IBook G4 won't boot from Leopard 10.5.6

I recently acquired a used iBook G4. Unfortunately the seller had a password on the system, and I am unable to get past the login screen. I've got a fresh Mac Box Set of OS X Leopard 10.5.6 and was planning to do a clean install anyway, but I can't get the system to boot from the Install DVD. I've spent almost my entire day scratching my head over this. Any help would be appreciated.

jrquebe:
I'll be honest here... I'm not really a Mac guy.
That's okay. Welcome to the club of Mac users. Someone just wrote in another thread, "I think Macs make the world a better place."
In any case. You said you are able to login with Panther, but it doesn't load the GUI. That is not normal behavior. So there must be a problem with the installation.
Here are the Leopard installation system requirements. Let us assume that your system meets the minimum requirements. Now, to booting from the install disk. Try this:
• Insert install disk in optical drive
• Hit Power button and immediately after chime
• Hold down the Option/alt button.
• If this works bootable volumes should show up on a gray screen.
• Select the install disk and click the straight arrow.
If this does not work you have either a defective optical drive or a defective disk. Please post back with an update of how/if this works.
cornelius

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MacBook Pro Won't Boot from Leopard DVD

My brother's MacBook Pro (2009 13") won't boot from the Leopard install DVD. Here is what happened:
- I tried to do Bootcamp on it. I installed Windows 7 but realized that there were no Bootcamp drivers for that.
- Deleted Widnows 7 and put the XP install disc in. Somehow, it formatted my Mac partition instead of my Windows partition.
- Now that the MBP was only running Windows XP, I connected it to my iMac in target disk mode and wiped it (GUID, one Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition).
- I tried to put the Leopard (10.5.0) install DVD in there so I can restore from the Time Machine backup, and it sees it when I hold option at bootup but refuses to boot from it.
- I reset the PRAM and tried again, no luck.
What is going on here? Does it have to do with the fact that it was doing Bootcamp? I either want to boot from the disc or somehow restore from Time Machine some other way. I can use another computer (my iMac) if I need to.

Haha yeah, I posted right before. The thing I'm wondering now: Does this mean that a Mac that came with Lion cannot be downgraded to Snow Leopard? Well, I'll save it for another question if I ever cross that bridge.
Limnos wrote:
Just so we know, this is the original OS disc that came with this computer? Even if you're trying to use a retail installer disc I am not sure those came out the the sufficient sub-version required to boot the computer (I think it needs at least 10.5.7 but don't have the specifics of your model).
Edit: I guess I'm a slow typist.

Ibook g4 won't boot from install disks

Got an ibook g4 1.33 ghz combo drive from original owner w/install disks. I want to reinstall original system but it won't boot from install disk 1. Tried starting holding down c but ignores disk. Holding down option just gives me the HD. Install disk shows up on desktop and opens. Tried disk utility from install disk but it doesn't allow me to erase the hd. Is there anything else I can do? Thanks.

OK, so let us suppose that you have the correct disk, the possibilities are:
• the optical drive is not functioning properly. However, since the disk shows up on the desktop the drive is apparently reading it.
• the disk itself is the issue. It could the wrong disk, but let us assume it is not. It could be damaged so that it is no longer bootable, or it could dirty. I would begin by giving the disk a good buffing and see if that will encourage it to boot the computer.
Good luck.
cornelius

IMac can't/won't boot from Leopard DVD

My 1GHz G4 iMac can't or won't boot from the DVD, although I know the media is good.
I get stuck on the grey screen, the rotating bug stops rotating after about 5 minutes.
It will still boot from the hard disk fine, and will boot with other DVDs as well. Hardware diagnostics check out fine.
I did try single user mode, it will get there OK.
Verbose mode spits out a lot of messages (who knew? - lol), but nothing that seems to point to any one issue. It too stops spitting out messages after about 10 minutes.
Any ideas?

I did try the clicking the mouse thing just for the heck of it... no joy.
I do see a few other threads like this one, so I'm not alone on this.
The error messages I see are (not going to type them out all the way):
launchd[1]: Failed to count the number of files in /System/Library/StartupItems no such file or directory
Then a bunch of mDNSResponder errors, also saying either no such file/directory or invalid destination port.
Then a message saying Folder Manager is being asked to create a folder (cach) while running as uid 0
Then Cannot use ATS Persistent Store - switching to old FODB cache code
kextd[47]: root filesystem is read-only; skipping kernel link data generation
followed by a couple of errors from configdp[41]
Then nothing....
Still stuck...

