebook. I need X11 back to run Matlab engineering software. I was frustrated for about 20 minutes trying to install from the Xtools Installer (which shows X11 as an option - I didn't want the whole developer package). Previously installed without a glich on Panther, but the obvious things weren't working. But as Bob said, I found you on Google right away. Optional Installs worked just fine. The installer seemed to be hung up for a while (not moving for way more than 1 minute), but then it finished up after say 2+ minutes. So be patient if you have an older machine. Thanks.
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 josh says:
Why can't i get it to install? it tells me "you cannot continue. there is nothing to install."
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 unemployed[o]=[o] says:
The truth! Finaly... the truth.
Sat, 17 Feb 2007 Julie says:
I spent a half hour on the phone with tech support at apple, and they didn't know anything about x11. They proceded to tell me it would cost 49.95 for them to help me. This website solved the problem in a couple of minutes. This was a great help!
Mon, 19 Feb 2007 AJ says:
Dude, u are a legend.... yes, i completely agree with Bob, that we were cursing the whole process of installation of X11... and as rightly stated by him, your post is amongnst the top 3 if i am not mistaken. Thanks for sharing the info mate. Appreciated... :) cheers
Sun, 25 Feb 2007 adrian says:
thnks a million. you are my savior
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 Hamman says:
Nice guide, made me finally go ahead and install X11. Thanks!
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 Marty says:
For the life of me I couldn't work out why I wasn't seeing x11 on my Tiger install disc 1. So I gave up. Two hours later I told myself to try again, this time searching Google with a couple of search strings. Found your tutorial, and ... Duh! The scroll bar. Am I a n00b or what. Installed. Thanks.
Fri, 02 Mar 2007 Kat says:
Installing X11 on MacBook Pro OS X 10.4.8- This page was VERY Helpful. I spent over an hour looking on Apple's site... and figured out I needed to use my installation CD's.. but your page showed me where to find the install PKG. I didn't even realize there were more folders on the CD that I couldn't see because the window opened so small.. I installed the X11 SDK first... then realized that wasn't want I needed. Thanks again! :)
Fri, 02 Mar 2007 Patrick says:
Thank you for this wonderful information :) Many blessings!
Sat, 03 Mar 2007 Jeremy says:
Thank you for this. I've been trying to get X11 for a couple of days now, and I couldn't figure out how. You are a life saver.
Sun, 04 Mar 2007 jack says:
thanks a lot, this was a big help.
Mon, 05 Mar 2007 jake says:
man thanks for the great advice it took me like two days to get it to work
Thu, 08 Mar 2007 Dylan says:
This was hugely helpful... I had installed it in the past but forgot how I did it... this has ended 4hours effort. Hopefully now I can get Gimp to work. Thank you.
Fri, 09 Mar 2007 Tea says:
This was great. I was totally befuddled on how to get X11 to work, even after reading through the APPLE and Xfree86 sites several times. So easy! Yet so hard until I found your post. Thanks.
Tue, 13 Mar 2007 Shawn Blackburn says:
Thank you, I kept getting different info from other websites.
Wed, 14 Mar 2007 tc says:
Thanks! Wouldn't have found that on my own
Sat, 17 Mar 2007 SO says:
Thanx mate!
Tue, 20 Mar 2007 Marco says:
THANK YOU!
Tue, 20 Mar 2007 da says:
thanks!!! i consider myself an expert on unix, but this mac stuff still confuses me..
Wed, 21 Mar 2007 Brendan says:
Cheers man, I have wasted two days on this trying to get open office. You are a legend.
Thu, 22 Mar 2007 Jason Van Anden says:
Thanks for pointing out the not obvious! You saved my forehead and my desk a lot of trauma.
Fri, 07 Sep 2007 shaun and andrea says:
thanks. never would have thought to scroll down. was going nuts.
Sun, 09 Sep 2007 oneofmetwo says:
Wow, thanks for the visual guide, haha, I was about to reinstall OS X when I decided to try one more time to find someone who knew what they were doing. Thanks!
Fri, 14 Sep 2007 ctm says:
Thank you! I'd have expected Apple to be more usable than this. Did they think to try this out on users?
Sat, 15 Sep 2007 Rebecca says:
Okay I officially love you
Thu, 20 Sep 2007 Keith Penton says:
Brilliant! Thank you. I'm installing OpenOffice on my stepson's Macbook - got through this bit despite minimal Mac knowledge and total lack of spatial awareness.
Mon, 24 Sep 2007 Abhisek says:
Thanx a ton!!! I was looking to install X11 for the last 3 weeks....after coming across this page..it took me 3 minutes!!!
Sat, 29 Sep 2007 Lost and Found says:
Thank you!
Sat, 29 Sep 2007 arrow says:
amazing and thank you... I see comment from a year ago and still apple hasn't fixed this on thir site.. pathetic....
