Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

HELP! 10.4 will not install on iMac G5

8thMan

8thMan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 17, 2006
163
0
I just replaced the HDD in my 1.8 G5 iMac and tried to install 10.4. It gave me an "Alert! You cannot install this software on this computer" message. The install disks are printed:

iMac G5
Mac OS X Install Disc (1/2)
Mac OS version 10.4
Disc version 1.0
2Z691-5317-A

so I figured these would work (picked them up on eBay -- I know -- caveat emptor). Are these disks really incompatible? I intend to transfer over the entire contents of my G4 iBook -- I just need to get the iMac up and running. Any ideas? Thanks. :confused:
 
Is this a revision A iMac 1.8 (from 2004) or a revision B (from 2005)? If it's a 17", it should be a B, and the disc might work, but if it's a 20", it's probably an A, and it probably won't work.

If it's a revision A, did it come with Tiger originally or 10.3? You can typically only use the install discs that were meant for your specific model. The revision A iMacs mostly sold with Panther (it was only sold very briefly after Tiger came out), and this disc won't generally work with them.

That being said, if you got as far as the part where it shows you a window where you pick the hard drive you want to install to, and it shows the hard drive you have but it has a red mark on it and is not allowed, usually this is actually because you have not formatted / partitioned the drive correctly. Make sure it is partitioned with the Apple scheme and that the main partition is an Apple Extended (Journaled).
 
When I go into Disk Utility I do not find anything about formatting the HDD -- only "First Aid/Erase/Partition/RAID/Restore". Am I missing something?
 
mkrishnan said:
Also, I checked my discs; based on the part number you provided, these are the correct discs for an iMac G5 revision B (Ambient Light Sensor).
Click to expand...

This is a revision A machine -- no ambient light sensor.
 
8thMan said:
When I go into Disk Utility I do not find anything about formatting the HDD -- only "First Aid/Erase/Partition/RAID/Restore". Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Do partition first. Create a single partition using the Apple partition scheme.

st3160023as-20070819-212003.jpg


disk_utility-20070819-212037.jpg


If you can, also select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the menu on the partition tab. Now click Partition.

Then do the erase tab; erase it as a Mac Extended (Journaled).

st3160023as-20070819-212411.jpg
 
mkrishnan said:
Do partition first. Create a single partition using the Apple partition scheme.

st3160023as-20070819-212003.jpg


disk_utility-20070819-212037.jpg


If you can, also select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the menu on the partition tab. Now click Partition.

Then do the erase tab; erase it as a Mac Extended (Journaled).

st3160023as-20070819-212411.jpg
Click to expand...

I appear to have been able to partition the disk but there is no "Options" in the window. It is otherwise identical to the image you sent me.
 
Okay, so I've partitioned the HDD and erased the tab, as you instructed. What do I do next?

BTW, thanks for the help! :)
 
This is a Rev. A machine. Curse the Byzantine world of operating systems!

I went and dug out my the original Panther Disks -- they seem to be installing fine. Thanks for all your help.

Oh how I miss the OS 6 days.
 
I really need to express my gratitude to all the MR folks who have given me assistance over the years. Its easy to take this site for granted but it really provides a needed service to the community. :) Thanks again.
 
Awww, sowwies. Apple locks the install DVDs to only work on the computer type they ship with. To get Tiger on that iMac, you need to purchase a Tiger retail box. They're frequently available here for not too much. :) Good luck, in any event. :)
 
mkrishnan said:
Awww, sowwies. Apple locks the install DVDs to only work on the computer type they ship with. To get Tiger on that iMac, you need to purchase a Tiger retail box. They're frequently available here for not too much. :) Good luck, in any event. :)
Click to expand...
Well they'll work on only one machine until you update it beyond what another Mac requires. I started off with a Mac mini image that I now use with Mac Pros and MacBooks.
 
Eidorian said:
Well they'll work on only one machine until you update it beyond what another Mac requires. I started off with a Mac mini image that I now use with Mac Pros and MacBooks.
Click to expand...

Right, right... so you mean that you took a Mac Mini, installed OS X on it the way you like it, configured and updated it, installed whatever else you wanted, imaged it, and now you use the image on other Macs, right? I guess that makes sense. It's not the install of OS X that's on the disc. It's the install disc's installer itself that prevents you from using it. So since you're not using that, shouldn't be an issue. :)
 
mkrishnan said:
Right, right... so you mean that you took a Mac Mini, installed OS X on it the way you like it, configured and updated it, installed whatever else you wanted, imaged it, and now you use the image on other Macs, right? I guess that makes sense. It's not the install of OS X that's on the disc. It's the install disc's installer itself that prevents you from using it. So since you're not using that, shouldn't be an issue. :)
Click to expand...
Yep, it's just that first install that's machine specific.

It's nice not having to build an individual image for each Mac.
 
Intel iMac and Macbook

Eidorian said:
Yep, it's just that first install that's machine specific.

It's nice not having to build an individual image for each Mac.
Click to expand...

Hi guys,

First post. I have an ex-display Intel iMac 1.83Ghz (Early 2006) that was recently bought with no install discs and a borked installation of Tiger with lots of files missing. I guess from this thread that I should be able to image an updated 10.4.10 Macbook boot drive using Carbon Copy Cloner and then restore it to the iMac?

I am not sure that Disk Utility on the iMac survived so I was wondering if it was possible to use something like rsync or CCC to copy the MB drive to an 8Gb USB memory stick and then boot the iMac off that and rsync the image to the internal disk of the iMac after wiping it using the MB install from the 8Gb USB stick.
 
I think, in essence, yes, you should be able to do that. I know you can reformat and boot off USB flash drives (you may need to use disk utility on the Macbook to get the flash drive ready).

You might possibly also be able to install directly from those discs by running them from the Macbook, but mounting the iMac as a target disk mode firewire drive. If you do that, the iMac drive might be a valid installation target for the system restore discs.
 
Target disk mode worked a treat. I bought an ex-display Mac Mini with disks today for £327 from PC World (there are one or two bargains at the moment) and installed the OS on the iMac using target disk mode. Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back