I've messed up upgrading my PB to Leopard big time!

[Southerner]

My Powerbook G4 originally came with Panther pre-installed and I bought it just before Tiger was released so I saw no reason for ugrading to Tiger that I had no issues with Panther as I was quite happy with it.

Recently I recieved Leopard as a gift so I thought I'd install it as it'd be a waste not to use it!

Apparently Leopard refused to install because it picked up I had Panther that the installer says I must have Tiger installed beforehand! Then I swotted up on other forums on this problem which some replies have said I must wipe my HD clean which turned out to be a big mistake.

I foolishly zeroed out all data however I did back up all my files on external HD that I haven't lost everything. Even after wiping the HD clean Leopard still refused to install.

Without any option I had to return to Panther, I inserted the Software Restore CDs which came with my Powerbook but I cannot get Panther back at all because I've wiped the HD clean! I'm quite gutted and I wish I didn't bother upgrading in the first place as Panther never was a problem.

So what should I do now as the computer is now useless as there is nothing to start up from?

Thanks for any help

 

[DoFoT9]

this is very odd, im wondering why you cant even install panther.

just because you zero'd all the data doesnt mean that the computer should not install the original OS, it would be like grabbing another hard drive, formatting it, and installing something on it (people do this on computers ALL the time).

quite strange, i wonder if there is a firmware problem? most likely not.

 

[Southerner]

All is OK. Panther is back up and running again. The reason the computer failed to start-up was I didn't hold down the C key at first! Duh!

Leopard still wouldn't install because my computer is required to run Tiger. I got the impression anyone can jump from Panther to Leopard bypassing Tiger.

After looking at the DVD I got from a mate as a gift - it says "This software is part of a hardware bundle - not to be sold separately" so is this could be why Leopard wouldn't run directly from Panther?

I guess I will have to buy a proper retail box from PCWorld then...

More fool me.

Thanks anyway!

 

[DoFoT9]

hhmm ok good to hear that your panther is up and running!!

im not too sure why leopard wont install, it probably requires tiger thingoes to be installed. wierd tho.

 

[Nermal]

After looking at the DVD I got from a mate as a gift - it says "This software is part of a hardware bundle - not to be sold separately" so is this could be why Leopard wouldn't run directly from Panther?

Yup, you'll need to get a retail version.

 

[CJRhoades]

It may also be that the Leopard version that you have is an upgrade disc, not a full installation disc.

 

[Southerner]

Thanks for all the comments

I've returned the Leopard DVD to my mate, telling him to keep it in case his new iMac breaks down and it wasn't legal to use on another computer. I thought he'd bought it for me until he told me about his new iMac!

I don't think I'll bother with Leopard, I'm doing perfectly well with Panther, as I've read a fair bit of negative comments about it.

The positive outcome of this near disaster is Panther seems to be running a lot faster than it was before I wiped the HD clean and I've haven't updated my Powerbook since I bought in 2004 as it was running OS X 10.3.2 now it's on 10.3.9!

 

[hdsalinas]

I am not sure if this is the case but if he got that DVD with his imac probably is only to be used in that mac. That is why it would not work on any other mac, much less in a power pc system.

I would not give up on leopard yet. But I may understand if you may be looking for a new mac soon, so just wait to get a leopard mac.