Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

[ratdude747]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

^You'll have to torrent it. It used to be $30 or so back in the day but isn't buyable now. If you were local I'd burn you a dual-layer DVD of it (yes, it requires dual layer DVDs to burn w/o stripping it down).

2GB RAM at a minimum (and maximum). Honestly I have found G5's to not be worth the trouble just due to architectural incompatibilities with the rest of the world. Intel ones cost more, yes, but IMHO it's money well spend if you want to go Mac. Just my thought.

[hasefroch]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

IIRC, the restore via Command + R is valid only for Intel macs running 10.7 or later. Anything before that requires physical media to install.
To know the amout and type of ram to max out, check here:
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/
and input the serial number of the G5; it will show you the exact model and you can see the max RAM amount that can run in it (Here, they list the Apple official and real life tests maxout: some models support more RAM that declared for Apple.
The only restriction of the install media is in the hardware: it will only install in a real mac oficially supported. I think only the server versions require serial numbers to install.
The only exception to this are the original install discs that come with each mac of that era (the grey discs): these will only install on the same model of the mac that shipped with (i.e.: the install disc for a iMac will not run in a Powermac)
Personally, I would max out the RAM first and then see if I reinstall from scratch. 512Mb is the minimal requirement to run 10.5
If you download the iso, make sure to burn it at the lowest speed possible. The installer is very prone to generate errors from high speed burned dvd. Double check that the internal DVD is in good working order, these G5 will only boot from a external DVD or HDD connected via Firewire.

I think I still have a dmg with the 10.5 installer. If you cannot locate it anywhere, message me.
Once you install 10.5, via software update you can go all the way to 10.5.8 at no extra cost from within OS X.

BTW, whoever did the 10.5 install should have provided the physical media; these were only free if your mac shipped with that version. The price at launch was $129! http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007...ctober-26.html

[keeney123]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Spork have you to this site and put in the operating system you need?

https://support.apple.com/en_US/down...0os%252010.5.8

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Even on the Apple Store, if 10.5 was there, and I redid the PC using the Apple-R key and it installed 10.4, I'd be able to upgrade to 10.5 for free? If 10.5 was still on the Apple Store, that is?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

IIRC, the restore via Command + R is valid only for Intel macs running 10.7 or later. Anything before that requires physical media to install.
To know the amout and type of ram to max out, check here:
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/
and input the serial number of the G5; it will show you the exact model and you can see the max RAM amount that can run in it (Here, they list the Apple official and real life tests maxout: some models support more RAM that declared for Apple.
The only restriction of the install media is in the hardware: it will only install in a real mac oficially supported. I think only the server versions require serial numbers to install.
The only exception to this are the original install discs that come with each mac of that era (the grey discs): these will only install on the same model of the mac that shipped with (i.e.: the install disc for a iMac will not run in a Powermac)
Personally, I would max out the RAM first and then see if I reinstall from scratch. 512Mb is the minimal requirement to run 10.5
If you download the iso, make sure to burn it at the lowest speed possible. The installer is very prone to generate errors from high speed burned dvd. Double check that the internal DVD is in good working order, these G5 will only boot from a external DVD or HDD connected via Firewire.

I think I still have a dmg with the 10.5 installer. If you cannot locate it anywhere, message me.
Once you install 10.5, via software update you can go all the way to 10.5.8 at no extra cost from within OS X.

BTW, whoever did the 10.5 install should have provided the physical media; these were only free if your mac shipped with that version. The price at launch was $129! http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007...ctober-26.html

Thank you. When you say these G5's will only boot from a external DVD or HDD connected via Firewire, are you saying that the 10.5 installation DVD I downloaded, if I burned that to a dual layer and popped it in the internal DVD drive, it just won't boot? That was my plans....I have an external USB DVD writer though. I could boot off of that, worst case.

Is there a chance someone put something malicious on this ISO? It's not a DMG, so we know they modified it somewhat (converted it from DMG to ISO). Checking the SHA-1 sum probably wouldn't work, because I don't think Apple ever provided an ISO version, just the DMG version. The SHA sums will probably be for the DMGs.

Thanks.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Spork have you to this site and put in the operating system you need?

https://support.apple.com/en_US/down...0os%252010.5.8

No, I didn't find that before. I see there's a 10.5.8 update. I don't see any 10.5 updates though. If her iMac came with 10.4 and I can restore to 10.4, I wouldn't be able to go up to 10.5 with any of those downloads, right? I click the 10.5.8 update and it says it's for Mac's running 10.5.7. So going from 10.4.x to 10.5.8 wouldn't work with that download.

