PowerBook 17 crashes consistently, even when booted from Tiger DVD

We have a new PowerBook 17 that has started giving us problems in the last day or so. It will hang after running for a few minutes. This is a consistent problem - it doesn't go away for an hour, or a day - if the machine is running, it will hang. There is no kernel panic, no dialogue box, the trackpad, mouse, etc. simply stop responding (the clock freezes too, so I know the system is hanging up - not just input devices).
I've managed to run throught most of the normal trouble-shooting methods, I say "managed" because the machine froze when I was booting into single user mode. So I went to the Tiger DVD that shipped with the laptop. Upon getting to the language selection dialog box - it froze again (no mouse, keyboard activity, etc.). Eventually, the machine did boot from the startup DVD - and I ran disk utility. Of course it found no problems with permissions or the disk because this is apparently hardware related, no?
That being said, an archive and install will probably do us no good. But would Tech Tools (came with our AppleCare) manage to at least spot a Hardware issue? At this point, the only thing I haven't done is removed the third-party RAM we installed (which has been installed for nearly two weeks with no sign of conflict). That will be the next course of action and we'll run Tech Tools. Any ideas or suggestions regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated. We all know that being down one machine is not a good thing - thanks in advance for any assistance.
PowerBook G4 17" 1.67 Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.5) Might Mouse, 1.5 GB RAM, 100 GB HD
PowerMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4) 20" Cinema Display - 2G 20GB iPod - much, much more

David,
I always had a pristine system: no kernel panics, no system hangs. Then, one day I started to have kernel panics and hang ups and when I tried to install XCode it failed, then I couldn't install iWork '06. At first I thought it was a problem with the disk until I decided to run Apple's hardware test. After all, it was just a problem with one of the 512MBs memory DIMMs. Removed the offending DIMM and everything went back to normal.
So, I think you should try the hardware test. To do this just start up from the original installation disk while pressing the option key and then choose Apple Hardware Test from the available startup disks.

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Ethernet seems to work when booted from Leopard DVD--Not anytime else

Ok. Here is the deal. iMac G5 connected via ethernet cable to router. It will not connect. The airport works fine. I unplug the same cable and plug into macbook pro--it works just fine. Plug it back into iMac.
In network utilities when booted from the disk--I can ping away just fine. So--in network preferences when I boot it up again I attempt to put the IP address, subnet, router yada yada yada in manually and after about twenty five seconds of the program chewing on it--it crashes. Over and over again. Airport works just fine. PowerBook and Mac Pro connected to same network---all check out.
Any thoughts?

Hi,
The internet port is meant for modem, and ports 1,2,3,4 are meant for computers.
After making proper connections reset router for 1 minute, and rebbot it.
Now run easy connect program for configuring router.

Grey circle with cross in the middle when trying to boot from Tiger DVD

When I try to boot from the DVD that installs Tiger, it get the Apple logo and spinning wheel as usual when booting a Mac OS. Then the Apple logo turns into a grey circle with a cross in the middle, signifying "no"! I haven't locked my firmware, but could it be locked? I got the computer from Apple when my original G5 died (it was a lemon). Did Apple lock the firmware???
The OS on my Macintosh HD is Leopard.

So what specific model is this iMac? Is it a G5? Or is it an Intel iMac?
If it is a G5 you have posted in the wrong forum, this is the Intel forum. A G5 is not an Intel Mac, it has the IBM PowerPC CPU.
If this is an Intel, which Intel model is it? Did it come with Mac OS X Tiger installed on it? If it did not come with Tiger, if it came with Leopard, you cannot put Tiger on it.
Dah•veed

Error code 5 when booting from CD/DVD - Equium A200

I am trying to boot from CD/DVD and get the message: Cannot boot from CD - Code 5
Using a Windows Vista Home boot-cd.
The CD/DVD-station is ok. Have tried another station.
Have also tried another HDD.

Generally speaking you can use original Microsoft installation disc for OS installation. I have done this numerous times and have never noticed such errors and I have done this on different notebooks. One of them was Satellite A200. it is absolutely the same as your Equium.
My question: do you use original Microsoft installation disc or some own creation?
Put error code 5 in Google and you will find interesting articles about this.

