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disk utility for osx 10.4.11

Mistakenly trashed disk utility for osx 10.4.11. How can I get copy to download. Have all my discs but afraid I may do more damage than good installing. Just need that utliity

power mac g4, Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Posted on Jan 16, 2016 2:31 PM

Reply
10 replies

Jan 17, 2016 6:21 PM in response to William Gustin

You have to locate your original 10.4.11 discs and re-install OS X to get back DU. If you no longer have that then you can use Snow Leopard upgrade DVD to upgrade to Snow Leopard. I don't know if the SL disc you have is the retail upgrade DVD or from another computer. If the computer has the ability to install Snow Leopard (which is also ancient by modern standards) you can do that and then it will also install DU.


By the way....Did you ever backup the computer using a cloning app such as SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner? If so you can restore DU from that too. If not, they're you are out of luck.

Jan 17, 2016 6:37 PM in response to William Gustin

I know that you can re-install some App's from the App Disc that is in your set, but I'm not sure about Disk Utility.


It is a long read, but see > http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=454796&seqNum=

I'm thinking that your best bet is to backup your system to be safe. Then following the steps in the Peachpit article and do a reinstall of the latest OS X version that you have disc's for. Keeping in mind, that you can Install the same or a later version of OS X without erasing or losing any of the current data on your HDD.

Additionally if you boot from a valid Install Disc or Upgrade DVD, you can access Disk Utility on it to repair both startup and external HDDs.

Jan 17, 2016 7:37 PM in response to den.thed

Can't find discs for 10.4.11. I have disks for 10.5 4-cpu will not accept. also have snow leopard 10.6.3. Not getting anywhere here!!! I don't want to loose any of my data, photos, movies apps photoshop. Illustrator, quark etc. I'm at a standstill right now and really don't know how to progress. I'm totally frustrated at this point!!!

HELP!

Thanx Bg

Jan 17, 2016 9:19 PM in response to William Gustin

Without the complete specification and model build version of your iMac available,

there has been some guessing here and most of it unnecessary from the start...


{What computer are you using to ask questions here? Does it have a firewire port

and is it running 10.5.8? Or maybe 10.6.8? -- Just an idea, that may not work.

FW Target Disk. If booted in FW-TDM, to be seen as an external HDD, it may be

able to be repaired, permissions? perhaps. From running Mac. Start the one

needing Disk Utility repair in TDM.}


Anything of depth requires the full install DVD for the system last supported.


If your old iMac has a PPC CPU of less than 867MHz, it cannot run OS X 10.5.x

Leopard; and it certainly cannot use parts from a system that cannot run inside it.


Is the computer an iMac G4? Or is it an iMac G3? The G4 has faster system bus

and other hardware details, compared to the older iMac G3. The G3 is farther away

from running 10.5.8 than a first edition iMac G4 700 or 800MHz.


Otherwise, I'd have suggested the use of Pacifist utility (in demo mode) to extract

the disk utility from the unbootable installer DVD, then use Pacifist to install it...


But that won't work because the 10.5 version of Disk Utility itself may not work in

the 10.4.11 OS X Tiger system. You need to acquire a Tiger DVD install disc of a

newer build (and retail edition would be better) or of the correct model for your iMac.

The grey-label original build series system software install-restore discs are tools.

They should accompany the computer as long as it exists. They're hard to find now.


An emergency backup copy of an install restore DVD could be used, if of the correct

version for your iMac (lacking details, it could be most any model year build series PPC)

The Tiger DVD installer is of small enough size to be duplicated on a standard single

layer DVD media disc; later Leopard installer is too large for that, without dual layer.

If you have an acquaintance or know of an independent Apple service provider repair

shop, with suitable OS X 10.4 install-restore DVDs, they may be able to help. Or not.


In order to be able to attempt to install an unsupported 10.5 Leopard OS X on an earlier

pre-1.0GHz computer (your iMac is either a G3 or a G4, the G4 is most likely to work)

there is a method to accomplish this via a firmware spoof that tricks the computer into

seeing it as a faster processor. The resulting 10.5 (.8) installer would be slower than

the Tiger 10.4.11 system; and it would demand more RAM and Virtual Memory, too.


If you have an iMac G4 800MHz computer, it may be possible to install Leopard 10.5

from retail DVD by spoofing the processor speed via firmware. Not recommended for

those without technical skill or the willingness to possibly trash their otherwise OK mac.

http://lowendmac.com/2007/fooling-the-os-x-10-5-leopard-installer-with-open-firm ware/

This is not a recommendation, since you have not provided detailed iMac build information.


The limits include incorrect processor, inadequate RAM memory, possible lack of HDD

free space, and others. If you have access to another Mac, with suitable OS X running

in it, you could see if the present one with problems could be seen in Target Disk Mode

and the hard disk drive inside, repaired by another Mac's disk utility; perhaps unlikely.


However a Mac User Group in your area or an independent Apple service provider, a repair

shop that may have older Apple Service discs, could help. The older computer cannot run

anything newer than the last supported OS X. The hardware limits this.


Good luck in any event...! 🙂

Jan 17, 2016 11:44 PM in response to K Shaffer

You could try a vintage version of SuperDuper clone utility to make a complete copy of the computer

hard disk drive as it is now, on an externally enclosed hard drive; however if you were to need it to

boot the computer or start from that clone, it would have to be created on a suitable FireWire enclosed

hard disk drive, preferably one with its own power supply (not from Mac port power) and also it should

have an 'oxford-type' chipset that facilitates OS X booting from the FireWire enclosure.


SuperDuper main page:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html


• Older versions info & download:

Tiger (10.4), Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard (10.6) users can download v2.7.1,

or, Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2) users can download v1.5.5, and Panther (Mac OS X 10.3)

users can download v2.1.4, the last releases available for those older versions of OS X.


If you would like to boot from a backup stored on an external drive, and have a Power PC

based Mac, please purchase a Mac compatible FireWire drive. OWC macsales has some.


{Carbon Copy Cloner may have an archive of much older versions, but I didn't find it. My clones

of older OS X from my PPC G4 computers have that era Carbon Copy Cloner inside their copies.}


If your old Power Mac computer really is a Power Macintosh tower, not an iMac G3 or G4, the info

regarding what can or cannot boot the computer, and why, still remains the same. CPU speed &

other hardware specification limits what will work, and specs changed along with improvements.


The other item previously noted, Pacifist, is worth a look; their older versions run in demo adequately.

http://www.charlessoft.com/pacifist_olderversions.html


(This ^ can allow one to work-around limitations on specific installer media, by extracting files

and using this utility (Pacifist) to install those files from the desktop. However the Disk Utility

found in an Install DVD newer than the OS X installed in the vintage Mac likely won't work in

the system. However sometimes these things can work.)


If you were to find a disk image (.dmg) file of official Apple software installer, it would need to be

expanded and installed on DVD media, and the media would require correct formatting for the

installer to be able to work, as the official media does, as a bootable install-restore disc. This is

being said as a last ditch effort if you have connection or locate someone who has the file. You'd

have to read online about how to do that aspect of it. Someone may be able to email a compressed

file of the disk utility from Tiger 10.4.11. Copied OS X files may have previous Admin source issues.


Anyway, hopefully you can get the computer to work.


Second hand repaired powerPC portables can be found

at reasonable prices; from places such as wegenermedia

and powerbookmedic, among others. PowerBookG4 or

iBook G4 last models were circa 2005. An early G4 Mini

can be a good computer, they're inexpensive now. Yet no

matter the model, the key is to keep the installer discs.


Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

disk utility for osx 10.4.11

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