but airport was an option so if he is installing a new card or replacing he may need the stand alone software. It didnt install if the hardware was not there under easy install.

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All installs of OS X are the same (notwithstanding PPC/Intel variants), with the same driver set installed. This differs from Windows where only the drivers required are installed/configured. So no software is missing for the Airport card. Sounds like a dud 10.5.8 install - I'd try reinstalling 10.5.8 again, on an external HD perhaps. I've had an Airport card go bad in my Cube - it refused to boot with it plugged in, so could be faulty as well.