New hard-disk install iMac - Need help installing Mac OS

[iimran]

Hi everyone, I need some guidance as to the best way to go about the below.

I have a 2007 INTEL iMac 24" WHITE body not aluminum.
This iMac had a bad hard-drive which I replaced with a new one.

This iMac doesn't have updated firmware to support the internet recovery options, so i am forced to old school recovery /have to use discs.

I bought an Apple Tiger 10.5.6 , , which when I hold down C while turning the iMac on, it doesn't boot off this disc.

When i looked up the specs, i noticed this iMac originally came with 10.4 OS, so I am thinking that is the disc I need to install an O/S for a freshly installed clean drive?

Is there any way to bypass or do anything to make my 10.5.6 disc work or should i just ebay 10.4?

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[macuser453787]

First, are you certain that the optical drive works?

Next, is the 10.5.6 OS disk you bought --- and by the way 10.5.x is Leopard, 10.4.x is Tiger --- the retail version (black DVD) or the OEM version (grey DVD)? If OEM, then I think it would only work for the Mac it originally shipped with. If retail, then AFAIK it should boot on your Mac. You shouldn't have to buy 10.4 to the best of my knowledge.

According to wikipedia.com, Leopard was released in October 2007. So your iMac is right there in the range of compatible Macs. From the wikipedia article:

"Leopard can run on the...iMac Intel Core Duo and (present day) iMac Intel Core 2 Duo..."

Your iMac is most likely an Intel Core 2 Duo, so AFAIK it should boot from your DVD as long as it's the retail version of Leopard.

 

[iimran]

Yes, the optical drive works. When I hold down ALT, i see the option for it to boot with the arrow pointing up.

The disc I have is the black version.
I looked up specs and it says it came with 10.4.7

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-2-duo-2.16-24-inch-specs.html

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When booted with ALT, i click on install (disc icon) , it eventually goes to a gray screen, telling me to shut down or restart in three/four diff languages.

It doesn't freeze, i can move mouse around and such/eject optical drive etc.

 

[macuser453787]

Okay so at the screen where you're able to select which drive to boot from, you click on the OS install DVD icon, and it goes to a gray screen. Do you at any point see an Apple logo on the gray screen? And can you hear any activity from the optical drive indicating that it's reading the DVD?

 

[iimran]

Okay so at the screen where you're able to select which drive to boot from, you click on the OS install DVD icon, and it goes to a gray screen. Do you at any point see an Apple logo on the gray screen? And can you hear any activity from the optical drive indicating that it's reading the DVD?

Yes and yes.... I hear the drive spin up and such. Then it goes to the shutdown/restart screen.

Not to worry, I ordered the tiger 10.4.7 disc off eBay, so if nothing else works, I can keep you updated if that worked or not.

Do you know if this iMac is capable of the internet recovery via firmware update? Or is that only supported on the aluminum models?

 

[macuser453787]

Yes and yes.... I hear the drive spin up and such. Then it goes to the shutdown/restart screen.

Not to worry, I ordered the tiger 10.4.7 disc off eBay, so if nothing else works, I can keep you updated if that worked or not.

Do you know if this iMac is capable of the internet recovery via firmware update? Or is that only supported on the aluminum models?

I don't know about the Internet Recovery option as I have not had experience with it yet.

As for the Tiger DVD purchase, I hope it works for you but it really shouldn't come to that. The Leopard DVD should work.

Please humor me and try this real quick: Making sure that the DVD is ejected, boot up and do a PRAM reset (press and hold command+option+P+R keys until you hear the startup chime 3 times (after the initial boot chime, so a total of 4 chimes). Then try booting again from the Leopard DVD.

 

[DeltaMac]

Your model iMac is not capable of internet recovery.
You cannot boot to any Tiger installer disk, other than the one that came with your iMac originally, or one identical to it (provided with the same model iMac that you have now)
Apple never provided a universal installer for Tiger (which would boot and install on either a PPC or an intel Mac). If you can't get the Tiger (10.4.7) to boot, then you will need to install Leopard, or Snow Leopard, and your 24-inch iMac WILL also install 10.7 Lion, if you should want to do that. That might limit you somewhat. Lion requires at least 2GB, and your white 24-inch is limited to use a maximum 3GB of RAM.