DVD drive won't boot from Leopard or Tiger disks

Hi,
I have had some issues booting from the OS install disks with my DVD drive, is it the drive or is it the software?
Can this be fixed?
Thanks
Tom

There are known issues with some Leopard discs not booting, but if your Tiger disc won't boot either, I would say you probably have a defective optical drive.
-Bmer
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IBook g4 won't boot from CD or read CD but will boot from and read DVD

My iBook won't read from CD's anymore. I can put in my 10.4 Tiger DVD and it boots just fine and will mount just fine but when I insert a CD it will think for abou 10-15 seconds then eject it. I can't get it o boot with any diag tools on CD either. Any tricks

I've been having a similar problem. Can't boot from diagnostic disks (Disk Warrior, Norton, and can't use certain functions of Disk Utilities on Mac OS disk). What's more, I now have 3 partitions on my hard drive and I didn't partition it! I tried wiping the HD but I still ended up with 3 partitions. Permissions keep changing on my files. I haven't been able to access the other volumes to see what's there. I feel as though something on one of the other volumes has taken over the admin privileges for my iBook.
NAV finds nothing, but also tells me I haven't permission to scan certain files in the priv, usr, bin, and similar files.
Disk Utility repairs permissions temporarily, but only on the one partition I can access. When I try to use it to look at other vols from the CD, it shuts down and restarts my computer from the HD.
What's going on and what can I do about it? Apple claims it's impervious to rootkits et. al., but I'm beginning to think one has gotten onto my system.
Has anyone else heard of similar behavior and a way to remedy?

2008 MacBook Pro won't boot from Leopard DVD or Target Disk

Yesterday I was working on my MacBook Pro. I use FontExplorer to manage fonts. I ran the conflicts diagnostic looking for missing font files, which returned about 200 results (I was expecting this). I've moved the fonts installed by Adobe/Microsoft out of my fonts folder in my user library (user library, not system). For some reason the computer started to become very slow, to the point of beachballing. The freezing seemed to start and stop. I was able to close FontExplorer and Illustrator without force-quitting. I tried to shut it down gracefully at that point but it froze up again, so I hit the power button to force a restart. It started up but now it hangs on the gray screen right before the Apple logo. The logo doesn't come up, I can hear the drive spinning as normal but it doesn't do anything.
I've tried booting from a retail copy of the Snow Leopard, but it doesn't work. I can hear the disc spin up in the DVD drive as though the computer is about to read it, but nothing happens. It just stays on that same blue screen. I've tried booting my MBP in Target Disk mode from my iMac. The target disk icon appears, however it just sits in the middle of the screen and my drive doesn't mount on the iMac. I've noticed now that the white status light on the front of the MBP (on the latch) doesn't come on, and if I cover the speakers the backlight doesn't turn off.
What do I do now? I have an enclosure I could use to try and boot the MBP's drive from, but I'm running out of options. I'm really starting to worry about my data. I have a major school project that's already late which is on there, and I don't have a recent backup. If I don't hand it in... let's not go there. I don't understand how this could happen; I take very good care of my computer, I turn it off when it's not in use, and I run Cocktail on it once a day which does a SMART status check.
Help?

sig,
The first thing I tried was booting from the install disk. The 2008/2009 MBP's aren't able to boot from a retail DVD of Snow Leopard, which is why I ended up using the original hardware-specific install disk that shipped with my computer. That didn't boot either. I was able to view the drive in Disk Utility when it was in the enclosure, but the partition with my data on it would not mount. I attempted a repair disk on the drive but that failed. It wouldn't mount in Terminal either. I considered trying to rebuild the volume catalog using TechTool Pro but there's the possibility that could actually make things worse. So I've taken it to the repair shop. They're running it through DiskWarrior overnight, last I heard there were 60-something thread errors. Yesterday my SMART status was fine, today my drive is dead. What happened? Hoping for the best (but expecting the worst).

