G5 won't take new installation disc

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You sure you got Leopard, and a G5?

G5s look like
whereas Mac Pros look like


Leopard installer looks like * and Snow Leopard like * and neither says Upgrade, Dropin, or OEM.
Never buy a used machine without the original discs, they are not the seller's to keep.

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Is there any data on the machine you wish to keep that you are licensed for?

Boot with the startup manager described here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA27043?viewlocale=en_US

Select the CD, and click on the right pointing arrow. Upon getting the installer, screen select Erase and Install on the hard drive.

That way, you'll start with only that which is on the CD. One thing you might find is that whatever is on the system may be newer than what's on the CD, and that prevents it from installing on the machine.

If the startup manager doesn't work, you'll want to replace the clock battery. That's inside the machine, and you'll find directions here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/19385/Howdo+I+Install+PRAMBattery

Did you replace the clock battery in the last 4 years?
If not, do as I say and then tell me it doesn't work. If it was replaced in the last 4 years, replace the optical drive with one from http://www.macsales.com

Message was edited by: a brody

Is the Leopard DVD a black-label full-retail version?
If your G5 can still boot normally and get to the Desktop, what happens if you insert a different DVD, even a movie DVD? Can the G5 mount it and read it?
If you have access to another Mac, can it similarly mount and read the Leopard DVD? (Don't go beyond this, of course)

Is the Leopard DVD a black-label full-retail version?

I enquired this earlier in the thread and to this they responded yes.

I saw your question, but the OP's answer wasn't totally clear to me.

The OP had initially said

I was recently sold a Powermac G5 with Leopard installed,

and the later response to your question was:

I am %100 percent sure it is a G5 with Leopard. All I want to do is use the new
Leopard disc I bought to re-install Leopard.

I wasn't sure whether "with Leopard" in the response was just an affirmation of the first post, referring to the OS already on the computer, or whether it meant that the new DVD is definitely the Leopard full-retail version you described. It's probably the second, but I wanted to be sure.

If it is a 1/2 AA yes.

I'm having the same issue too. I hope there is an answer for this. I have a full installation disk I'm trying to use for my imac g5 (20 inch no camera). Right now i'm running os x 10.4.11. I put the disc into the slot and it does not mount. After a few seconds, the disc is popped out. I've mounted the disk in my macbook pro and I've mounted other DVDs in my imac. It seems to not want to take this disk. I also tried mounting the disk via firewire (i forget what this is called, I hold down t key upon startup) and neither computer sees the other. Any suggestions?

It's not clear why the MBP will mount the DVD while the G5 will not, but assuming you are using the *black-label retail version of Leopard*, I would try [FireWire target disk mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661] again, "borrowing" the optical drive from the MBP. The MBP needs to be the FireWire target and the G5 has to be the FireWire host, because the MBP is an Intel and won't install OS X onto the HD of a PPC Mac.

To try it this way, shut down the G5. Plug the MBP into AC power, insert the Leopard DVD into the MBP, restart the MBP while holding down the T key, and keep holding the T key until you see the FireWire symbol on the screen. Connect it to the G5 with a FireWire cable, and then start the G5 while holding down the Option key. This should boot the G5 into the startup manager, and hopefully you will see the Leopard Install DVD as one of the startup choices. Select it and try to boot from it . If successful, proceed with the installation as usual. Be sure you pick the correct "Macintosh HD" for the install.