Powerbook G3 Startup Volume problems

You should be able to instal Tiger up to 10.4.11 on a Pismo without using xpostfacto. You might try reinstalling using the normal process and see if that helps.

sean.nb,

I think Ralph has a good suggestion. XPostFacto presents its own limitations and problems including trying to boot to CDs, etc.

I would reset the PRAM, boot to your CD or DVD, erase the HD, and install a fresh OS.

The Startup Manager (option key start) does take maybe 15-20 seconds to go through its routine but XPostFacto may also interfere with it.

sean,

A few questions...

-Does the 9.x or 10.x CD or DVD try to boot, i.e. can you hear the optical drive churning away?

-If you are booted to 9.x or 10.x from the HD, will either CD or DVD be recognized by the optical drive and mount on the desktop?

-Unless your 9.x CD (must be OS 9.0.4 or later) and 10.x DVD are retail, universal install OSes, the odds are good they will not boot. Retail OS 9.x has a white background with a big orange '9' and 10.x has a black background. If the CD & DVD are gray in color with a specific computer's names, e.g iBook G4 OS 9.2.2, with few exceptions they will not boot your Pismo.

http://www.apple.com/support/osfamily/

sean,

It sounds like the Pismo's DVD-ROM drive is at fault here. If the Tiger DVD has "Update" any place on the label, it will not install a fresh Tiger OS. The "Update" Tiger DVDs are used to update a previous version of OSX to Tiger, i.e Panther/10.3.x to Tiger/10.4 (not sure if it will update Panther/10.2). The bottom line...you must have the previous version on the HD in order to run the Update DVD.

The Pismo with a PowerPC CPU can boot 9.x from the USB port but NOT OSX; this only became available the new Intel Macs. See if you can get 9.x to boot from the USB external DVD-ROM. Power on the USB drive with the 9.x CD in place, then restart while pressing the 'option' key. If the USB drive is available as a boot drive along with the internal HD, give it a try. However, don't erase the HD or install 9.x until you have a solution for OSX.

Do you have another Mac with a PowerPC CPU (G3, G4 or G5) that is compatible with Tiger and also running Tiger? If so, there is a way to install Tiger from this computer...please post back with details.

sean,

Your OS 9.0.2 will not boot a Pismo; the Pismo requires OS 9.0.3 (original OS but never a general release) or a retail, general release 9.0.4 or newer. It could be your internal optical drive is OK since it tries to boot the 9.0.2 CD. Whether the 10.4 Tiger DVD even works or even has the retail, general release version of 10.4 is unknown.

Before assuming you have any hardware issues, you need to find original and compatible versions of the OSes you want and see if they will boot...you are working with unknown quantities.

sean,

You can make duplicates of original install CDs and DVDs and they will work. The question at this point is whether it is a good copy...was it tested.

There is also the possibility your Pismo's optical drive is failing, a known problem with the Pismo. Usually one of the two sides will not recognize or boot a known good disk first, and it can be either the DVD- or CD-side. The Pismo came with two drives made by LG and Matsushita. Open your Apple System Profiler under the Apple menu and see what you have.

sean,

You have a Toshiba Samsung Storage Technologies (TSST) Toshiba TS-L632D which is used in many different computers. What I cannot tell is if this drive needs drivers for the MAC.

Boot into your Tiger OS on the HD, then go to the Apple menu > About This Computer > More... > click on ATA > click on the optical drive and see if it says Unit Number = 0 and if is says something like 'burning: supported'.

Also, again try booting both the 9.x and 10.x disks using the 'option' key startup; see if both disk are recognized and then try to boot.

sean,

Internal optical drives have three options for their configuration...Master, Slave, and Cable Select. Apple wants Master, at least on the older powerbooks, and its setting is reported in the System Profiler as Unit Number = 0 (Master) and Unit Number = 1 (Slave or Cable Select...I'm not sure which).

Generally when a third-party drive is added to the Mac, it is set to Slave or Cable Select; PCs usually use Cable Select. These will still work on the Mac but the only way to boot a disk is via the Startup Manager.

Two points...

-Your drive is not set to Master nor is it reported as supporting burning. I would download PatchBurn for Tiger and see if it helps. I'm not sure if necessary but after the install, restart and check your System Profiler. You can read about it at their website. This will not help you in 9.x.

http://patchburn.de/download.html