Hard drive gone from start up disk

Hi folks
I have a serious problem with a 2nd generation G5 iMac. I tried to erase and install Tiger (retail version bought from Mac Store after consultation with Mac support), failed and hung up for 6 hours until I switched the thing off and my hard drive icon no longer appears in the startup list. I can't even reach options stage on install procedure - my hard drive icon has GONE! So no utilities from the Install disk. The mistake I may have made was to try the Unix erase and Install procedure.
I have tried to get in using my mac mini as target drive but this seems not to offer a way out of the s**t! - can't find a way of reinstating a hard drive icon for the iMac in the startup folder.
Any bright ideas out there or do I need to get a new Apple formatted hard drive?
Many thanks.

The iMac G5 second generation Mac shipped with Tiger, and therefore the retail 10.4.0 installer disk will not work on it. If you are missing the gray 10.4 disks which shipped with it, call AppleCare for replacement disks:
http://www.apple.com/contact/phone_contacts.html
The serial number should be on the bottom of the foot of the machine. If it is missing, the machine has been through at least a logicboard repair, and you need to find out from the original owner what the original serial number was and/or look on the box it shipped in.
Apple does sell a retail version of 10.4.6 which should install on it.
If you have the version of 10.4.6 whose disks look like then you can probably just use the startup manager to boot off it, and then select the language, and Disk Utility from the Utilities menu to reformat the drive HFS+ (HFS Extended) Journalled. Quit from Disk Utility then, and reboot the machine. Then you'll be able to erase and install that system.

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1. You are responsible for file management. That's more work:
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If you want to delete files then you must first trash them from iPhoto and then afterwards find them in your storage and trash them.
Thereafter, you cannot move the files on early versions of iPhoto at all, on iPhoto 08 and later you may move them on the same Volume or Disk. If you move them to a new volume or disk the aliases my break. If they are on an different volume and you move them the aliases will break.
You cannot rename the files.
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Because my photos won't fit on my HD?
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Show File: a. On iPhoto 09 and earlier: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected. 3.b.
b: On iPhoto 11 and later: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.

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Message was edited by: Flamingcreatures

Hard drive gone from start up disk

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