Kernal panic when booting from tiger disk

My friend just called me with a computer issue. She just got a used computer and it had a password setup. i told her how you can boot from the tiger install disk and reset it. She put the disk in and started holding down C before she turned it on. It sits there and thinks for a while and then she gets a kernal panic with the prohibitory sign before it gets anywhere (to the install screen). I have no idea what to tell her and she's 3 hours away so I can't really go over there easily.
Could the fact that she started holding down C before she turned it on make a difference?
Any help is appreciated.

The correct procedure for booting from the DVD is:
Start the computer and immediately after hearing the chime press and hold down the "C" key with one hand while inserting the DVD into the optical drive quickly with the other. Continue holding the "C" key down until the computer starts up from the DVD.
If the computer is already turned on, then insert the DVD into the optical drive. Restart the computer and immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key until the computer starts up from the DVD.
If the computer continues to panic despite the above procedure, then there's likely a major hardware problem.

Always crashing and rebooting when booting from my new win7-disc. Lenovo 3000 n200 0769-erg

I have a fully working Vista system on my n200, trying to boot from my new win7-disc, even tried to boot from usb but it's the same:
"Loading windows files" followed by "Starting windows" with the new win7-logo.. After that comes a fat cursor(guess the resolution is lower, like in "Rescue and recovery").
This cursor and a black screen is all I see for ~5 secs before it crashes. Same thing every time.
It might be Rescue and recovery that starts there and crashes. If that's the case, how do I remove it/fix it in a safe way? Or can i try something else first?
I am able to boot Linux from CD fyi..
Thankful for any help.
Regards

hi perp,
If you have tried installing Windows 7 in both AHCI/Compatible mode and the Windows 7 installer still crashes, can you try to run a diagnostic on the RAM/HDD (to make sure there's no hardware fault).
To run the diagnostics:
1. Download the the UBCD ISO
2. Burn the ISO using imgburn
3. Boot from the diagnostic cd and use MemTest86+ for the memory test and use Data Lifeguard (if you have a Western Digital HDD).
To burn the diagnostic softwre on a flashdrive, follow this guide.
If you get any errors, you will need to contact lenovo for service or you can DIY and replace the defective components.
Hope this helps
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Kernel panic when booting from Tiger install DVD

Short version: When I try to boot up from the Tiger installation DVD, my Power Mac G5 gives me a kernel panic. Can anyone help?
Here's the story:
I have a Power Mac G5 that I've been running Leopard on for quite some time now. Unfortunately, the software I need to use (Final Cut Studio 1) has some incompatibilities with Leopard, so I was thinking I would put Tiger back on the machine in a separate partition on the second hard drive.
I tried booting the Power Mac using the retail (black label) Tiger DVD and holding down the "C" key. The Apple logo appears on screen, but is immediately followed by a kernel panic. I'm never able to access the features on the disc. The same thing happens if I try holding down "option" during boot instead: I'm correctly allowed to choose whether to boot from the hard drive or the DVD, but once I choose the DVD, I get the Apple logo and then a kernel panic.
The same Tiger DVD works fine on other computers, so I know it's not the disc. And the Power Mac itself handles everything else without problem.
I'm kind of desperate, as I need to finish this project this week. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated!

[Apple docs: What's a kernel panic? (Mac OS X)|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227]
[Topic : kmosx: Kernel Panics? Don't panic too !|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=121923]
[X-Lab: Resolving Kernel Panics|http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html]
[Tutorial: Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics|http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060911080447777]
[Tutorial: An introduction to reading Mac OS X crash reports|http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060309075929717]
[12-Step Program to Isolate Freezes and/or Kernel Panics|http://macosg.com/group/viewtopic.php?t=800]

