HELP Installing osx 10.4 from retail disk onto Powerbook G4

My powerbook G4 is giving me trouble.
I am using a retail Tiger OSX 10.4 disk. I have used it before on a powerbook and I know it works. It's a retail disk.
The installation goes great, starts up fine, gets through the installer, verifies the disk is a good disk, and goes almost 100 percent through the installation until...  it just says, "the installation was not successful" and tha's it! it gives me one option to "retry" and that's all.
So I retry. and that same thing happens (after 45 mins of acting like it's gonna work, right before completion it wimps out)
HELP!!!
what do i do?
The powerbook was given to me by a friend who said "someone's newphew's cousin's friend deleted everything and now it don't work, here ya go!"
Please Help

Boot from the install disk and find utilities in the menubar. Then run First Aid/ Verify Disk and then Repair disk if necessary. You can also do a safe boot which will do essentially the same check. It is likely you have a hard drive that is failing which is not fixable.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1782
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564?viewlocale=en_US

Similar Messages

  • Help Installing OSX Tiger on iMac G4, seems HD Volume Structure corrupted

    I need help Installing OSX Tiger on an iMac G4 800MHz 17" Flat Screen LCD, 80 GB Hard Drive, 256MB RAM, DVD-R/CD-RW Super Drive, model# M8812LL/A. I have a Tiger install DVD and i put it in the drive and everything is fine....I go through the steps and when it gets to "Preparing the Disk" - "Verifying destination volume"....it just sits and nothing happens. It will go on for 20+ minutes or so and then the installer will quit saying there was errors during the update. Anyone got any idea what is happening? I'm running OSX 10.3 Panther currently. I just tried running Disk Utility using the install DVD.....it attempted three times and couldn't repair --- I then went out and purhased DiskWarrior --- I boot from that disk, it begins to run; then as it is repairing the volume it freezes and stays frozen for hours. I've rebooted and tried it numerous times with no luck. Is the HD no good? Should I just do a complete reinstall of Tiger and erase everything? I'd rather not, but I backed everthing up in case I need to. Also, when I ran TechTool Deluxe from the booted CD, it said the Volume Structure was corrupted. My Tiger disc is a retail full install disc that I purchased.
    Thanks for your help!!!

    Use Disk Utility to Restore to a FW drive.
    Use one of your FW drives, and create a 24GB partition - later you can reuse this for your emergency boot drive). Restore the DVD to FW volume. Boot from there to install with - very fast.
    Low level format is what you probably want/need and the only way to do that is ERASE with the option to ZERO-ALL (after you backup any files you don't now have on disk or DVD.... and where are the backups?).
    When you install it will also verify the DVD install disk itself.
    Have you tried using FSCK from the command line? Or do you no longer have a valid system on the boot drive? Nothing to lose it seems at this point from trying. Just hold down COMMAND + S on startup. At the prompt, follow direction to type:
    /sbin/fsck -fy

  • Problem installing OSX 10.4 from Firewire DVD drive

    Hi, I'd be very grateful if anyone can help... I've been trying to install OSX 10.4 from DVD loaded in an external Firewire Lacie DVD drive and haven't been successful yet. I have tried instructing startup from the DVD in System Preferences, holding Option on startup and selecting the DVD and also holding 't' on startup, which I was informed forced startup from an external Firewire device (this resulted in a large Firewire logo floating round the screen but after 10 minutes or so hadn't progressed into full startup). Having read some bits of info found on Apple support I can see there is some issue about installing OSX 10.4 from a DVD drive other than an internal Apple drive (although I can't see any explanation why). Could someone please let me know if there is another way of doing this? – I mainly want to get 10.4 installed because I want to get a new ipod which requires 10.4 rather than 10.3. Thanks very much, Sam

    Some external DVD drives support startup. Some do not.
    Holding down the T key at startup makes the Mac go into FireWire Target Disk Mode. It will not help you start up from the DVD drive.
    If you have another Mac with FireWire and a DVD drive, you can use FireWire Target Disk Mode to mount your Mac's hard drive on the other Mac's desktop. Then, you can use that other Mac to startup from the DVD and run the installer, pointing to your Mac's hard drive for the installation.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
    I don't know of any other way, if the external DVD drive does not support start up.

  • Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).only have one disk to select and my partition map scheme is GUID partition

    just bough OSX Mountain Lion, my laptop operating with v10.6.8.  Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).only have one disk to select and my partition map scheme is GUID partition table. 24.44gb disk available.

    Verify your computer can run Mountain Lion:
    Upgrading to Mountain Lion
    To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
         OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements
           Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
             1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later
             2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later
             3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
             4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later
             5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
             6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
             7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later
    To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.
    Open Disk Utility and verify the drive is partitioned using GUID and formatted Mac OS Extended, Journaled. If it is then do this:
    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
    Now try installing Mountain Lion.

  • Installing Photoshop CS4 from original Disk onto my new Macbook Pro.  Serial number accepted but now asks for the serial number of a previous version e.g. CS3 which I no longer keep.  How do I resolve ?

    Installing Photoshop CS4 from original Disk onto my new Macbook Pro.  Serial number accepted but now asks for the serial number of a previous version e.g. CS3 which I no longer keep.  How do I resolve ?

    Tina Hadley did you migrate/transfer your applications over to your new Macintosh?  If so this could cause problems with your serial number being recognized.  Please run the available uninstallers located in Applications/Utilities/Adobe Installers folder.  Once this is done you will also want to run the CC Cleaner Tool.  Details on the use of the CC Cleaner Tool can be found at Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6 - http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs5-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html.

  • Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).

    Can't install OSX Mountain Lion, on the disk selection screen i cant select the Macintosh HD to install OSX giving a message (This disk cannot be used to start up your computer).

    Read
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/15659267#15659267

  • I've installed Photoshop Elements 12 from a CD onto my PC laptop. I'm thinking about buying a tablet, so was wondering if (a) can I install on a 2nd device (b) can I use the serial number online as I won't beable to install from a CD, and (c) will I beabl

    I've installed Photoshop Elements 12 from a CD onto my PC laptop. I'm thinking about buying a tablet, so was wondering if (a) can I install on a 2nd device (b) can I use the serial number online as I won't beable to install from a CD, and (c) will I beable to choose a mac, after the initial was on a PC???? Thanks Martin

    A single user license allows for having activated installations on two machines. An Elements license allows for either platform in many cases (recently not the case from what I've seen).  If you have the disc, see if it contains the Mac installation files... if it does then you should be able to install them via a download as well.  I cannot answer with certainty for the last question since it relies on the previous question.  Personally, I would not let an inexpensive piece of software dictate an expensive hardware purchase decision.

  • Can't boot from OSX 10.6.3 retail disk

    Hi.
    I have a macbook pro and want to boot from a retail osx 10.6.3 disk that I purchased. When I try to boot from the disk I hold C or option on startup I get the apple logo with no spinning gear. It hands here for hours. Nothing happens. I hear the disk begin to work and then it shuts down.
    I want to boot from the disk and install an instance of OSX on my external hard drive. I do not have administrator access to the main OS, so booting is my only option for install. Do I HAVE to have the repair disk that came with the computer or can I use the retail copy I purchased?
    Thanks.

    In a production environment we don't run around with the original media.
    It would be nice to get a new retail release soon so I can throw it a few USB thumb drives and be able to do an install on the i5s, i7s and older core 2s. Anyone know when a newer retail DVD will be on sale?

