iMac g4 first boot stuck at Apple logo

[g20man]

I have a 1ghz g4 that previously had Tiger installed and was fully functional. I installed Leopard (took over 6 hours) and after the restart it hangs at the Apple logo with the spinner. I have read other posts about being stuck but nothing's worked. I'm currently reinstalling Leopard again after erasing the hard drive.

Any ideas? If I can't get it working tonight I can return it tomorrow

 

[eyoungren]

I wouldn't worry too much. The first time I installed Leopard it too forever to boot up. One update consistently across three installs also rebooted the Mac during boot.

When it boots up the next time after the install, hold down the V key when it chimes. You can watch the progress of what's happening. Knowing what's happening can relieve stress and if there is a problem you can see where it hangs up.

 

[Intell]

If it gets stuck at the Apple logo again, start it up in verbose boot (Command-V at chime). What are the last few lines it stops at or repeats?

 

[g20man]

I'm at work til 5 (edt) so it will probably boot to the logo by the time I'm home. It went all night and never got past it.

Should I restart it when I get there and do what you told me?

 

[eyoungren]

I'm at work til 5 (edt) so it will probably boot to the logo by the time I'm home. It went all night and never got past it.

Should I restart it when I get there and do what you told me?

Yes. You want to start in verbose mode. It's going to be a black screen with a bunch of text that keeps popping up. Wherever it gets stuck we'll be able to see what it's saying when it gets stuck if you can tell us. Based on that we may be able to figure out what's going wrong.

 

[g20man]

Came home today and it was up and running!

Thanks for the suggestions though