Repeated installation failure on 1999 PowerBook G4

[thralldemonsweat]

I bought a 1999 PowerBook G3 off of eBay a couple of weeks ago:

PowerBook G3 333 (Bronze KB/Lombard) Specs (Bronze KB/Lombard, M7304LL/A, PowerBook1,1, M5343, None): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the PowerBook G3 333 (Bronze KB/Lombard). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

It came with a 4GB HDD and 96MB RAM that had a working Mac OS X Jaguar installed on it. I booted in to and used it several times.

I have tried repeatedly to install OSs on to it, and they always kernel panic. I have tried two different drives: The one that came with the laptop, and an mSATA drive w/IDE adapter. The latter turned out to be bad (as it took an EXTREMELY long time to install, and also was acting weird when I plugged it in to my Windows PC and formatted it when I first got it).

But the original HDD with the working Jaguar install also will not work. I always kernel panic. I have watched it finish up the installation process and restart, but I always get this error (or a similar one?):

https://imgur.com/a/pwRcnPC

I have a replacement optical drive on the way (for an unrelated reason, i don't think that's the problem). I also ordered two matching 64MB RAM sticks, as further research told me twin RAM sticks of at least 128MB are needed for OS X installations beyond Cheetah. But even Cheetah will not work, and I've tried it twice, on two separate drives. Jaguar wouldn't work, either.

I have some official installation discs on the way, but I HIGHLY doubt that the burned CD ROMs are the problem, either. I tried official MacoS 8 and MacOS 9.X discs. But MacOS 8 didn't seem to be recognized, and MacOS 9.X booted in to pre-installation, but it keeps saying the configuration is not supported.

https://imgur.com/a/trslczf

On the mSATA SSD, I was able to erase and partition the disk in the MacOS 9 installer. On the 4GB HDD, I cannot.

Per EveryMac, MacOS 8.X to Mac OS X 10.3 are supported on this laptop, so that shouldn't be an issue. These are universal installation discs, not those meant for an iMac or iBook, etc.

I could not partition the drive in Jaguar nor the Cheetah installer. So I'm pretty sure I overwrote the working Jaguar install with a kernel panicking Cheetah install

Does anyone have any idea what might be the problem? I don't know how to analyze the verbose logging from the kernel panic, nor do I have any idea of what else to check.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Did your Ram upgrade fix the installation issue? I don't own any portables older than G4era but am curious about these older Lombards. I read that they are extremely finicky with ram - funky ram modules being symptomatic of slow boot times and sluggish behavior to kernel panics.

 

[bobesch]

AFAIR I once had problems with a dead PRAM-battery on a PB-G3, that got sorted out by disconnecting that PRAM-battery. Well, it's worth (and just a small effort) to try out. (iFixit for Lombard; PRAM-battery)
As for installing a fresh OS I'd start with a compatible pre-OSX version and try anything OSX later.
There's always something to find at Macintoshgarden, when it comes to the original installation-CD or os9.x
Even with pre-OSX the PB-G3 is quite a capable machine ... (#9)
You may also install/run the Lombard with os8/9 onto/from CF-Card through a PCMCIA-CF-Card-adapter (#794) . Firewire will give you the option to get access to another FW-connected Mac's optical-drive, if that Mac operates in TargetDiskMode (TDM).
Limiting the first partition of the harddrive to 8GB might help (this is kind of a "subcortical-knowledge" - don't know, if that is correct and I cannot prove/recall any source of information).

 

[thralldemonsweat]

I am still waiting for the replacement RAM to arrive. Unfortunately, the shipping date is listed to as late as Jun 2. But you're not the first person to suggest that the RAM could likely be the issue.

 

[thralldemonsweat]

Did your Ram upgrade fix the installation issue? I don't own any portables older than G4era but am curious about these older Lombards. I read that they are extremely finicky with ram - funky ram modules being symptomatic of slow boot times and sluggish behavior to kernel panics.

I am still waiting for the replacement RAM to arrive. Unfortunately, the shipping date is listed to as late as Jun 2. But you're not the first person to suggest that the RAM could likely be the issue.

 

[thralldemonsweat]

AFAIR I once had problems with a dead PRAM-battery on a PB-G3, that got sorted out by disconnecting that PRAM-battery. Well, it's worth (and just a small effort) to try out. (iFixit for Lombard; PRAM-battery)

Ah, thank you for the advice. I never considered the PRAM might be part of the problem. I will add that to my list of things to try once my replacement RAM comes in. i saw Hugh Jeffries on YouTube specifically replace a dead PRAM on a Pismo that he was restoring.

As for installing a fresh OS I'd start with a compatible pre-OSX version and try anything OSX later.
There's always something to find at Macintoshgarden, when it comes to the original installation-CD or os9.x
Even with pre-OSX the PB-G3 is quite a capable machine ... (#9)
You may also install/run the Lombard with os8/9 onto/from CF-Card through a PCMCIA-CF-Card-adapter (#794) . Firewire will give you the option to get access to another FW-connected Mac's optical-drive, if that Mac operates in TargetDiskMode (TDM).