Mon, 01 Oct 2007 George Kedourie says:
Like many I was missing the info to do the install. Google brought me to your site. Et voila...all done. THANKYOU!! I will bookmark your site and read some more articles.
Fri, 05 Oct 2007 ditto says:
thank you! ditto to all the above. apple should just copy your guide.
Mon, 08 Oct 2007 bdubb says:
Good post.... I didn't think to scroll down
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 wagonlips says:
Thank you.
Thu, 11 Oct 2007 damson says:
Lost your install dvd? go here: http://cjmart.in/2006/12/01/install-x11-on-tiger-without-the-tiger-install-dvd/
Sat, 13 Oct 2007 Blakles says:
Thanks so much! I couldn't find the application on the Install disc. This was a lot easier than calling Mac Support! The screen shots were a huge help.
Wed, 24 Oct 2007 Lucas says:
Wow! Thanks a million. I was trying to install some software that required X11. It said X11 not found, so I got the online installer for it, and of course it said that there was already a newer version on my Mac. After convincing myself that this was not the case, I found your guide and had everything up an running in a few minutes. You are a life saver.
Thu, 01 Nov 2007 Eric says:
Thanks for the info. I'm a newbie to Macs (long time PC admin), and was starting to wonder if I'd lost it. I'll be digging up the install disc and trying that out tonight. MANY THANKS!!
Sat, 03 Nov 2007 Pandakar says:
damson, THANKS FOR THE LINK and overstimulate for providing the opportunity for me to find it through the magic of Google this whole web thing is really coming together, no?
Wed, 07 Nov 2007 Johannes says:
Thanks! So much better now :)
Sun, 11 Nov 2007 snesgirl says:
thanks so much this has been botheirng me for MONTHS, and i recently downloaded GimpShop which will only run with X11. thanks for such a clear and easy to follow tutorial. Shame on apple for not fixing the downloaded verstion STILL after all this time.
Sun, 18 Nov 2007 yuuki says:
Thank you so much..
Wed, 28 Nov 2007 emily says:
i am trying to download gimp onto my mac, and it says i need X11, but is there a free way to get X11 without the disc? if that didn't make sense, its because i really have no clue what i am talking about. i would just really like to have gimp any tips?
Fri, 30 Nov 2007 Sleepy says:
Thanks so much. This post is still helping two years later. I can't believe the problem with the installer from Apple's site. I thought Apple stuff just worked.
Fri, 07 Dec 2007 Gus says:
Ditto! Brilliant. Thanks. Thought I was going crazy until I found this site.
Sun, 09 Dec 2007 Duncan Williams says:
Thankyou - I was hunting around on ftp sites and all the rest. Like others above I need this to run Matlab, and the other information (eg the Apple site) online is awful. Great guide!
Tue, 11 Dec 2007 Windkissed says:
Excellent step-by-step instructions. Thanks so much.
Wed, 12 Dec 2007 Alexandros says:
Thanks, quick and easy guide!
Fri, 14 Dec 2007 js says:
ditto: this really made it easy to do! thanks
Thu, 20 Dec 2007 Lurch4297 says:
Thank GOD I found this page. I tried everything, and by doing what is said here, to re-install it from the disk, man, you weren't kidding. This worked like a charm and I got to play the game I wanted to play, using this X11 application. Thank you so much for figuring this out for us.
Fri, 21 Dec 2007 carlos says:
thanks!! a loooooot!! hope this post never dies people like us need it
Wed, 02 Jan 2008 Brandy says:
Wholey CRAP. this post is epic. THANK you to whoever posted this here, you are my hero.
Sat, 05 Jan 2008 Mahonas says:
Thanks for that.... i didn't find that package yet. -.- thanks
Fri, 11 Jan 2008 Grass143 says:
Thank you for the X11 install help, saved lots of time, worked perfectly
Tue, 15 Jan 2008 sam says:
You are a champion thanks so much
Wed, 16 Jan 2008 sergiopepette says:
Thanks a lot, this was very helpful and easy to follow!
Thu, 17 Jan 2008 erkut says:
thank you very much. it was very helpful!
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 Bob Knox says:
I cannot possibly add anything -- I echo every compliment on here.
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 Jason Sh says:
Thanks a lot dude. I've been trying to figure this out for months. It was as simple as going to the install disk.
Sun, 17 Feb 2008 justin r says:
Thank You!!!!! i have spent 4 hours trying to figure out how to get this to work. now i can play with the gimp.
Sun, 24 Feb 2008 Cams says:
Thanks! I spent hours this afternoon trying to figure this out to use gnucash. installed all the XCode tools, searched the tiger install disk several times with no joy and then found this how-to.
Sun, 02 Mar 2008 Max says:
So, unfortunately, I didn't find this article. Now I'm reinstalling Tiger, and it's taking forever.
Wed, 05 Mar 2008 LB says:
Oh man do I feel like a tool for not seeing the scrollbar. You deserve a gold star from Apple.
