Trouble booting from Leopard installation DVD

I'm having some trouble booting from the Leopard installation DVD, I was wondering if anyone here could help.
I want to reset my administrator password since OS X does not seem to be accepting it, and I heard that the best way to do this would be to boot from a Mac OS X installation DVD or CD and change some settings. When I start up my computer with the Leopard DVD in the drive, I hold down the 'C' key after the chime, and continue to hold it until the spinning gear appears.
From there, the spinning gear stays on the screen, and nothing happens. I've heard that it takes a while for the screen to come up, but I let it sit for over three hours and nothing happened. I also tried holding the Option key at startup and selecting the DVD, but the same thing happened. The DVD is in good shape and has no deep scratches, and it appears right away in the OS itself. I can't access the installer from the OS since it asks for my Administrator password, which it does not seem to be accepting. I also tried another solution to the Administrator password problem that involved typing some commands in Single User mode, but that did not help either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

what exactly did you try to do in single user mode?

Similar Messages

Can't restore from Disk Utility while booted from OS installation DVD

I'm absolutely astounded by this.
I have a new MacBook Pro 17". I restored my files to it and in short order, had it too full/fragmented to re-partition it for Boot Camp.
So I decided to image the disk and store that image file on a FireWire drive, wipe the system disk and restore it cleanly from the image file backup, hoping that would result in contiguous blocks used so that I could then re-partition for Boot Camp.
When booted off the OS X for Intel DVD-ROM disc (10.4.6 - the one that came with my MacBook Pro), if I get out of Installer and into Disk Utility, if I select the internal hard drive and click the Restore tab, I can easily select the hard drive backup image with the button. But the "Destination Disk:" box is only accessible via dragging the disk to the box.
There's one little problem - there is no Desktop, so the disk(s) do not appear on the Desktop. There is no way to drag the target disk to be restored to into the Destination Disk: box. You cannot drag a disk out from the little sidebar inside the Disk Utility window over to the Destination box. I tried. You can't drag any disk anywhere from that sidebar. It's clear that the only way to drag a disk anywhere is if it's shown on the Desktop in Finder (which isn't running when the installation DVD-ROM is booted from). There is simply no way that I can find to restore a disk drive from a saved backup disk image when booted from the installation DVD-ROM.
Please tell me I'm ******** and missing something, or if there's a Better Way to do this. (I can't seem to run Retrospect while booted off the DVD-ROM, so I can't restore from my Retrospect full backup of the disk, either. Joy!)
(I'm really curious if there's a Better Way - especially because it appears I can't boot from an external FireWire or USB 2.0 drive, so I need something that will work in this extremely limited installation DVD-ROM booted environment, I think.)
MacBook Pro 17" dual 2.16 GHz ; Mac OS X (10.4.6) Booted from Mac OS X for Intel 10.4.6 installation DVD-ROM

You can use an external bootable drive with a MacBook Pro -- check your manual or the built in help. Your problem is that for some reason, you can't install a bootable system on one. There are several reasons why Installer won't enable you to do so: insufficient space, incompatible partition scheme (should be GUID) or file system (should be HFS+ or similar), or wrong installation option selected.
It is possible this is related to why you can't drag the startup volume to the destination box in Disk Utility. It must be an HFS+ variant file system.
I think you should check carefully with D.U. the partition scheme of all your drives & the file system format of all the volumes involved. Also run repair disk, as someone has already pointed out.
The behavior with the Restore function is not normal -- you should be able to drag a volume to the destination box from the list.

