Trying to reinstall OS X 10.3 on an eMac G4

[Timo W.]

Burned another copy of the OS X 10.3 Install Disk 1 using an identical noname CD-R as the kernel panic one, and, what do you know? Kernel panic!

Tried again with a Memorex CD-RW I had lying around... and it went perfectly fine!

Be careful, that might very well be a red herring. If you have e.g. occasional RAM errors, it can be completely random if it panics or nor. The first burnt disc may have worked at a second or third boot as well.

It is certainly very unlikely for a CD-RW to work when a CD-R does not. Also, if the disc was burnt with no errors, it will either work in the target machine or not. I don't see how it would only work to some extent and give you a kernel panic instead of a read error. Does not make sense to me.

If you can, run the Apple hardware diagnostic disc for that model. Should be on archive.org as well.

 

[Bruce Tomlin]

This seems like a bad RAM situation to me. The first thing to try with random weird failures like this is to clean the RAM. Take it out, use a pencil eraser to slightly sand down the contacts (do NOT blow away the crumbs with your breath, use a brush or canned air), and then re-insert them firmly.

 

[TH2002]

FWIW, I pulled the RAM out and tested it in a PC with Memtest86. No errors. But I'll report back what the Apple diagnostics say.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Early CD drives could be pretty fussy. I have one that works fine with CD-Rs except for the very expensive MAM-A Gold ones (not cheap). (https://wtsmedia.com/products/gold-cd-r-700mb-cd-r-logo-45975)

 

[Bruce Tomlin]

FWIW, I pulled the RAM out and tested it in a PC with Memtest86. No errors. But I'll report back what the Apple diagnostics say.

It's not about the RAM chips being bad, it's about the contacts of the DIMM being just a little bit flaky. You have to at least try cleaning the contacts, and reinserting it firmly.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

Do you have another working PowerPC Mac of roughly similar vintage? (IE, early 'aughts G3 or G4 that has Firewire integrated on the motherboard that will run a version of OS X apropos for the eMac?) A simple way to put this question to rest whether this is a problem with CD blanks (or your CD drive) verses a bigger problem would be to clone the OS from a working Mac onto this eMac and see if it behaves. (Or also randomly kernel panics at boot time, etc.)