Simply says "cannot install on this computer" when installing on my g4

Question

help! i went through all the steps and just before installing, it says "cannot install on this computer" with no error code, no other buttons, and no way to resolve the problem. i'm installing on a g4. please help!

Answer 1

Hello,
You don't provide enough information to provide you with a definite answer. What are you trying to install? OS X, an update, a program, etc.?
If you are talking about an OS X 10.4.x update, then you should make sure that you are getting the PowerPC version and not the Intel version of that update.
If you are talking about installing OS X (or any other Mac OS), then you do need to be aware of the following:
The Mac will only install from Restore Disks / OS installation disks that meet one of the following criteria.
1) Original Retail boxed version of Mac OS that is of a later version than the computer originally shipped with.
2) Software Restore / Installation disks that originally came with that specific computer.
If you are using anything other than that, you will not be successful in getting the computer to boot from the installation disks and install the Mac OS.
If you purchased / obtained install disks from someone else, and they are not retail disks, then that could be the problem. The grey disks are an OEM disk, and are keyed to a specific computer. If they do not detect that computer when you try to install them, then it will not work.
These disks are usually labeled with machine name on them like eMac, iMac, etc.
Even if the machine you have is the same one printed on the label, it still will not likely work. Not only do they check to make sure it is the same type of computer, but they also check to see if it is the exact same revision and version that it shipped with.
If one thing is different, then they won't install.
And, as mentioned above, if you use retail installation disks, then you will need to make sure that they are of a version later than the version which came with the computer. Apple has a mechanism built-in to prevent installation of an OS that pre-dates the version which shipped on the computer.
Perhaps a bit of clarification is in order:
I don't know which version of the Mac OS came with the computer you are specifically working with, so let me just use OS 10.3.7 as an example.
So, assume that the computer originally shipped with OS 10.3.7 pre-installed from the factory.
Now, the computer (and the Mac OS) would prevent you from installing OS 10.3.6 or earlier on it. The reason for this is that the operating system needs to be aware of all the system's specific needs. It needs to know how it's power management system works, and so on.
Now for the tricky part, I mentioned that in regards to the retail boxed version that you would need to install a version later than the version which came with your computer originally. Now, that may sound funny, but here's why.
Let's suppose that OS 10.3.7 was already available before your computer was produced. And, let's suppose that a few unique customizations were necessary to make the current OS 10.3.7 run on the new machine. In that case, Apple may have released a custom "Build" of OS 10.3.7 that would run on the new system. So, in that case, the already available retail version of OS 10.3.7 may fail to work on that system. But, OS 10.3.8 would be aware of the needs of that machine since 10.3.8 would include the customizations provided in that special build of 10.3.7.
So, that is why I suggested going for a newer revision of the Mac OS when purchasing / using a retail boxed package. That way you can make sure it is aware of your system's specific needs.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.