unable to install Leopard!

[davewill2010]

I have created an install dvd and when its inserted into the drive it displays a window on the desktop with the option for Install Mac OS X but if I double click on it and reboot when prompted it reboots back to desktop. If I go into System Preferences. ..Startup Disk it shows the hard drive AND Mac OS X, 10.5 on Mac OS X Install DVD and I select this follow through with a reboot and then it pops up a icon showing a folder with a question mark and then loads the desktop.

Also tried booting from an installer I created on USB with the same results, any ideas?

PowerBook G4
1.33 Ghz
1.25 Gb RAM
OS X 10.4.11

 

[Bear]

You say you created the install DVD? Was it from the Retail 10.5 Leopard Install Disc? Or was it from a machine specific restoration disc?

If it's not the retail disc, the odds are it won't work on your system.

 

[davewill2010]

It was from a retail disk image

 

[Ledgem]

Do you have the model identifier for your PowerBook? If you're not sure where to find it, choose About this Mac from the Apple menu, select More Info, and it should be the second line down. Some PowerBooks can't take OS X 10.5, although if yours couldn't then you should have at least received a message about the system being incompatible.

The original OS X 10.5 discs supported both Intel and PowerPC architectures, but I don't know about the later ones. My OS X 10.5 disc (which had 10.5.0) required a dual-layer DVD to clone. If yours only required a single-layer DVD, there's a chance that you have the installer files for Intel only.

Before concluding that the problem is with your installer, one other thought: how are you placing the installer onto your disc or USB drive? Your installer file is likely a .dmg; you're not placing the .dmg itself onto these devices, are you? OS X won't be able to mount the .dmg when rebooting even if you've made the rest of the disc/drive bootable.

 

[benwiggy]

I'm not sure that PPC Macs can boot to USB. FireWire, yes.

However -- where did this "image" come from? Do you not have the original DVD that was used to install Leopard onto this Mac in the first place?

The other thought is that a PowerBook G4 is quite old for a laptop, and may have hardware problems. You may want to consider what you will do when this machine fails.