Thu, 06 Mar 2008 mond says:
almost three years and steel usefull :) thanks
Thu, 06 Mar 2008 c says:
Love ya. from a bro of a different mother. stay smart.:O)
Tue, 11 Mar 2008 lexy says:
you are awesome. thanks.
Fri, 14 Mar 2008 Big Daddy says:
Glad I Googled and found your site b/f spending hours in hopeless pursuit of the elusive X11 d//!
Mon, 17 Mar 2008 Broos says:
Well I found my X11 exactly where it should be but it does not open. I can put it in the dock but it does nothing. So when I try to launch the open source app.OpenOffice.org, it tells me the the "AppelEvent timed out" Hoping to hear from you soon as I'm pulling my hair out as much as anyone who couldn't find the X11 in the first place. Cheers
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 NIXUSR says:
YES YES YES! About 3 years ago I installed X11 on my iBook G3. I have a MacBookP know and needed X11 for OpenOffice and could not remember where on the install disk the app was. I dam near blew away my settings by accident trying to get this. Thanks for the help....I love Google, solves all my issues by leading me to help.
Sat, 22 Mar 2008 Alan Bradford says:
Wowza. Thank you so much. Searched "installing x11" and you were the first organic result in Google. Well-deserved position because this was incredibly quick and easy. Let's hope installing Darwine and ies4osx goes just as smooth...
Mon, 24 Mar 2008 joe says:
i lost my osx disk. how can i install x11 without the disk.
Sat, 29 Mar 2008 Dennis says:
Thank you so much!
Tue, 01 Apr 2008 alyssa says:
thank you sooo much!! all i have to do is find my disk. is there any way to install it without the disk??
Wed, 09 Apr 2008 Claudia Haendler says:
Hi, I'm abroad to travel the whole year and don't have my installation disc with me. As questioned above by several other people, is it possible to install X11 without the disc? It would be greatly appreciated as I can not finish my resume otherwise.
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 Don B says:
Awesome - fast - simple. Many, many thanks.
Thu, 24 Apr 2008 Ethan says:
Very cool. I had never known there was a scroll bar XD
Tue, 29 Apr 2008 katie says:
thank you so much! i'm a complete loser at doing things like this and your guide made sense even to me!
Fri, 02 May 2008 Joaquin says:
Your page has become my new home, so that your site gets the hits it deserves.
Sat, 03 May 2008 Jo says:
Anyone knows how do deactivate the xterm-window on launching of the OpenOffice-droplet ? i cant work with the Terminal, but with Openoffice !
Mon, 05 May 2008 Joseph Jacob says:
First a BIG thanks for this. In fact I deleted my X11 and re-installed due to a particular error-even after reinstalling it persists The problem is whenever I start X11 my MacBook is showing a Grey Screes-the entire screen goes grey(with some very tiny chequered kind of pattern) and the computer hangs. Then I am forced to shut down by long pressing the power button. now I just cant use any app that required X11 support (OpenOffice, GIMP etc) Any idea? Thanks Joseph
Wed, 14 May 2008 Rob says:
thanks Apple lameness gave you opportunity to shine :-)
Thu, 15 May 2008 Malgwyn says:
The wife started whining about graphics programs at Midnight, gimp requires X11. Gee, you'd think apple would inform. Thanks.
Tue, 10 Jun 2008 David says:
I installed X11 last night on my Power Mac g4. I had updated the system to 10.4.11. I used my 10.4.6 install DVD. I thought I followed the instructions from: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/faq/installing/X11.html#tiger which look similar to yours. Xll is now on my computer, BUT, in the process, it's now running 10.4.6, all the users are gone, and I can't find lots of really important things. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere. What are my options in regaining access to my files and folders? I'm in a world of hurt. I'm pretty certain they're there, but when I go hunting under Users>John(previously accessible)>Documents, I get "The folder "Documents" could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access priveleges."
Sat, 14 Jun 2008 8m2stereo says:
.. helpfull working link, for those without the original dvd on hand .. http://cjmart.in/2006/12/01/install-x11-on-tiger-without-the-tiger-install-dvd/
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 exilebob says:
In fact, this information is very clearly given on the Open Office website ...
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 Tushara says:
Hey thanks a lot man... saved me a hell lot of time... at one point I was even left wondering if I had the right cd at all
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 morren says:
thx
Thu, 26 Jun 2008 Mickelodeon says:
Thanx - I have no more idea about this type of thing than I do about piloting a blue police box. But thanx to you, at least I know how to install X11 now. =)
Sat, 28 Jun 2008 ama says:
Omg. Thanks. I was looking for like 8 months for it. <3
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 Sriram says:
Thanks a ton.. spent a few hours uninstalling X11SDK. I had to idea about the optional packages part.
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 Malva says:
This was incredibly helpful, thank you!
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 Ravi says:
Great! GReat!I have seen another article which says the same things. I had no idea how to find options package