How Do You Get PowerMac G4 to Boot from Disk?

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Level 1

26 points

How Do You Get PowerMac G4 to Boot from Disk?

I erased and repartitioned the two drives on my new/old PowerMac G4 in the hopes of solving some recurring problems with crashing. My goal was to install OS 9 (I have original OS 9 and PowerMac G4 System Install disks) in order to do the firmware update but after I wiped the drives, I tried booting from the OS 9 disk (holding down C) but nothing happens. Putting the disk in and doing nothing results in it spinning around a little the nothing. Z then tried to boot from Jaguar, Panther and Tiger disks--nothing. I now have a lobotomized G4 that won;'t seem to allow for the installation of any system. Ideas?

MacBook Pro 2.0/2GB/100GB, Mac OS X (10.4.8), also own TiBook G4 Gigabyte Ethernet 1.0/512K/60GB and PowerMac G4 450/512K/30GB

Posted on Oct 5, 2006 7:12 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 5, 2006 9:29 PM in response to Toolshed4

Hi, Toolshed4 -

Try zapping (resetting) the PRAM -
Article #2238 - How to Reset PRAM and NVRAM

Next. make sure the CDs are clean. You may also need to try cleaning the CD drive - a standard audio CD cleaning disk should be able to do that.

It is also possible that the battery in the machine is too weak or dead - some models have significant boot issues if that is the case. If you're not sure about the health of the battery, replace it - you can get one at places like RadioShack for about US$15, cheaper on-line.

It may also be necessary to reset the PMU -
Article #95037 - G4 (AGP) - Resetting PMU
Note the caution about pressing the button only once - you can hold it down for a few seconds, but do not press it again until after the machine has been power cycled.

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Answer 2

Toolshed4 Author

Level 1

26 points

Oct 7, 2006 6:56 AM in response to Don Archibald

will try that today. in general the machine is pretty dusty inside and the disk isn't pristine. i didn't know it hard a battery. someone also suggested disconnecting the second hard drive so it wouldn't be confused about where to instal but i guess we're not even at that stage yet.

got impatient yesterday and bought an immaculate PowerMac G4 Quicksilver with a 17" Studio Display for a really good price. now that I have one running with no problems I can leisurely work on the first one.

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Answer 3

Nov 1, 2006 8:27 AM in response to Toolshed4

i'm actually trying to update from mac os 9 to mac os 10.. but the sistem is not allowing me to boot from cd.. it says "the sistem can't boot from cd.. error -2" or something like that.. i'm using a dvd burning unit(LG) any suggestions'?

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Answer 4

Toolshed4 Author

Level 1

26 points

Nov 1, 2006 10:11 PM in response to Toolshed4

The answers to my various G4 GP Graphics problems were: mixed memory (PC100 and PC133, some of which was just bad) and two bad harddrives. Hence nothing working. since then, the RAGE card died and I now have a PCI card with a VGA port. It works--but the fan is going and makes a really loud, diesel train kind of sound the whole time it's on. And I'm thinking of buying a PowerMac G3 tonight. Thanks for all the help.

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