Installing Leopard from a PowerPC mac to an Intel mac via Target Disk mode

I've just purchased Leopard, but thanks to the common and very annoying faulty MacBook Pro disk drive, I cannot even read the DVD, much less install from it. Before, the disk drive error never affected purchased DVDs, only the ability to read and burn to empty DVDs, but now, apparently, I can't even read Apples own disks.
As the new system disk is Universal, would it be possible to start the installer form the cd on my sister's PowerPC mac (12' Powerbook), and install the system on my MacBook Pro's harddrive, mounted as a firewire drive, or would the installer automatically choose the PowerPC version, since it is launched on a PowerPC computer?
And, if so, is there any way to tell the installer to install the Intel version of Leopard if I run it on a PowerPC computer?

well, looks like I'll have to install Leopard through the Firewire Target Disk mode as my MacBook can't read the DVD. I would appreciate if someone could review the steps below to let me know if I am on the right track. The MacBook is the computer on which I want to load 10.5 and the iMac G5 (PowerPC chip) is the computer on which I will insert the DVD.
- First question: Am I correct (see above) in saying that the MacBook is the Target computer?
- Insert DVD in Host computer
- Connect Target to Host using FW cable
- Turn on Target computer press and hold T to launch in target mode
- select DVD drive from disk options
- this is where I get fuzzy, would I simply click the Install icon? And then what? Will the MacBook know to reboot in Target Mode or do I have to hold down T again?
- anything else I am missing?
Thanks.

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Need Help Installing Snow Leopard onto a blank HD via Target Disk Mode

Hey everyone.
Recently I had the HD on my Black Macbook crash due to a mechanical failure. I have just purchased a new Hard Drive for my Macbook. It is completely blank other than the fact that I connected it to my girlfriend's White Macbook earlier today to create 2 partitions. I have a new copy of Snow Leopard that I want to install on it and was hoping someone could guide me through the process.
What I have with me as of now is:
One Black Macbook (UK bought) w/ Partitioned Blank HD and a non-functional Superdrive
One White Macbook (US bought) running Tiger w/ working Superdrive that mounts the SL DVD
FireWire Cable
New Snow Leopard DVD
My first attempt at this failed. I connected the two Macs with the FW cable and started up the Black Macbook in Target Disk mode. Both my HD partitions showed up on the White Macbook. I inserted the SL DVD into the White Macbook and when it mounted I clicked on install. Of course, now it thinks that I want to install SL on the White Macbook whereas I want to install it on the Black Macbook.
I'm a college student without a working computer and with my finals coming up, I'm in deep trouble. I want to mention that my Black Macbook's Superdrive spits out _everything except for Movie DVDs and My Leopard Startup Disk._ It spins the SL DVD for a few seconds and spits it out as well. I'm wondering whether this might be an issue with the DVD region code on the SL DVD though I don't think that's it. My region code is currently set to Region 1 (US) where I purchased the Snow Leopard DVD off Amazon. I initially thought there was a problem with the DVD and CD lens in the drive and I bought a DVD/CD Lens Cleaner CD but I can't run it because the Superdrive spits that out too. I'm out of warranty on the Black Macbook so fixing the Superdrive is pretty much out of the question. I was under the impression that I would be able to install SL via Target Disk Mode without any hassles but boy was I ever so wrong.
Is there any way that I can do this? I'm hoping someone here can help me out. Please do if you find the time to.

By other computer, do you mean the White Macbook? So I should basically put the SL DVD in the White Macbook, restart with the C key held down? Is that right?
Please pardon me if I'm being stupid.

Is it possible to install OSX on another computer via Target disk mode?

Hey there...
a friend of mine has an older iBook. the drive on this iBook is broken (snapped off) so there's no way of using it.
is it possible to install OS Panther from another computer (use OS X panther install running on a MacBook, or G4) targeting the iBook via Target Disk mode?
thanks!
-

Hello Again SCHPiLKAS!
As roam posted, you cannot use the Intel MacBook install discs, on the PPC iBook.
Additional info in these links.
Using OS X Install CDs/DVDs On Multiple Macs
What's A Computer Specific Mac OS X Release
Software Update, Upgrade: What's The Difference?
If the iBook meets the Panther System Requirements, and the Additional Panther System Requirements, and you have a Full Retail Version, of the Panther Install CDs, you can use Firewire Target Disk Mode, to install the system.
The Panther discs should look, exactly like the images in the above links, and not say Upgrade, CPU Drop-in DVD, or "This software is part of a hardware bundle purchase - not to be sold seperately." on them.
ali b

Installing OS X on older laptop via Target Disk Mode.