Ibook g4 won't boot from HD or CD

I was given a G4 14" ibook. Best Buy told the person that gave it to me that the optical drive was bad. I have changed it with a new on and still all I get is the apple logo and the gear spinning on the screen. You hear the HD spin and get the gray screen with apple logo and gear, I boot it holding C and you hear the CD spin up and move back and forth but then it spins down and your still stuck on the same screen. I have also pulled the HD and tried to force a boot from the cd then I get the Folder with the ? on the screen. Does any one have any other suggestions. One person told me I need to update the firm ware but I don't know how to do that. i have also tried resetting the Power managenet as well with no different responce. Any help would be great. I am and old mac user that has been away for many years and was hopping this ibook would be my way to get back started again.
Thanks
Jason

Hi, travis!
Sorry to hear about your experience with your install discs. If you need replacement install discs, you might call Apple Software Support, explain your experience, and ask them to ship you replacement discs for the ones which were ruined. Normally, they'll do this for a nominal fee. You'll have to provide them with the Mac's serial number when you call, so have it ready beforehand. You might first insure that you register the Mac(s) online with Apple, if you haven't already done so.
The phone number is listed at the bottom right of this page for North American contacts.
BTW - The correct Apple Hardware Test disc for the DP FW800 Mac you have is version 2.0.1.
Gary

BRAND NEW Mac Pro won't boot from Leopard DVD, kernel panics!

I just received my brand new Mac Pro today. It's a BTO machine with the upgrade to the NVIDIA 8800GT, a second optical drive and a Mac OS X Server license. The system has Mac OS X server installed on the default 320GB drive. I decided to use the server license as a virtual machine running in Leopard client. So, I installed 2 new 500GB Seagate 7200.11 (Retail) drives in the machine, zeroed them out in prep for installing Leopard client.
At this point, I pop in a freshly-purchased retail copy of the Leopard DVD and restart. When I try to boot from the DVD and install Leopard to one of the new Seagate drives, I get kernel panics - need to restart the machine. Also tried booting from the Mac OS X Server DVD and this too only caused kernel panics. The DVD's read perfectly from within Mac OS X Server and boot from hard disks is flawless.
I spent an hour on the phone with a level 2 tech at Apple - Tried swapping out the RAM and moving around the DIMMS to no avail. I am at a loss to what this could be. Seems to be a hardware issue and the tech thought it was likely a problem with one of the memory risers but couldn't send replacements. Anyone else with a similar issue?
This is my first Mac and it looks like this Mac Pro is going back for an exchange and I'll have to wait yet another 10-12 days for a replacement to arrive. Bummer.
Am I missing something simple here? Does this seem to be a hardware issue?
If anyone has any ideas before I ship this one back, please write!!!

New Mac Pros will not install the Leopard retail disc. They will only install the Leopard disc which shipped with them labeled Mac Pro. That has always been true. Macs can only boot the system that ships on DVD in the box that came with them, and newer retail releases. They can never boot from an older retail release than what shipped in the box.

Powermac Won't Boot From Leopard Disc, Hard Drive, etc.

I've tried to boot the computer from the cd, hard drive and other things but it will not boot because i don't know the open firmware password. Any ideas?

In fact, I have but I first saw yours.
This seems to be a relatively frequent problem.
I've even checked that Firmware Password Protection thing.
Apple procedure is puzzling to say the least. They say
it could prevent boot from DVD and advise to install
the app from the App DVD (the # 2 DVD delivered with the
MBP to correct this and deactivate FPP if it was activated in the first place.
I checked : no Firmware Password Protection in the DVD.
Usually, Apple never behave like Micro$oft, God forbid…
Message was edited by: Hellstan

Video Ram failed, won't boot from Leopard Install Disk

Hello,
Recently, I ran the techtools software, and got a report that my video ram had failed. It was suggested that I attempt to reinstall OSX. I put in the Leopard install disk, click the install or setup button or whatever it is, click to restart. When it restarts, a gray screen comes up, but the computer never actually boots up, from either the DVD or my hard disk.
Any suggestions?

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Since your MacBook is still very new, you shouldn't have an problem with the DVD. If I were you, I'd call AppleCare Support and have someone walk you through re-installing Mac OS X. However, I really doubt this will help resolve what seems to be a hardware failure on your MacBook. Hopefully the folks at AppleCare Support can help figure out if you need to send your MacBook in for repairs.
-Doug

IBook G4 won't boot using Install Disk

My iBook g4 won't boot from its original Mac OS X Install Disk (10.4.2).
When I try to start by holding down the 'C' key, the drive starts to spin up the disk, but then starts up from the hard drive.
When using the System Preferences to select the install disk as the start up drive, it shows in the preference pane, I can select it, but when it restarts, I get a flashing question mark before the computer continues by booting up from the hard drive.
I've also tried holding down the 'Option' key to run the Apple Hardware Test on the disk, but my internal hard drive is my only option when trying this.
I find it odd that the drive would work normally for all other purposes (reading/writing CD and DVD's), but will not start up from it.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions!

