How to reformat tiger on G5 with another mac?

Hello,

I have a G5 tower that gets stuck on the grey apple start up screen, the little spinning thing just loops forever.
I tried booting it off a usb via instructions on HOWTO: Install and Boot OS X 10.4 On a Flash Drive | OS X Tips , however, after the final "mac-boot" step, the screen just returns to the grey apple startup screen.

Is there a way to connect the G5 with a macbook and reformat using an ethernet cable? The G5 boots up in slave mode by pressing "t" but it seems i need a firewire cable. The macbook doesnt notice the G5.
Are there other ways to connect the two computers, even with the state of the G5, with an ethernet cable?

No, I have not tried booting it off the dvd and I plan to, but it will take a couple weeks before I can get my hands on a copy.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: the macbook has leopard and the G5 had/has/needs-to-have tiger

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Well G5's being PPC (PowerPC) will not boot from USB, requires Firewire and your best option maybe to start from the DVD when you receive it. However for now, have you tried zapping the PRAM?

Boot, immediately after the chimes hold down Command (with Apple logo on it) Option P and R keys all at the same time, and keep held down until after the second or third lot of chimes. If no joy, go online when booted is safe or target mode, download a little utility called Applejack, install, print instructions and run it in single user mode.

Here is the download site:-

http://applejack.sourceforge.net/

Keep us posted?

Well that is bad news, too bad they dont boot off a usb.
I have tried your suggestion of zaping the pram, and pressed command+option+p+r at start up. After the first start-up chime, i pressed the buttons and i let it restart 3 times then i finally let the keys go. however, it still gets stuck on the grey loading screen.
I also tried booting in safe mode by pressing shift as soon as i heard the startup chime and released once the grey screen appeared, but nothing happened.

Am i correct to assume I only have two options left:
1)wait for the dvd
2)buy a firewire, boot as target mode and reformat via another mac?

I mainly use PC's but I'd hate to see a good desktop go to waste.

Also, thank you Harry for your reply

With due respect to Harry's experience and knowledge, search for articles (including the Apple website) about booting from a USB2 device. It is possible.

Firewire would be better, using your MacBook, and booting into Target mode.

Yes, you can connect your two Macs using ethernet, but you need a hub to do it, ie. connect the two Macs to an ethernet hub (a.k.a. switch). This may not work if your G5 HD is failing.

Ok, so i have a firewire cable now.
1)I have the 10.4 .toast file loaded up and ready on the 10.5 macbook, 2)G5 on and running in target mode, 3)connected via firewire, and 4)the G5 appears on the macbook's desktop as a firewire harddrive.

I click "Install Mac OS X" but the error i get is "Max OS X 10.4 cannot be installed on this machine. Please consult the documentation for the list of supported Macintosh computers."

So, i understand i cannot install tiger (10.4) on the macbook, and i do not want to. I want to install it onto the G5 which is loaded up in target mode.
Is this possible?

Thanks in advance!

edit: In the tiger install folder, i opened "Optional Installs" as the "Instal Mac OS X" doesnt work, but it will not let me select the "Destination Select". the installer skips over the step to "Installation Type". The installer is trying to reformat the macbook, which i do not want. Is there anyway to correct this?

edit2: i read http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1600. is it possible that I cannot install Tiger from the macbook since the macbook is an intel based even if my G5 is a PPM? I erased the G5 harddrive and set 1 partition as APM(Apple Partition Map).
so in other words, will i need to firewire connect a PPM mac to install tiger onto the PPM tiger? Or is the intel based macbook good enough? and if the macbook is good enough, how can I select the "Destination type"?

It helps to be installing from a PPC mac onto a PPC mac that is in Target mode. If you have a Superduper bootable back up then it is possible to install the SD back up from an Intel to a PPC Mac. Otherwise you need to boot the G5 off the install disc. If there is a work around i would be interested after driving to a friends to use their G5 to put Tiger on a G3

Suggest you look at purchasing a Tiger full retail install DVD for the G5. Make sure you buy the black disc and do not purchase silver/grey model specific discs which abound on eBay and such.