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Upgrading iMac from Leopard (I think? 10.5.8) to whatever

ATFink

My mom has finally decided to get rid of the iMac she bought back in '08 now that she has owned her new one since 2016 and I moved all the important data to it.

 

I have been tasked with getting rid of all the data currently on it and selling it for some of the money. Well...

  • It is currently running OSX Leopard 10.5.8
  • I can't figure out how to factory reset the machine. Command+r during reboot wouldn't boot to drive selection or whatever it's called
  • I don't know what OSX I should upgrade to with the machine's current hardware (I'm only willing to upgrade the RAM)
  • Please recommend what OSX I should install. The Core 2 Duo and HD 2600 Pro will likely be the limiting factors here.

Here are some pictures of the Machine's current hardware (happy to supply more info if needed):

CPU.jpg.3b268fd441540e76f19bba7069113c31.jpg

GPU.jpg.024986786c5b7dc6064c61da737039ae.jpg

Any advice at all will help. Thank you!

 

@DrMacintosh

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.7 GHz

GPU: XFX GTS RX580 4GB

Cooling: Corsair h100i

Mobo: Asus z97-A 

RAM: 4x8 GB 1600 MHz Corsair Vengence

PSU: Corsair HX850

Case: NZXT S340 Elite Tempered glass edition

Display: LG 29UM68-P

Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX RGB

Mouse: Logitech g900 Chaos Spectrum

Headphones: Sennheiser HD6XX

OS: Windows 10 Home

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9 minutes ago, ATFink said:

-snip-

http://dosdude1.com/mojave/

 

Mojave always looks flashiest to macOS people. Spend the money to upgrade to 8GB RAM and you would have a perfectly fine usable daily machine! I edit on a 2008 Macbook with very similar specs :D

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Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (Purchased For $130.00) 
Storage: Kingston Predator 240 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $40.00) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.05 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $180.00) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card  (Purchased For $370.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMi 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $120.00) 
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Total: $1891.98
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Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:59 EDT-0400

身のなわたしはる果てぞ  悲しわたしはかりけるわたしは

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That iMac will only officially go up to El Capitan. (please not that hacking Mojave to work is not advisable. Graphics errors will be common place)

 

When you boot with cmd + r, do you get the recovery menu options? It would look something like this:

macos-high-sierra-recovery-mode-reinstall.jpg.786d73aadc067782044561aa92b6a29c.jpg

 

However, even if that does work it won't be very useful since we need to get the machine updated, not give it a fresh install. To do that you'll need to obtain either a copy of macOS Snow Leopard (where you would then update though the Mac App Store), or you could use the new iMac to create a bootable macOS installer for El Capitan using this tutorial:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

The new iMac may tell you El Capitan is too old to install, just ignore the warnings and download the installer. If it opens, quit the installer and continue the tutorial. 

 

El Capitan is sadly no longer supported by Apple for security updates but it will still function well enough. 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

That iMac will only officially go up to El Capitan. (please not that hacking Mojave to work is not advisable. Graphics errors will be common place)

Only on light theme (Weirdness with not-metal GPU's), as noted by DrDOS. He and his community have tested every device on the supported/non-supported list. I personally haven't ever tested an iMac, but I have had 100% success rate with Macbooks.

 

I would still recommend hacking to Mojave, since even most basic apps won't work on El Capitan. MS Office is notable, as it requires Sierra or High Sierra to install. I don't remember which, but I know for a fact it won't work on El Capitan.

 

As for you, OP, Allmacworld has installers for all EOL versions of OSX as they are abandonware by Apple and legally distributable. This includes Snow Leopard! (My 2008 Macbook had Leopard and needed to be updated to Snow Leopard before I could update to El Capitan to hack to Mojave).