  • Can I do this? install SL from retail disk before new MBP arrives

    I have a new 17 in MBP coming from Apple in a few days.
    I have a Toshiba 1Tb HD which I intend to put in it when it arrives.
    While I am waiting, can I put the Toshiba in a case and do a fresh install of 10.6 from my Snow Leopard retail disk?
    Presume if that will work, there is no reason not to proceed with the migration from my old MBP.
    Then when the new MBP arrives all I have to is fit it.
    I know you can't use the supplied install disks from a different machine, but presumably this doesn't apply to the retail SL disks which are not machine specific.
    Thanks

    Wouldn't any updates come through Software update anyway?
    Again I don't know about SL but any updates I have ever run have also been available as .dmg files you can download directly from Apple, or at least have Software Update download them but not install them (that way you get to keep a copy). You need to install the OS, then run the various update packages until you've at least reached the version the computer needs. SU is no good if the drive won't boot the computer to the point where you can run SU. I don't think SU will do this for you while you use your older computer because I think it just looks at the boot drive and ignore any other OS versions on any other volumes.
    It would be an interesting exercise and if it doesn't work, just do as you say and install when the new computer is there.

  • Installing OSX 10.4 from scratch??

    Hi All,
    Recently I bought a new hard drive, and have copied all my files i want to keep onto DVD's. I would like to start from scratch again with the new hard drive, does anyone have any tips/instructions on how to install OSX 10.4? I have the 2 startup disks that came with my MacBook. Is it just these 2 i need to install the whole system? Do I need to partition the drive or anything?
    Any help would be great.
    Many thanks.

    Hi all, thanks for the responses.
    although I am having a bit of trouble with this:
    '3. Click the Erase tab.
    *4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.*
    5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
    6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion hopefully you'll be able to install.'
    I can't see the disclosure tab? What is it you mean by that??
    The way I have understood doing this installation so far, is this. Is this right?:
    1. on inserting the disc, and selecting the language, i go onto disk utility.
    (according to http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/partitioningtiger.html , i don't need to go onto the erase tab, as 'If you are going to partition your new drive you can skip down to the Partition section below, as when you partition your hard drive, you will reformat the drive during the partition process.' Is this right?)
    2. i go onto partitioning, select my one partition i want to make, select it from the big box to the left, click to format as mac os extended (journaled)
    3. click the partition button, and wait for this to finish.
    4. carry on installing tiger as i've finished formatting/partiting.
    does this sound right? if not, where have i got it wrong, and what do i need to change?

  • Can't install OSX or reformat HD with disk utility?

    We're getting an error -10000 can't unmount volume.
    It's on a 1.25ghz mdd g4... we've been getting tons of errors and we want to re-install 10.3 but we keep getting errors at the end of the install. So we tried to reformat the HD but we can't. Can't run disk utlity either - error: can't unmount volume?
    Does anyone know how to fix this?
    We just want to reformat and start from scratch!! help!
    We are booting from our original 10.3 install CD.
    Thanks!!!
    --Jeff

    Do you have any other OS Installer Discs? Maybe OS 9? Borrow someone else's installer discs (they will need to be either the retail box or from exactly the same machine)?
    Give them a try and see what happens. There is a chance that your OS installer discs have gone bad. If they are bad you will get some sort of error message that more often than not has absolutely nothing to do with what the actual error may be. It just knows that something did not work.
    You might examine the discs themselves to see if there is any pitting or scratching on the bottom side. If there is pitting it will be very small and you will need to examine the disc closely to see them if they are there.
    If you have access to Tech Tool Pro see what it has to say. Just because a drive passes a S.M.A.R.T. test does not necessarily mean that it is good though.

