Weird install problem with OS X, please help!

Question

I've been upgrading a friend powerbook firewire 400Mhz G3, we installed 1GB of memory and put in an 80GB HD. I partioned so that OSX can be on the first 8GB, put 9.1 on the second parition of 7GB, upgraded the firmware, and i think i have tried just about everything i could find here on the discussion board.
I have several versions of X including the first version, panther (retail), and tiger (borrowed, on DVD). tiger and the original version get as far as installing, then go into kernal panic (you must restart right now.....etc). 10.2 just gts to the apple screen then a white jagged bar pops up.
i'm at a loss. i really don't know what i try to make this better, any help is greatly appriciated!!!!
oh, and the memory seemed fine when her original 6GB drive was in there, which had tiger installed.
j

Answer 1

jhw1,
I will just run by you some potential causes for your problem and hope that one hits the target.
- I will ask, out of curiosity, why you are making an 8GB partition for OSX? This limitation applies only to the older Wallstreet powerbook. There is no need to partition the HD unless you have a specific reason.
- Since the HD is new, and you still want to run Classic and also boot 9.x, make sure you install the MacOS 9 HD driver, an option in OSX's Disk Utility when erasing an HD, or go ahead and install OS 9.x first...this will automatically install the OS9 HD driver. If you install OSX first on a clean HD without installing the OS9 HD driver, MacOS 9 will run fine in Classic under 10.x but 9.x will no longer boot.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107285
- The Pismo has a history of failing DVD-ROM drives and usually the CD-side starts acting up first. If you have access to another Pismo or Lombard, swap drives and try the install. If you have access to a FireWire CD-RW, you can also boot OSX CDs using it.
- Reset the PRAM if you have not done so.
- You may have dirty or bad CDs; carefully clean or try others.
- You mentioned the 'book ran fine with 1GB of RAM and running Tiger on a 6GB HD, but probably the 1GB was installed after Tiger was on the HD. There is the remote possibility that the RAM is problematic when running the installers. A Wallstreet, for example, often has problems installing with 512MB, but if one 256MB module is removed, the install goes fine, then the RAM is reinstalled.
If this were my 'book, I would try this:
1. Disconnect all peripherals and reset the PRAM.
2. Boot to the 9.x CD > use Drive Setup to repartition the HD (if you wish) > install 9.x to make sure the HD, RAM, etc, are good-to-go.
3. Boot to your OSX CD and see how the install proceeds. If it fails, it may be a problem with the optical drive and/or CDs. Try the options I mentioned earlier.
4. If you wish, remove the top memory module and try the install again. If successful, reinstall the module.
5. If there is no workaround for the optical drive, you might try installing via FireWire Target Disk Mode. The 'target' will be the Pismo's HD on the desktop of the 'host' computer and you will boot the host computer to the OSX CD and select the Pismo's HD as the destination.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583