[hardendorf]

I have a G4 that I'm attempting to bring back to life. The internal drives in the unit kept dying. Now the only way to boot the machine is using an external drive. I bought a new internal drive but the machine won't boot(from the external drive) when it is installed. I have tried to boot the machine with the OS disk but it can't install the OS because it can't find the drive.
How can I get the internal drive to work?

[Serge_N_Gin]

Originally Posted by hardendorf

I have a G4 that I'm attempting to bring back to life. The internal drives in the unit kept dying. Now the only way to boot the machine is using an external drive. I bought a new internal drive but the machine won't boot(from the external drive) when it is installed. I have tried to boot the machine with the OS disk but it can't install the OS because it can't find the drive.
How can I get the internal drive to work?

It may or may not be a simple format issue. Or it could be a case of your G4 not supporting the HD, size wise .... how big is the new drive?

You can find some related info in this thread.

Do you have the original Installation Discs that came with your G4? Or if not, what installation discs do you have and could you describe the labels on the disc/s please ...

AFAIK, you need to put the install disc in the drive and start up the Mac, holding the 'C' key when you hear the Startup Chime. This will boot your Mac up from the Disc and you can proceed to format the hard drive using Disk Utility on the disc.

I've found a link where you can check out compatible Hard Drives for your particular Mac. Set Drive Type to 'Hard Drive' and Mac Model to 'YourMacModelhere G4', and leave the other items blank. This will tell you about both compatible internal and external drives for your G4.

It's wise to check if your G4 requires a Firmware Update before you perform an OS upgrade from OS 9 to OS X, though in your case the hard drive is blank so I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure of the relevance in a Firmware Update in this instance, but read on anyway:

Mac OS X: Available firmware updates

[hardendorf]

Here's the disks I have
They are all the gray/siler mac disk that come with the computer-
os9 install, Power Mac g4 Applications, Software restore 1 -5 and Os X install.
I tried the C button trick with the OS X install and could not find the disk all it showed was the USB External drive. The machine will boot from the external in OS 9 and OSX.

[Serge_N_Gin]

Originally Posted by hardendorf

Here's the disks I have
They are all the gray/siler mac disk that come with the computer-
os9 install, Power Mac g4 Applications, Software restore 1 -5 and Os X install.
I tried the C button trick with the OS X install and could not find the disk all it showed was the USB External drive. The machine will boot from the external in OS 9 and OSX.

What is the size of the drive you installed hardendorf?

[Headrush]

From my experience the G4s, especially with earlier firmware versions are a little flaky when it comes to booting devices.
First thing I would check is you have the lastest.

Is it possible for you to boot with both drives temporarily attached internally?
If so from there you could use a free tool like Clonetool Hatchery and image the working OS onto the new disk. (Clonetool will bless the new System Folders as needed for OS 9 and OS X)

[hardendorf]

the drive is 20 gig, and how do I get the usb drive to work as an internal?

[Serge_N_Gin]

What are the full specs of the new internal drive? What is the format of the new HD?

I can't advise on your other question and that user is no longer online ...

[Headrush]

Originally Posted by hardendorf

the drive is 20 gig, and how do I get the usb drive to work as an internal?

I made the assumption, (maybe wrongly), that it was a usb enclosure with a regular IDE drive. Maybe your case came with the drive pre-installed, but pretty sure its still an IDE. It's up to you whether you feel confident to open it and extract the drive. (Should be painless)

From there you just need to switch the pin setting to Slave and attach it to the IDE cable in the G4. (There should be a second connector.)

When you boot with both drives attached, what exactly happens? Flashing question mark?

Did you try using Command+Option+Shift+Delete on startup to bypass the current startup device?

Did you check the firmware version installed?
What is the exact G4 model?

[hardendorf]

The drive I'm trying to use is a Seagate 320410 A, 20 gig. The MAc is a Power mAc G4 dual processor.

[Serge_N_Gin]

hardendorf, do you have the full specs of that Seagate HD?

[hardendorf]

It's working now, that's to all for your help.

[Serge_N_Gin]

C'mon hardendorf, tell us how you got it working ....

[hardendorf]

I attached the external, drive and set the internal to slave. Inserted the OS disk, did the shift, command, delete, control thing when I booted. Then I went to disk commands after the OS disk started, then saw the drive partitioned it. I then loaded the OS to the drive, set it as the boot drive and then changed the drive from a slave to a master.
Thanks for everyones help. Now I just have to figure out why my Epson 2200 printer won't print from my G5.