Clean install

[Buck]

Ok. How  to clean install from an external drive.
The OSX disk shows on desk top. Mac help says to double click on install. But this only reboots the puter.
Oh snap! Back to square one. How does one Un-Pimps this Mac?

Machine Name: eMac
  Machine Model:PowerMac4,4
  CPU Type:PowerPC G4  (2.1)
  Number Of CPUs:1
  CPU Speed:800 MHz
  L2 Cache (per CPU):256 KB
  Memory:512 MB
  Bus Speed:100 MHz
  Boot ROM Version:4.4.2f1

[kbeartx]

QUOTE(Buck @ May 12 2009, 06:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...How  to clean install from an external drive.  The OSX disk shows on desk top. Mac help says to double click on install. But this only reboots the puter.  Oh snap! Back to square one. How does one Un-Pimps this Mac?

Maybe it's just me, but can you clarify what you mean?

Is the OS you want to 'Clean Install' [in OS-X this procedure is called 'Archive and Install'] currently on an external hard drive, or do you have an Installer Disk Image on an external hard drive, or do you have an external optical drive from which you are running the installer DVD?

Which version of the OS are you running?  Jaguar [10.2], Panther [10.3], Tiger [10.4], or Leopard [10.5]?

And what is the problem you hope to solve by this procedure?

You say you double-click on install and the Mac reboots.  IIRC, this should restart the Mac into the installer program, which should prompt you for certain info and automatically run.  

Perhaps you are trying to use an OS disk that can't run on your Mac?  

What do you mean by "un-pimps this Mac"?  Are you trying to downgrade the OS to an earlier version?

Do any error msgs or dialogs come up after the Mac reboots?

More info, please, so we can assist you.

Kb

[tacit]

QUOTE(Buck @ May 12 2009, 11:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok. How  to clean install from an external drive.
The OSX disk shows on desk top. Mac help says to double click on install. But this only reboots the puter.
Oh snap! Back to square one. How does one Un-Pimps this Mac?

Yes, that is correct. That is what is supposed to happen.

You click install, the computer reboots. It is supposed to reboot from the Mac OS X Installer CD, not from the hard drive. Is that not what is happening?

Is the CD-ROM drive in the computer the original Apple CD, or is it a replacement drive? Some non-Apple CD-ROM drives will not boot the computer. You can not install OS X if you have a CD-ROM drive that will not boot the computer.

What color is the label on the OS X CD? Is it gray? If so, that means it came with some other computer. You can't install Mac OS X on one computer from a CD that came with a different computer.

[Buck]

Running OSX 10.4.11./ Tiger. Install disk is V.10.4 Tiger, CD is Black w/ grey X.

You click install, the computer reboots. It is supposed to reboot from the Mac OS X Installer CD, not from the hard drive. Is that not what is happening?

No! It always restarts to the normal run status. It refuses to boot from the CD. It reboots from the HD.

Forget the Un pimp thing. My lame attempt at some humor.

[kimmer]

With install disk in place, restart and hold down the C key and see if that doesn't force it to start up from the install disk.

[kbeartx]

You have not clarified your use of the term, "external drive".  Please do so.  It might be the problem*.

QUOTE(Buck @ May 15 2009, 01:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... It always restarts to the normal run status. It refuses to boot from the CD. It reboots from the HD.

Does the comp display any error msgs during the restart after you click Install?

My current guesses are:

the CD itself is damaged
the CD can't run on this particular Mac*
the CD drive is malfunctioning
the CD drive is an external, and does not possess the ability to boot an installer CD

You also have not answered the question of WHY you want to perform a 'Clean install'.   Are you experiencing a recurring problem?  Only a guess at this point, but it's possible that you are spinning your wheels needlessly on something that might have an easier [or at least a different] solution.

 
Kb


* in recent years, Apple has moved from CDs to DVDs for their Installer disks.  If this is the case here, and the Mac is not quipped with a DVD-capable drive, then this project isn't gonna work-out too well w/o changes

[krissel]

If the eMac didn't have a DVD drive I doubt the disc would show on the desktop.

If holding the C key doesn't work to force it to boot to the disc, you can hold down the Option key on boot to get the Boot Manager which should show your hard drive and the disc. You select the disc and hit the right arrow icon. Or you could do into the Startup Disk pref and select the disc while it is mounted on the desktop.

[Buck]

QUOTE(kbeartx @ May 15 2009, 03:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have not clarified your use of the term, "external drive".  Please do so.  It might be the problem*.

QUOTE(Buck @ May 15 2009, 01:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... It always restarts to the normal run status. It refuses to boot from the CD. It reboots from the HD.

Does the comp display any error msgs during the restart after you click Install?

My current guesses are:


I have a Mercury Pro 5.25 Combo CD-RW / DVD-RW External drive. Because My built in Optical Drive went South some time back. Camino & Safari Browsers keep crashing of late.   I figured a clean install might fix this problem. What say you?

the CD itself is damaged
the CD can't run on this particular Mac*
the CD drive is malfunctioning
the CD drive is an external, and does not possess the ability to boot an installer CD

You also have not answered the question of WHY you want to perform a 'Clean install'.   Are you experiencing a recurring problem?  Only a guess at this point, but it's possible that you are spinning your wheels needlessly on something that might have an easier [or at least a different] solution.