[hasefroch]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Thank you. When you say these G5's will only boot from a external DVD or HDD connected via Firewire, are you saying that the 10.5 installation DVD I downloaded, if I burned that to a dual layer and popped it in the internal DVD drive, it just won't boot? That was my plans....I have an external USB DVD writer though. I could boot off of that, worst case.

Is there a chance someone put something malicious on this ISO? It's not a DMG, so we know they modified it somewhat (converted it from DMG to ISO). Checking the SHA-1 sum probably wouldn't work, because I don't think Apple ever provided an ISO version, just the DMG version. The SHA sums will probably be for the DMGs.

Thanks.

Oops... I meant that, if the internal DVD is busted, these macs doesn't boot from a external connected via USB; booting from a external USB is supported only on Intel macs. While there are reports of users that got some (few) models to boot from USB changing parameters in the firmware, I never got results with that.

About the ISO, probably was converted by someone who did not have a mac to burn the disc and converted it to ISO to being able to burn it without a mac. I am not aware of any ISO or DMG "downloadable" shipped with malware, but there is a possibility that the ISO was built to install a hackintosh.

About the last link posted by keeney123, these are the direct downloads for the updates within the same point release (in this case) 10.5. Can be compared to a direct download for a service pack in windows.

If you have a spare HDD, I suggest to do the new install to it to be covered if the event that the DVD throws a error mid-install. Then, if everything goes well, the Disk Utility included in the install disc will let you clone the install to the original HDD. As an alternative you can use Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.7 to clone the install from within a running system

[keeney123]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

No, I didn't find that before. I see there's a 10.5.8 update. I don't see any 10.5 updates though. If her iMac came with 10.4 and I can restore to 10.4, I wouldn't be able to go up to 10.5 with any of those downloads, right? I click the 10.5.8 update and it says it's for Mac's running 10.5.7. So going from 10.4.x to 10.5.8 wouldn't work with that download.

I can research this, but here again you had Topcat willing to help you if you supplied the board number. Being that he does Mortherboard repair he would know all these things. Here is some more info. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202161

[keeney123]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Spork so this is my understanding of the Apple OS that I learned from a user of a 2009 MacBook Pro. Once you buy your machine with the OS on it then when they UpGrade the OS many times that was free and at most would cost $15. This was two years ago. It was very easy to find these on the Apple web site and associated to the OS was either the price or free. That was the OS was an Upgrade from the previous OS. This now I find that things have change some. The site does not have a simple format of what one is getting and what is required. The program I was thinking of before was the Apple ID. The Apple ID tells the store all information bought from them which is reloadable with the ID. The I D was also Use for Upgrades to the Operation system for free or as I said $15. As I said this was two years ago. To find out if this is still the case I would contact Apple and ask them. Hasefrosh thinks you need to buy each new OS that comes out. That is not consistent with the people I know who have Apple Products. Of Course with-in the last 2 years this could of change. The back up of the drive is a good idea. I found the carbon copy clone not as good a Acronis for Apple. This may of been because the MacPro I worked on was a Intel Processor. Many time with Apple one could not just upgrade and skip an upgrade of the OS. Perhaps that is the difference of out right buying the OS and Upgrading the OS.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Oops... I meant that, if the internal DVD is busted, these macs doesn't boot from a external connected via USB; booting from a external USB is supported only on Intel macs. While there are reports of users that got some (few) models to boot from USB changing parameters in the firmware, I never got results with that.

About the ISO, probably was converted by someone who did not have a mac to burn the disc and converted it to ISO to being able to burn it without a mac. I am not aware of any ISO or DMG "downloadable" shipped with malware, but there is a possibility that the ISO was built to install a hackintosh.

About the last link posted by keeney123, these are the direct downloads for the updates within the same point release (in this case) 10.5. Can be compared to a direct download for a service pack in windows.

If you have a spare HDD, I suggest to do the new install to it to be covered if the event that the DVD throws a error mid-install. Then, if everything goes well, the Disk Utility included in the install disc will let you clone the install to the original HDD. As an alternative you can use Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.7 to clone the install from within a running system

Thank you. For that last part there, my plan was to pull the hard drive and then clone an image on my Linux box using dd. I just have to make sure the Macintosh file system is compiled into the kernel or compiled as a module. This was my plan. If anyone knows that it won't work, please let me know before I go through the trouble.