G5 Black & white video when booted from install DVD

It has been years since I installed 10.5 on our G5 so I can not remember if this happened back then but think it did.
When I boot from an install DVD (both the original G5 DVD with Tiger and the MacOS Leopard DVD) the video output drops to 1-bit (dithered black & white) which makes it very hard to discern the text on the shaded buttons in the GUI. The video card is fine - when I hold down the Option key on boot to select the DVD the video is full-color, but as soon as it switches to running from the DVD the video becomes low-rez dithered b&w.
Anyone else see this issue and suggestions on resolving it? The display is a Dell 17" wide model. I don't have another display that is easily swappable to see if it's a problem with it or the Apple DVI-to-VGA adapter.
The G5 tower is a first-generation 2x2 (2CPUs, 2GHz) with 2 DVI ports on the video card (can't recall which card I ordered back then).

Great to hear, thanks for the report!
I suspect what happened, was that the Install also changed some PRAM or NVRAM setting, those are where number of colors are held.
Some earlier Macs store these settings in PRAM:
Status of AppleTalk
Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
Alarm clock setting
Application font
Serial printer location
Autokey rate
Autokey delay
Speaker volume
Attention (beep) sound
Double-click time
Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
Startup disk
Menu blink count
Monitor depth
32-bit addressing
Virtual memory
RAM disk
Disk cache
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

Kernel Panic when booting to Tiger DVD

Subject line says it all. It's 2x2.5GHz G5 running 10.4.10. When I try to boot to the install DVD, I get a kernel panic. The drive works for things like installing apps, and the HD installation of Tiger boots fine, but no can boot from DVD. Is this a hardware issue?

I just dropped off my quad at the local Apple Authorized shop. Their tech took a look at my pic http://homepage.mac.com/chadself/.cv/chadself/Sites/.Public/G-MAc%20Kernal%20Pan ic%20200709281906.pdf-zip.zip of the panic screen and feels like it may be the logic board. Maybe it is. The system still will boot to my desktop and runs thoughstill feels slow and is a bit flakey. (Compressor still crashes before it can launch, iTunes occasionally hangs etc)
The Apple Care tech (very friendly and professional though having to repeat everything three times meant the diagnosis took much longer than necessary) had me remove all cables including power and hold power button for 20 seconds, plus run disk util, eventually gave up and sent me to repair center.
I'll let you know what they say. I can tell you that running FCP Studio off my laptop (even if it is a MBP with 2GB mem) is not nearly as productive.;)
Cheers!
Message was edited by: Chadwick

