I purchased a used eMac for my daughter but it did not come with the discs. The previous owner wiped the system and now I need to install the OS to the eMac. I'd prefer installing OSX 10.5 since it will work on the eMac, but want to know if I can use the discs from an older Macbook Air with 10.5 discs for this eMac. Thanks in advance.
No. The MacBook's DVD has only system software coded for an Intel processor; the eMac has a Motorola PowerPC processor that cannot run software written for Intel.
You need full retail install disks for OS 10.5 and not gray system install/restore disks that ship with another model. Depend on where you are located, you may have other options. Please tell an approximate geographic location and we can see what we can find.
Thank you Allan. I'm located in San Antonio, TX. Any add'l help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you! I am a native Dallasite but headed north about 27 years ago. I now say I am bilingual--I speak both English and Texan!
As you are in the US, you can try a long shot action. Get on the phone and call Apple's Store at 1-800-MY-APPLE. Ask to speak to an operating system specialist. Give them the serial number of the computer. You can find the number easily inside the door for the optical drive.
If they have the software for your model/sub-model on their servers, they can burn you a copy at a nominal charge, usualy around US$16 per disk.
You can also ask if they have 10.5 available on disk. Some people get the right agent and find they can still get burned copies from Apple. Again, both are long shots.
Before going much farther, let's deal with the two elephants in the room:
Elephant #1: Even the fastest eMac (1.42gHz 2005) is going to be a struggle with the modern internet. You will have an old version of Safari that many sites will reject as out of date. The modern internet has abandoned support for the powerPC processor used in all eMacs. You can get a browser, TenFourFox, that keeps the sites from rejecting your browser because it causes the sites to show you are using a recent version of FireFox. However, it does not support Flash Player so videos are out. And it is slow. I use TenFourFox on an old G4 tower I keep running and, even on our speedy 50MBps cable conecction, many sites run slowly. That said, if you have older games contemporary with eMacs (2002-2005), they will do OK on faster eMacs. Same with productivity programs--Office 2004 runs quite nicely on G4 Macs.
You will not be able to find much new software that runs on that computer.
Elephant #2) A very large number of eMacs with USB 2.0 logic boards and 1.0 and 1.25Ghz processors have a fatal logic board fault that is not worth trying to fix, even if you can find someone who claims to be able to do it. See if the serlal number falls in any of these ranges:
If it does, my recommendation is to stop any action on thecomputer now and don't throw any money at it.
So we need to pin down your version (there were four versions in two "families"). Please use this Apple article to find which you have and tell us:
eMac: How to locate the serial number and identify your model - Apple Support
Then we can recommend whether to proceed or look for a used Intel Mac--the better choice.
I checked to make sure that it was not an affected model before purchasing it so it's not one with the faulty logic board issue. The serial number for this one is G85304F**** and is out of the range of the affected units. This is a 2005 eMac.
I have already contacted my local Apple Stores and neither has disks as they were discarded quite some time ago. They can install 10.6 and up remotely if the PC is taken to the store. However since I need either 10.4 or 10.5, they don't have those versions in-store.
They can install 10.6 and up remotely if the PC is taken to the store.
Someone at the store needs to brush up on older Macs--no eMac can run an OS higher than 10.5.8! Some Apple Geniuses were still in grade school when your computer was made.
I meant call the central store number, not a local retail Apple Store of the Brick-n-mortar" kind. None of them have anything but the latest gear. The one at the toll-free number in my first post is the only change of Apple having something. People continue to report in the forums taht they were able to get replacement disks for some older Macs or even retail 10.5 install sets by calling the central phone store.
I am relieved to find you got a 2005 model. They were the best. We have one that my wife used from 2005-2012 that is still usable within its processor limitations. If has a stronger video chipset than some of the tower models of the time. The 2005 models can, with the right RAM modules from the right vendor, handle 2GB RAM, twice what the specs say. Ours is very happy running 2GB RAM. No issues at all.
In the meantime, in order to just test the computer, you may also want to have a look at one of the Ubuntu versions (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ). A free live CD or DVD can easily be created from a downloaded iso file. Consider this as an experiment, since graphics etc may or may not work as intended.
Jan
Do DVD's from a Macbook Air (OSX 10.5) work on an eMac (2005)?
