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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Can't restart G4 from installation disc

Thom Mckeown - May 7, 2008 - 5:13 pm

I'd installed Leopard on my Mac G4. However when it got to the display requiring insertion of Name and Password what I thought was correct wasn't. So I held down the C key and restarted from the Leopard installation disc. There I pulled down Utilities and changed the name and password. I then restarted to open up in the Hard Drive and again the display appeared to insert Name and Password which I did from the ones I'd changed to. This failed. When I attempted to restart holding down the C key to restart from the Leopard installation disc, it merely restarted and returned to the Name & Password display again. I've tried repeatedly, holding down S, Option, etc and all sorts of combinations to no avail.

Can you please help? Thank you so much if you can.

DeltaMac - May 7, 2008 - 8:19 pm

Typical Leopard password problem!
This could have been avoided by doing an Archive and Install option, instead of the default upgrade. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't deem it necessary to inform up-graders of the hazards. It's what I have been recommending when upgrading to Leopard since Leopard was released last fall...
Here's an article that should help.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306840

If that does not help, check the links at the bottom of that article.

- Dale

Thom Mckeown - May 8, 2008 - 9:27 am

Thanks so much for your help in getting on to the password change feature in Utilities. However, I'm still stuck. It's now developed into a "looping" situation where I'm confused over the user name. Should it be that I key in at 'Name' and with my new password (thomas)? If so, when I press enter/return, I'm presented with the same login window over and over. Back in Utilities I can't alter the name from Systems Administrator (root) although I can change the password ok. Where am I going wrong? I'm tearing my hair out in frustration with this... as a Mac lover, I'm starting to lose my affection for them! Please help! Being on the very brink of enjoying my G4 with Leopard I can't get past this Name/Password delayhassle - it's becoming a nightmare.

Thom Mckeown - May 8, 2008 - 9:32 am

Serenak - May 10, 2008 - 6:34 pm

Hello Thom

I suspect that you have inadvertently set a Firmware Password (which is much more nasty than just a plain old login password) and this will prevent you booting from the installer by holding C...

this article http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwar...protection.php has instructions (at the end) on how to remove the inability to boot from the installer and enable you to do an Archive and Install (or if you have good backups) even to just go hog wild and blow it away for a clean install...

I am hoping this will get you on the road to fixing it

Thom Mckeown - May 12, 2008 - 4:48 am

Thanks for your help to date. However something even more dramatic seems to have occurred. All the data has now gone, including any trace of the previous OSX.4 so I can't now obviously upgrade to OSX.5! Is there a recommended and available method of transferring all data including the OSX.4 from my PowerBook G4 to the G4 perhaps via a firewire cable? If this would be possible it would be great as I have so much memory on my G4. Please advise as I no longer have the Mac OSX.4 installation discs sadly and need another method of getting the G4 up and running. Thank you.

Thom Mckeown

Serenak - May 13, 2008 - 3:06 am

Hello Thom

Looks like the Leopard never installed properly somehow...

You can mount the G4 in Target Disk Mode over firewire (hold T on startup till you see the big FW symbol) then it would appear just as any other external to the PB - then you could use CarbonCopyCloner (free here to make an exact dupe of the PB onto the G4 which should work...)

Keep me informed

Thom Mckeown - May 13, 2008 - 9:52 am

Thank you - I followed your advice and my G4 is now operating. However may I ask if you've any ideas on how to resolve this next problem? When I insert data CDs it accepts them and the image appears on the desktop and I can easily access the data therein. But when I insert any commercially recorded music CDs it ejects them all. I've tried several prerecorded CDs and they're all being ejected. This is a big problem as I want to increase my iTunes library to transfer more music to my 160gb iPod. Please help! Many thanks.

Thom Mckeown

Thom Mckeown - May 14, 2008 - 10:44 am

May I ask if you've any ideas on how to resolve this problem please? On my G4 (running OSX.4.10) when I insert data CDs it accepts them and the image appears on the desktop and I can easily access the data therein. But when I insert any commercially recorded music CDs it ejects them all. I've tried several pre-recorded CDs and they're all being ejected, with one exception from a double-CD set. It read Disc 1 but rejected Disc 2! (The same applies with DVDs). This is a really big problem as I want to increase my iTunes library to transfer more music to my 160gb iPod. Please help if you've any suggestions! Many thanks.

Thom Mckeown

Serenak - May 14, 2008 - 7:28 pm

Wow

that is a thorny and difficult one..

I would say it is a driver problem caused by patching one Mac onto another - BUT one disk did work... How often or recently have you used the drive in the G4? If if have found one bit of hardware prone to "going off" through lack of use CD/DVD drives are it

You could just make sure that the CD/DVD preferences in System Preferences are set to open iTunes when you put in a music CD

To be honest I am pretty stumped by this one and without being able to get "hands on" it is a pretty hard question to tackle

I am sorry I can't give you a smart, quick and easy answer to this one...

You could try posting it as a new ticket and see if any of the other tech have any better ideas