deejay.duy

Q: 2003 Powerbook g4 17" - 1ghz/512mb/60gb hard drive upgrade to 250gb but wont read OSX disc..

hey.. im new to this but anyways.. i got a 2003 Powerbook G4 from my buddys uncle.. it has a 1Ghz/512mb/60gb.. (yeah pretty out dated)... he had said that the original hard drive (60gb) had fail and that i needed to get a new one.. he of course didnt have the original install cd.. lost it...  no biggie i thought.. picked up a new hard drive (WD 250gb/8mb/5400 rpm ata).. installed it.. pretty simple.. i got a Mac OS X install disc from my buddy who had order it from apple..

 

I turn on the Powerbook.. slip the cd in.. and it didnt load.. google some info.. some said to hold down "C" and power it up and it should load but instead.. it didnt.. it gave me a gray screen with some type of error scripture... and in the background of that.. it said to restart the computer and so forth... did that and nothing.. same issue..

 

In another tread.. someone had said to hold down the "OPTION" key and turn on the computer.. I did that and it showed an icon of the OS X Cd in the middle with a "REFRESH" icon on the left and another icon on the right side of an "ARROW"  pointing to the right to the next step.. click the arrow.. NOTHING again.. it return me to the same error issue i had when i held down the "C" key..

 

does anyone know what the issue is???.. do you think that the OS X Cd i got from my buddy is too new?.. would i need to get Snow Leopard 10.5 from what i have read on line due to the fact that my Powerbook is 2003 and is super old?.. or is it the hard drive that i picked up the issue?.. i have no idea what i got myself into..

 

HELP PLEASE!!!!!  PPPLLLLEEEEAAASSSSEEEEE....   =(

PowerBook

Posted on Aug 4, 2011 12:29 AM

Close

Q: 2003 Powerbook g4 17" - 1ghz/512mb/60gb hard drive upgrade to 250gb but wont read OSX disc..

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Aug 4, 2011 4:51 AM in response to deejay.duy
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Aug 4, 2011 4:51 AM in response to deejay.duy

    If the OS X disk you got from your friend is a gray-faced one from another system, like a MacBook Pro or iMac, it won't run on your Powerbook, as they are locked to the system types that they ship with. You want a black-faced retail copy of the operating system.

     

    The Powerbook can't run Snow Leopard, as that requires an Intel processor. You can update to Leopard, and if you call the online Apple store at 800-MY-APPLE they still have copies for sale.  If you decide to upgrade to Leopard, you may want more memory. The highest level of the operating system you can run is 10.5.8.

     

    It sounds like you are getting a kernel panic on trying to start the system (message to restart in multiple languages). Kernel panics are often caused by memory-related problems. See this FAQ for more information: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html