# Power Mac G4 wont boot from external media.



## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

My Power Mac G4 AGP is currently running OS X 10.3.9, i have attempted to upgrade to both OS X 10.4 and OS X 10.5 i have also tried to install Ubuntu on my secondary hard drive, but any time i try to boot from a CD/DVD-R or flash drive it wont register the media on boot up. It can read and mount external media perfectly fine, and i always check disk utility to see if the media is "Bootable" and even if so it does not boot from it. It will open the install programs on the OS X 10.4/10.5 media, though again, it does not register on boot up. despite common advice holding the "C" key on boot up does nothing, and the same for the option key. The only start up shortcut that seems to work is "Command, option, R, P" for resetting pram, and each time it boots up, instead of showing the apple logo on a white screen with a pinwheel spinning at the bottom of the screen like a mac usually does on boot up, the screen remains black for several seconds and then brings up the "Mac OS X" window with the progress bar reporting different processes at the bottom such as "initializing networking" and "checking hard disks" like it did the first time i ever booted it after restoring it, (got it used from a friend) though all of my data and settings remain intact. I also own three windows PCs and and ubuntu desktop and have never had any problems like this. Any and all suggestions and potential solutions are highly appreciated. thanks.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Are you trying to boot from the internal DVD drive or an external one? If external, how is it connected? Also, where did you get the 10.4 disks from? Are they retail or grey restore disks? 10.4 is the latest version of OS X that can run on this Mac.


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

It is the retail black disc, and the DVD drive is internal, i am also aware that leopard is not usually supported, though i have tried using the program leopardassist to no avail, as it has the same boot up issue as always.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Is the DVD drive the original Apple drive? Some aftermarket drives did not support booting.


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

When removing the drive to attempt to replace is lest it be faulty i was able to confirm it is in fact the original apple drive.


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

I was also able to confirm that i don't have any other compatible CD or DVD disk drives, so hopefully that is not the issue and it is something else, though the possibility obviously should not be ruled out. I was once able to boot the Tiger installer from a flash drive a while back, but the installer froze after initializing the actual installation of Tiger, though again, the data was still intact on my HDD. Is it possible that some of OS X's data may be corrupted on my hard drive due to this factor and therefore causing my various boot up issues?


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

The booting is handled by the hardware on the motherboard, not by the OS. Are you sure that the OS X boot disk is for PowerPC Macs and not Intel Macs? It should say on the top of the disk next to the OS version I think (Been a long while since I looked.).


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

It is indeed for Macs with PowerPC processors. and keep in mind, this issue isnt specific to this installation disc, but to all external bootable media.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

I know, but the best way to trouble shoot is on a narrow field, not a wide field. So some questions and things to try.

Do you know if OS 9 is installed on the Mac, or is it only OS X? Have you launched the installer for OS X from the DVD? Have you selected the DVD from the Startup Disk system preference pane? Do you know if the computer has a firmware password?


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

It does indeed have OS 9 installed, i have attempted launching the installer from the DVD in-OS but it requires a reboot when you open it, which upon rebooting, shows no different results than always, and there is no firmware password.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Have you ever been able to boot from a CD or DVD on this Mac? Have you tried using Startup Disk in the system preferences?


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

I have tried using the start up disk preferences, though it still wont boot from it. And i was once able to copy the files from the disc to a flash drive and boot from it then, but it froze on the installer start up when booting up, though in the time ive had it it has never booted from any disc, but i know it has in the past as the model is from 1999 and did not come with the version of OS X that is currently installed.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Okay, even though I know you have said you have tried these before, lets try them one more time. Be sure to follow the steps exactly as I say. You must have an Apple keyboard to do the following.

1) Make sure the Mac is off.
2) Push the power button and then immediately push and hold down the C button, keeping it help until you see the desktop.
3) If fails, turn back off.
4) Push the power button and then immediately push and hold the option key and keep it held until you see the boot menu. Select the DVD and then click the return arrow.
5) If fails, turn back off.
6) Push the power button and then immediately push and hold command, option, P and R. Help these four held down until you have heard the startup chime at least 4 times, then let go and allow it to boot to the desktop. Now select the DVD from the Startup Disk preference pane and reboot.
7) If that fails, turn back off.
8) Push the power button and then immediately push and hold command, option, O and F. Keep them held until you see a prompt "0 >" and maybe a message that says "To continue booting, type 'mac-boot' and press return." Type the following first (Without the quotes.), "reset-nvram" then hit return. Now type "reset-all" and hit return. It should reboot on it's own now.
9) Allow it to boot to the desktop. Now select the DVD from the Startup Disk preference pane and reboot.

Please let me know if any of that worked.


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## puddles613 (Jan 2, 2014)

I will post back with the results when im done.


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