Mac OS X could not be installed on your computer - what?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Mac OS X could not be installed on your computer - what?

Hello,

i recently purchased a PowerBook G4 15 inch 1.5ghz with 2gb of RAM. I tried to install OS X on a flash USB 16gb drive because the hard drive is dead and I want to temporarily run OS X through it, so i install it and when it gets to 99% it comes up with an error saying "Mac OS X could not be installled on your computer, it cannot start up from the volume Untitled" and then I'm back the square one. Why does this happen? What do i need to do to fix it?

thanks

iPhone 5s, iOS 9.2.1, Black 16GB

Posted on May 20, 2016 4:23 AM

Reply

Answer 1

ckuan

Level 10

120,932 points

May 20, 2016 4:32 AM in response to Windowssonic

The latest and greatest Mac OS X you can install is 10.5.8 if you have latest G4 (Oct 2005 - Feb 2006)

Reply

Answer 2

Windowssonic Author

Level 1

4 points

May 20, 2016 7:30 AM in response to ckuan

I Was installing OS X leopard.

Reply

Answer 3

ckuan

Level 10

120,932 points

May 20, 2016 8:31 AM in response to Windowssonic

Not all G4 can install 10.5.x Leopard

What model identifier is your PowerBook G4?

G4 Jan 2001-Oct 2001: max Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger

G4 Oct 2001-Apr 2002 : ditto

G4 Apr 2002-Nov 2002: ditto

Reply

Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,776 points

May 20, 2016 8:57 AM in response to Windowssonic

A PowerBookG4 with a 1.5ghz processor will support OS 10.5 Leopard.

There were two versions of Leopard 10.5.8. One was for older Macs with PowerPC processors (yours) and the other for Intel-prowered Macs (2006 to current). The Intel version won't work on a PqoweePC Mac. If you have a full retail install optical disk version, that can install OS 10.5 Leopard on either a PowerPC or and IntelMac. For tat reason those are often referred to as a "universal install" disk.

It's possible that what on the USB drive is the Intel version. Also, where did you get the OS that is on the thumb drive? Apple never released any OS newer than OS 7.5 for free distribution so, if you found it on the internet, it is a pirated copy and I've seen few reports of those working, Worse, those "free" versions often have malware embedded.

The other issue may be that most PowerBooks won't boot reliably from a USB device. FireWire is the best for remote booting.

Reply

Answer 5

Windowssonic Author

Level 1

4 points

May 20, 2016 10:23 AM in response to Allan Jones

Hello,

the USB drive had Nothing on it Originally. I am installing the OS on it and I re partitioned it and everything. I also have a full retail copy, several. The one I'm using says OS X leopard 10.5.1 on it, and it's a full retail copy with the .1 update. Im able to select the thumb drive to install but when it's 99% done the error comes up that says it can't be installed because it's not bootable. I noitced there's a partition map on the disc available for both Intel and power PC when you go to re format and clear the thumb drive so I believe it's a universal disc.

Reply

Answer 6

May 20, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Windowssonic

"Mac OS X could not be installled on your computer, it cannot start up from the volume Untitled"

PowerPC Macs (unlike Intel-based Macs) cannot typically start up from a USB drive. That's probably why you get this message.

Reply

Answer 7

Windowssonic Author

Level 1

4 points

May 20, 2016 4:11 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Ohh ok, is there a way I can boot it without the hard drive with some other form of storage?

Reply

Answer 8

May 20, 2016 4:29 PM in response to Windowssonic

If the internal drive is broken, PowerPC Macs can start up from an external drive, IF it's FireWire. There's no way to adapt your USB flash drive to connect it to a FireWire port. The best option in to replace the internal drive.

On my old PowerPC PowerBook, I replaced its hard drive with a solid state storage. First, I used a physically tiny SD ("SDXC") card on an adapter, and that worked reasonably well. Then, I used an mSATA card (SSD), on a different adapter, and that worked even better. I posted info in these other older topics, if you want to try something like that...

What gain from installing an SSD drive in a PowerBook G4?

Re: Solid state hard drives

Reply

Answer 9

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,776 points

May 20, 2016 4:31 PM in response to Windowssonic

You should be able to boot from any Mac-formatted external hard drive with FireWire (IEEE 1394) connectivity. I also use an old Sony external DVD unit that has both FireWire and USB and has proven to be Mac-Bootable (not all external optical drives are). The Sony can be found on the used market pretty cheap these days--I paid US$5 for mine at a church rummage sale several years ago. Search eBay or other sites using this text string that includes the model number:

sony DRX-820UL-T

The PowerBook has FireWire 400 and so does the Sony optical drive. If you go with an external hard drive enclosure, these accept common 2.5-inch notebook drives and have FW800 so would require a simple adapter cable to connect to the PowerBook:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MEPMU3F8K/

adapter cable:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/1394B96012/

The listed drive is an enclosure only and requires your installing a 2.5-inch SATA laptop drive--a five minute job.

Reply