G5 Booting from CD and OS X problems

[cwright]

I've been using a dual 2Ghz G5 that was borrowed from my dad's office for a few months. I have to give it back this week, so I decided to reformat, zero out the drive, and re-install OS-X so It would be returned as it was new.

Now, I'm running into a problem. I already erased the drive, but the computer won't boot off the OS X install CD. It simply goes to a grey screen with the same "do not disconnect" icon you see on your iPods, meaning it can't boot. Then it gets weird. If you let it sit on this screen, eventually, the fans start to get louder and louder. after a minute or so, the fans run at full blast and the only thing I can do is shut it down.

I've also tried installing OS X via firewire target disk mode from another computer, and the same thing happens when it boots.

Any ideas why I can't install OS X?

thanks!

 

[Mertzen]

I am sure you tried booting with either " C " or " option " ??

 

[cwright]

yep, tried both.
forgot to mention that part

any other ideas?

 

[Sun Baked]

Hopefully it's the disk that came with the G5, otherwise there's a good chance that an older OS Install Disk made before the G5 won't work on it.

Every time a new machine comes out Apple generally has to tweak the OS a bit for the machine.

Generally it needs an OS disk newer than the machine, or one with the OS version at least as high as that which came with the machine.

 

[cwright]

Well I don't have the original system disks that came with the computer, but I just checked and I can get them tomorrow. Hopefully they will work better.

I tried installing OSX from the retail Panther disks. I assumed they would be recent enough to work correctly, but maybe I was wrong

thanks for your help!

 

[MisterMe]

I've been using a dual 2Ghz G5 that was borrowed from my dad's office for a few months. I have to give it back this week, so I decided to reformat, zero out the drive, and re-install OS-X so It would be returned as it was new.

Now, I'm running into a problem. I already erased the drive, but the computer won't boot off the OS X install CD. It simply goes to a grey screen with the same "do not disconnect" icon you see on your iPods, meaning it can't boot. Then it gets weird. If you let it sit on this screen, eventually, the fans start to get louder and louder. after a minute or so, the fans run at full blast and the only thing I can do is shut it down.

I've also tried installing OS X via firewire target disk mode from another computer, and the same thing happens when it boots.

Any ideas why I can't install OS X?

thanks!

Why would you f*ck-up a computer that is not your own?

 

[Mechcozmo]

You need a minimum of 10.3.4 to start a G5, some retail versions are 10.3.2 and others just 10.3

 

[lordsinforge]

Wrong CD

The circle with slash through it is open firmware's way of telling you that the G5 cannot boot the operating system, in this case likely due to the usage of an Install CD that didn't come with the computer. You need to get ahold of the CD's that came with the G5 or another install cd that has at least 10.3.4 (possibly 10.3.6 for newer G5's).

LS

 

[cwright]

Why would you f*ck-up a computer that is not your own?

First off, the computer was brand new, and I was the first to use it. So I was not really messing with "someone elses computer". Also, the person responsible for the computer (my dad) knew exactly what I was doing with it each step of the way. And lastly, he has the software restore disks that came with the computer, and is bringing them home tonight, so this will be an easy fix.

And to everyone else, thanks for the advice

 

[MisterMe]

First off, the computer was brand new, and I was the first to use it. So I was not really messing with "someone elses computer". Also, the person responsible for the computer (my dad) knew exactly what I was doing with it each step of the way. And lastly, he has the software restore disks that came with the computer, and is bringing them home tonight, so this will be an easy fix.

And to everyone else, thanks for the advice

So you thought that Apple made some sort of mistake when it installed the software on your dad's computer? Just exactly which mistake did you think Apple made?

 

[cwright]

So you thought that Apple made some sort of mistake when it installed the software on your dad's computer? Just exactly which mistake did you think Apple made?

what?
I didn't claim that Apple made any mistakes. I simply said that once I got the original software restore disks I could fix my problem of having a G5 that won't boot.

Am I missing something here?