Brands I wholeheartedly reccomend (though do have flawed products): Apple, Razer, Corsair, Asus, Gigabyte, bequiet!, Noctua, Fractal, GSkill (RAM only)

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Main PC: See spoiler tag

Laptop: 2020 iPad Pro 12.9" with Magic Keyboard

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PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gKh8zN

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core OEM/Tray Processor  (Purchased For $419.99) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula ATX AM4 Motherboard  (Purchased For $356.99) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (Purchased For $130.00) 
Storage: Kingston Predator 240 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $40.00) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.05 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $180.00) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card  (Purchased For $370.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMi 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $120.00) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $75.00) 
Total: $1891.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:59 EDT-0400

身のなわたしはる果てぞ  悲しわたしはかりけるわたしは

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10 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

 

When you boot with cmd + r, do you get the recovery menu options? It would look something like this:

macos-high-sierra-recovery-mode-reinstall.jpg.786d73aadc067782044561aa92b6a29c.jpg

This will not happen with Leopard. It does not have a recovery partition, that is Snow Leopard and up ^^^

Brands I wholeheartedly reccomend (though do have flawed products): Apple, Razer, Corsair, Asus, Gigabyte, bequiet!, Noctua, Fractal, GSkill (RAM only)

Wall Of Fame (Informative people/People I like): @Glenwing @DrMacintosh @Schnoz @TempestCatto @LogicalDrm @Dan Castellaneta

Useful threads: 

How To Make Your Own Cloud Storage

Spoiler

 

Guide to Display Cables/Adapters

Spoiler

 

PSU Tier List (Latest)-

Spoiler

 

 

Main PC: See spoiler tag

Laptop: 2020 iPad Pro 12.9" with Magic Keyboard

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gKh8zN

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core OEM/Tray Processor  (Purchased For $419.99) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula ATX AM4 Motherboard  (Purchased For $356.99) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (Purchased For $130.00) 
Storage: Kingston Predator 240 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $40.00) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.05 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $180.00) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card  (Purchased For $370.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMi 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $120.00) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $75.00) 
Total: $1891.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:59 EDT-0400

身のなわたしはる果てぞ  悲しわたしはかりけるわたしは

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1 hour ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

It does not have a recovery partition, that is Snow Leopard and up ^^^

Ahh, but as I stated, even if it could, it would be useless for the task of updating. 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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2 hours ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

- snip -

The thing is that I plan to sell the computer. I want it to be a stable system for the buyer. Errors caused by simply changing the theme is unacceptable. If I was going to keep the machine for myself I'd consider it, but I'm not keeping the machine. I do appreciate the input though, so thank you for that.

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.7 GHz

GPU: XFX GTS RX580 4GB

Cooling: Corsair h100i

Mobo: Asus z97-A 

RAM: 4x8 GB 1600 MHz Corsair Vengence

PSU: Corsair HX850

Case: NZXT S340 Elite Tempered glass edition

Display: LG 29UM68-P

Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX RGB

Mouse: Logitech g900 Chaos Spectrum

Headphones: Sennheiser HD6XX

OS: Windows 10 Home

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3 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

- snip -

When you boot with cmd + r, do you get the recovery menu options? It would look something like this:

macos-high-sierra-recovery-mode-reinstall.jpg.786d73aadc067782044561aa92b6a29c.jpg

 - snip -

No. It does not. Other posts indicate at least snow leopard is required for this menu. Is that true? 

 

Anyways, let me get this straight:

  1. Update to snow leopard (retail disk or other legal method if there is one)
  2. Use the Mac app store to update to El Capitan

or

  1. Go straight to El Capitan with the link to the tutorial you posted

Then restore the computer with cmd+r and it will be ready to sell.

 

Does that sound about right?

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.7 GHz

GPU: XFX GTS RX580 4GB

Cooling: Corsair h100i

Mobo: Asus z97-A 

RAM: 4x8 GB 1600 MHz Corsair Vengence

PSU: Corsair HX850

Case: NZXT S340 Elite Tempered glass edition

Display: LG 29UM68-P

Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX RGB

Mouse: Logitech g900 Chaos Spectrum

Headphones: Sennheiser HD6XX

OS: Windows 10 Home

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Just now, ATFink said:
  1. Go straight to El Capitan with the link to the tutorial you posted

Then restore the computer with cmd+r and it will be ready to sell.

You can actually format the HDD when installing El Capitan. The bootable USB has a disk utlitly built in. 

 

But yeah, you’ve got it. 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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Thanks for the help!