 

[macuser453787]

Your model iMac is not capable of internet recovery.
You cannot boot to any Tiger installer disk, other than the one that came with your iMac originally, or one identical to it (provided with the same model iMac that you have now)
Apple never provided a universal installer for Tiger (which would boot and install on either a PPC or an intel Mac). If you can't get the Tiger (10.4.7) to boot, then you will need to install Leopard, or Snow Leopard, and your 24-inch iMac WILL also install 10.7 Lion, if you should want to do that. That might limit you somewhat. Lion requires at least 2GB, and your white 24-inch is limited to use a maximum 3GB of RAM.

Good to know about Tiger. So then as suspected, the OP shouldn't be having an issue booting from the Leopard retail DVD (also IIRC Leopard was also universal for PPC or Intel).

iimran, based on DeltaMac's post you may want to reconsider that Tiger DVD purchase you just made...? There are other steps that can be taken that may work, such as the PRAM reset I suggested. Or if you have another Mac, you could try using the Leopard DVD to install onto a USB flash drive on that other Mac, then boot from that flash drive on your iMac, and then run the Leopard installer from DVD to your new hard drive.

 

[iimran]

Please humor me and try this real quick: Making sure that the DVD is ejected, boot up and do a PRAM reset (press and hold command+option+P+R keys until you hear the startup chime 3 times (after the initial boot chime, so a total of 4 chimes). Then try booting again from the Leopard DVD.

I did the PRAM reset, it did reset the computer (restart) but didn't hear any beeps.
Once the system came back on, I held down C, trying to boot off the Leopard dvd, but no luck.
I took a video of what it does just before it gets to the gray screen.

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Your model iMac is not capable of internet recovery.
You cannot boot to any Tiger installer disk, other than the one that came with your iMac originally, or one identical to it (provided with the same model iMac that you have now)
Apple never provided a universal installer for Tiger (which would boot and install on either a PPC or an intel Mac). If you can't get the Tiger (10.4.7) to boot, then you will need to install Leopard, or Snow Leopard, and your 24-inch iMac WILL also install 10.7 Lion, if you should want to do that. That might limit you somewhat. Lion requires at least 2GB, and your white 24-inch is limited to use a maximum 3GB of RAM.

Thanks for confirming it wont do the internet recovery.
I looked up on everymac.com what it originally came with, thats why I ordered the 10.4.7 tiger dvd to try to install that to see if it works.
I DO want to update it to the latest/highest version, which is 10.7 per everymac.com , apparently my iMac isn't 64bit capable because of the EFI ram is 32bit, so thats why even though I can hold 4GB ram, only 3GB shows (32bit, same as windows)....,
Anyhow, I tried to use my MacBook Pro to make a bootable USB with Tiger on it, but no go.
My MacBook Pro, I think has 64bit O/S on it, so it crashed both times I held OPTION, I selected the dvd to boot from, both times kernel crashed.

 

[iimran]

I tried again this morning, I took a pic and video this time to share;
Click here to see pic and video from this morning-- trying to boot tiger

 

[shoulin333]

What were the systems you had when you determined your hard drive had failed? It is a possibility that it was never a hard drive issue at all, maybe a logic board issue or something else.

Also possibility that something got damaged/not hooked back up correctly when you replaced the hard drive?

 

[iimran]

What were the systems you had when you determined your hard drive had failed? It is a possibility that it was never a hard drive issue at all, maybe a logic board issue or something else.

Also possibility that something got damaged/not hooked back up correctly when you replaced the hard drive?

Yes the hard-disk was bad. I did a test after it was replaced/confirmed bad disk.
Everything was put back together exactly as taken apart.

 

[shoulin333]

Have you tried using an external USB DVD drive?

 

[iimran]

Have you tried using an external USB DVD drive?

Yes I tried this as well with same results.

I think to what DeltaMac said, Apple didn't have a universal installer, so I am very limited. I think this is Leopard won't install.
I guess I could buy an older iMac off eBay, clone the disk to my iMac, then update it?
This is a last resort for me, but I am crossing my fingers the Tiger 10.4.7 I bought off eBay will work

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes I tried this as well with same results.

I think to what DeltaMac said, Apple didn't have a universal installer, so I am very limited. I think this is Leopard won't install.
I guess I could buy an older iMac off eBay, clone the disk to my iMac, then update it?
This is a last resort for me, but I am crossing my fingers the Tiger 10.4.7 I bought off eBay will work

The Leopard installer IS universal.
Apple provided 4 _different_ 10.4.7 installers, (Mac Pro, 2 iMac, and one for the mini from that time) so you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting the right one the first time. The wrong one won't install.
You should be able to tell if you have the correct one, as the 24-inch iMac had a unique Hardware Test version: AHT 3A113 - should show that on the label of the DVD. Any other AHT version, and it's the wrong DVD.