Also, our baby is sick, we had to take her to the docs today. She has a nasty little virus and is requiring a lot of maintenance right now, so this Mac thing isn't on the top plate right now. The customer hasn't used this one in a long time and said no rush, take my time, they have a newer one they use. They're just mainly interested in the pics, but if I could get it working, that'd be wonderful. So unlike a normal customer's computer, I'm not trying really hard to get this one done, you know? Doing it more as a favour than anything else.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

I can research this, but here again you had Topcat willing to help you if you supplied the board number. Being that he does Mortherboard repair he would know all these things. Here is some more info. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202161

I'm sorry Keeney. I'm not trying to be lazy here. It's like 5 minutes on the PC and the baby starts crying. My wife still got some of that postpartum stuff going on, so everytime the baby cries, I gotta go check out what's going on.

[keeney123]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

I'm sorry Keeney. I'm not trying to be lazy here. It's like 5 minutes on the PC and the baby starts crying. My wife still got some of that postpartum stuff going on, so everytime the baby cries, I gotta go check out what's going on.

It is OK no troubles. I just was suggesting it might of be easier on you if you had worked with Topcat. You do what you have to do. Just realize that everyone has limits and make sure no one pushes you over yours.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Okay, so I was cloning the drive and I see this:

dd if=/dev/sdd of=./Sandy.sdd.img
:-pdd: error reading '/dev/sdd': Input/output error
226796416+0 records in
226796416+0 records out
116119764992 bytes (116 GB, 108 GiB) copied, 2152.41 s, 53.9 MB/s

It's a 250GB Maxtor. I guess dd could have hit some partition it didn't understand the filesystem for, but I'm guessing, just like with a PC, this means a bad hard drive, right? I've never met a great Maxtor.

I took a bunch of pictures of the motherboard:

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

It is OK no troubles. I just was suggesting it might of be easier on you if you had worked with Topcat. You do what you have to do. Just realize that everyone has limits and make sure no one pushes you over yours.

Yeah, that's good advice. I wish I could figure out how my wife, the baby and me could all sleep at the same time. I am soooooo tired. I'm letting her sleep while I take care of the little one, but man, I haven't been this tired since I was in the Corps!

[stj]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Okay, so I was cloning the drive and I see this:

dd if=/dev/sdd of=./Sandy.sdd.img

so your cloning the drive "d" (4th drive??) to the directory behind the one your working in???

that looks a bit wrong.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

From the directory I'm working in.

dd (the dd program)
if is in file, in this case, infile = /dev/sdd (the 4th drive, which, on my system, is her 250GB Maxtor).
of is the outfile, in this case, ./ represents the current working directory. The file name I chose is Sandy.sdd.img

I chose sdd because if I need to restore something tomorrow, I'll remember it was drive /dev/sdd.

The command is definitely accessing the Maxtor. It errored out at around 116GB. However, ddrescue has recovered 99.66% with 0 errors, no retries, just direct disc access.

It just finished and it does look like it's a failing drive. 1 error, that's it.

ddrescue -d /dev/sdd Sandy.sdd.img Sandy.logfile
GNU ddrescue 1.21
Press Ctrl-C to interrupt
   ipos: 116119 MB, non-trimmed:    0 B, current rate:  3072 B/s
   opos: 116119 MB, non-scraped:    0 B, average rate: 43568 kB/s
non-tried:    0 B,   errsize:   512 B,   run time: 1h 36m 1s
 rescued: 251000 MB,   errors:    1, remaining time:     n/a
percent rescued: 99.99%   time since last successful read:     0s
Finished

I guess I caught it just in time, what do you think?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Any ddrescue options you guys can think of to try and recover that last 512 bytes? I've ran six passes over it and still can't get it. Is there a chance it's some sort of anti-piracy technique that Mac might use to prevent people from trying to clone their drives? I highly doubt they'd be able to do something with software that would make it read like this in Linux.

[stj]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

unlikely that apple would write an invalid block, it wouldnt surprise me if some commercial game did though - they did in the dos days on the pc.

[keeney123]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

So You might want to try on of these to see if they work.
http://lowendmac.com/2008/how-to-clo...ew-hard-drive/

[Topcat]

Re: Reinstalling an upgraded iMac

Yup, definitely a PPC G5. 2gb max. Let me know if you're still having trouble getting the media, I have 10.5 I could send snail mail....with my slow DSL, i'm not even about to try uploading it to the BCN server.