[MrHappyMonkey]

I've been struggeling with installing OS x.2 on my 17" iMac the whole weekend. So far, I've tried to install Jaguar 6 times. They all result in a grey kernal panic as soon as the machine boots up. I've tried to a full install and upgrading from a "factory restore" of X.1. When I did the upgrade from X.1, as soon as the computer booted up, in the top left corner of the screen it printed the error message "SH-2.05a#". I've done the usual tricks like clearing the PRAM, running the extended test from the diagnostics CD, reparing permissions, etc.

[Fallout]

This is probably a very stupid question if you've installed 6 times already, but have you formatted your HD and reinstalled yet? Repaired permissions from the OSX cd? I had that problem before, and repairing the permissions fixed everything.

[cpac]

any chance you've got some bad RAM? or some newly-bad ram?

If you're already run a factory restore it sounds like there's not much data you're trying to protect, so I would do what the above poster suggested - reformat the HD and install Jaguar.