Tiger/Panther install problems - won't boot from Tiger DVD or Panther CD

My Mum has an iMac G3 CRT, running at 500MHz, with 1GB RAM, a 20GB HD, & a slot-loading internal CD-RW.
The iMac in question is the model described here: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac500indigo.html
She only uses the machine for email & web browsing, but because it runs OS 9, it won't run a modern web browser (it's stuck on Internet Explorer 5.1.7) so lots of websites don't load properly or work at all. This is fair enough as IE for the Mac hasn't been updated since 2001.
My idea was to upgrade the machine from OS 9.2.2 to (ideally) 10.4.11, or failing that, 10.3.9, which would then let her use the current version of Safari, or possibly even Firefox. (Any thoughts on which would be easier for a currently IE-using technically-challenged pensioner would be welcome, although I prefer Safari myself, despite its shortcomings).
The iMac only had it's original 128MB of RAM until recently, but I persuaded her that it would be a good idea to spend 70-odd Pounds on 1GB of RAM so that OS X could not only be installed (which would let a modern browser be used) but would run at a useable speed. The minimum requirement for Panther is 128MB of RAM, but I suspected that it would run like treacle on a 128MB G3, and I was hoping to go for Tiger anyway, which requires 256MB.
As Tiger comes on a DVD (I have the retail/generic version) and the iMac has no DVD drive, I borrowed a friends external LaCie FireWire DVD-RW drive (the Porsche styled one). The DVD mounted first time, and the Startup Disk control panel let me select it.
When I restarted, I got the initial OS X pale grey screen with the dark grey Apple logo in the centre, with the spinning circle thing below, but after a minute or so, I could hear the DVD stop spinning in the drive, and a few seconds later the dark grey Apple logo changed into a dark grey "circle with a line through it" logo, with the normal circle thing still spinning below. This is how things stayed for many minutes, so I just restarted with the external drive off, and eventually got back to a normal 9.2.2 boot-up.
Next I tried running the "Mac OS X Install" application on the Tiger DVD from within 9.2.2. This started and came up with a big Tiger logo screen with a button labelled "Restart". Clicking it brought up an OS 9 error dialogue though, which said something along the lines of "the Tiger DVD cannot be selected as the startup disk" with a number 2 in brackets at the end of the error message - like this: (2)
This error occurs both if I select the Tiger DVD in the Startup Disk control panel prior to running the "Mac OS X Install" application, or if I select the internal hard disk. I know the DVD isn't faulty, as I used it to successfully boot my own Mac (a Power Mac G4 Mirror Drive Doors) just the other day, in order to repair permissions on the startup disk.
At this point I gave up on Tiger and tried to use the first of 3 Panther CDs that I have. These 3 CDs are burnt copies that came with my own Mac and contain version 10.3.2.
The CD refused to be selectable in the Startup Disk control panel. It's icon was greyed out, and so I couldn't boot from it. I tried running the "Install Mac OS X" application on the CD from within OS 9, but got the same error with the 2 in brackets when I clicked the "Restart" button, just like with the Tiger DVD.
Initially, I suspected that these Panther discs might be machine-specific, rather than the retail/generic version, because of the first CD being greyed-out in the Startup Disk control panel, but then the error dialogue that matched the one I got when I tried the Tiger DVD makes me think that my Panther CDs might be generic after all. Examining the first CD on my own Mac, it appears to be generic, but I'm not 100% sure, as the CDs are copies and as such don't have the usual identifying information on the labels. There are no machine-specific files that I can find on the first CD, which is dated January 9th 2004.
Various websites mention that when Tiger was current, Apple would swap a retail copy of the DVD for a set of CDs. I've looked on eBay but not been able to find any. This doesn't surprise me though, as there will be very few copies of Tiger on CD out there, and even fewer copies that people would want to sell.
There are a few retail copies of Panther available on CD, but if my current burnt copies of these discs are in fact generic, then buying a new set would make no difference. Besides, I'd prefer to use Tiger.
The Tiger minimum requirements (see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1514) say:
"To use Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, your Macintosh needs: DVD drive (DVD-ROM), Combo (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) or SuperDrive (DVD-R) for installation"
What it doesn't say though, is whether the DVD drive has to be an internal one with Apple firmware/modifications, or whether an external 3rd party one will do. However, I know from various websites that it's possible to load Tiger onto this sort of Mac, and sometimes even older non-FireWire Macs, despite what the minimum system requirements say.
If anyone has any suggestions I'd be much obliged!
Thanks.

The problem is now solved, but I'm not sure how I managed it, unfortunately.
Having read the article at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75430, I checked both my Tiger DVD and my first Panther CD, and neither had the firmware updater on them, despite what the article said, so I downloaded it. However I was sure I'd applied a firmware update to the iMac a long time ago, and the 4.1.9 version number seemed familiar.
When I checked, I had in fact already applied the firmware update a few years ago!
I tried running the "Mac OS X Install" application on the Tiger DVD from within 9.2.2 again, and got the same error message as before. I was wrong about the error code though. It was minus 2 in brackets, not 2 in brackets.
The full text of the error message is:
An error occurred.
"Startup Disk was unable to select the
install CD as the startup disk. (-2)"
I tried selecting the DVD manually in the Startup Disk control panel (as before) and running the application again gave the same error message (also as before).
I then went into Extensions Manager to see if there was anything there that might be interfering with things. The only thing that caught my eye was the LaCie SilverLining control panel (which I think was version 6.4.5a). This was something that originally came on a floppy disk accompanying an external hard drive that I used to use years ago at a place I worked, and I used to find it invaluable back in the OS 9 G1 Power Mac magneto-optical external drive days!
I couldn't remember what it was doing on the iMac, but I switched it off, and then clicked "Restart", hoping that when I rebooted (in OS 9) the error message wouldn't come up when I ran the "Mac OS X Install" application.
However, I'd forgotten that I'd switched the Startup Disk control panel to the DVD, so when the iMac restarted, the initial OS X dark grey Apple logo screen appeared, and I expected the dark grey "circle with a line through it" logo to appear shortly afterwards, but it didn't! The iMac booted up from the DVD, which then let me install Tiger! I was then able to apply the 10.4.11 update, plus all the others that Software Update provided. About half a dozen restarts and several hours later, the iMac is now fully updated & configured, favourites are copied over to Safari 3.1.2, and all I have to do is teach my Mum how to use the OS X Finder, Mail & Safari, as opposed to the OS 9 Finder, Outlook Express & Internet Explorer...
Switching off the SilverLining control panel seemed to do the trick, but since the iMac then rebooted from the DVD, not the internal hard disk, I don't see how it could have possibly had any bearing on things! Very weird!
Anyway, thanks to Allan Jones & spudnuty for their advice. All's well that ends well!

