Trying to reinstall OS Tiger on G4<> Stuck at Destination

The use of Disk Utility from the booted OS X Installer Disc, allows you to see more

about the apparently missing hard disk drive; you may be able to see if the hard drive

could be repaired using the Disk Utility. It also could be reformatted, & other options in

that utility are allowed when the computer is not running it system from the hard drive.

Usually a question mark implies there is no system available to the computer, or that

hard drive has failed; or for some reason there is a problem with the format or sectors

have damage, and cannot be read. Without a Destination to install a system, it looks as

though the hard disk drive has failed. But you could see if you can get the Utility to find

it and perhaps repair damages. The 'first aid' portion of Disk Utility may help some; but

if not, you may see if other options in the Disk Utility may help get a rise out of the HDD.

I'd guess the computer needs the internal hard disk drive, replaced. As that G4 model

uses a 2.5-inch ATA-IDE (or parallel-ATA, not SATA) they are available but less common.

There are iFixit.com repair guide pages online, one probably for your exact model iBook.

At the moment, of the several computers I have here, only one PPC G4 is turned on,

and at this time, I'm using an Intel-based Mac, so can't expect the disk utility here to

be similar enough to look further, since 10.4 Tiger is different than 10.9.5 Mavericks.

My older Macs both run Leopard OS X 10.5.8 and are more similar to Tiger 10.4.

With an old Mac or any portable computer, the hard disk drive can fail as they're subject

to a rougher experience than a desktop computer has; figure a portable HDD may last

in active use, as little as a few years.

If you have an externally enclosed FireWire based hard drive with Oxford-type chipset,

it may be possible to use that as a destination, with correct formatting (from install disc)

& be able to attempt to use the portable whose internal hard drive seems to have failed.

{However, such an externally enclosed HDD should also have an external power supply

since it cannot be expected to function (to bootup, etc) before the computer's FW ports

could give it a signal or power. Port-powered external drives are generally a bad idea.}

Also, the battery is also likely bad, they barely last a year or so, if in perfect condition.

OWC macsales is among a few suppliers of quality replacement parts of good repute.

Troubleshooting the computer may be a learning experience, repairing the unit may be

well beyond the level of some people's skill set. However due to the unit not being worth

a whole lot, you could carefully try to fix it using any online guides to replace the HDD

and to determine what else may be the cause of any additional symptoms you may find.

So that's likely the situation you face. Working and repaired examples of older gear may

be found online from actual repair companies or resellers who guaranty their product; &

they can vary in cost. Some you could ship the computer to for a full diagnostic & estimate

and if you don't want it fixed, you're only into it for the shipping. wegenermedia.com and

powerbookmedic.com are a few among several who can repair items, have some for sale

or offer various parts for those who are up to fixing computers. Also ifixit.com guides also

may list some parts and links to sources, from each Mac model repair guide at iFixit site.

Once you get an older PPC Mac running, about the only current browser for it would be

from TenFourFox, that will work in 10.4.11 through 10.5.8 in PowerPC only, not Intel-Mac.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

For some instances of a flashing question mark or folder, appearing on attempted startup

there is this Apple support article that covers the topic in a few ways; but not all of them:

•A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support

This tells a method that is in use with modern OS X versions that have a Recovery partition

on the hard disk drive, whereas your older OS X has the Disk Utility on a bootable install DVD

or perhaps an earlier computer would have installers on CD media. So that is not applicable

to your situation where their point of reference is for the newer method, yet it does apply when

you substitute your install-restore bootable OS X Tiger disc media to attempt the solution.

There also is a SafeBoot mode where you hold the shift key down on attempted startup to

see if the OS X will start in a reduced mode, not sure if this may help if the HDD has damage

or if data on it is missing or erased, etc. The following link is to safeboot or safe mode:

•Try 'safe mode' if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

Since Tiger 10.4 is essentially obsolete several of the system references portray later terms

and the articles now available don't exactly apply. Some older web sites such as MacAttorney

or The XLab.com site may have points of reference closer to the Tiger OS X 10.4.x era...

•Resolving Disk, Permissions and Cache Corruption:

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/repairprocess.html

{from http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/faqs.html}

•OS X Maintenance and Troubleshooting: see 'clickable' table of contents

(note: author's cautions; & links go to new articles)

http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

This last link is a general reference; some of the links were updated or go to new content

at Apple Support, whereas before the update, they went to more vintage content. Note the

link about •Try 'safe mode' in blue, -- it is more applicable to Tiger 10.4 or Leopard 10.5,

than where later link to SafeBoot in Yosemite 10.10 is concerned. Essentially they're similar.

Perhaps if I had time earlier, more of this may have been posted; some of my old links

were not adequate and required double-checking their viability. Hopefully this helps as

a point of reference, or should someone happen along and wonder about this thread.

In any event...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