Cannot boot from Leopard Install DVD

Now that I know I have to archive and install (based on a previous post), I'm trying to boot off of my Leopard Install DVD. I put it in the drive when starting up, hold down "C", and nothing happens. I end up booting from the hard drive and getting stuck again. I reboot the computer, try again, and again, nothing. Finally, I pressed "option" on boot-up, got the boot menu, the DVD appeared after a moment, and I clicked on it. I could hear the drive spin-up, then nothing happened. It went to the hard drive again and got stuck in its reboot loop.
The drive should be fine, as I've been using it for normal purposes lately (including ripping music off of my CDs yesterday). Is there any other reason that an OS X Leopard Install DVD wouldn't boot properly? Is it the DVD itself? Or might there be another reason?
Thank you,
Joel

If the MacBook Pro was released on or after October 26, 2007, it can't use the 10.5.0 retail installer.
If the MacBook Pro was released on or after November 15, 2007, it can't use the 10.5.1 retail installer.
If the MacBook Pro was released on or after June 30, 2008, it can't use the 10.5.4 retail installer.
If the MacBook Pro was released on or after January 2009, it can't use the 10.5.6 retail installer.
If the MacBook Pro was released before October 26, 2007, it must use the retail 10.5 installers to install 10.5.
Otherwise it can only use the installer discs which shipped with it to install 10.5.
* is the retail installer disc label, which in fine print will say the update version of 10.5 included with that disc.
If you are missing the discs that came with the machine, and you bought the machine from an authorized service center contact AppleCare for replacement discs at a nominal fee.
Otherwise contact the seller, who should have given you the discs when he sold you the machine.
The discs include iLife, and a hardware test that you can't otherwise get with the retail installer discs for Leopard alone. A bundled iLife/Leopard 10.5.6 exists today called the Mac Box Set.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Cannot reset Root password from Leopard installation DVD

User installed Leopard with the Upgrade option, and discovered his administrator user account had been reset to standard, as described in
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306876
However, when the user tried to follow the instructions for the password reset utility, he discovered that the User account selection pull-down was grayed out. So he cannot select the Root user, or any user account to reset the password.
All user account have been set to standard and there appears to be no Root user.
What next?

Sorry. Wrong forum. Reposting.

Problem: installed new hard drive but can´t boot from leopard dvd

So I just installed a new hard drive in my ibook G4. At first I started up the computer using the leopard DVD I had purchased. Got to Disk Utility and after a few seconds in the spin wheel came up and froze. So, I shut the computer down and when I tried to boot it again from the DVD I wouldn´t even reach the apple screen. Tried it a few times unsuccessfully.
As an alternative I just tried booting the comptuer using the original CD and it did read it.
I am currently at the installer page but I am concern about installing the old CD as I really would like to run the leopard dvd 10.5.
Is it that my ibook g4 can´t be booted from leopard dvd?
Please advise. thanks!!

OK, so I decided to leave my computer resting all night and give it a new try this morning.
This morning I was able to boot from the Leopard DVD, so I don´t really think it is a problem with my superdrive. Started to format at 32 minutes to complete. Then towards the 10th minute the spinning wheel appeared, I heard the fan running, then it stopped and then I heard the superdrive making some reading noises. Then all noises stopped and now the spinning wheel continues..not sure what to do now.
In the meantime, I wanted to share also another problem that I´ve been having for quite some time which I don´t know if it is related to my current problem. It is with the computer power:
- I´ve been experiecing load surges that take my computer from 100% to 1 or 0% and then goes to sleep or shuts down. The same thing happens when I am charging the computer.. it starts charging and showing 2 or 3% charge and then jacks up to 100% in minutes.
- My computer also makes like a slight humming noise sometimes when the ring around the power cable is in orange color, so I move it around until it stops. When I do that sometimes it goes from orange to green eventhough it is not fully charged. There has been times that under green it appears to be charging (battery charging icon on desktop shows up), and other sometimes like right now when it is in green color and the battery icon on the desktop says ´99%´. Weird enough, once I get the cable in a certain position it enables the battery to charge, if I keep it without moving it, the load surges disappear (at least for some days).
Should I try resetting the PMU? I´ve not done it because I don´t know what consequences it may have.
NOTE: When I bought the computer I never calibrated my battery because I was (and still are) clueless when comes to computer technicalities. I tried using a different power adapter and get the sample problem.
Below is the information I get from coconut battery:
My battery is in its 256 load-cycle. current battery capacity 58512mAh (original battery capacity: 4400 mAh).
The last system profiler I was able to pull shows:
Battery Information:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 58320
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 58512
Health Information:
Cycle count: 256
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 16250
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 15
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 15
Dynamic Power Step: Yes
Reduce Processor Speed: No
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Wake On Modem Ring: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 5
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 5
Dynamic Power Step: No
Reduce Processor Speed: Yes
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On Modem Ring: No
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
Clamshell Closed: No
UPS Installed: No
AC Charger Information:
AC Charger (Watts): 26
Connected: Yes
Charging: No
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks a bunch!!!

