You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

How to format a new hard drive for Mac Pro 3,1

I recently purchased a used Mac Pro 3,1. Because it was from a university the hard drive was removed before they sold it and now I need to figure out how to format a new one with the OS. If possible I'd like to get it to run a newer Mac OS than the one it originally would have had. I am almost entirely new this area but I like to learn new things and have a mildly above average understanding of computers.


If anyone can help or point me in the right direction to some good instruction, that would be appreciated. Google hasn't been much help.

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Mar 27, 2023 9:45 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 27, 2023 11:08 AM

Internet Recovery is NOT available in your model’s ROM, so you will need to explore this list of other possibilities.


When your computer was released, the way you launched the required Utilities (including Disk Utility and Installer) was to use the ones on the Release software DVD. if you have a model-specific version for your model (unlikely) or a Full Retail 10.6 DVD, you use its Utilities, boot and install that version, then use Software update to get to 10.6.8 with all updates, which is the version that can reach out to the Mac App store and download and install a later version.


10.11 El Capitan is a recommended waypoint, even if you expect to install a later version, because it has an improved Mac App Store that makes getting later versions much easier.


The next source of Utilities is the Recovery Partition on the boot drive. If your drive spins up, even if not MacOS bootable, it may still have a usable recovery partition. To get there, try invoking recovery with Command-R or hold Alt/Option at startup and see if the recovery partition shows as a potentially bootable drive.


Recovery Partitions up through 10.12 Sierra can be found with the Startup Manager (Alt/Option boot). At 10.13, if an SSD boot drive is used, the format is transitioned to APFS. The Recovery partition is present, but it is inside the APFS volume structures, and the Startup Manager on an older Mac can not find it.


The next source of Utilities to consider is any MacOS 10.6 or later versions on any additional drives or clones you may (or may not) have lying about, even if they are from another Mac. You can use those Utilities to ERASE a new drive, and start the installer to place MacOS on the new drive.


The next source to consider is a Time Machine backup drive. Versions from 10.7.3 or later are said to contain a Recovery Partition that could be used to ERASE a new drive and run Installer to place MacOS on a new drive.


Two Mac solutions:

With certain combinations of new and old Mac, you can use Target Disk mode to repair, erase, and install on the drive of the old Mac, by treating it as a disk drive on the new Mac.


Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support


IF you have a different Mac, you can use it to download MacOS install image, then interrupt the process and create a BOOTABLE USB-stick Installer/Utilities stick. BOOTABLE is key, because the way you will install from this USB-Stick is to BOOT the USB-stick, and use its Utilities to ERASE your drive and start the Installer. here is the article on bootable USB-Stick Utilities/Installer:


What you need to create a bootable installer

• A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as GUID partition Map, Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage

• A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan.

from:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


NB>> if you name your incoming USB stick exactly MyVolume, you can copy and paste the very long Terminal command from the article directly into the Terminal window, without having to change anything.


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 27, 2023 11:08 AM in response to Dlink_22

Internet Recovery is NOT available in your model’s ROM, so you will need to explore this list of other possibilities.


When your computer was released, the way you launched the required Utilities (including Disk Utility and Installer) was to use the ones on the Release software DVD. if you have a model-specific version for your model (unlikely) or a Full Retail 10.6 DVD, you use its Utilities, boot and install that version, then use Software update to get to 10.6.8 with all updates, which is the version that can reach out to the Mac App store and download and install a later version.


10.11 El Capitan is a recommended waypoint, even if you expect to install a later version, because it has an improved Mac App Store that makes getting later versions much easier.


The next source of Utilities is the Recovery Partition on the boot drive. If your drive spins up, even if not MacOS bootable, it may still have a usable recovery partition. To get there, try invoking recovery with Command-R or hold Alt/Option at startup and see if the recovery partition shows as a potentially bootable drive.


Recovery Partitions up through 10.12 Sierra can be found with the Startup Manager (Alt/Option boot). At 10.13, if an SSD boot drive is used, the format is transitioned to APFS. The Recovery partition is present, but it is inside the APFS volume structures, and the Startup Manager on an older Mac can not find it.


The next source of Utilities to consider is any MacOS 10.6 or later versions on any additional drives or clones you may (or may not) have lying about, even if they are from another Mac. You can use those Utilities to ERASE a new drive, and start the installer to place MacOS on the new drive.


The next source to consider is a Time Machine backup drive. Versions from 10.7.3 or later are said to contain a Recovery Partition that could be used to ERASE a new drive and run Installer to place MacOS on a new drive.


Two Mac solutions:

With certain combinations of new and old Mac, you can use Target Disk mode to repair, erase, and install on the drive of the old Mac, by treating it as a disk drive on the new Mac.


Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support


IF you have a different Mac, you can use it to download MacOS install image, then interrupt the process and create a BOOTABLE USB-stick Installer/Utilities stick. BOOTABLE is key, because the way you will install from this USB-Stick is to BOOT the USB-stick, and use its Utilities to ERASE your drive and start the Installer. here is the article on bootable USB-Stick Utilities/Installer:


What you need to create a bootable installer

• A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as GUID partition Map, Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage

• A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan.

from:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


NB>> if you name your incoming USB stick exactly MyVolume, you can copy and paste the very long Terminal command from the article directly into the Terminal window, without having to change anything.


How to format a new hard drive for Mac Pro 3,1

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.