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Level 1

4 points

Install OS X on 2008 Mac Pro?

I recently acquired a beaten-up Mac Pro from 2008 and decided to make it my project PC. After a little work, I have gotten the hardware fully working, but don't have the original hard drive. Thinking I could just put a fresh one in and load the operating system, I dug through my parts. However, when I boot up the computer, I get over a minute of gray screen until it shows a blinking folder icon with a question mark. Through my research, little to my surprise, I found that this means the boot media could not be found. I also noticed that the same thing happens when I boot up the Mac with no hard drive at all. I gave also tried booting up with the various key commands (cmd+r, c, etc) and they have all resulted in the same flashing folder screen.

I believe that I have to purchase a install disk of OS X since Apple has made it impossible to create a USB boot disk without already owning another Mac. Before I go and buy a disk, I want to make sure I buy a version that my Mac will boot from, and that I'll be able to upgrade from it at no additional charge. (I think my Mac may be able to support El Captain!).

Does anyone know of either a solution to create a boot drive, install a fresh OS X, or what version of OS X I need to buy the disk for? (The model # is: A1186 EMC: 2113).

Thank you!

Posted on Apr 9, 2016 4:11 PM

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Niel

Level 10

727,229 points

Posted on Apr 9, 2016 4:51 PM

You need to buy a Snow Leopard DVD; that Mac isn’t capable of running El Capitan.

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33 replies

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 4:57 PM in response to lllaass

Unfortunately this is my only (working) Mac. I have another project Mac, this one a newer MacBook Pro, but I'm still waiting on a charger to test it.

Being a PC guy, I know that if the optical drive was malfunctioning, I don't think it would eject the disc- I think it'd be more of a compatibility issue between the disc and the computer. I've been working on PCs for years, so this is all a little strange to me. I'll go digging around to see if I have an extra optical drive lying around.

My only concern is that there are other key commands that if I hold while the Mac is booting something should happen, correct? I can't even get a basic menu with everything I've tried.

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 5:12 PM in response to ZanyLlama

I dug out an old IDE drive and am having a similar result, although it's not rejecting the disc, the Max is still not doing anything. It is now doing the same thing it would do if I had no disc in at all- it takes significantly less time for the flashing folder to come up.

Also an interesting thing I've noticed- the eject button on the keyboard doesn't work with this optical drive. I know this drive was pulled from a Windows desktop. This wouldn't have anything to do with slave/master setting, would it? Or could it be a windows->mac error?

kahjot

Level 4

2,462 points

Apr 13, 2016 5:10 PM in response to ZanyLlama

You may have to wait until you have the other Mac working. What vintage is the laptop? If it's too recent (2012 or newer), you won't be able to make a Snow Leopard drive to transfer into the old Mac Pro.

kahjot

Level 4

2,462 points

Apr 13, 2016 5:12 PM in response to ZanyLlama

How did you connect the IDE drive? I believe the optical drive is ATA, but the other slots need SATA drives.

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 5:14 PM in response to kahjot

I connected the IDE drive with the IDE cable and the power cable that were already going to the optical drive that was in it.

Oh sorry, I think my terminology was confusing- it is an IDE optical drive, not a HDD.

Apr 13, 2016 5:34 PM in response to kahjot

The simplest thing your working Mac can do is boot with the Option key held down. This draws a gray screen, then over the next several minutes, it will scan all possible addresses for a potentially-bootable device. It is not limited to where the CD reader is usually located the way the C-for-CD key at startup is limited. This code is all in ROM, and it needs nothing from any drive to operate.

If it finds no potentially-bootable drive, it will stay gray forever.

The "full retail" 10.6 is bootable for the Mac Pro 2006, 2007, and 2008 (and 2009). It is definitely the right DVD to be using for this.

Network 23

Level 6

12,333 points

Apr 13, 2016 5:55 PM in response to ZanyLlama

ZanyLlama wrote:

Is there anything else I can try? Perhaps Snow Leopard isn't compatible with a 2006 Mac Pro and so it rejects the disc?

That won't be the reason. I own a 2006 Mac Pro which I bought new. Out of the box it is compatible with OS X up to 10.7 Lion, and I ran Snow Leopard on it for a few years. According to everymac.com, the 2006 Mac Pro originally shipped with OS X 10.4.7 (8K1079).

With some "modification" of OS X from a second Mac, it will run 10.8 through 10.11 El Capitan (mine's on 10.9), but that's not something you want to try just yet.

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 5:54 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks, so far I've tried the option key, but quickly got impatient when all I saw was a cursor and a gray screen. I'll let it run overnight and update in the morning.

Apr 13, 2016 6:00 PM in response to ZanyLlama

It is really slow, but five minutes should be enough.

Those internal IDE/ATA cables are probably set up for cable-select, if you are trying a different DVD Reader.

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 6:31 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

After letting it run with Option held down for a little while, the disk was ejected from the computer. (I was using the original disk drive). Is this likely an issue with the disk drive? I'll try switching it out now and letting that run.

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 6:34 PM in response to ZanyLlama

Actually, as I was booting it this time and left the side panel off, and I noticed that the RAM sleds flash with red LEDs for s brief second when I press the power button. Does this mean there is a problem with the RAM?

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2016 6:42 PM in response to ZanyLlama

Alright I gave it 10 minutes with the other disc drive I have and the same result- gray screen. Anything else I can try?

Apr 13, 2016 8:26 PM in response to ZanyLlama

Consider that flash a "lamp test". There is only a problem if the LED stays on next to a module.

Apr 13, 2016 8:28 PM in response to ZanyLlama

Have you recently done an SMC reset?

Have you recently done a PRAM Reset?

ZanyLlama Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 14, 2016 7:21 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I did a PRAM reset- so far it'e the only thing I've done that actually does what it's supposed to do. The Mac rebooted after holding the keys for a little while.

I'm not sure about the SMC reset- I've unplugged the Mac but when I plug it back in the Mac automatically turns back on. I can't do any of the sleep/shut down/restart since the Mac still won't boot past the gray screen.

Install OS X on 2008 Mac Pro?