[G4] Trying to insall Panther on a Yikes G4

[Ronald Steinke]

On 27 December, 2005, at 11:03:29, Darin Sheriff wrote:

> I recently acquired a Yikes G4 with 256mb of system memory and a  
> 10gb hard drive.  I am trying to install OS X Panther on it but I  
> get as far as a grey screen with the Apple logo on it.  The monitor  
> then goes to sleep (and stays that way) and I have no idea what is  
> happening after this.

First questions:
	Is the gray screen occurring while you are still in the act of  
booting to the CD? Or, are you getting to the installation  
instruction windows? How far, exactly, into the installation are you  
getting? Have you gotten there more than twice?

The reason I ask this is because it has been quite a while since I  
went through the initial OS-X installation and I cannot remember  
where the gray screen that you describe comes in the installation  
process and it would be nice to know that you can duplicate the  
problem by attempting to install more than once and having the same  
result.

Second questions:
	Do you have a "power conscious" monitor that you can change the  
power down/sleep setting to not go to sleep at any time? Have you set  
your energy saver controls to spin down the drive and shut down the  
monitor?

Use the energy saver controls to set the timing to avoid the monitor  
shutting down while the lengthy install process reaches completion.  
You can always go back and reset your settings for power conservation  
if you want.

Third questions:
	Are you trying to do an upgrade installation or a "erase and  
install" installation?  Did you select the install CD as the startup  
drive before trying to start the G4?

If you have just recently obtained the G4 and do not have critical  
information on it, go for the erase and install option. It will give  
you a virgin OS that you can play with all you want and not get any  
complaints that you are trying to use old files on a new system.

Side note:
	Seriously consider upgrading your hard drive while doing the OS  
upgrade. You don't have very much storage on that 10G drive and  
should consider at least a 60G or 80G box if you can afford it. Also  
increase your RAM, at least to 512Mb, to allow for the necessary  
functions of the OS and programs you install after getting up and  
running.

Good luck