Can't Install On This Computer message...

Hello All -
A few months ago I purchased a refurbished PowerBook from the Apple website. It came with OS 10.3.9 installed, but the disks for Tiger were sent with it. (The disk states it's the PowerBook G4 OS Version 10.4 AHT Version 2.5 and disk version 1.1 - if that means anything)
I went to upgrade the laptop to Tiger tonight, and I get an error at the beginning of the install that says it can't "be installed on this computer". Hmm. Not real specific.
Not even sure where to go with this one. Can anyone help?
Thanks!

Hello,
Not necessarily. Some Macs originally sold at about
the time Tiger was released came with a full set of
model-specific Panther disks + a "drop in" updater
for 10.4, different from both the normal gray full
installer disks & the black retail ones.
That's what I said
The "Black OS 10.4 update disk" is the "drop in" update package. It's a black CD that physically looks the same as the retail disk. But, it does have slightly different writing on it.
When you insert that disk in the computer, it will identify itself as an "Upgrade" disk.
You are correct to add that some new systems sold with this update package as well around the time that OS 10.4 came out.
But, older refurbs are going to still be shipping with this update package to provide them with the current software versions.
It is
possible the refurb seller shipped this disk set
instead.
Yes, very possible that they shipped the newer grey disks instead of the original grey disks and the update package.
Anyway, you are right that the OP should call
Applecare about this, assuming it was obtained
through Apple.
Yes, Apple is the one to fix this problem. That's the only option at this point.

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Model Name:
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Model Identifier:
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Processor Name:
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Processor Speed:
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Number of Processors:
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Total Number of Cores:
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t-tech wrote:
I just bought a new iMac
New Mac's come with Lion and no boot disks, but a hold command r boot recovery partition.
t-tech wrote:
"This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
Silly Apple needs to fix that.
t-tech wrote:
So I find the only Snow Leopard disk I have, which happens to be the one from my wife's MacBook Pro, I put in and hold down the "C" key until I get to the installer. I use English as my language, then another pop-up states the Mac OS X can't installed on this computer, I can either restart or install from a back "Time Machine". I didn't want to install, I just wanted to get to the Disk Utilities feature, but it is greyed out, along with everything else.
Grey disks are machine model specific, surprised it gave you the limited options it did.
Don't use that disk for anything except the machine intended for it.
t-tech wrote:
So here I sit lost on what to do next. Do I reinstall from Time Machine, or do I need to find the original Snow Leopard that I bought for my iMac?
Depends upon the opertaing system your now using.
You say you "just bought a new iMac" that means like in the last week and Lion has been out for months now.
So first check under the Apple menu, Snow Leopard is 10.6.x and Lion is 10.7
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If you have Lion you need to learn some new things.
If it's 10.7 then it's Lion and it doesn't come with disks, a recovery partition that requires a strong reliable fast internet connection to download and reinstall Lion, but it has Disk Utility and can repair your Lion OS partiition, however if the problem is more serious then you need to try to make a Lion Recovery USB and boot from that to reinstall both Lion and the Recovery Partition.
You can thank Apple for adding another layer of complexity in their quest to remove the optical drives
Please make sure to have your data on a storage drive in addition to TimeMachine so you can do what you need, move the data to another machine.
Good luck with your studies.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

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