Restore CDs on any Mac?

[NickMiller]

Hey guys! I have restore CDs for an iMac (9.2.2 & 10.1.3) & eMac (10.4) and I wanted to know if these could be used on another Mac such as a PowerMac G3 or G4 or something like that... Thanks in Advance, Nick

[oldtopman]

Short Answer: No

Long Answer: If you put the computer you're installing to in target disk mode (hold "T" at bootup) and connect it to the Emac/iMac via Firewire, when you go to install OSX from the Emac/iMac, the other mac will appear as an install destination.

[NickMiller]

Short Answer: No

Long Answer: If you put the computer you're installing to in target disk mode (hold "T" at bootup) and connect it to the Emac/iMac via Firewire, when you go to install OSX from the Emac/iMac, the other mac will appear as an install destination.

Thanks! Could I install OSX to a usb drive and use disk utility to copy the install to another HDD?? Also, do these install CDs work for any iMac G3 or eMac G4?? I have the install CDs, but I am planning to buy a lot of 4 iMac G3s and I would like to know if I could use them on there also Thanks in Advance, Nick

[AnonMac]

Hey guys! I have restore CDs for an iMac (9.2.2 & 10.1.3) & eMac (10.4) and I wanted to know if these could be used on another Mac such as a PowerMac G3 or G4 or something like that... Thanks in Advance, Nick

With a bit of modification, and depending on your Mac, you might be able to. For example, if you can give me the Model numbers and model identifiers of the iMac and eMac you have, and the Power Mac G3 or G4, I might be able to tell you what would work on what.

[PookyMacMan]

Actually, I know how to modify any OS X disc for use with any Mac. I don't know if NickMiller still needs this, but I wanted to tell other people.

 

In short, there are basically three methods: one for 10.3 and earlier, one for 10.4, and one for 10.5 and 10.6. For 10.5 and 10.6, you need the Developer Tools (which are on the disc and are not machine specific.)

 

For all three, you first need to make a read/write image of your disc. If you have 10.5 or 10.6, you also will need something to show hidden files, such as TinkerTool, to locate the System folder.

 

Next, go in the the Installation folder inside the System folder on the image. Locate OSInstall.mpkg.

 

Now, for 10.3 and earlier, right-click OSInstall.mpkg and choose Show Package Contents. Open Info.plist with TextEdit or a .plist editor. Near the bottom, there will be something like OSModelCheck that will have a model underneath it (in TextEdit) or beside it (in most other .plist tools), such as PowerMac3,1. Delete the whole thing (the key and the model), save the .plist file, and you're good to go. You may, though, want to check the Info.plist files of some bundled software such as AppleWorks to make sure that others don't have the model check, as some packages on my 10.3 disc did.

 

For 10.4, right-click OSInstall.mpkg and choose Show Package Contents. Now, right click OSInstall.dist, choose Open With -> Other..., and choose TextEdit. Basically the .dist is a Javascript file, so you will have to cipher through a junkload of code until you come to a model like PowerMac6,1. Above it, you will see the following code:

 

try {
	var modelProp = system.sysctl('hw.model');
}
catch(e) {
	system.log('hwbeInstallCheck threw exception ' + e);
}
var machineCount = hwbeSupportedMachines.length;
for ( var i = 0; i < machineCount; i++ ) {
	if ( modelProp == hwbeSupportedMachines[i] ) {
		return true;
	}
}

return false;
}
function hwbeInstallCheck() {
if ( !hwbeModelCheck() ) {
	my.result.message = system.localizedStringWithFormat('hwbe_machine_message');
	my.result.type = 'Fatal';
	return false;
}
return installCheckScript();
}
</script><script>
var hwbeSupportedMachines = ['PowerMac4,4','PowerMac6,4'];

 

change it to:

 

try {
	var modelProp = system.sysctl('hw.model');
}
catch(e) {
	system.log('hwbeInstallCheck threw exception ' + e);
}
var machineCount = hwbeSupportedMachines.length;
for ( var i = 0; i < machineCount; i++ ) {
	if ( modelProp == hwbeSupportedMachines[i] ) {
		return true;
	}
}

return true;
}
function hwbeInstallCheck() {
if ( !hwbeModelCheck() ) {
	my.result.message = system.localizedStringWithFormat('hwbe_machine_message');
	my.result.type = 'Fatal';
	return true;
}
return installCheckScript();
}
</script><script>
var hwbeSupportedMachines = ['PowerMac4,4','PowerMac6,4'];

 

Another option is to change the hwbeSupportedMachines to your model, such as PowerMac2,2 instead of PowerMac4,4 and PowerMac6,4 in this example. However, I prefer the other method.

 

For 10.5 and 10.6, the editing process is the same as for Tiger, but in a different way: you need to open OSInstall.mpkg with PackageMaker, which is why you need the Developer Tools. When you open it, hit the tab called Requirements and double-click the top Javascript. Edit it the same way as described with Tiger and hit OK (or Save or whatever). If you are concerned about cosmetics, change the name from MacOSX_Title to Mac OS X; otherwise it will say "Select which disk to install MacOSX_Title on". Build the package (don't worry about all the other packages) and rename it to OSInstall.mpkg. Drag it to the Packages folder on the image, choose Replace, and you're done.