Cnnot boot from Tiger DVD

I have encountered two 12-inch PBs which will not boot off the retail 10.4 DVD. I tried holding C, option key, startup disk in prefs, running the install program, nothing works. It accesses the DVD but boots from the hard drive. Is a special media disc required?

It should work fine. I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work, but since it isn't working I would recommend trying to install it this way if you have another mac:
1. Use a Firewire - to Firewire cord to connect two macs together
3. Connect the two by booting the Powerbook with the 'T' key depressed until the Firewire icon is displayed. Connect the two computers.
4. Power on the other mac.
5. Hold the letter C.
6. Go through the install as normal.. When you see it ask for an HD click the orange one.
7. Continue install as normal.
That is another way you can get OS X installed. Here are some directions with Screen shots that is a little more exact.
http://www.applelinks.com/p5/index.php/print/4407/
It does say iBook in there a few times.. this will definatly also work with a powerbook.

Problems Booting from Tiger DVD

I've seen a lot of people with this problem, but the solutions all seem to be different. So here's my scenarion. I'm running a G4 MDD with 1.4.8 off a 120 GB Apple ATA drive. I've had a number of problems with crashes & kernel panics which I can't tell are software or hardware driven. I bought a 320 GB seagate drive to take over for the original, and want to install a clean system. I'll gradually migrate over apps, and when I have a stable platform, I'll wipe the old drive. Fine.
Unfortunately I can't get my machine to boot off the Tiger DVD. Standard restart from DVD->blue screen. Option key->Black screen-Nada. Zap PRAM->Blue screen. Safe Mode->Gray Screen.
The disk looks lovely and boots another machine.
I'm trying to boot in my original Superdrive, and the DVD comes up fine when I boot off my hard drive. One article suggested that having a non-apple drive in the 2nd Bay (which I do) can cause problems. I disconnected it, and still no boot. Some other posts on this topic say that possibly the Superdrive is going bad. Is there a way to test it? It functions fine in all other respects.
I don't have access to an external DVD drive, but do have my original Apple Non-super DVD in a carton.
Suggestions? Thanks.

Sig, it will offer the Install button, for restarting into the DVD, if it mounts.
Try zapping PRAM, with the disk installed, and then immediately holding down the "C" key. If that fails, and it boots into your internal drive, just open System Prefernces, and select the Tiger disk as the startup disk. When you restart, hold down the mouse clicker till the DVD is ejected, and then it will just default to the internal drive.

Blue & White G3 won't boot from Tiger DVD

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the B & W G3's ARE supported under OS X 10.4 right? This computer came to me only a week ago with 10.3.9 installed (flaky, but working), 32x CD-ROM, 384 MB RAM, 25 GB HD. The PRAM battery is dead. I was also given an NEC 5x DVD-ROM to install. This works fine (when it wants to) when booting with an OS 9.2.2 CD-ROM, and it can see and open the Tiger install CD... but it will NOT boot from it for some reason, computer just sits and idles. Any ideas?