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).

Accidently shut down my Mac Book Pro during Windows 7 installation . When re-starting it says "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD". But keybord is not working . and i have the windows CD inside the drive . Pls hlp me to boot the mac again .

I have accidently shut down my Mac Book Pro during windows 7 installation . When I re started it it began to say " Press any key to boot from CD or DVD " but the keyboard is not working . So I cannot boot It and the CD is also in the drive . Please help me to boot back to Mac book Pro and give me a way to start the key bord .

Hey rudreshchoubey,
Thanks for the question. The following resource may help to resolve your issue:
Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1636/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_ 10.8.pdf
If Windows doesn’t install properly
Verify that you’re using an original, full version of the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8, or Windows 8 Pro.
Restart your Mac and hold down the Option key until one or more disk icons appear on your screen. Insert the Windows installation disc into the optical drive or insert the USB flash drive with Windows into a USB port on your Mac. Select the Windows installation disk icon, then click the arrow beneath it. Quickly press any key on your keyboard to start the installer. Follow the onscreen instructions to repair or reinstall Windows.
Thanks,
Matt M.

Upgrade HDD using Time Machine, but no Snow Leopard DVD, only Leopard installation DVD = kernel error on startup

Hi guys and girls.
Background
I have a MacBook Pro (March 2009 vintage). It was loaded with OS X Leopard on a 250GB HDD. When Snow Leopard was released, I upgraded using a DVD bought from Apple. In time, I added an external USB HDD to use for Time Machine Backups. I am now, however, knocking up against the capacity limit of the original hard drive.
Given the above, plus the fact that I no longer appear to have the Snow Leopard DVD (upgrade version I believe) - what is the recommended way to get back to my old setup (files, OS, settings etc), but with my new, larger HDD?
So far I have tried:
1. Formatting new HDD as Mac OS Extended (journaled), GUID partition having booted using my original (Leopard) installation DVD. I then selected the latest Time Machine (Snow Leopard) backup. After a couple of hours of restoring from that backup, the system restarted, but had kernel errors on bootup.
2. As above, but when formatting, chose to zero all data. This had the same end result.
Questions:
1. Are the kernel errors I'm experiencing due to the mismatch of booting off Leopard and restoring a Snow Leopard backup?
2. Would finding my (or even a) Snow Leopard upgrade DVD help? If so, how?
3. What am I doing wrong generally? I do like to try to understand these things!
4. As above, what is the recommended way of doing what I'm trying to do, given the limitations of release DVDs etc.
Many thanks

Simplest thing would be to buy the retail SL installation disc ($20 USD) and use it to do the migration. There might be an issue trying to use a SL TM version with Leopard.