  • How to Downgrade to Snow Leopard from Retail disk

    Hi there
    We have a new iMac at work bought through Apple's refurb site. It is running the latest version of Lion with all firmware updates, etc. It is replacing a G5 running Tiger.
    The problem is this – it is supposed to be running Adobe CS5, but also CS4 (and Office would be handly also)
    We have other macs here, some running Leopard, some Snow Leopard, but the Adobe apps are not happy at all in Lion, and InDesign CS4 crashes all the time and won't even print without jumping through a million hoops (obviously the Office 2004 app won't run at all).
    Due to the level of issues we are having with Lion (and the reliability of the all the software under Snow Leopard) I am looking to downgrade to Snow Leopard.
    I have a full retail version of Snow Leopard (10.6.3), but the Lion system won't boot from the disk, it just gets to the grey screen, and beeps three times. I presume this means that there isn't the required drivers on the disk to run the hardware, or there's a firmware update that doesn't allow installation.
    Am i totally stuck with this OS? I was looking to install Snow Leopard on a partiton, but when i run the install disk from the Lion desktop, it reports that I can't run it because 'I have Install Mac OS X 23.1.1.'
    I would really like to just have Snow Leopard on my iMac, or failing that, Lion on a small partition, and Snow Leopard and all the programs on the larger partition that I would boot from.
    Any ideas how I can get this done? Adobe CS suite is just rubbish on Lion macs, and runs worse than on my old Tiger mac.
    Thanks in advance,
    M.

    Mac_fool wrote:
    oh right - so clone Mac B onto Mac A HD in taget disk mode using SuperDuper (or Carbon Copy Cloner), then i'll be able to boot Mac A in SL.
    I understand that Mac A wouldn't boot, I was going to make Mac A's SL partition the start-up partition for Mac B, and then try and install OS updates to 10.6.8 from Mac B. Once updates are installed - change Mac B's startup disk back, and then surely Mac A would be able to boot all on it's own...
    I'm not sure if this would work in Target Disk Mode, but if you succeed in cloning Mac B to Mac A, you may be able to apply the Combo 10.6.8 update to Mac A while booting from Mac B. The key is that the Combo updater may be able to customize the Snow Leopard installation for the hardware it's actually being applied to. Unless I missed it, we don't really know which iMac you have since it's a refurb. According to Mactracker, only the Late 2011 21.5" comes only with Lion and might not accept Snow Leopard at all. At the same time, it has the same Model Identifier as the Mid 2011, which came with 10.6.6 or 10.6.7 so it might work.
    If at that point Mac A does boot in Snow Leopard, I'd advise running the 10.6.8 Combo updater again while booting from Mac A just to be safe.

  • How to install Adobe Acrobat xi from a disk?

    Trying to install Adobe Acrobat XI Pro from a disk to a new MacBook Air laptop using a portable drive.  Prompts are not coming up.

    Thank you Rave.  I am still experiencing difficulties b/c my serial # is not working: Mac: <Removed>
    Says: “Code you entered is invalid” please try again.
    Can you help?
    Thank you in advance,
    Sondra
    Sondra LoRe
    Program Coordinator
    Hands On Classrooms: http://handsonclassrooms.org
    University of Tennessee: Food Science & Technology
    Office: 865-974-7107
    Cell: 865-603-1847
    mailto:[email protected]

  • Unable to start OSX after reload from restore disks

    Hi,
    I was having a bunch of crashing issues with my eMac. After trying to repair permisssions and the file system and applying the most recent updates, decided to restore.
    After reformating the drive and installing OSx from the restore disks, the system hangs at some point of the initial install dialogues. Of the few times that i've tried its usually when trying to create the initial user account or pull the info from the .Mac profile. I've tried both creating it manually and having it query .Mac for the profile. I also tried both formating the drive manually and letting the install program do it.
    Any thoughts on the source of the issue and next steps I might consider?
    Thx,
    CMV

    After further research, looks to be a capacitor issue on that vintage of eMAC, thx.

  • I need to install photoshop cs4 extended from a disk to a new computer because my old computer had a hard drive crash. There is no serial number on the back of the case.  How can I obtain a usable serial number?

    I have to install Photoshop CS4 extended on a new computer from a disk because my old computer had a hard drive crash.  There is no serial number on the back of the case.  How can I obtain a usable serial number?

    Find your serial number quickly
    You can activate software without following up and registering it... at least that was the case in the past.  The serial number is normally located on the disc case or a box inside the main box.  If you did not purchase the disc from Adobe then it is possible you would have dealt with a redemption code, in which case it would have been up to you to keep a record of the serial number, especially if you did not follow up and register the software.

Maybe you are looking for