succuess!
well, we learned that the usb creation tools don't work so well on a ppc mac-mini.
i was able to get a somewhat working snow leopard install from an iFail S3 v2 DVD (-very- hard to interact with the os since the mouse support was horrible)
i created the usb using myHack. no issues in booting and installing.
a few issues and two questions
trackpad is very sensitive to touch, thinks that i have clicked too often
the ip address the wifi is grabbing is not correct (manually assigned ip and dns and internet is working fine)
questions, it is ok to update via software update to 10.7.2?
is there a command key? or are latitude users out of luck?
also, if i re-run edp, will it overwrite my previous configuration? (to see if i can fix the trackpad and other mini annoyances)
thanks for all your help