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

Weird screen pattern freezes iMac, can't boot from HD or DVD

I woke up today to find the screen of my iMac black with a sparse pattern of bright pixels on it. I wasn't able to power down holding the Power buton so I unplugged it and left it for a bit before plugging back in. I was then able reboot without any problems. Then a few hours latter a weird pattern appeared across my screen, kind of rolling, animated in spots as seen here:
I powered down, started it up and the screen had this pattern on it:
It froze during startup at the point shown in the photo with the Apple logo. I powered down, unplugged, plugged back in and then tried booting up from my Snow Leopard install disc. It also froze on the logo screen. Another attempt brought up the "You need to restart your computer…" message in different languages shown here:
I figured it was having a kernel panic so I did some searching around and followed instructions on The X Lab - Resolving Kernel Panics page and Apple's Kernel Panic Troubleshooting page. I unplugged everything but my mouse (wireless keyboard) and tried booting into Safe Mode. The screen still had the same pattern but it froze again during startup, the grey progress bar having disappeared.
I can't boot from my hard drive or from a DVD and the pattern is always on screen when I turn the iMac back on. I can't run Apple Hardware Test. I'm stuck but I'm wondering if anyone knows what the cause might be or has any suggestions on how to fix it or even get it to boot up somehow.
I have TechTool Pro and a large flash drive. I'm going to try creating a bootable USB drive with Snow Leopard on it from this backup computer and try to get TechTool Pro on it as well. I'll report back but I'd really appreciate any feedback on this problem.

Some things to report. First, the night before any of this happened, I noticed the fan was running when there wasn't really any reason for it. The computer was idle, no major tasks running. I'm wondering if perhaps the videocard overheated and is causing problems. Perhaps the temperature sensors are screwed up?
Today I got a USB keyboard hooked up and reset the PRAM. Still unable to boot but the pattern on the screen did change from the mess of b&w squigglies above to vertical bars as shown here:
Trying to boot normally or in Safe Mode both result in the spinning wheel freezing and halting startup.
I found powering down then gets weird. It's like it tries to turn on again but can't after a second. Or sometimes it will and the mouse lights up, I can hear the optical drive but the screen stays dark. At that point I need to unplug and try again.
I tried booting from Snow Leopard install DVD during one of these weird cycles and could hear it trying to access the optical drive but I don't believe it even got to the chime stage.
I attempted booting from the install DVD again after unplugging. No luck there but instead of a frozen spinning wheel, it brings up the "You need to restart message…". Other methods don't do this.
Still at a loss to find a reason for this but it appears to be a hardware problem, no doubt the video card based on the screen issues. Does any of this shed any light on what the problem is or (even better) how to fix it?

Booting to Kernel Panic cannt boot from a cd/dvd. HELP!

Hello everyone.
My computer boot to the Kernel error. I can’t boot from the installation CD\DVD or from a firewire HD. but I can boot from a different computer using my laptop HD when pressing T while booting.
I can boot to open firmware, I tried to reset the nvram, it worked once but not anymore.
I went to apple store and they told me that the logic board need to be replaced, I still think it’s a software problem.
Please help,
Ophir
PowerBook G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.4)

hi there
ive bought a 17" powerbook 1GIG, 512(UPDATED TO 512 X 2), 60 , SUPERDRIVE model.its a 2003 model but came with no original disks, and installed with OS TIGER.I wanted to install OS classic, so like an idiot - i removed applications from the hard drive and the blue network symbol.the hard drive icon then vanished and i could not open applications.So i re-started the machine, it now comes on with the welcome tune ,then you see the grey apple logo,then from top to bottom a dark grey covers the screen with the instructions in the middle to"restart computer".there is half a screen of programme text and at the top it reads "unable to find driver for this platform"
also it states "panic at the bottom.
Will i be able to sort this problem if i had the original disks so i can reinstall everything.ive tried to install copies of classic and jaguar-no luck.
can you give me directions into ways of re-booting/safe mode/target mode.or is all of this a waiste of time if i don not have the orighinal disks that came with my powerbook.do you know anywhere where i can get a copy from.
do you know of a company that can sell me the original disks or copies.Please help as i desperately need to use my computer been a graphic designer.
hope you can help.
thankyou,jason

Update Leopard Installation DVD

Hi All!
I was a Windows User and Administrator for a long time, and with Windows Installation Disks I could update then to some Service Pack.
I was wondering if it's possible to do with Leopard Installation DVD, if I could update it to 10.5.5 for example, so I wouldn't need to update it after install.
Thanks!
Tercio

I'm not sure what you mean?
You can actually download the updates from Software Update without automatically installing them.
You can then save them on your Hard Drive or copy them onto a CD/DVD for use later.
It's very useful if you ever have to reset your computer to its factory condition as you can just get the updates off the CD/DVD instead of downloading them again.
You can choose "Download Only" from the Software Update menu.

