Phoenix CE??

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Level 1

11 points

Phoenix CE??

So my friend bought an iMac at BestBuy the other day, and when he got it home he turned it on and got a weird program instead of the MacOS X setup screen...

I took a look at it for him and it boots into 10.8.4 and immediately runs a program called Phoenix CE and seems to go through automated tests. I tried googling it and I couldn't find good info on any of it. I had him return the unit and get a different one which was fine, but I managed to take a video of it booting and screenshots and even dumped the hard drive before he brought it back.

When it first boots, rather than getting just the gray apple logo, it shows a black screen with a lot of white text I assume is the bios?

Can someone elaborate on this? I can provide all of what I have, which is roughly 21gb dump. The HDD was formatted as two partitions labeled "MaxDisk" which was bootable, and a blank 5gb partition named "DIAG".

Thanks in advance!

Posted on Jan 28, 2014 9:02 AM

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Answer 1

bubbamj Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 28, 2014 9:03 AM in response to bubbamj

I want to point out it was a SEALED iMac, not an open box computer.

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Answer 2

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Jan 28, 2014 11:36 AM in response to bubbamj

Sounds to me like the factory neglected to load the standard OS configuration onto the drive and left the test setup on the drive.

Regards.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jan 28, 2014 12:44 PM in response to bubbamj

It sounds like it may have been starting in the single-user mode based on the Apple support article below.

Startup - Black Screen/White Text

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Answer 4

bubbamj Author

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Jan 28, 2014 2:15 PM in response to varjak paw

Sure seems that way. The root of the drive contains a DMG for a clean install of 10.8.4. Would the software be helpful for anyone?

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Answer 5

varjak paw

Level 10

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Jan 28, 2014 2:36 PM in response to bubbamj

Probably not, as it may be a special installer only useful in the factory, and even if not would only apply to that model of Mac. And it wouldn't be legal for you to give it away, if that's what you were thinking of doing.

Regards.

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Answer 6

bubbamj Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 28, 2014 4:10 PM in response to varjak paw

I don't see why its not legal to share. Its on a client unit they paid for and there was no agreement signed saying we can't use or share it. Apples loss for letting it out of their buildings. Mine now to do what I want.

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Answer 7

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Jan 29, 2014 6:32 AM in response to bubbamj

It's not legal because 1) the software that comes with your Mac is licensed only for that Mac and 2) OS X 10.8 is not free software nor is it in the public domain, so it is not legal to share, regardless of how you obtained it.

So no, it's not "mine to do what I want". If you want to break Apple's licensing agreement and the law, that's your choice, but I would strongly suggest you not post about it in Apple's own forums.

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