Black screen before intallation screen

Question

So i have an imac G5. no intel chip or built in camera.
i put in the leopard disc and click the drive i want to install it on... it restarts then asks me to replace the batteries on my mouse, i do so, i continue and the screen stays black with the rainbow waiting thingy...i can not eject the disc, it sounds like it is trying to do something but nothging happens. i have pulled the plug and turned it on but because the disc is in the drive it automatically starts the instalation and repeats the problems i have described...
what do i do?

Answer 1

The fact it is slow suggests you'll have an even worse Leopard install experience. You must isolate the problems of the speed of Tiger to get it back to normal before attempting to install anything. You don't know if hardware is at issue. Initially you should backup your data at least twice*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
See if your hard drive directory or permissions are out of whack and try to fix them*:
http://www.macmaps.com/directoryfaq.html
Then if you can get it up to normal speed you can upgrade following these directions*:
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
If you can't get it up to normal speed, tell us if you have determined the directory is OK, any third party installed software or hardware including version numbers, so we can look up whether the problem is their compatibility with Tiger, or something else wrong with your machine.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.