 

[iimran]

The Leopard installer IS universal.
Apple provided 4 _different_ 10.4.7 installers, (Mac Pro, 2 iMac, and one for the mini from that time) so you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting the right one the first time. The wrong one won't install.
You should be able to tell if you have the correct one, as the 24-inch iMac had a unique Hardware Test version: AHT 3A113 - should show that on the label of the DVD. Any other AHT version, and it's the wrong DVD.

So since the universal Leopard installer wont work for me, what would you suggest as a best option for me to do? I just need to get an O/S installed.
I'm lurking the hackintosh forums to see if they have any boot utilities that may help me get something on this iMac.

 

[DeltaMac]

The DVD installer disks are quite sensitive to damage, and sometimes only need the tiniest imperfection, or fault, to either stop the install with some kind of error, or not work at all, or sometimes the install may take considerably longer than what is usually necessary.
One suggestion that I have is to burn a full copy of the DVD. You will need a dual-layer DVD-R or DVD+R (one type may work better than the other)
You will need to burn that copy from a Mac.
The burned copy (assuming it is burned with a valid burning app, such as Toast, or Burn, etc, to assure that it will be bootable) will often work much better than an original DVD.
what _version_ of the Leopard installer do you have? If you are booted to OS X, then insert the DVD, open your System Preferences/Startup Disk pref pane. The DVD should appear in that pane, and will show you which version. The last version released for the commercial DVD is 10.5.6

 

[macuser453787]

While we're on the subject, have you tried turning the Leopard DVD over to inspect it for smudges, grease marks, dust, etc.? You could always try gently wiping it down with a lint-free wipe, microfiber cloth or even a tissue and then just blow on it to remove any remaining particles of debris.

 

[iimran]

While we're on the subject, have you tried turning the Leopard DVD over to inspect it for smudges, grease marks, dust, etc.? You could always try gently wiping it down with a lint-free wipe, microfiber cloth or even a tissue and then just blow on it to remove any remaining particles of debris.

I tried cleaning the disk with no luck.

The eBay disc came in with no luck. I will look for a the specific "AHT 3A113" disc somewhere.

If anyone has a copy, I'd pay to borrow it!!

 

[macuser453787]

I tried cleaning the disk with no luck.

The eBay disc came in with no luck. I will look for a the specific "AHT 3A113" disc somewhere.

If anyone has a copy, I'd pay to borrow it!!

So odd. The Leopard disc should work. Only other thing I can think of is to use another Mac to install Leopard onto the hard drive and then install the hard drive into the iMac (or you could go the USB flash drive route as previously suggested, but either way you'd need a 2nd Mac).

 

[Fishrrman]

Folks, this is yet another example as to why having a cloned copy of your internal drive can be a lifesaver, or at the very least an indispensible diagnostic tool.

If the OP had had a bootable external hard drive at his disposal, he could have hooked it up, and tried to reboot externally.

This would easily qualify/disqualify the problem as being "drive-related" -- that is to say, a hardware problem with the drive, a connection problem, an OS problem on the drive, etc.

If the OP had connected the external clone and STILL had received a kernel panic when booting, that would likely point to some kind of hardware failure or damage when re-assembling the computer.

Instead, the OP is stumbling around trying to find the "correct" DVD to boot the computer. And even then, if it won't boot, the results may seem inconclusive.

It's during times like this, that the bootable external clone is worth its weight in silver !

 

[macuser453787]

Folks, this is yet another example as to why having a cloned copy of your internal drive can be a lifesaver, or at the very least an indispensible diagnostic tool.

If the OP had had a bootable external hard drive at his disposal, he could have hooked it up, and tried to reboot externally.

This would easily qualify/disqualify the problem as being "drive-related" -- that is to say, a hardware problem with the drive, a connection problem, an OS problem on the drive, etc.

If the OP had connected the external clone and STILL had received a kernel panic when booting, that would likely point to some kind of hardware failure or damage when re-assembling the computer.

Instead, the OP is stumbling around trying to find the "correct" DVD to boot the computer. And even then, if it won't boot, the results may seem inconclusive.

It's during times like this, that the bootable external clone is worth its weight in silver !

Very true -- always a good idea to have a cloned backup boot drive or two.