This article concerns a specific problem with the Blue & White G3 and the Matsushita CR-587 CD-ROM drive. However, it shows an Open Firmware workaround that you could try:
25793- Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White): Unable to start from Mac OS X 10.3.2 Install CD by holding "C" key

I have an ibook g4 that boots to blue screen and hangs. Safe mode will boot but hangs after log in. I have reset PRAM, NVRAM, and the PMU. Booted from Diskwarrior and rebuilt and tested the HD, working properly. Boot from Tiger dvd shows images? no text

The tiger install dvd boots only to show an image of what looks to be two steps, not sure what its showing me.. possibly inserting RAM? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Could you get a picture of the screen, load that into your working computer,
and post it into a reply here? There are a few kinds of situations where a
similiar display of that sort may appear.
Given the G4 iBook PPC (which model) is a bit dated now, one has to
assume you have the original 'install-restore' DVD it came with, new.
What was or wasn't it doing, before you chose to try to boot Tiger DVD?
Do you have a second Mac, one w/ FireWire ports; maybe Thunderbolt?
It may be possible to further look into the ailing iBook G4 via FireWire
from a second Mac, and attempt to investigate, or save old data to some
external drive, USB Flash; in case you need to totally wipe the HDD.
An image of the iBook screen may be helpful. Someone else with recent
troubleshooting or extensive use of iBook portables (or other OS X issue)
that presents such a screen instead of a normal progress screen, may
have an immediate idea. Without an image, I am not venturing a guess.
What key did you hold down while trying to boot the computer from DVD?
One set of keys can get you a Startup Manager. Among other options.

Blank Screen - even when booted from the CD - Weird Sleep Cycle perhaps?

Hi,
Last night my MacBook Pro decided to go blank on me - I put it to sleep for a bit using Windows via Boot Camp. Then when I came to wake it up again the screen just stayed black. I could hear all the noises of things activating on Windows. I restarted it and got the same thing - I heard the startup tone and I waited until I was sure the Windows login screen would be up. I then typed in my password (all blind - the screen is still dark) and pressed Enter - I then heard the noise Windows makes when logging in.
Obviously this is a display issue as the computer seems to be working fine otherwise. The strange thing was the sleep light on the release catch stayed on the entire time. Then I put it to sleep by closing the lid and it still stayed on - it did not fade in and out like it should.
Anyway, I restarted it one more time and it worked! The screen was normal and it was acting as perfectly normal. I did some work on it then turned it off for the night - however it is playing up again this morning. The screen is dark again but I can still hear the fan/startup tone/Windows login sound etc.
I think - due to the sleep light still being on - it may have got itself into a weird sleep cycle perhaps, where it thinks its asleep but is actually on. I have tried booting it from a CD - it makes all the right noises but still shows no video. I have reset the PRAM and no change.
Any thoughts appreciated.

Further info: I was able to access my computer by connecting it to my wife's iBook with a FireWire cable and holding down the "T" key on my MBP upon restarting it. Everything looks fine, and I'm at least able to confirm the drive and data are in fact okay.
But here are two questions (and a theory) for the rest of you:
1. Are you all using external displays? if so, I wonder if the connector, getting lots of use, has somehow shorted out the video card.
2. Are any of you using Time Machine? When I run Disk Utility from my wife's machine on my drive, I see a mysterious "disk1s3" (grayed-out) in addition to my drive's name. When I click on it it says "Not Mounted". I've been using Time Machine, but a few days ago I realized that my drive was not mounting. I was going attach it to another machine to test it, but wondered if it was my computer's fault. The last time I saw it I unplugged it without ejecting it, and got the old "device removal" warning. Does Time Machine create some sort of an invisible disk image that is still hanging around? I doubt this could have anything to do with the display, but whenever I encounter two problems occurring at nearly the same time, my Spidey Sense starts tingling...
BTW, I repaired permissions on my drive with Disk Utility, and it said no repairs were necessary, and the display is still DOA.

PowerBook 17 crashes consistently, even when booted from Tiger DVD

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