Starting up Imac Duo Core with Tiger CD's

[Bob123]

I have an early Imac Duo Core with MacOS10.4. I lost the orginal DVD and have purchased 10.4 on CD's. I have been having problem starting up the computer with the cd's? Is it possible to do so with the cds or should I buy a 10.4 DVD? Therehas been a problem with hard disk. I think that it is very close to capacity in terms of containing files. I have been able to start the computer with Diskwarrior and it has been used to do maintenance on the disk. However, I can't open the hard disk when using Diskwarrior either.

 

[pigoo3]

I lost the orginal DVD and have purchased 10.4 on CD's. I have been having problem starting up the computer with the cd's?

What color are the CD's...gray/silver or mostly black?

- Nick

 

[Bob123]

Grey/Silver, as I recall. Bought in 2006

 

[pigoo3]

Grey/Silver, as I recall. Bought in 2006

If they're not the original disks that came with the computer...then they won't work. The gray/silver disks only work with the model computer that they originally shipped with.

You need OS 10.4 disks that are black with a big X on them. Unless you absolutely need OS 10.4 (for various reasons)...since your computer has a "core duo" cpu...you could also install OS 10.5 or 10.6.

- Nick

p.s. By the way. If your hard disk is almost full...this can result in some BIG problems. You need to delete some items or back some of it up on an external drive to make room on your iMacs internal drive. An almost full internal drive can also cause problems when trying to install or upgrade an OS.

 

[Bob123]

Clarification. The disks that came with the computer are grey and black. The replacement
CD's are black which I'm having a problem with. I've learned first hand about the problems
of starting up the computer with a disk that is almost filled up. Seems that the disk is so
full that it won't allow me to start from the replacement disks. Any tips about what I should do? Thanks for your help!

 

[pigoo3]

I've learned first hand about the problems
of starting up the computer with a disk that is almost filled up. Seems that the disk is so full that it won't allow me to start from the replacement disks. Any tips about what I should do? Thanks for your help!

Can I assume that you read my "p.s." in my previous post regarding how an almost full (or full HD) can cause big problems?

If you're trying to start up your computer from the OS install CD's the full hard drive shouldn't matter. What I mean is...you should be able to successfully boot the computer from the CD's...you just won't be able to proceed with the OS install (due to not enough available free HD space).

- Nick

 

[Bob123]

All I wantto do is start up the Imac so I can dump some stuff from
the hard drive. Install is not needed.
No luck doing so with the first CD of 10.4 this afternoon.
Started the computer with the "C" held down and the CD inserted. Still get the
flashing "?" mark. Have been feeling like a dog chasing my tail the past couple of days.
Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[pigoo3]

Started the computer with the "C" held down and the CD inserted. Still get the
flashing "?" mark. Have been feeling like a dog chasing my tail the past couple of days.
Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

We may need to back up a bit here with this problem. The Flashing "?" can occur for at least 4 reasons:

1. The computer contains no hard drive.
2. The the hard drive in the computer does not have a valid OS installed on it.
3. The OS on the computer has gotten corrupted in some way...or important files got deleted somehow.
4. The hard drive is dead.

I'm going to assume that we can eliminate possibilities 1 & 2. Which leaves us with possibilities 3 & 4. For option #3...folks have accidentally deleted important OS files before...so this can happen. And with option #4 (dead hard drive) this can certainly happen. The question with hard drives is...not if they will crash...but when will they crash (eventually it happens to ALL hard drives).

- Nick