Can't reinstall 10.3 after replacing hard drive

I have a 20" iMac G5 circa 2004 (first generation, I believe: 1.8 GHz processor, shipped with OS X 10.3, no built-in iSight)

Replaced the internal drive (myself) at the suggestion of the Genius Bar folks - it was showing signs of failure.

Used a Seagate 250GB SATA 3.5in 7.2k. Followed Apple's how-to PDF and observed proper anti-static protocol throughout the procedure - I'm pretty sure the replacement itself went fine.

Now I'm using my original (grey) install discs, trying to load OS X 10.3 onto the new drive. Here's what's happened so far:

1) Installer took me up to the "Select Destination" step, but no destinations (volumes) appeared in the window to choose from

2) Switched from Installer to Disk Utility/First Aid. The new drive appeared at the top of the list on the left (labelled "232.9 GB ST3250318AS"), but after selecting it, the Verify/Repair buttons at bottom remained greyed out.

3) Still in Disk Utility, switched from First Aid to Erase (this on advice from another forum):

- left Volume Format as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)

- gave it the name "Attempt 1" and clicked Erase

4) Clicked back to First Aid tab, where "Attempt 1" volume now shows in list, indented beneath "232.9 GB etc". The Verify Disc and Repair Disc buttons are now active, and volume "Attempt 1" mounts, checks, and verifies ("...appears to be OK")

5) Now, back to the Installer, where I again get up to the Select Destination step. Volume "Attempt 1" is displayed, but with a red exclamation mark over it. Selecting it produces the message "You cannot install Mac OS X on this volume. You cannot start up your computer using this volume."

6) Back to Disk Utility again to try and figure out what's the problem...

The Info icon at gives me the following settings for the Disk and the Volume:

(sorry if this is overkill but I might as well give as much detail as possible)

DISK INFO

Name: ST3250318AS

Type: Disk

Disk Identifier: disk0

Media Name: ST3250318AS Media

Media Type: Generic

Connection Bus: ATA

Connection ID: Device 0

IO Content: Apple_partition_scheme

Device Tree: first-boot/ @ 0:0

Writeable: Yes

Ejectable: No

Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed: No

Location: Internal

Total Capacity: 232.9 GB

Disk Number: 0

Partition Number 0

VOLUME INFO

Name: Attempt 1

Type: Volume

Disk Identifier: disk0s3

Mount Point: /Volumes/Attempt 1

File System: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Connection Bus: ATA

IO Content: Apple_HFS

Device Tree: first-boot/ @ 0:3

Writeable: Yes

Capacity: 232.8 GB

Free Space: 232.7 GB

Used: 73.3 MB

Number of Files: 2

Number of Folders: 2

Permissions Enabled: Yes

Can Turn Perms Off: Yes

Can Repairs Perms: No

Can Be Verified: Yes

Can Be Repaired: Yes

Can Be Formatted: Yes

Bootable: Yes

So.... if the drive is recognized, the Volume mounts and verifies, and the Info confirms that its bootable.... what gives?

ANY ideas or recommendations on how to proceed will be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you in advance,

Patrick