I've got a PowerBook G4 15" with a broken optical drive. It only has OS X 10.2 and OS 9, so we wish it could have tiger. I was wondering if I could use my macbook and a firewire cable with the powerbook to install from target disk mode.

Ah, so you mean use the MacBook as, essentially, an external DVD drive? Good idea; I was getting dismayed as the only PPC macs I have around are
-an iBook G3 with the entire top half ripped off (works though, great media center through VNC)
-the aforementioned Titatium powerbook 15"
-a smaller Aluminum powerbook 12" with a working DVD drive, but there's a DVD that refuses to eject inside it. It reads fine, but the case survived a mighty fall (before it was ours) so it can't eject.

Mac Mini won't Boot after Target Disk Mode

We just bought a new iMac and used target disk mode via firewire from our older Mac Mini running OSX 10.4 to transfer data. Now when we go to restart the mini, the grey screen appears with apple logo and it seems to try to boot up but after a long time alway just ends up with a blue screen. I don't think I "ejected" the mini properly from the imac after the target disk mode transfer. Could the mini be stuck in target disk mode? I've tried to restart in different modes eg. safe mode, pram by holding down keys on start up but doesnt make a difference at all almost as if the keyboard isn't registering (and its a wired keyboard). Any ideas???
Thanks

Try starting up from the Recovery Partition holding the Option (Alt) key and see if you can Repair your Macintosh HD, as per > OS X: About OS X Recovery

Mac mini won't boot into target disk mode

Hi
I just bought a Mac mini on eBay. I'm not sure of the spec but I think its a G4.
When it arrived I plugged it in and switched on to find the question mark folder appear.
I put in a 10.5 disk but it would not boot from it. [this was a disk I got with another s/h machine though so may not be bootable]
As I could not install from the disk I figured my best bet would be to target disk in and install osx from a powerbook I have here.
However I can't get target disk to work.
The keyboard is definitely working as it allows me to boot into OF and zap the PRAM
I've also tried pressing what I believe to be the SMU button just behind the connector board to the HD and DVD drive but no luck.
Anybody got any ideas as to whats going on?
Cheers

Ok, I can probably get a copy of OSX
The problem is I think the DVD drive is faulty as it wouldn't give me my disk back I tried "eject cd" in OF but it didn't work and I had to open it up with a screw driver and take it out.
If the disk is corrupted is there a way to erase it without putting it in another machine. ie can it be done from OF?
Thanks for your help btw

Install Leopard from a .DMG on an external drive?

Hey guys, last night I got my copy of Leopard, and then the SuperDrive on my 17" 1.33 GHz PowerBook decided to take a dump. It doesn't read anything anymore - not a brand new Leopard disc, a Tiger disc, the System Restore discs, or the Transformers DVD. I used it about two weeks ago to run the Apple Hardware Test from the System Restore discs and it hasn't moved off my desk since, so I have no idea how it died (unless it simply died).
My brother has a MacBook and I'm planning on getting a triple-interface 1TB drive from LaCie. My question is: can I create a .DMG of the Leopard install disc with my bro's MacBook, move it on to that external drive and install it on my PowerBook from there?

The guys at MacFixIt have a guide for doing this. It looks like the biggest things are (a) making sure you pick the right partition map for the external (Apple Partition Map for PowerPC, GUID for Intel) to start up from, and making a "CD/DVD Master" image.
Obviously, installing Leopard isn't going to fix my SuperDrive, but at the moment I only need my SuperDrive to install Leopard (the last time I used it was about two weeks ago to run the Apple Hardware Test and everything checked out, before that I can't remember). I was going to purchase the LaCie Big Disk anyway for Time Machine and storage and to have a bootable Tiger install, so if I can use that to install I can hold off on replacing my SuperDrive. If I can't install it from the external, I can throw my PowerBook into Target Disk Mode and install from my brother's MacBook.

Unable to Install via Firewire Target Disk Mode

I'm having problems with installing Leopard 10.5 via Target Disk Mode. The 2 Macs I am using are a eMac 1.0GHz with 1GB RAM Running OS X 10.4.11 and a PowerMac QuickSilver 933MHz 896MB RAM Running OS X Server 10.4.11.
The eMac's Combo Drive has gone south and won't read DVDs so I am putting the install DVD into the QuickSilver. If I start the QuickSilver in Target Mode I only see the QuickSilver's harddrive on the eMac and can't access the install DVD. If I put the eMac in Target Mode and boot up the QuickSilver using the Install DVD after I get through the language selection it says the QuickSilver isn't capable of installing it.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks

Then, you're out of luck if the QS can't run Leopard. My G4 does. You might look at
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071214143723301
http://www.tidbits.com/webx?14@@.3cb6ddd5/5 and
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=371302
to see how you can work around it. Alternatively, use another machine or ext burner to boot the eMac with the DVD. With the QS in TDM, only the master disk is available.

