Member Avatar for GuitarGodgt

Ok I have 2 macs. One was given to me so I gave it to my brother. It is a powermac g4 455mhz, 40gig HD, 256 RAM and dvd rom reader. It currently has both OS9 version 9.2 (I think) and OSX version 10.2.2 on it. I am trying to install a full retail version of tiger on it (yes one I bought the license is legit and I am not trying to use the discs that came with my powerbook). But here is the problem:

I put the install dvd rom in the dvd drive and it mounts in 10.2 next I double click and hit the "restart" button that it promps me to. Then I input my password and it tries to re start booting from the dvd drive. Now here is the major issue it doesn't restart, it gets to where it wants to boot from the disk and shuts down. I have tried everything short of getting an exsternal dvd drive and new HD. Anyone know why my mac is doing this? I know you can put this OS on this mac I know someone who did it. So is it a hardware issue? Or am I doing something wrong? I also tried to start the mac up holding down C and that didn't work either. Someone help!

thanks
Loren

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A concise expert note building on ’s report and ’s boot-key suggestions: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) is supported on PowerPC G3/G4/G5 machines but requires a DVD installer, built‑in FireWire on many older models, and at least 256 MB of RAM—so compatibility is plausible, but a few firmware/boot-stage problems commonly stop the DVD from taking over the startup. (en.wikipedia.org)

Practical checklist (in roughly this order): reset the PRAM/NVRAM first (holds stored startup choices and can block alternate-boot attempts); Apple documents the standard PRAM reset procedure. If that doesn’t help, boot to Open Firmware and run a conservative reset (for example: reset-nvram then reset-all) to clear low‑level variables—this is more invasive, so use it only after zapping PRAM. A dead PRAM battery or an incomplete firmware/BootROM can also make a system list the DVD but fail when actually booting. (support.apple.com)

Media and drive checks next: an installer that mounts under 10.2 but won’t boot can mean the optical drive’s laser has trouble reading the boot blocks, or the disc is a burned copy that the drive dislikes. Try other known-good bootable discs (an Apple utility or original install disc), clean or replace the drive, and if using a burned DVD, reburn at the slowest speed or use an original retail Tiger DVD. Community reports show lens cleaning or swapping to a known-good drive often fixes identical symptoms. (forums.macrumors.com)

If the internal DVD still won’t boot, install via another Mac: boot the other Mac from the Tiger DVD and connect the G4 in Target Disk Mode over FireWire (the host runs the installer and writes to the G4’s drive), or use a FireWire external DVD drive—both are proven, practical workarounds when firmware/drive quirks block direct booting. Firmware/BootROM updates for the exact G4 model are worth checking before replacing parts. (support.apple.com)

Summary recommendation: reset PRAM → try known-good boot discs (clean/replace optical drive if needed) → Open Firmware reset if necessary → use FireWire Target Disk Mode or external FireWire DVD to install → update BootROM / replace PRAM battery as last step.

Member Avatar for John A

OK, how I would do it is like this:

1. When the computer is running, insert the Tiger disk.
2. No matter what the computer does, shut down the Mac. You shouldn't need an admin password to do this.
3. Here comes the tricky part. Your computer *should* boot from the CD drive simply by holding down the 'C' key. There are a few things you can try, though:

- On newer Macs (I'm not exactly sure how new), you can choose the disk to boot from by holding down the Option key. You can then select the disk with the arrow keys, and then hit return.
- On older Macs, it's the same thing except you hold down the 'D' key.

If you can't even get the boot selection menu to come up, then there's something seriously wrong. Perhaps you need to try a different keyboard? And make sure you're holding down the key before you turn on your Mac.

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