Help with my 20" iMac G5 2005

Sounds like you just need a new HD. I use one of these in my Mac Pro. Fast and reliable. Much like the stock 500GB ones in the G5s

128keaton said:

Sounds like you just need a new HD. I use one of these in my Mac Pro. Fast and reliable. Much like the stock 500GB ones in the G5s

Click to expand...

No, he needs a new hard drive and a way to install the OS on that new drive.

OP, it's possible to boot from a USB external drive. But if you cannot boot from it because it's not recognized you can use Open Firmware to force a boot. There's a way to do it.

Just Google install OS X from USB.

Short of that, you can try Target Disk Mode and use the Mini to install OS X. But you need a version that the Mini can boot from. That would be an Intel copy of Tiger or Leopard. The retail disks are universal so installing from the Mini would be ok as your iMac would then see the PowerPC part of the install when booting. Your MIni isn't going to boot Panther of course and you can't install SL on the iMac.

If you do try TDM, you need a Firewire cable (FW400).

One thing you could try it to put the Mini in Target Disc Mode, put the Panther disc in it, connect it to the iMac, then boot the iMac from the Mini's optical drive.

You will need a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable. Often called a FireWire 400 cable.

Throw the mini into TDM, then stick in the Panther disc. On the imac, hold down option when you turn it on. The Panther disc should appear so select that and you're ready to go!

Rottweiler01 said:

I have the original OSX Panther discs

Click to expand...

The retail version of Panther won't install onto an iMac G5... you need the restore discs that came with the computer, or a Tiger disc. (It's not clear from your post which discs you have.)

Rottweiler01 said:

The hard drive has failed (i have removed it and its clicking away to itself) as I get the flashing folder at start up and the optical drive failed a while ago

It's a 1.8 GHz PowerPC 970 (G5) processor

I have the original OSX Panther discs but have no way to reinstall onto the new hard drive once fitted

I can't use an external drive as they are not recognized on my G5

I have another Mac mini 2006 running Snow leopard and my daily driver is 2011 imac running mavericks

Is there anyway to reinstall panther onto the new drive using either of the other macs or do I just give up

Any advise greatly received

Click to expand...

did the superdrive fail as well on the iMac? If not, then there's no need to go through all of that just to install the OS. Simply install the new HDD in the iMac and once you're ready to power it on again, have the disc ready.

Press "C" or "D" (I forget which one boots from the optical drive) but it will allow you to insert the disc and then try to boot again from it automatically.

I just did this with my iMac that's the same model (1.8GHz, 2 GB RAM and no iSight).

----------

WMD said:

The retail version of Panther won't install onto an iMac G5... you need the restore discs that came with the computer, or a Tiger disc. (It's not clear from your post which discs you have.)

Click to expand...

Why won't the retail version of Tiger install onto an iMac G5?

I've done it with mine. The only thing you have to pay attention to is the version of the OS that there machine shipped with. In this case, the iMac G5 that the OP has was shipped with Panther, so the Tiger disc should work fine.

C is what causes a Mac to attempt to boot from an optical drive. I've never found it to be very reliable and instead suggest people use Option then select the disc.

Intell said:

C is what causes a Mac to attempt to boot from an optical drive. I've never found it to be very reliable and instead suggest people use Option then select the disc.

Click to expand...

I would normally say that as well, but that would only work if there was bootable media found recognized in the drive during start up.

Another thing that could be done is holding down the mouse button during start up as well (I think). That could only be for ejecting a disc though.

When using Option, the user is at least able to see if the disc is bootable and gets feedback if they did it correctly. With C, the user doesn't know if they held the button too late, the disc isn't bootable, or the C at boot doesn't work with their machine.

RedCroissant said:

Why won't the retail version of Tiger install onto an iMac G5?

Click to expand...

I didn't say that. I said that the retail Panther wouldn't work, and that you'd need a special Panther disc, or a Tiger disc.

WMD said:

I didn't say that. I said that the retail Panther wouldn't work, and that you'd need a special Panther disc, or a Tiger disc.

Click to expand...

Sorry! I'm obviously not at the correct level of coffee intake yet. I read your post a few times and every time I could have sworn that you said "Tiger." On my way to get more coffee now.

If they came with the computer, they would most likely say "iMac G5 Restore Disc" or something to that effect. The retail CDs, IIRC, just have a big silver X on them.

Rottweiler01 said:

There black with an X on them

Click to expand...

Sounds like a retail disk.

Rottweiler01 said:

There black with an X on them

Click to expand...

Do you have access to any other Mac that can install the OS on there that wouldn't require buying new discs? Where are you located, if you don't mind me asking? If you were in the Phoenix area, I could definitely take care of that machine.

Anyway, let me know if you need anything that I might be able to help you out with.

Why aren;t external drives being recognized?

----------

Rottweiler01 said:

What are the differences ?
How do I restore with those discs ?

Click to expand...

The differences are that the original restore discs are usually gray discs. The retail versions were black with a gray x on them. The important thing to look for is the OS version on the disc.

If your Mac Mini is a core solo or core duo, then if the version says 10.4.7 or above, then you're good since the core solo Mac Mini shipped with 10.4.5 and the core duo shipped with 10.4.7.

If it's anything lower than 10.4.5 or 10.4.7 for whichever machine you have, then you would have to buy a new disc. If it's the right version for your machine, then you will need the FW cable and from there it's pretty easy to instal OS X through TDM.

Rottweiler01 said:

What are the differences ?
How do I restore with those discs ?

Click to expand...

The gray restore discs have a customized version of the OS for that computer on them. In general, Macs cannot boot any version of the OS that came out before the computer itself, so they ship with a custom (or later) version to get around that.

Rottweiler01 said:

Ok, my mini is a 2006 core dual that I have upgraded to core2 dual currently running snow leopard

Imac 27" is running Mavericks

Broken 20" imac G5 non iSight

So if I connect mini to broken imac via FireWire and use TDM and pop the Panther discs into the mini can I install panther onto the broken imac that way



They were when it was working but not external DVD drive, I don't think you can install panthers via USB flash drives

Click to expand...

Correct