An update:
I tested the startup disk using an external FireWire DVD drive and received the exact same results as when attempting to boot from my iBook's internal drive.
Since it's definitely not the drive, I'd have to agree with you that my install disk is bad (although I'm still at a loss as how an undamaged install disk goes bad).
You mentioned that Apple Support would replace the disks for a fee. I went through the Apple Support page and which led me to a page informing me that I had to pay $50 to talk to them once about this issue. I'm hesitant to spend $50 on a call where they'll tell me I can purchase new 10.4 install disks for the discounted fee of $50+shipping for a total investment that's almost the cost of simply upgrading to 10.5.
Has anyone actually purchased replacement install disks from Apple? I'd be interested in knowing what you were charged.
Or is there another method of contacting Apple regarding this issue that won't cost me $50?

IBook on 10.4 won't boot from Install Disk

Hi - Somewhere along the line I lost DiskUtility from my iBook running 10.4.11. I thought I could run it from the Install Disc but I find the iBook won't boot from the Disc and DU won't run from the Disc (when I do manage to track it down there).
I have install discs from a G4 Powerbook and a MacBookPro Unibody but I'm concerned about repairing permissions from the wrong version of DU (even if I could get the iBook to boot from those discs). Is a newer disc OK? I want to run or install DiskUtility. What are my options??
How can I get the iBook to boot from its install disc?
TIA your expertise...
j2

The installers are machine-series specific. And the Intel disc won't work
in the PPC Mac, additionally. If you have the correct disc for that iBook,
then you can boot the computer with the disc inside the optical drive
and hold the C key down, until Installer appears on the screen; a second
screen after the initial language screen has a full menu bar and Installer
in the header; options appear in the drop-down menu lists, Disk Utility is
among utility and other features listed in there.
If you do not have an iBook G4 disc or an OS X disc retail version capable
of doing the job, you really should get the correct disc. In a few instances,
another path may work, but is not recommended. And you could lose the
content of the hard drive in the computer you are hoping to save.
However, you may be able to use Pacifist to get Disk Utility from the PB G4
installer disc to be made available on the desktop of the iBook, and use
Pacifist to install that extracted package item from the other PPC install disc.
This does not use the installers on the disc media, so Pacifist is used to do
the process. The iBook ideally needs a replacement disc set, and that may
be available from Apple online store's sales support (see online phone#)
and the product would be matched by serial number. A fee is involved.
The original software disc set would have the correct Apple Hardware Test
and the software kit as included when the computer was new.
If Tiger did not ship with the computer in question, then a full retail disc 10.4
installer could probably be used; since it would be newer than, say 10.3.9.
In natural progression, the newer disc of correct kind & type supported by
the computer is a possible path; however a Leopard disc won't help fix Tiger.
You could also use Disk Utility in one PPC Mac, via FireWire Target Disk
mode, to repair the drive of the iBook. It would only appear as a hard drive.
So, repairing disk permissions would not be possible, on a non-boot volume.
This, only within limits; differences in build versions of OS and custom installs
done to a computer configuration may make doing so very limited. I would
not expect an Intel-Mac's version of the same OS to help a PPC in any way.
Good luck & happy computing!
{ edited 2x }

IBook won't boot from CD

I bought this iBook, used, with Tiger on it. A while back, it had Debian Lenny installed onto it. Now I can't reinstall Tiger...
I have tried holding "C" before the gray screen when it boots, and I've tried holding "option". It only shows the disk with the Linux penguin, but not my Tiger install CD. Holding C, it only loops trying to read the CD; it does NOT reboot, it just unsuccessfully continues attempting to read the disk.
I know it not be a problem with my CD, because I can't reinstall Debian or Kubuntu or Ubuntu, even from the disk used in the past. I have tried resetting the PRAM and PMU..
Is there any hope?? I'm done with using Linux.

Yes, the iMac will still boot from the CD. The iBook won't boot from any disk anymore, not even retail Panther. I know that the CD drive still works, because I'm using it right now to listen to music in Debian.. I think something's up with the open firmware, and I should update it but that can only be done through Classic right? There's not even an update for my iBook, I think.
I've tried burning several different linix distros, and they all work with my iMac but not iBook.
And, yes, it is a set of four CDs for Tiger.

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly apprec

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

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http://www.cultofmac.com/110614/downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-video-how-to /
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http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-the-complet e-tutorial/
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IBook G4 won't boot from Leopard 10.5.6

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