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Installing OSX from DVD onto an older iMac
- Thread starter rozwell
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If you have an OS X DVD then it must be from a newer Mac. In that case, it probably wouldn't boot the iMac anyway. This is probably possible, but would take days to work, and then maybe not 100%.
before we start accusing people, it would have been nicer to ask if my installation media was legal, which it is, and maybe offer some help rather than get all p*ssy about it mate. and besides, its none of your business where i got the dvds, but since you must know i got them on ebay, and they are 100% original install dvds, and it came with the green software coupons, so as far as i know they are fine.pncc said:
pncc said:
Actually OWC sells DVD versions. Got to figure those are legit? No ?
http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=7359&Item=APL6034842A
Of course, if it was recently purchased, a return would be needed. Given the response by the poster, I am guessing its not legit.
crazzyeddie said:
This was definitely the case with OS 9 and earlier, but I believe that OS X DVDs are universal (ie. will work on any OS X-compatible system). I tried the DVD that came with my G4 on a G3 and it worked fine.
Anyway, getting back to the original question, the only thing I can think of is to get a USB drive case and put your DVD drive in it.
Geez this is the difference between Apple/PC messageboards. On PC messageboards, people try to help. Here people are so defensive of Apple that if someone asks a question, people try to play vigilante on him. If anyone here wants to work for a piracy stopping company, go do it. If you want to ask for help and help others, this is a good place to do it... Wow i can't believe that *****.
Anyways, if you have another mac, you can hook them up w/ a firewire cable and on one of the macs, hold T when it boots. This puts it in target disk mode and it acts just like a firewire drive. If you have a CD in its drive, it also mounts that drive on the other computer... If you can do this, you only need some way to boot from the network... Is there a way to do this??
-Kevin
Anyways, if you have another mac, you can hook them up w/ a firewire cable and on one of the macs, hold T when it boots. This puts it in target disk mode and it acts just like a firewire drive. If you have a CD in its drive, it also mounts that drive on the other computer... If you can do this, you only need some way to boot from the network... Is there a way to do this??
-Kevin
Really?? I have an old iMac and it has firewire... I guess the oldest ones don't have it. Well, to be honest, you're talking about some pretty old hardware... I'm a linux nut, and this might be a shot in the dark... but have you ever thought about playing with a linux distribution for PowerPC systems? they're free, and have excellent hardware support for old macs like that. If you want to use the iLife suite and software like that, you wouldn't be interested, but linux could make that system a very capable word processor / internet /email station. Sorry to change the topic, but let me know if you want some more linux info to get it all started up.
-Kevin
-Kevin
spaceballl said:
I think all DV iMacs and later had Firewire.
I think the only way to install OS X on that iMac would be to buy an external USB drive (can older Macs boot off of USB?
) and use that, or to do a network install, which I have no clue how to do. 
pncc said:
I have OS X on a DVD, it came with my power book.
EDIT: I have a USB 1.0 enclosure, if that helps
Duff-Man says....it came with your Powerbook - that means it is *not* a "retail" copy...oh yeah!rickvanr said:
Absolutely. Its none of my business where it came from. And I don't think theres anything wrong with selling an oem version + licence on eBay, it happens with vinyl and cd music all the time.
Anyway, an external DVD drive is the obvious answer, unless you know someone who can re-burn the DVD onto 3 (or more???) cd's - depends on what is actually on the dvd of course.
What you can do is book the imac into target firewire mode plug it into a newer mac and hold down the C key and boot off the dvd on the new mac. When the installation starts you can specify the old macs hard drive as the place to install
if it's not a retail version, then it is only for sale with the machine it was packaged with.rickvanr said:
Ok, the easiest solution would seem to be to get an external USB case for your DVD drive now keep in mind that if your iMac only has USB 1.1, so you better have about an entire day set aside for the install, because it took an hour or 2 to install on my PM G4 450 from the built in drive. Or the option that someone else sugested, find a friend who could create 3 CD's out of your DVD.
Now as for the "I won't help because I don't know if you bought this legaly" crowd, I believe we can see a leson to be learned from this. Yes the copy of Panther was bought on EBay, granted not the best place to buy software and such as you don't really know what your getting. So you probabily save a few bucks buying off Ebay, but now as we see you've got something that dosen't work on your machine and you have to spend hours trying to figure out a work around. Let's say you did buy panther from an Apple dealer, or Apple store, now even if you acidently were given a DVD instead of CD's since you bought it from a legit apple dealer, you could call up apple and they could probabily arange to get you the OS on CD's saving yourself alot of hastle trying to get a workaround. I hope everyone has learned a little lesson from this.
Now as for the "I won't help because I don't know if you bought this legaly" crowd, I believe we can see a leson to be learned from this. Yes the copy of Panther was bought on EBay, granted not the best place to buy software and such as you don't really know what your getting. So you probabily save a few bucks buying off Ebay, but now as we see you've got something that dosen't work on your machine and you have to spend hours trying to figure out a work around. Let's say you did buy panther from an Apple dealer, or Apple store, now even if you acidently were given a DVD instead of CD's since you bought it from a legit apple dealer, you could call up apple and they could probabily arange to get you the OS on CD's saving yourself alot of hastle trying to get a workaround. I hope everyone has learned a little lesson from this.
OS X Retail comes in the Panther box on three CDs, with a fourth CD for XCode. OEM versions, the versions that come with the computers, generally come on DVD these days. According to the End User License Agreement, it's illegal to install OEM software (including all other software packaged with the computer when you bought it) on another computer.
That said, in all states but two (I forget which ones) in the U.S., EULAs are held to be unenforceable if you cannot read the EULA without putting the media into your computer (i.e. if the only copy of the EULA is a PDF file on the CD). If there was a printed version in the package (I think there usually is), then the EULA is enforceable.
That said, in all states but two (I forget which ones) in the U.S., EULAs are held to be unenforceable if you cannot read the EULA without putting the media into your computer (i.e. if the only copy of the EULA is a PDF file on the CD). If there was a printed version in the package (I think there usually is), then the EULA is enforceable.
Actually, I think that with an electronic only EULA, you can ask for a refund and get it, even on open software.Daveman Deluxe said:
Software that comes with a machine and has an EULA that includes the fact that the software provided with the machine is only for use on the machine is probably enforcable, even if it is one that can't be read until after the software is opened. AFter all the purchase is a machine with software for use on it.
And I do know that the Application Restore CDs/DVD that come with a Mac are very limited on which Macs they will work, so while the OS X install DVD usually works on any mahcine that supports OS X (and has a DVD drive of course), the applications on the software restore CDs won't install unless you have the right type/revision of hardware.
Daveman Deluxe said:
On a side note, if it is an OEM version of the software (which it probabily is if it's on a DVD) it will probabily not work on an older iMac. Apple's OEM OS X install's are designed to work only on the type of machine that it came with. For example, you can not install a copy of 10.3 that came with a new PM G5 on an old B&W G3. So odds are even if you are able to get the CD to boot up lets say from an external DVD drive, most likely you will not even be able to install it, or it will install but the machine will not boot afterwards.