Install of OS X leopard on Powerbook G4 stalls each time

Question

Hi - I was wondering if anyone out there could help me - I have a Powerbook G4 15", bought around 2005/6. Great machine, never had any problems... until now... I recently did an apple security update, after that the computer never rebooted, always got hung on the spinning cog thing.
I backed-up the hard disk, then did an erase and install with my OS X install DVD. It all works fine for a while and usually gets to the point where it says "around 1hr 11mins to go". Then it never moves on! I have looked at the log and it seems to be working fine, then stops progressing. I have left it going the last 2 nights, but after 8hrs+, no progress.
If it helps, this is what the last few lines of the 295 line log look like:
Apr 15 01:50:07 localhost installdb[217]: The db cache for '/Volumes/rl/Library/Receipts/db/a.receiptdb' contains: {\n schema = 0;\n sqlite = <01d07510>;\n}
Apr 15 01:50:07 localhost installdb[217]: Initializing database with schema version 17 at '/Volumes/rl/Library/Receipts/db/a.receiptdb'.
Apr 15 01:50:07 localhost payloadExtractor[216]: Extracting...
Apr 15 02:00:50 localhost Unknown[66]: 1976-04-15 02:00 Mac OS X Installer[153] (CarbonCore.framework) FSEventStreamStart: ERROR: FSEvents_connect() => Unknown service name (1102)
Apr 15 02:00:53 localhost OSInstaller[153]: installAutoFSMonitor: open failed
Apr 15 02:01:10 localhost installdb[217]: idle 10 min with 1 open connection.
Apr 15 02:11:11 localhost installdb[217]: idle 20 min with 1 open connection.
Apr 15 02:21:11 localhost installdb[217]: idle 30 min with 1 open connection.
Apr 15 02:31:12 localhost installdb[217]: idle 40 min with 1 open connection.
Apr 15 02:41:12 localhost installdb[217]: idle 50 min with 1 open connection.
Apr 15 02:51:12 localhost installdb[217]: idle 60 min with 1 open connection.
Apr 15 02:51:18 localhost installdb[217]: closing abandoned connection 1
Apr 15 02:51:30 localhost installdb[217]: Closed receipt database on '/Volumes/rl/Library/Receipts/db/a.receiptdb'
Apr 15 02:51:30 localhost installdb[217]: done. (4.391u + 1.672s)
I am really not that techy, and have never done OS installs on macs before until now. I am loathe to bring it to an apple reseller in Dublin as they will charge $$$s just to look at it!
If anyone can help or has experienced something similar and found a solution, I would love to hear from you.
Thanks very much, Sally.

Answer 1

One possibility is there's a problem with the installer DVD. Carefully clean it. Another is a problem with computer's optical drive mechanism. There are laser lens cleaning discs you can purchase to clean the laser, but if the drive is out of alignment that requires a technician to fix. A third possibility is that the hard drive has defects or is failing. You can do the following to see if it fixes the problem:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
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.) 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 can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Lastly, there may be memory failure. This may be evidenced if the install fails at random points in the process. However, this is not definitive. Unfortunately, there are no truly reliable tests for RAM except to remove a module and then run the machine to see if the problem ceases.