eMac Upgrade questions

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LeoTheLion89

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i just bought a eMac 1.0GHz ATI model and i am waiting for delivery. I was informed after i won the bid that this model only has a CD-ROM Drive installed i read ANY Drive will work in the system i have several IDE Drives on hand and i was wondering if i need a APPLE drive in order to boot from a Disc? i will use this eMac to install OS X on and restore my original iMac with a broken CD Drive however i DO NOT have any Mac OS CDs at all what is the best way to install mac on a external drive via USB that in return i can put in the iMac i know that i have to have it all on the 1st 8GB and i want to know the best way to do this task.
 
I have upgraded many eMacs, so your query is easy...
I have a generic DVD burner in my eMac, that I bought locally, and is very bootable.
I have also used a variety of non-Apple drives to upgrade eMacs (4 or 5 different brands, I think), and no problems with any.
The only thing you must know is that the eMac needs a drive with an ATA connection (not SATA)

There's 3 different eMac models with 1GHz processors, so hopefully you got the newest model, which gives you the possibility of upgrading to 2GB of RAM (very nice to have). All older models will only upgrade to 1GB maximum.

If you do have one of the older ones, then you also will have a USB 1.1 bus, so really slow to install a system.
MUCH faster to install that OS X system through Firewire. How much faster, you ask? Firewire=400 Mbits/sec, and USB 1 is 12 MBits/sec - so ~33 times faster to copy/install the same files. So, definitely worth your time to acquire a Firewire external case.
I see that you noted the need to have the 8GB partition for the OS X install, so that's great...
What OS X version will you install? An original iMac CAN go up to OS X 10.4.11, especially with the method that you want to use to install. It's hard to install Tiger, as the installer usually is on a DVD, so your external method is also one that I have used. You would also want to have maximum RAM memory for that, if you go to Tiger for the old iMac. A bondi-blue model can upgrade to 384 GB, most can go to 512MB
Just thought I'd throw that in, I don't know what OS X version that you are wanting to install on the old iMac.
 
DeltaMac said:
I have upgraded many eMacs, so your query is easy...
I have a generic DVD burner in my eMac, that I bought locally, and is very bootable.
I have also used a variety of non-Apple drives to upgrade eMacs (4 or 5 different brands, I think), and no problems with any.
The only thing you must know is that the eMac needs a drive with an ATA connection (not SATA)

There's 3 different eMac models with 1GHz processors, so hopefully you got the newest model, which gives you the possibility of upgrading to 2GB of RAM (very nice to have). All older models will only upgrade to 1GB maximum.

If you do have one of the older ones, then you also will have a USB 1.1 bus, so really slow to install a system.
MUCH faster to install that OS X system through Firewire. How much faster, you ask? Firewire=400 Mbits/sec, and USB 1 is 12 MBits/sec - so ~33 times faster to copy/install the same files. So, definitely worth your time to acquire a Firewire external case.
I see that you noted the need to have the 8GB partition for the OS X install, so that's great...
What OS X version will you install? An original iMac CAN go up to OS X 10.4.11, especially with the method that you want to use to install. It's hard to install Tiger, as the installer usually is on a DVD, so your external method is also one that I have used. You would also want to have maximum RAM memory for that, if you go to Tiger for the old iMac. A bondi-blue model can upgrade to 384 GB, most can go to 512MB
Just thought I'd throw that in, I don't know what OS X version that you are wanting to install on the old iMac.
Click to expand...

i Have a iMac Tray load so i can only install up to 10.3.9 i have 256MB PC100 SDRAM in it and i will be installing the system on a 20GB IDE Drive however i do not have OS X 10.3 CD only dmg so i will 1st install OS 9.2.2 to have the Classic feature in OS X then i will install 10.2 and then upgrade to 10.3 inside of 10.2 i learned all my Mac skill on Panther and i dont have much experience with anything newer
 
based on Wikipedia Specs i think its the Latest (2005) edition eMac as the seller told me it does have bluetooth and the only model with optional bluetooth AND a CD-ROM Drive is the 2005 eMac
 
i Will be installing in this order on my iMac: OS 9.2.2, OS X 10.2, OS X 10.3 i have the Tray Load Rev D 333 so 10.3.9 is the higest i can use i learned how to use Mac OS X on 1.3.9 so i dont know much about anything newer
 
Your impression about that eMac information is not accurate.
All models have had CD-ROMs as options (although that's generally for the education market, where I have the most experience with eMacs) and most have been available without a CD drive installed. If the CD drive was installed, or replaced at some point, then you could have anything.
Anyway, fairly easy to replace that CD drive, if you have the right tools to get inside.
I would suggest, that for less than $30, you can get a brand-new dual layer DVD burner - rather than put a used one in your eMac.
And - you should be getting a nice one, as bluetooth also means USB 2.0 (much faster USB)
The model previous to the 2005 eMac (the one called "USB 2.0") also has optional bluetooth.

