iMac G5 A1076 Erased Hard drive

[Jonathon Parker]

I have a iMac G5 A1076 and i removed the hard drive and put it in a windows pc. I used Transmac to format it. But when i put it back in the iMac i cant get any of the boot buttons to work at all. I have also downloaded different types of mac os x and used transmac and usb flash drive and still get nothing. All i get is a picture box of a mac face and a question mark. Also i do not have the original mac os x disk either, Ive got 15 years experience in windows pc's from building them to software troubleshooting but when it comes to mac im a total noob, Can anybody help me ?

 

[maflynn]

Also i do not have the original mac os x disk either,

That's what you need. Back in the PPC days, there was no recovery partition. By re-formatting the drive, you destroyed the data on the drive and so there's no longer an operating system on the drive. The only way to get beyond this, is to boot up from the system discs by holding the C key down. If you don't have them, you'll need to find a set on ebay.

[MOD NOTE]
Putting on my moderator hat, this thread is better suited in our PPC forum, ans so I'm moving the thread.

 

[GetToDaChopa]

just try putting a mac os x install disk in and hold the option key after the chime. this way you'll see if the disk you burned is working, as it should come up as a aboot option. but yes looks like you need to reinstall mac os.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

The question mark means it can't find a system to boot from.

Make sure the Mac OS X you have is not too old for the machine so it lacks driver, and too young so the machine can't run it. Like 10.5 is your best target, without me having checked your model.

You either need an original DVD with the system, or you need another Mac to create an installer on a USB stick or DVD.

 

[redheeler]

It may not be able to boot off a USB drive, I know some G5s are reluctant to do that. Have you held down Option and selected the drive at boot? Also, what Mac OS X version are you using? For a G5 it must be Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard).

Try burning a DVD of Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5 using the images found here.

 

[AmazingHenry]

You'll need a Mac OS X install disc. For either 10.4 or 10.5 (I recommend 10.5 for a G5). After you boot from the disc, go into Disk Utility (in the Utilities menu). Erase your hard drive and format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". Now you can quit Disk Utility and install OS X on your hard drive.

When you erased the drive in Windows, you erased the operating system. The computer has nothing to boot from. That's why it won't boot up correctly.