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.7 GHz

GPU: XFX GTS RX580 4GB

Cooling: Corsair h100i

Mobo: Asus z97-A 

RAM: 4x8 GB 1600 MHz Corsair Vengence

PSU: Corsair HX850

Case: NZXT S340 Elite Tempered glass edition

Display: LG 29UM68-P

Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX RGB

Mouse: Logitech g900 Chaos Spectrum

Headphones: Sennheiser HD6XX

OS: Windows 10 Home

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@SenpaiKaplan

@DrMacintosh

Christ, the RAM is 200 Pin SODIMM DDR2...

ddr2.jpg.dff8e320fe3e2171ad37c56de9f55354.jpg

I can not find any reasonably priced kits with greater capacity than 2x2 GB (cheapest 2x4GB kit I can find is ~$90). Looks like I'll do some digging and post a classified.

 

If I can't find anything reasonably priced will 4 GB of system RAM work with El Capitan? If not what OS do you recommend I upgrade to?

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.7 GHz

GPU: XFX GTS RX580 4GB

Cooling: Corsair h100i

Mobo: Asus z97-A 

RAM: 4x8 GB 1600 MHz Corsair Vengence

PSU: Corsair HX850

Case: NZXT S340 Elite Tempered glass edition

Display: LG 29UM68-P

Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX RGB

Mouse: Logitech g900 Chaos Spectrum

Headphones: Sennheiser HD6XX

OS: Windows 10 Home

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3 minutes ago, ATFink said:

If I can't find anything reasonably priced will 4 GB of system RAM work with El Capitan? If not what OS do you recommend I upgrade to

macOS loves RAM caching. Maybe Mountain Lion? 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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8 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

macOS loves RAM caching. Maybe Mountain Lion? 

Apparently Apple says it's fine:

417312310_ElCapitanSpecifications.jpg.1da530a5e8a8d30956d64ae6405bb018.jpg

but obviously that doesn't mean it's optimal.

 

I'll probably still do this since system RAM (when I upgrade assuming I can't find a decently priced 2x4 GB kit) will be double what Apple says is the minimum requirement. Is upgrading to El Capitan still a bad idea with a 2x2GB kit?

CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.7 GHz

GPU: XFX GTS RX580 4GB

Cooling: Corsair h100i

Mobo: Asus z97-A 

RAM: 4x8 GB 1600 MHz Corsair Vengence

PSU: Corsair HX850

Case: NZXT S340 Elite Tempered glass edition

Display: LG 29UM68-P

Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK FX RGB

Mouse: Logitech g900 Chaos Spectrum

Headphones: Sennheiser HD6XX

OS: Windows 10 Home

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5 hours ago, ATFink said:

Apparently Apple says it's fine:

'll probably still do this since system RAM (when I upgrade assuming I can't find a decently priced 2x4 GB kit) will be double what Apple says is the minimum requirement. Is upgrading to El Capitan still a bad idea with a 2x2GB kit?

El Capitan is fine on 4 gigs. Its when you start thinking about Sierra or especially High Sierra when it becomes a problem.

Brands I wholeheartedly reccomend (though do have flawed products): Apple, Razer, Corsair, Asus, Gigabyte, bequiet!, Noctua, Fractal, GSkill (RAM only)

Wall Of Fame (Informative people/People I like): @Glenwing @DrMacintosh @Schnoz @TempestCatto @LogicalDrm @Dan Castellaneta

Useful threads: 

How To Make Your Own Cloud Storage

Spoiler

 

Guide to Display Cables/Adapters

Spoiler

 

PSU Tier List (Latest)-

Spoiler

 

 

Main PC: See spoiler tag

Laptop: 2020 iPad Pro 12.9" with Magic Keyboard

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gKh8zN

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core OEM/Tray Processor  (Purchased For $419.99) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula ATX AM4 Motherboard  (Purchased For $356.99) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (Purchased For $130.00) 
Storage: Kingston Predator 240 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $40.00) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.05 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $180.00) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card  (Purchased For $370.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $100.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMi 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $120.00) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $75.00) 
Total: $1891.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:59 EDT-0400

身のなわたしはる果てぞ  悲しわたしはかりけるわたしは

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