On to the iMac:
There's no reason to install 10.2, if you are then installing 10.3
Unless you want to have 2 independent OS X partitions?
If not, just install 10.3
 
No, you can't boot from USB with any PowerPC Mac. You'll need an external Firewire drive for that.
If, in fact, you have a 2005 eMac, you won't be able to install 10.2, because that model is too new to boot from 10.2
Even 10.3 will be too old for that one, it came originally with 10.4

This is when you will run into difficulty with your plan for the old iMac. You won't be able to install 10.2 on the hard drive for the old iMac, because the eMac can't boot to 10.2 to do that install.
Only the oldest eMacs (700 or 800 Mhz) will boot to an old enough system to install 10.2
 
i will buy a USB to FireWire 400 adaptor as its cheaper than putting more money into FireWire enclosures. This will work right? also about the iMac Tray Load i have a Laptop DVD Drive that is IDE and fits the adaptor board in the iMac can i use this drive to boot and install OS X directly on the system?
 
Then, it's not a 2005 model...
You said it's a 1GHz, which also means it's not a 2005. So (with bluetooth), it has to be a "USB 2.0" eMac, which is OK.
10.3.9 will limit you to older versions of browsers, and other software as well.
You CAN upgrade to 10.5.8, if you would want to do that. That's something that I would recommend, as 10.5 will give you lots of other options.... But, that would also mean that you would have to find the 10.5 installer somewhere - not cheap...
 
i already downloaded a Leopard Upgrade DMG can i upgrade to Leopard from Panther or do i need to first upgrade to Tiger? i have experience with Leopard via the OSx86 project its a nice system however there is two reasons i dont get a intel Mac 1 they are TOO expecive on eBay and 2 i HATE Snow Leopard the interface of Snow Leopard is beyond my preferences or know how. Leopard is pretty much like Panther except for a "Windows Vista" style interface. so i can use Leopard just fine.
 
LeoTheLion89 said:
you happen the know how well if at all Ubuntu 10.04 PPC wil run on a eMac and use the AirPort AND bluetooth?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have an eMac here that I have Ubuntu installed, in addition to OS X 10.5.8
I have Ubuntu 11.04, which works fine. There is then an upgrade to 11.10, or even to the next 12.04 Unbuntu. I cannot get either to boot on the eMac.
I think that the best Ubuntu for your eMac is version 10.10
There are extra drivers for the Airport card, which works fine in Ubuntu.
Ubuntu installs bluetooth drivers, but I don't have bluetooth devices, and don't know if bluetooth works in Ubuntu.

Yes, you can upgrade directly from 10.3 to 10.5
You absolutely should NOT use the default Upgrade option from the 10.5 installer. You must choose the option to Archive & Install OS X. You'll see that simply by clicking on the Options button.
How much RAM memory in your eMac? 10.5 needs at least 512MB, and 1GB is better. 2GB is best, if you have an eMac that uses PC2700 RAM.

I think we can choose to disagree on Snow Leopard. I don't see much difference between Leopard, and Snow Leopard - except for much better performance. All it needs is lots of RAM.
It's not possible to use Snow Leopard on your eMac, so that's a moot point...
If you mean the current Lion (10.7), then I can definitely see your point of view. Lion is substantially different, and many Mac users find it difficult to get used to, for a variety of reasons. (but, using it for a while - I really like it a lot! I could go into the reasons, if you have any interest)

And, the 10.5 installer will install on either your PowerPC eMac, or any intel Mac that's more than 2 years old. The core2duo processors are so much faster than the G4 or G5, there's no contest. SO - you can have a much faster Mac, and still stay with 10.5 if you want to do that.
 
Intel Macs cost too much even on eBay id rather make a Hackintosh its easier and upon testing on my computers free as they all work flawlessy (except with monitors higher than 1024x768 resolution) my eMac takes DDR RAM it will come with 512MB RAM which ill upgrade to 2GB at a later date as DDR RAM is REALLY expencive compared to DDR2 and PC100 RAM also has a 40GB HDD which ill upgrade later using my 500GB SATA HDD with a SATA to IDE converter board and also my SATA DVD Burner also using a SATA to IDE converter board
 
It's Leopard.
A simple upgrade with Leopard may change your admin user (even if it's the only user account) to a standard user - which means that you have no permission to install new software, or do anything else that requires admin access - because there is no admin.
It's just a slight glitch - that can create a lot of problems. You will NOT have this problem if you simply choose the option of Archive and Install.
The bottom line is: an Archive and Install assures that the install will have a good result, with very little change, other than your OS X version is now 10.5.something.
The Archive & Install is a very safe one, and won't discard YOUR files and apps.
You will be left with a (very large) folder (Previous System) on your hard drive, which you can trash after your Mac boots successfully. There will be 60 thousand files, or more in that folder (all the old stuff that was replaced during the install), which you can safely trash - be sure to EMPTY the trash, otherwise it still takes up several GB on your hard drive until you do empty the trash. It will take a 10 minutes or more to empty, so don't be too concerned about that....
 
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