Leopard on Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 Mac Pro

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Leopard on Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 Mac Pro

Hi,

Just tried to install Leopard on the office Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 Mac Pro. When I insert the DVD, it does not read it, pauses it and then ejects the disc. There is no warning or error message?

It reads and accesses other DVDs but I'm wondering if its because the Leopard DVD is dual layer and the reader is not?

Any help would be appreciated,

Barry

Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Feb 4, 2009 6:11 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Feb 4, 2009 6:53 AM in response to Barry Shortt

A couple of things:

First, to avoid potential confusion, you should use the correct model name for your computer. There is no "G5 Mac Pro". The G5-based minitower systems are correctly referred to as "PowerMac G5" systems. The Mac Pro has an Intel processor.

As to the problem, all DVD drives should be able to read a dual-layer DVD, at least one that was commercially pressed (as opposed to being burned in a DVD burner). Does the system correctly read other DVD disks, or will it reject them all?

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Answer 2

Barry Shortt Author

Level 1

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Feb 4, 2009 7:14 AM in response to varjak paw

Apologies for the incorrect model name.

I've tried other commercially pressed and privately burned DVDs, all of which read fine, I can access files and play movies.

The Leopard DVD is taken into the drive, there doesn't appear to be any noise of the drive starting up or reading the disc and then after about forty seconds, its rejected.

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Feb 4, 2009 7:24 AM in response to Barry Shortt

I'd guess a defective Leopard DVD next, then. Do you have access to another Mac to try the disk in and see if it will mount? And is this a retail copy of Leopard (black-label disk) or a disk from a different model of Mac (grey label)?

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Answer 4

Barry Shortt Author

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15 points

Feb 4, 2009 7:51 AM in response to varjak paw

Hi Dave,

Just tried it in another Mac and it seems to work fine. Then went back to the original Mac (after a restart) and now it works?

Everything seems fine!

Thanks for the help.

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Answer 5

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Feb 4, 2009 8:25 AM in response to Barry Shortt

Glad you got it sorted. Apparently just a temporary glitch in the drive or the DVD driver.

Cheers.

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Answer 6

RPeebs

Level 1

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Feb 4, 2009 8:01 PM in response to varjak paw

Guys, I have just picked up this thread as the original symptoms are similar to mine. I have purchased the retail version of leopard to install on my two Power PC G5 Dual 2.5s. Both machines spit out the installer dvd without it spinning up. The installer DVD however works fine in my MacBook Pro. Tech support are telling me the PowerPC is faulty and not reading the Dual Layer DVD which the Leopard installer is, although i find it quite strange BOTH my PowerPC Dual 2.5s have the exact same issue. Originally I thought the problem was the partition scheme and that the Installer DVD would only install to a Guid formatted partition, but the tech support said the Leopard DVD I purchased should install directly on to the older PowerPCs which have the apple partition format... we know the DVD is not faulty with at least my Intel machine, and it just seems too much of a coincidence that both my PowerPC G5s have fault DVD drives... which both read other DVDs fine. Any help welcome...

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Answer 7

RPeebs

Level 1

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Feb 5, 2009 12:35 AM in response to RPeebs

Just an update.. after reformatting the drive inside one of my PowerPC G5s, restoring the original Tiger system and files (backed up previously to an external drive) back on to the fresh format, and repairing permissions on this drive, all of the sudden the DVD drive now accepted the Leopard installer. Not sure this was just a coincidence, but I am not complaining. It then installed without problems. However my other PowerPC G5 still was not accepting the Leopard installer DVD. Then i just did a Target install using the PowerPC G5 whose DVD drive was accepting the Installer disc. So now i have leopard both machines... no probs. Sorry the trouble for anyone to read my initial problem.

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