 
Kb


* in recent years, Apple has moved from CDs to DVDs for their Installer disks.  If this is the case here, and the Mac is not quipped with a DVD-capable drive, then this project isn't gonna work-out too well w/o changes

[Buck]

QUOTE(krissel @ May 16 2009, 05:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If the eMac didn't have a DVD drive I doubt the disc would show on the desktop.

If holding the C key doesn't work to force it to boot to the disc, you can hold down the Option key on boot to get the Boot Manager which should show your hard drive and the disc. You select the disc and hit the right arrow icon. Or you could do into the Startup Disk pref and select the disc while it is mounted on the desktop.

Both HD disk & OSX disk show on monitor. C key does nothing. Op, key does nothing. In stall disk showing on monitor does not show in start-up disk window. Only the OSX 10.4.11 folder & the OS9.2.2 folder & Network Startup.

[dboh]

Since I like being the one to ask the stupid questions:

When you press the C key and restart, you keep holding the C key down until the apple appears?

When you press the option key and restart, you also keep pressing until drives start appearing (I can't remember if the apple shows here; if it does, then press until the apple appears)?

[kbeartx]

QUOTE(Buck @ May 16 2009, 11:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have a Mercury Pro 5.25 Combo CD-RW / DVD-RW External drive. Because My built in Optical Drive went South some time back. Camino & Safari Browsers keep crashing of late.   I figured a clean install might fix this problem. What say you?

Optical drives need to include a special ROM chip in order to be able to boot an OS-X Installer disc, whether the drive is an external or internal.  

Given the lack of bootup you report, I conclude that this drive is not Mac-bootable, and that's the reason why you cannot proceed with your planned Archive and Install.

Since that seems to be the situation you are in, and you tell us that your browsers keep crashing, I suggest that we focus on helping you to alleviate that situation, since you are unable to reinstall the OS w/o acquiring a different optical drive or getting assistance from someone w/ another Mac, a different optical drive, or an external Firewire hard drive [does this eMac have Firewire and/or support Target disc Mode?].

First thing I suggest is a test:  go to System preferences>Accounts>Add New User [if you need specific details about doing this, post again]

Once created, Log in as this New User and try running the browsers [you won't have access to your bookmarks, but you will be able to see if the browsers crash as they do now, or do not]

Report back here with the results, [whether running in the New User account eliminates the browsers crashing or not] because that will determine how to proceed.

Kb

[Paddy]

Corrupted preference files are a pretty common cause of frequent crashing; try going to User->Library->Preferences and finding the "com.apple.Safari.plist" file and drag it to the desktop (while Safari is NOT running, of course) Restart Safari and see if your crashes reappear. Creating a new user account will also give you a new set of preferences in Safari, but I figure dumping the plist file is so easy that you might as well try that first. The other thing to do is to empty the Safari cache, which you can do under the Safari menu while running Safari.

If dumping the plist on the desktop seems to solve the problem, you can then drag it to the trash. I'd do the same with Camino's preference file; it can be found in the same User->Library->Preferences folder and it's called "org.mozilla.camino.plist"

Crashing browsers is NOT a good reason to reinstall the whole OS - there is something wonky with the browsers, not the operating system.

BTW - which of the OWC drives do you have: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/ ?

You should find out from OWC if it SHOULD be bootable - and if so, how. If it's both USB and Firewire and you've got it connected to the eMac via USB, then it won't be bootable. Try using the Firewire cable.

[kbeartx]

QUOTE(Paddy @ May 16 2009, 01:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The other thing to do is to empty the Safari cache, which you can do under the Safari menu while running Safari.

If the browser crashes upon startup, this procedure will not work ...


 

QUOTE(Paddy @ May 16 2009, 01:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...which of the OWC drives do you have?

To satisfy my curiosity, I checked out the specs on several of the drives listed on the link to OWC, and NONE of the ones I looked at [I didn't look at all of them, but four or five] mentioned anything about being able to boot a Mac OS disc, while most of them DID include several PC burning apps, so until I get data to the contrary, I must assume that the drives are not designed with Macs in mind...

Kb

[Buck]

Ok. I know when these browsers are about to go bye bye after running for a time. For instance, say I need to click back and forth on a certain page. Sooner or later that purty little colorful pinwheel starts spinning. Indicating that Mac is trying to perform a command but it's having a problem doing so. After some time the crash happens. When I bring up Force Quit, it reads Camino or Safari not responding. I've notice also that this pinwheel spins an extra long time getting a page to load. I need to pay more attention to see if it may be
certain sites only.

 Relaunch and things are fine till it comes up again.
 
 Oh and I more than a few times have deleted the plist in prefs. Doesn't seem to help at all of course. That would make things to $#@! easy.

[kbeartx]

Buck,

Point One:  you say you're experiencing probs w/ both Safari and Camino.  How about Firefox?  It's been my main browser for quite a few years, and I know other TS-ers are happy w/ it as well...it could be a simple, straightforward solution to what otherwise might be a complicated troubleshooting process [to figure out why Safari and Camino are misbehaving].

Point Two: your machine might be memory-starved; 512Mb is really too little to effectively run OS-X, much less modern apps as well.  I recommend that you at least double it, up to a full GB [1024Mb], and go for more if the Mac and your budget will support more.

Point Three:  how are you fixed for free hard disk space?  If you've got less than 10% of the total as unused space, this can cause all sorts of probs on a Mac.  If this turns out to be the case, it's time to delete anything not needed and/or get a larger hard disk.

Kb