I have just bought OSX Tiger for a pre-loved G4 that i recently bought, the G4 is an AGP model, 256 meg ram, 10gig HD, 400 processor.

The G4 is an ex networked workstation and has had the HD erased, when i put the Tiger install disk into the DVD drive and boot up whilst holding the "C" key nothing happens and i end up getting a screen with a folder and flashing "?" mark.

I'm wondering if the G4 might be setup not to boot from the DVD drive due to i being a workstation previously.

I really want to get away from windows and PCs but i'm getting a bit frustrated that i cant even install the software i bought especially after the Apple store assistant said it would boot straight out of the box.

I would really appreciate some help as i want to start using a "real computer" don't want o got back to a PC.

Many thanks

Vlad.

If the HD is clean you shouldn't have to hold down the C-key, it should just go looking for another source for the System folder.

Hi Johnny,

I tried without the "C" key first off, - same thing happens either way.

When i boot with "option" key pressed it doesn't list either the HD or the DVD drive.

Here's a few more things you can try (if you haven't already).

Thanks Johnny,

I will try those things and come back with how i went.

Thank You

Vlad.

Is that the retail version? Some versions of Tiger (eg. from eBay) only work with the computer they were shipped with.

Is it a stock optical drive installed? The only way you could check this is to Google the model number of the drive and see if it came with the machine. If third party, about 50% don't support booting.

JB

Yep, it is the retail version from am apple store and as far as i am aware it is the drive that came with the computer.

Try putting in a DVD Movie and see if it recognises it. If it does.. your Drive is OK.
If not, try pulling out your power cord and any other cables at the rear.
Then open the side door. Put the tower up on a table, so it is easier to take a peek.
With the door open you can see the connections to your CD-DVDROM Drive.
Make certain they are all securely home. Try the DVD Movie again. If it works, your problems are over.
If it doesn't... the Drive is not well or you are missing DVD Player (.app). I must say I do not know if it required to boot a DVD.
256mb RAM is also very light on and it will be very slow. I did install Leopard on a 256kb RAM Machine (G4Tower) and it toook a very very long time to appear.
By this I mean you may have to wait for a long time until the Query changes to the OS X DVD screen.
But do not be too concerned, there is always a way and there are some real experts in this group.

What system did this mac previously run? also, .. i'ts very possible the previous owner never ran a vital firmware update.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117

Thanks kaisersozay,

The start up manager doesn't show the DVD drive or HD listed.

If the drives are not recognised then would the DVD drive be able to play the movie ? , i'm thinking even if the DVD drive worked wouldn't the HD need to be recognised in order to run the DVD software to play the movie (cos i'm under the impression the HD was wiped clean and hence no software)

am giving it a go...fingers crossed

You just need a compatible optical drive firmware to support booting from CD/DVD on a Mac. I'm not terribly sure what you mean in your last post vlad; have you been able to boot to an OS and is no disk or optical drive detected?

As a last resort before ruling out a dead drive, I'd try whatever spare DVD drive you have in the machine (remember to set it to master/slave, not CS), and see if you can boot from there.

The other option is to pickup an OEM Pioneer DVD burner ($40 - 50 these days!) which support native booting and full OS X support.

JB

Thanks JB,

What i was trying to say is that the Start-up manager (when i hold down the option button) doesn't display any drives ie HD or DVD, so i thought if the machine doesn't see them then nothing would play or boot.

As it happens my friend has a Pioneer OEM....how good is that......which i can get from him tomorrow and try.

Thanks for the advice, it sounds promising that it might be that simple

That is a bit weird; they should be listed. There not much else to do until you get the Pioneer drive, perhaps swap the IDE cable with another?

JB

I'm also having trouble installing OSX 10.4 on a PM G4 466mhz digital audio.

The optical drive is not DVD so I'm using Target Disk Mode from a G4 1ghz iMac.

After install, I get the start up chime on the PM G4 but then the screen goes black and the following message appears:
-sh(10) malloc: *** Deallocation of a pointer not malloced: 0x1; This could be a double free (), or free(), called with the middle of an allocated block;
Try setting environment variable MallocHelp to see tools to help debug
-sh(10) malloc: *** Deallocation of a pointer not malloced: 0x1; This could be a double free (), or free(), called with the middle of an allocated block;
Try setting environment variable MallocHelp to see tools to help debug
localhost:/ root#

Any ideas anyone?

Cheers,
Simon.

JB,

I couldn't wait so i went to my friends place and borrowed his Pioneer DVD drive....worked like a treat !!!

JB you are worth your weight in gold !!!!!!

Thanks for the advice, very much appreciated.

Vlad.