You're also not the first person to mention the CF-card, so I wll look in to that. I don't know why, but as the picture shows, MacOS 9 just wouldn't allow me to proceed with installation on either disk that I tried.

I can't wait until my RAM comes in, and I can try again. If all else fails, I will buy a refurb on Ebay that works, and probably sell this one.

 

[thralldemonsweat]

Ugh, so I found out the reason that the MacOS 9 installation won't work: I bought a MacOS 9 Pismo disc! I'm trying to use it on a Lombard, and of course, it won't work. Damn. I bought it when I didn't know the difference between the Lombard and the Pismo.

So I bought the appropriate retail MacOS 9 disc, and will try that. But the thing is, I wouldn't figure it would boot in to pre-installation environment if it wasn't compatible. Other OEMs straight up say "This is not compatible with your system" before even getting that far. *shrug* It is what it is.

 

[bobesch]

Ugh, so I found out the reason that the MacOS 9 installation won't work: I bought a MacOS 9 Pismo disc! I'm trying to use it on a Lombard, and of course, it won't work. Damn. I bought it when I didn't know the difference between the Lombard and the Pismo.

So I bought the appropriate retail MacOS 9 disc, and will try that. But the thing is, I wouldn't figure it would boot in to pre-installation environment if it wasn't compatible. Other OEMs straight up say "This is not compatible with your system" before even getting that far. *shrug* It is what it is.

There is a CD-Image of the original Lombard-Install-CD 'ready to burn' for download at Macintoshgarden!
It's #21 (English) or #22 (spanish) on the download-list.
Basically you are only 3 steps (30min) away from the installation ...
After that you may get an os9-update, if you wish to proceed to the latest version.

PS:Would you share your Pismo-Installation-CD on Macintoshgarden? That is missing on the list ...

 

[thralldemonsweat]

Sure, it's copyright 2000, and the eBay listing said "Pismo". So I'll take it on good faith that it's indeed for the Pismo, although the discs themselves don't say that, lol. I also have uploaded Windows OEM discs to Internet Archive, so I like to make sure that people can access this vintage stuff.

But should I create the ISO in a modern x86 version of MacOS? I have WinISO on my Windows PC, but I am never sure if they properly create a bootable disc with MacOS install discs. I have some x86 MacOS virtual machines that I have created ISOs with, I assume they will work? That's actually why I bought the Lombard, is so that I have something other than an emulator running PPC MacOS.

 

[bobesch]

Sure, it's copyright 2000, and the eBay listing said "Pismo". So I'll take it on good faith that it's indeed for the Pismo, although the discs themselves don't say that, lol. I also have uploaded Windows OEM discs to Internet Archive, so I like to make sure that people can access this vintage stuff.

But should I create the ISO in a modern x86 version of MacOS? I have WinISO on my Windows PC, but I am never sure if they properly create a bootable disc with MacOS install discs. I have some x86 MacOS virtual machines that I have created ISOs with, I assume they will work? That's actually why I bought the Lombard, is so that I have something other than an emulator running PPC MacOS.

Great!
I think, it doesn't matter on which system the iso-file was created, since it works like a physical copy of the CD.
Any progress on your side?

 

[thralldemonsweat]

Great!
I think, it doesn't matter on which system the iso-file was created, since it works like a physical copy of the CD.
Any progress on your side?

I am waiting for the RAM sticks to come in to swap out the RAM, and try again. I also bought another Lombard that is (supposedly) tested and verified working on all accounts, including an optical drive bezel. So I will likely sell the first one anyway, but still want to get it working properly.

 

[thralldemonsweat]

Update: so it WAS the RAM! The new RAM came today, I swapped out the old modules, and successfully installed MacOS 9.2, Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1. It booted in to each one and ran fine.

So now I just need to figure out how to multi-boot the PowerBook, and figure out why none of the damn Mac OS 8 discs will work.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

 

[Macbookprodude]

This problem I have on 2012 macbook pro - ram is bad and Catalina won't install - install keeps not working, Mavericks for some reason works.

 

[thralldemonsweat]

This problem I have on 2012 macbook pro - ram is bad and Catalina won't install - install keeps not working, Mavericks for some reason works.

This was a similar problem on this PowerBook. The Mac OS X 10.2 install that came with the PowerBook when I bought it booted ran just fine. It;s when I tried reinstall ANY version of OS X (incl. 10.2) when I repartitioned the drive, it kept failing. Mac OS 9 would also usually install just fine.

 

[Macbookprodude]

Exactly !!! So bad memory can cause OS’s not to install. Mavericks is the OS 9 of 2011. Perhaps, anything after Mavericks accesses higher memory areas and if the memory is bad - it won’t install.