help with formatting hard drive

Discussion in 'iMac' started by gacapp, Feb 2, 2015.

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  1. gacapp, Feb 2, 2015

    gacapp macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2015
    #1
    Hello,
    I am new to the Mac world. I inherited an older iMac. It is a G5 Mac Os X Version 10.4.11.

    It does not have a DVD drive.

    I have hooked up a USB DVD drive to it.

    I am trying to format the hard drive but having no success.

    I have a Mac OS X disc that is in the DVD drive but I'm not sure how to get it to boot from that disk first (if that is how you do it like on a pc)

    I tried going to System Preferences>Startup Disk but it does not list the DVD drive there.

    So I would like to know the steps to format the hard drive?

    Any information at all would greatly appreciated.

    Thank you
     
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  2. redheeler, Feb 2, 2015

    redheeler macrumors 604

    redheeler

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2014
    #2
    What version of OS X is on the DVD?
     
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  3. matreya, Feb 2, 2015

    matreya macrumors 65816

    matreya

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2009
    #3
    Restart the Mac, and hold down the C key. It should boot off the optical disc if the OS X install disc is the one that came with the iMac or is a full retail version of Tiger.
     
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  4. DeltaMac, Feb 2, 2015

    DeltaMac macrumors G3

    DeltaMac

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2003
    Location:
    Delaware
    #4
    No, you won't see the USB drive in the Startup Disk pref pane.
    You CAN try restarting with the DVD in the drive, while holding the Option key. That should display any volumes that have a booting system. Sometimes choosing the installer icon, then click the right-facing arrow will boot. But booting a G5 with USB does not usually happen natively.
    This article should give you good help in getting that to work.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4670074

    It would be better to have a firewire external optical drive, as that will work with no problems - All that's assuming that you have a correct installer DVD.
     
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