Gray screen of death? Upgrading from 10.3.9 to 10.4.10

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Miklebud

Registered
Hello,
I'm trying to reinstall OSX onto an old Power Mac G5, but am running into problems when going through the paces of upgrading 10.3.9 to 10.4. I've got the install discs for 10.4.10 (and 10.4.7, but .7 says specifically for Mac Pro). Upon restarting the computer after clicking "Install OSX and Bundled Software", I am greeted with a Gray Screen with a bunch of debug dump info. I called Apple directly and they gave me no assistance.

I've done this before with another G5 in our art department without issue, and got it running 10.5 without any problems.

I've tried doing this with the set of 10.4.10 install discs as well as the 10.4.7 both netting me with the same gray screen crash. I'm at wits end. It's my last day before a spring break vacation, and I'm freaking out. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Here is a link of the dialogue I get when trying to install 10.4.10:
IMG_0421-1.jpg
 
Unable to find driver for that platform... as if you were trying to install Intel version of Mac OS X. :-/

Are both discs that you tried gray in color?

The one that fore sure is gray, and labeled for Mac Pro and is with 10.4.7 will not work - it is for completely different architecture than what your Mac you try to install to shipped.
I don't think I have seen 10.4.10 as a retail version disc but maybe there are those... what color disc, and what does it say exactly on those?
 
Both 10.4.7 and 10.4.10 are gray discs. 4.7 specifically says "Mac Pro" on them, the 4.10 says "For Mac Computers".
The 10.3.4 "Power Mac G5" discs are also the same gray color.

The strange thing is, is that I got another G5 up to 10.5 doing this same process. That's why I'm going crazy trying to figure this out!
 
But, not to 10.5 with that same process. (10.3, then 10.4, then 10.5), and not with grey disks.
All you need is a 10.5 installer DVD.
The grey DVDs won't work, unless they are for the same model Mac. There's 6 or 7 different G5 Macs, and the grey disks that came with one G5, won't work on a different G5 model.
 
But those where it worked, it was the same exact model, purchased at same exact time.
When the model is the same but there is even a few weeks of difference in shipping date, it may not work - and if the units were of different version of same model (Mac something, Early Someyear, vs Late Someyear) it will not work.
Both discs you have are gray, so they will only work with the Macs they were shipped with, even if one of them is not too specific to mention which Mac it was.
 
So how the hell am I supposed to upgrade this machine, short of buying a new retail 10.4 for a G5, JUST to upgrade to 10.5 two minutes later.
 
Yes, that's exactly right!
You wouldn't actually waste your money by purchasing 10.4, then immediately upgrade to 10.5 ...
The drop-in disk came with a Mac at the time that 10.5 was released and is meant to be used to update a Mac that was sold at about that time and not yet factory supplied with a 10.5 image.
Use a commercial 10.5 installer - then your upgrade process would only be in the one step, from 10.3 to 10.5
 
First of all, in order to stay legit and legal, you must purchase a copy of 10.5 for EACH computer you wish to upgrade to 10.5 (so if you have 3 computers you want running 10.5, you must purchase 3 retail copies of OS X 10.5).

Once you have a retail copy of OS X 10.5 for each machine, you can then install 10.5 on each machine. The retail version of OS X will do 3 kinds of installs: upgrade install, archive & install, and a fresh install.

If you're upgrading from 10.3 to 10.5, you needn't install 10.4 in the interim -- but, you must use a retail copy of 10.5 (black disk, not gray) to do so.

Any other way of upgrading those computers to 10.5 (using gray disks that came with another computer, using one copy of OS X to upgrade multiple computers, etc.) is illegal, and, hence, against forum rules for discussion. No one's gonna stop you from doing it, you just won't receive help from this forum in doing so.

Disclaimer: This is not my opinion nor does not reflect on my views about software licensing. It is simply a statement of fact (both about OS X and about forum rules).
 
Miklebud said:
That's the thing, that IS how I did the upgrade process with the other G5 inhouse. They are the exact same model, purchased at the same time.
Click to expand...

Just do a restore from the other in-house machine to this one. Hopefully you are correct in saying they are both the same machine and everything should be fine. Its just like imaging the the blank machine from the working machine. Just hopefully you have OSX licenses for both machines or you are putting your job and school at risk for software piracy prosecution issues. Apple already has your ip address by now. Its truly amazing how many of these IT folks that post on these forums with simple issues like this can actually keep their jobs?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top