Installing in Firewire Target Disk mode

I know this is a kind of silly question, but is it advisable to install OS X on my iMac when it's booted into Firewire Target disk mode? I mean, would it get funky stuff in there that the iMac doesn't need if i install from, say, my PowerMac? I know it's quite possible to do this, as I used to do it when I had two identical iMacs. But those were, of course, identical, so the target machine had the same specs as the one that was installing.
Any thoughts?
Oh, and let me say a quick "hi" to all the regulars. I haven't really been on this baord too much the past year or so. Who's still around?

Hi, Trey.
I installed Tiger via Target Disk Mode, but my G3 has been having kernel panics in the couple weeks since the upgrade. On another post someone said that they'd heard that the Target Disc Mode can be a problem. So I'm checking the posts to find out more.
My G3 has a CD-R/W drive, so I didn't have an alternative, other than to buy an external drive, or to send Apple my commercial Tiger DVDs and pay them MORE to convert it to CDs. I just paid big bucks for the G5 a month before they came out with a cheaper upgraded version, which I am unhappy about. Of course those Tiger disks are for G5 ONLY, so I couldn't install to my G3 from them, so I coughed up the cash for the DVDs. I couldn't fathom giving them even more for a CD transfer.
Of course, if the G3 keeps crashing, and I hear from others that a direct install from CD may cure the problem, what choice will I have? As much as I've loved Apple over the years, there's starting to be a more corporate (and dare I say it, Gates-like) vibe from their method of doing business. Now the kid wants an iPod for Christmas, and I have to check those boards to see how they're performing. As helpful and fun as all this technology is, it is also quite stress-inducing...
Good luck with your upgrade! --kat
iMac G5 20" (ALS); 2G RAM | iMac G3 500MHz slot-load CD-R/W CRT; 1G RAM Mac OS X (10.4.3) Using Apple since IIe, and Macs since 1984
iMac G5 20" (ALS); 2G RAM | iMac G3 500MHz; slot-load CD-RW; 1G RAM Mac OS X (10.4.3) Using Apple since IIe, and Macs since 1984

Safely copying files from Target Disk Mode to External USB. Advice?

Just got a new iMac and transferred my system and important files to it from my old iMac. However, a partition on my old iMac has files I want to move to my new iMac so they can be included in Time Machine backups while others I want to move to another external hard drive since I have physical copies of most of those files elsewhere.
I can connect my old iMac to the new via Target Disk mode and copy the critical files from Mac-to-Mac easily and quickly enough. What I want to know is if I’m safe to copy the other files from the TDM-connected iMac to a USB drive.
I’ve read that having other devices connected to your Mac while another Mac is connected via TDM can result in corrupted files. Is this true? Is it unsafe to copy files from a TDM Mac to an external USB drive?
If it is safe, is it best to connect the USB drive to the new Mac or to the old one while it’s in TDM? There’s a lot of data so I’m wondering about transfer times. One method would see files going over Firewire through the new iMac to a USB drive, while the other would go from TDM-connected Mac directly to a USB drive connected to its own USB port. That is:
TDM iMac > New iMac > USB Drive connected to New iMac
or
TDM iMac > USB Drive connected to TDM iMac
I have limited space on my internal drive and I also don’t want to copy-hop from TDM iMac to New iMac then copy from New iMac to USB drive. I'd like to go directly from old drive to external USB drive if it's safe.
So I’m looking for advice on the best way to connect devices in order to cut down on copying time and number of copies, and to do it safely without corrupting data. Any advice is appreciated!

I've used Migration Assistant already to move all of my immediately necessary data and settings over. This other data was on a separate partition and I'm unable to copy all of the data over to my new drive due to lack of space.
Things are complicated by the fact that I need to change some of my externals over to Time Machine ready backups. Previously I was using 1 TB and a 2 TB drive for TM and another 2 TB drive for general backups/archiving. Now I need to juggle things around so that both 2 TB drives are for TM and the 1 TB is used for archiving.
An important point I should have mentioned is that I can't use my old iMac normally due to a GPU problem that seizes the system up. This is the reason I can't just copy stuff directly from old iMac to external USBs.
I'm interested to know if what I described above is safe and if there are any time savings or benefits for copying through my new iMac or connecting the externals directly to the old iMac in TDM.

No security for intel macs in target disk mode?

