eMac updates

I bought a used eMac kinda' accidentally... bought it for my daughter to simply email, Facebook, listen to music... I did not know it had no disk drive... it has OS X 4.0... I'd like to update to 5.8 but don't know how... I've tried to send files from another Mac with target mode, etc... never worked... I can put files on with a thumb drive but not a Set of System files... can anyone give me a clue?

Thanks,
Dave States

If it has no disk drive, what are you trying to load stuff onto? You'll first need a HD and second if you want to upgrade to 10.5.8, you'll need to purchase the Leopard disc from eBay or something and expect to spend at least $100 or so on that.

Can you tell us which eMac you have? Year and model? Amount of memory? We need that info because not every eMac may be capable of running OS X Leopard 10.5.8. Click on the Apple menu top left of the screen and select "About this Mac".

Also, OS X Leopard 10.5.8 is going to be an expensive upgrade. You would need a Leopard retail disk which currently sells for around $100 on eBay and Craig's list.

davestates said:

I bought a used eMac kinda' accidentally…

Click to expand...

I would love to hear how someone "accidentally" buys a computer!

davestates said:

... I did not know it had no disk drive... it has OS X 4.0... I'd like to update to 5.8 but don't know how...

Click to expand...

Can you explain what you mean by "it had no disk drive"? Do you mean no "hard drive" or no "optical drive" (CD/DVD drive)?

I'm guessing you mean no optical drive…since you mentioned that it has OS "x.4.0" on it (actually better stated as OS 10.4.0)…which I'm thinking that it would have to have a hard drive in it for you to mention this.

And like "chscag" mentioned…if you want to upgrade to OS 10.5.8…an OS 10.5 install disk may cost you more than you paid for the computer. But (like already mentioned) first we would also need to know the specs…to see if it can run OS 10.5.

- Nick

Sorry about my dumb question... I for sure meant Optical drive... at least , I can't identify one... don't know how to "open" the front panel oval shaped "cover" with the Apple logo.
Processor is listed as 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 (1.1); Memory is 256 MB DDR SDRAM
Ser No. G8520570SCF. OS X 10.4.11
ATA Device Tree shows ATA Bus HL-DT-ST CD-ROM GCR-8522-B And ATA ST340015A
By accidental, the type and specs for an eMac were unknown to me, price was cheap, machine was to be used for my daughter for email, music, not much else.
I do own a Mac OSX Leopard CPU Drop-in DVD, Version 10.5 but as far as I know, I've no way of "playing it" on the eMac.

My MacMini with OS X 10.5.8 is within 8 feet.

I appreciate the responses,
Dave States

davestates said:

Processor is listed as 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 (1.1); Memory is 256 MB DDR SDRAM

I do own a Mac OSX Leopard CPU Drop-in DVD, Version 10.5 but as far as I know, I've no way of "playing it" on the eMac.

Click to expand...

Ok…great to have all the details straight…thanks for the info.

If this e-Macs HD currently has OS 10.4.11 on it, and since you have an OS 10.5 "drop-in" disc…you should be able to update the OS.

As far as the optical drive…it's sort of unusual for these to be removed in an eMac…so my guess is you have one…you're just having trouble opening it. To get the optical drive to open…press the optical drive eject/open key on the keyboard (it should be a key above the Delete/Backspace key…with an underlined triangle on it).

If this does the trick…then insert your OS 10.5 drop-in disk…reboot the computer from the 10.5 disk…and proceed with the OS upgrade.

Good Luck,

- Nick

p.s. I should also mention that you need a minimum of 512meg of ram to upgrade to OS 10.5. You mentioned that this eMac only has 256meg…so you need to get more ram in there. I would suggest maxing out the ram. Max. ram for this eMac is 2 gig (2 x 1gig dimms).

Thanks for the info...When I press that key, I hear a mild "clunk" but nothing happens... maybe the drive has been removed... If it's there and just stuck would it read DVD or just CDs? How can I tell?

davestates said:

Thanks for the info...When I press that key, I hear a mild "clunk" but nothing happens... maybe the drive has been removed... If it's there and just stuck would it read DVD or just CDs? How can I tell?

Click to expand...

If you hear a "clunk" when you press the optical drive eject key…then somethings in there. If there was nothing in there…you wouldn't hear anything. The optical drive is a "tray-loader"…so the tray is trying to open when you press the key…and it's probably hitting the door that you see on the outside.

Something is jamming things up…or something is misaligned. That door on the outside can be pried open. It's only on a spring-loaded hinge. The door opens downward…so pry carefully at the top of the optical drive door with something very thin, like a small pocket knife blade or a razor blade from a box cutter. Pry just enough so you can open it up fully with your fingers. Now you will clearly be able to see if there is an optical drive in there.

While holding the optical drive door open with one hand (and assuming there is an optical drive inside the eMac)…press the optical drive eject key again…and see if the the optical drive tray will open…or if it's getting jammed up somehow.

As far as the optical drive reading CDs & DVD's. The optical drive that came with the 1.25ghz eMac's could read both.

Good luck,

- Nick