Powerbook doesn't recognize hard drive

Hi all, I am new to the forums, and new to Macs. My wife's friend had a 12" Powerbook G4 given to her, and I have been tasked with fixing it. The first step was replacing the hard drive. I used a Western Digital Scorpio Blue wd1600beve as the replacement. I am now trying to install Mac OS X 10.3 Panther on this machine. I can get it to boot from the CD, but I get and Apple logo in the middle of the screen, then a few seconds later, I get the gray "No" symbol. I have googled this and haven't been able to get it resolved. Some websites say that the hard drive needs formatted first, but how can I do that? Does Mac have a version of fdisk like Windows? Thanks in advance for your help!

To boot from the the CD are you pressing the C key on start-up and keeping it pressed until you hear the Mac booting from the optical drive.

Yes, I can hear the drive spinning and then the apple logo comes up. Before I put in the CD, I just get a folder with a ? flashing and thats it. I insert the CD, hold C down after pressing the power button, and I get the apple logo followed by the "No" symbol.

Can anyone help me with this issue? Did I post this in the wrong forum?

Sounds like you may not be using the correct DVD to boot the machine. Is this the original DVD (Panther) that came with the machine or is it a substitute? The DVD sets are specific for each machine unless it's the retail version of Panther that's being used. Retail versions are black, machine specific versions are gray.

Regards.

If this is still happening, follow these steps:

1. While turned on, insert the Mac OS X Install Disc.
2. Turn off the PowerBook. (Do not let it eject the disc.)
3. Turn on the PowerBook.
4. Hold down the "C" key as soon as it starts up. (Keep holding it..)
5. The Installer should open.
6. Click the Apple logo.
7. Select "Disk Utility". (If it isn't listed, it should be under a different heading; sorry, can't remember..)
8. Select the hard drive on the left side.
9. Select "Erase" (toward the middle/top of the open window).
10. Pick "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" & rename the drive.
11. Erase the drive. (Once erased/formatted, you can install Mac OS X.)
12. Install Mac OS X by selecting the drive.

Also...

If the no symbol keeps showing up (rather than the "?"), you might (as stated earlier) have a system-specific, gray disc for a different Mac model. You can purchase one for your model at ifixit.com or you can find installation discs for use with multiple models (system-unspecific, black disc) on eBay. I would stick with ifixit though (search for PowerBook Restore DVD) because the prices of Tiger (10.4) & Leopard (10.5) have continued to skyrocket ever since PowerPC support was discontinued.