Can anyone decode a kernel panic for me?

Question

Hello all,
Below is a kernel panic I have been having on trying to boot from a Panther install (Full Retail) on my imac 15" flat panel, 256MB,currently running 10.1.5 on a clean install. Would be very grateful for any clues. My AHT comes up clean, but this is not a well pooter (applications often quit 'unexpectedly'). My nearest Apple repair person is 40 miles away and I don't drive, so I'm trying to exhaust all possibilties first!
panic(cpu0): Unable to find driver for this platform: "PowerMac4,2"
Latest stack backtrace for CPU0
Backtrace 0x000833B8 0x0008389C 0x0001ED8C 0x0026DA4C 0x0024DBDC 0x0024E658 0x0024ECCCC 0x 0023EE84 0x0023EE48
Proceeding back via exception chain
Wxception state (sv=0x00481500)
[The PC, MSR, DAR, DSISR,LR, R1, XCP are all equal to 0x00000000]
Kernel version
Darwin Kernel Version 7.0.0
Wed Sep 24 15:48:39 PDT 2003; root:xnu/xnu-517.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC
No debugger configured - dumping debug information
MSR=00001030
Latest stack backtrace cpu 0:
Backtrace 0x000833B8 0x00083A68 0x0001ED8C 0x0026DA4C 0x0024DE04 0x0024E658 0x0024ECCC 0x0023EE84 0x0023EE48
Proceeding back via exception chain
panic: we are hanging here
Very grateful to anyone who might be able to decipher it.

Answer 1

You may also be having a problem with a badly corrupted hard drive. I would recommend you reformat the hard drive before installing OS X. Do the following:
1a (If this is the startup drive.) Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. After the installer loads select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu if using Tiger.) Be sure to use the installer disk for the version of OS X you intend to install.
1b (If this is a non-startup volume or external drive.) Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.