Chosen Solution
I just upgraded my MacMini from the original hard drive (40G Ultra ATA) to a 320G Western Digital Scorpio Blue Hard Drive. I used the original install disks and partitioned the disk once into one volume and tried to install the original OS X version: 10.3.7. The installer would not allow installation onto the drive. I tried 2 partition system, one 40G partition and 280G partition and no luck. Any idea what is wrong here. I beginning to suspect the installer is snooping for a ‘standard’ configuration somehow.
Are you sure the HD format (or whatever you call that in english) is right? It needs to be APM (Apple Partition Map) if you try to install 10.3. Go to Disk Utility -> Partition -> Options and then select APM, partition the drive again, and install OS X. That should work - I had a similiar problem on a PB G3 some time ago and this solved it.
You need to format the drive using APM (Apple Partition Map). GPT is only supported on Intel Macs. You will need to use Disk Utility to do this. On your install DVD, find Utilities and select Disk Utility. When you have opened Disk Utility, do the following: Partition -> Options. If APM is not selected, do this manually or you will need to format the drive a second time. If it caught it and chose APM, do not change it. Once the drive is formatted, an OS can be installed.
The G4 AGP (400MHz) that I previously used is limited to drives of 120GB capacity. I notice that “MacUpgrades” only recommend drives of that capacity for the G4 Mini. It may be a similar limitation, although my 1.25GHz Mini has been upgraded with a 160GB drive.