Netinstall Leopard Installer DVD with iLife 08

Has anyone been able to use the leopard installer dvd and ilife 08 installer dvd to create a netinstall image to update machines through netboot?
I am trying now, but the iLife install never installs! I'm not sure why, but I can get other packages I made to install. Same for most of the updates from apple. I want to install them, but they don't.
Any help appreciated.

Hi Grand, I maybe able to provide some light to your situation:
I too just bought my iMac recently and due to its shipment, the iMac comes installed with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger with iLife 08, that all comes in the Install DVDs that came with the iMac. In it is also an Upgrade Leopard DVD 10.5, this is just the Leopard Upgrade.
You have to upgrade to Leopard using this Upgrade DVD and then you will get Leopard and also iLife 08, which was already previously installed. My initial mistake when I open up my iMac was to immediately do a total Erase and Install of my iMac with the Leopard Upgrade DVD, then I realized it was an upgrade and because I did an Erase and Install, iLife 08 was "wiped off". (iLife 08 was in fact pre-installed together with the Tiger OS) so later I had to again erase and install Tiger, then just choose the Upgrade option in the Leopard DVD.
Maybe yours is the same case as I am??
Cheers

Slipstreaming 10.5.x updates into leopard installation dvd

How is it possible to slipstream updates into a leopard installation DVD?
For example, how can one integrate the recently released 10.5.1 update into a 10.5 installation DVD? If this is possible, the installation could be more efficient, because it's not necessary to update afterwards everything from scratch.
I've been searching the internet, but apparently there isn't any information about this, which has been common practice with service packs for windows.

@My White Dog, I repeat: First installing files and then replacing them afterwards isn't very efficient isn't it?
@Core, if Slipy (not spelled as Slippy) could integrate these files into one, it would have been possible at least.
Some information about Slipy:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/24178
Slipy is a utility used to create a Mac OS X install DVD disk images from your existing Mac OS X 10.3 install or upgrade CD set, Mac OS X 10.3 Server install CD set or Mac OS X 10.3 install DVD. In addition, Slipy can create automated installs and will allow you to "slipstream" or add additional software installations to your install DVD. Once created, simply use Disk Utility to burn your custom image to DVD.
What's new in this version:
* Added support for creating disk images from Mac OS X 10.3 Upgrade CD set
* Added support for creating disk images from Mac OS X 10.3 Server Install CD set
* Added support for creating disk images from Mac OS X 10.3 Install DVDâ€™s
* Added ability to cancel image creation process
* Fixed an issue with creating disk images from install discs higher than 10.3 (e.g. 10.3.2)
* Added confirmation dialog box to show what disc(s) are required to create disk image
* Improved disk imaging process
* Improved status message feedback
Operating System Requirements:
This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:
* Mac OS X 10.3
Additional Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.3 or higher with BSD subsystem
Message was edited by: w_m0zart

Is it possible to boot from a shared dvd or disk image remotely

Is it possible to boot from a shared dvd or disk image remotely without using netboot for install or utility?

All Apple Remote Desktop can do is point a system to a startup disk; it has no facility for providing a boot image. So you may want to ask this question in the Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server forums. You'll be more likely to get suggestions there, though other than NetBoot I know of no way to boot a group of computers from a single disk image or DVD.
Regards.

Trouble booting from Leopard installation DVD

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for