Cant clean install Mac OSX 10.3 on Imac

M

Martin55

Registered
I have bought an Imac 4,1 at auction.

The hard drive has been nuked and their is nothing on it, no operating system or anything.

I have bought a set of install disks for Mac Panther 10.3, however the computer will not read them. I hold "C" down as I turn the computer on but I get nothing except a flashing box with a question mark in it.

I have tried using the disks for my MacBook Pro but it tells me they are the wrong disks, however they at least load up to that point.

Can you help me please ?


Martin
 
You made a classic mistake in buying OS X if the disk are Grey that means they have been coded for ONE machine ONLY they were made for. To install OS X (any version you have to buy) must be the RETAIL version. There is no way around that. Sorry you were suckered if you bought Grey OS X disks.
 
You'll need either the discs that came with that specific iMac model (not necessarily same exact Mac but same type, and within weeks of production date), or a retail disc set of Mac OS X that has a later build than what the Mac was originally shipped with and where the architecture has to match.

(So, if 10.4 you are out of luck with an Intel based iMac - no retail version of Mac OS X shipped for intels so you have to call AppleCare to get discs).

First you need to find out the exact model of iMac you are using - "iMac 4.1" isn't something I can figure out but if you gave me the first 5 and last 3 digits of the serial it would have been easier to find out.

Check in http://www.apple-history.com/ to locate the correct model, and see what is the OS range you can go with. Then after that if you can't find the CPU specific disc set, the retail discs are always black.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top