10.4 upgrade disaster on emac

Hi. I am new to this forum and hope you guys can help. I have an emac. I was running 10.3.9 and wanted to upgrade to 10.4. I had the necessary ram to do the upgrade. While I was in the upgrade process, I got an error message (I can't recall what it was) to the effect that the upgrade could not proceed. Now I can't login at all--I just get the wheel endlessly turning. When I try to do the install again, I get a message that "mac os X v.10.3 or later cannot be found on your computer". However, the startup disk options lists 10.4 and 9.2.2. I can still login to 9.2.2, but that doesn't help me much. I'm not sure what to do next (reinstall 10.3?, 10.2? use the system restore discs that came with the computer?). thanks for your help.

Personally, I would use 10.4 and use the Erase and Install option. Make sure there's nothing you need saved first, as it will erase everything.
Also, are you using a retail version of Tiger? If you are and the install fails again, it could indicate a possible hardware problem or a problem with the disk itself.

thanks. It looks like if I go to disk utility, I have the options of first aid, erase RAID and restore. I should choose erase? If I choose erase, it will wipe out everything on my hard drive, correct? Also, I need to select volume format--the default is Mac OS Extended (journaled). is that what I should select? Also, I just want to make sure that I should have the "38.2 GB ST340810A" icon selected, rather than the icon underneath that which reads "macintosh HD"

The 10.4 disk I purchased from someone on ebay--it was in an unopened envelope, but I guess it's possible the disk is bad.

chanan said:

thanks. It looks like if I go to disk utility, I have the options of first aid, erase RAID and restore. I should choose erase? If I choose erase, it will wipe out everything on my hard drive, correct? Also, I need to select volume format--the default is Mac OS Extended (journaled). is that what I should select? Also, I just want to make sure that I should have the "38.2 GB ST340810A" icon selected, rather than the icon underneath that which reads "macintosh HD"

The 10.4 disk I purchased from someone on ebay--it was in an unopened envelope, but I guess it's possible the disk is bad.

Click to expand...

First, is the disk gray in color or black with an X? If it's the gray disk, they are "machine specific" and it wont work.

For the install itself:

Summary

When you're ready to install Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5 or later, you may notice that you have several installation options available to you while started from the Install disc. If you prefer not to custom install, simply install the software using the default installation.
If you'd like to see your choices, click the Options button that appears when choosing an installation destination. A dialog sheet appears and presents you with several installation choices, listed below. Here's what each type of installation provides.


Erase and Install

This option completely erases the destination volume, then installs a new copy of Mac OS X. You should always back up important files on the target volume before using this type of installation.
This is the fastest way to install Mac OS X, but it may take some time to set up your computer after installation. You will have to configure all of your computer settings, install your third-party and iLife applications, and restore your personal files from the backup you made.
Why use this option?

• If you've already backed up your computer, this might be a good choice if you are trying to resolve an existing issue and an Archive and Install installation didn't help.
• This option takes up the least amount of space when the installation is completed.
• This is a good option if you no longer need the information on the computer, and you have another computer that you would like to easily transfer stuff from ("migrate").

Volume format choices
Once you've selected this option, you can choose from two types of volume formats:

• Mac OS Extended (Journaled)—This is the default option and should be used unless you have a specific reason not to.
• UNIX File System—Only choose this option if you specifically need it.

Does an Erase and Install change partition configurations?
No, it uses the current settings. It also doesn't configure advanced RAID settings or perform a secure erase. If you want to do any of these things, use Disk Utility before installing; you can access Disk Utility while started from the Install disc.