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Model A1174 with 2 GHz Core Duo or Model A1207 with 2.16 or 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo

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Restoring the Mac OS with NEW disks?

The exact model I am trying to restore is the iMac Intel 20"/2.1GHZ/1GB/250GB/SD/BT/AP - Model A1207 - EMC 2118

I have no disks, grey or otherwise that came with the machine. I assumed they were lost or never given to the current owners of the machine. They have a tendency to buy used models rather than new ones to save money (and yet here we are). I tore down the machine to inspect the hard drive, assuming it had failed and discovered it was a 2TB replacement. I removed it and put back in a 1TB drive and it tried to boot finally with the QFolder blinking.

I thought I was on the right track and sought out disks to reinstall the OS. This is definitely is EOL, but there are some great resources for outdated Mac disks. I managed to make a copy of 10.4.7 (2Z691-5859-A) from archive.org. It starts off great, Apple logo shows and the wheel turns... then NOPE. Not the right disk?

The question was asked here:

How to identify which machines gray system installation disks are for?

Answered by Erik

I am assuming I have the wrong disk to match the system, but I am at a loss and would like to know if there is a solution. Target disk mode works, but aside from building another disk using Firewire, any ideas?

I'm going to dig a little deeper and explore the install disk idea from The 8-Bit Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngJ9q9wH...

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Going with the 8-Bit Guy's suggestion and digging into the install files, I have confirmed that the disks ARE for the iMac5,1. That's a match to this model and should have worked.

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Pre-Installed MacOS:X 10.4.7 (8K1106)Maximum MacOS:X 10.7.5*

I'd go with a Snow Leopard installation 10.6. Those installation disks are plentiful and the last stand alone installation DVD from Apple. I would not go with the machine specific Grey installation disks.

Here's one on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125469245186?ep...

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@overknight th 8-Bit guy is using an older OS that still offered DVD imaging within Disk Utility. So that may not be possible with your other Mac system you are using to create a bootable OS installer using a Grey disk set.

This series supported upto OS-X Lion 10.7.5. Here's a direct link to the image file Mac OS X Lion InstallerMac OS X Lion Installer directly from Apple and here's a link on how to create the disk Create a Bootable DVD Copy of OS X Lion Installer

We still have the elephant in the room to deal with! This series SATA port is only SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) so you do need to make sure the drive you use is able to run at this slower I/O speed. Many drives are now fixed SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) so they won't work properly! Some drives have auto sense technology so it matches the I/O speed of the system.

Make sure you review the given drives spec sheet that it clearly states will run at SATA II (3.0 Gb/s)

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@danj - I was only taking 8-Bit Guy's advice and delving into the guts of the system software to confirm if it was compatible.

As for the drives I swapped out, I assumed the replacement was a backward compatible drive, but you are correct. The replacement drive is more modern and ONLY SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) according to it's specs. I also knew something was off by keeping the system cracked open and feeling the drive spin up but eventually spinning down once the OS starts loading.

There's a good chance that this is a hardware issue starting with the hard drive. I haven't had much trouble finding a simple boot disk for Mac's in a long time. Good thing I like a challenge and like to tinker.

I let you know what I find out. Thanks!

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There wasn't one disk made that would work on startup. So, I gave up that approach and went with another.

I created a virtual machine on the hard drive I wanted to use as the replacement and fully loaded MacOS 10.7. I then put the drive into the system and started it up. Without a hitch, the iMac was back up and running 10.7 updating it to 10.7.5 without a problem.

Then I went a few steps further. I manually added BOOTCAMP (for some reason it wasn't included), downloaded Windows 10 (32bit), burned a DVD and rebooted through bootcamp. Now, I can boot from disk? Go figure.

Fully loaded a dual boot MacOS 10.7.5/Windows 10 (32bit) system.

Windows 32bit is the only version I can use because of resources:

1. A 64bit OS require 8G or more RAM.

2. This particular model won't support 64bit anyway, but I hear it's been done.

Anyway, it's running and now there are choices with Windows 10 lasting longer with updates.

Nothing more fun than watching a Mac boot-up to Windows 10!

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No surprise here! You have a dual OS system now able run either OS or from within OS-X via BootCamp.

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