By putting an intel MacBook in target disk mode, all the files are accessable by another computer which can mount the disk. If my machine is stolen, apparently I have no security. I found one post that says intel macs actually have some firmware password protection, but I have not been able to find how to turn it on. The Open Firmware Password feature does not work on intel macs. This seems to be a really big loophole. Having a login password is worthless if your machine is stolen. If anyone can help, please point out where there is more information on this issue.

If your computer is stolen firmware password will not protect your data. Even if the thief can't turn off the password, the disk drive can be removed and connected to another computer. Passwords, and other information, stored in keychains are still safe, however. The only way to protect other data is to use Filevault, Be sure to have good backups, because any error can make all your data inaccessible (as would the theft of the computer, of course).

Format & install Leopard from a second Mac, or external drive?

hi there,
i'm trying to format my macbook, but unfortunately my dvd drive won't read my installation disc. after looking through the forums, it appears that i can put the installation disc on an external drive, and do the formatting from there. unfortunately, though i have a drive to clone my computer onto, i don't have an additional drive to dedicate to this re-formatting. however, my roommate believes there's some way he can use his mac to to format mine. is this possible, and if so, how? is one method (external drive vs. second mac) preferable to another?
thank you for your help.
b

With two Macs that support FireWire you can do what you describe, but you must have a MacBook with a FireWire port. You will use Target Disk Mode.
With both computers turned off connect a FireWire cable between them (400 or 800 is fine.) Boot your MacBook into TDM. After the TDM screen appears insert the OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive of the other computer then start it normally and after the chime press and hold down the "C" key to force the computer to boot from the DVD. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. As soon as the menubar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. You can then use the Restore option of Disk Utility to clone your MacBook's drive to a FireWire drive:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external FireWire drive.
Source means the drive in your MacBook.
You may wish to test this clone to be sure it will boot a computer successfully.
Once you have cloned your MacBook's drive use Disk Utility to erase the drive so you can reinstall OS X.

Possible to Install Leopard on External HD and Boot on Another Mac?

Is it possible to install the Leopard upgrade DVD onto an External HD, AND THEN use the external HD to boot Leopard onto another Mac? Also, since the upgrade disc is an "upgrade," would I have to first install Tiger onto the External HD?
If possible...
Am I able to create an External Boot Drive that can boot both onto a PPC Mac and also onto an Intel Mac? Or will I have to create separate partitions?
Lastly, can Intel Macs boot from an External USB Drive? Or are FireWire Drives required? Thanks!

Yes, you can install on an external drive and boot the Mac. I do it all the time.
I'm not 100% sure whether the same drive can boot PPC and Intel Macs -- I don't think so because PPC macs require Mac formatting and Intel Macs require GPT formatting to boot.
Intel Macs can boot off both USB and Firewire external drives. PPC Macs can only boot off Firewire external drives. In any case, Firewire is better as it's quite a bit faster.

How to install Leopard from an external DVD reader?

Hi,
I've bought Leopard today. unfortunately, it's not yet installed on my PowerBook. As my SuperDrive is dead, I use now an external DVD (Lacie Portable DVD-RW), but it doesn't work. I can read the Leopard install DVD, but when it reboot, it reboot on my current installation.
I've tried the following during the boot sequence:
- alt pressed, but I can only see my main HDD
- c pressed, but I boot on my current installation
Can you tell me if it is possible to install Leopard from an external DVD, and how can I do that ?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Emmanuel Di Pretoro

Can you tell me if the same problem occur with a FireWire external DVD ?
It does not occur on your model of Mac.
(25504)

Help installing leopard from external fw dvd

I'm trying to install Leopard on an iMacCore Duo with a broken dvd drive. The hdd has been wiped clean. I've got an external LaCie fw dvd drive hooked up to the iMac. No matter what i do the iMac still gives me the folder with the ?. Holding down the option or C key with the Leopard dvd in the external drive makes no difference. It won't load the dvd. I've also tried using the dvds that came with the iMac. No luck. Not sure how to put OSX on this iMac.
thx
lenn

Have you tried using your installer disc on another Mac just to be sure there isn't a problem with the DVD? I would also contact LaCie tech support. I would be surprised if the device was not bootable. Do you know if the drive is even working? That is are you able to mount the DVD on the Desktop (assuming you can get to the Desktop.)
You should be able to boot the computer from an external FW hard drive if you have a bootable system on the drive that's compatible with your iMac. You also may be able to install OS X on the iMac from another Mac with a FireWire port by using Target Disk Mode.
BTW, you aren't trying to use the Leopard installer discs that came with your MBP to install Leopard on your iMac, are you? If so that won't work. The MB{P's discs are machine specific and will not likely boot the older iMac.

Installing Leopard from a PowerPC mac to an Intel mac via Target Disk mode

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