Sunday, December 21, 2003

Using a PC to burn a Mac Disk Image (DMG) to a CD

Whirlpool Forums - Thread: .dmg Image file:
I just burned a DMG of OS X 10.2 6C115. I used NERO 5.5.9.0 to do it. I made OS X convert the DMG to a 'CDR.DMG' which is equiv to an ISO then I burned it. It even booted the Mac and installed the 6C115.

You can install the full OS x from that upgrade CD;
1.Insert your MacOS X 10.1 Update CD
2.Fire up 'Disk Copy' from /Applications/Utilities
3.Select from the Menubar 'Image | New Image from Device...'
4.Select your CD-ROM drive's contents from the resulting dialog
5.Image it as a 'DVD/CD Master' type (this will take a little while)

Modifying the CD contents
1.Control-click (or right-click) on the resulting disk image
2.See that it's mounted
3.Navigate with the Finder to System/Installation/Packages on
mounted image
4.Select the 'Essentials.pkg' file... 5....by right-clicking on it and select 'Show
Package Contents'
6.In the pop-up Finder window, navigate to Contents/Resources/
7.Drag 'CheckForOSX' to the Trash and close all these Finder windows

Burning your new Install CD
1.Go back to Disk Copy and select from
the Menubar 'Image | New Image from
Device...'
2.Select the mounted volume you opened
up above and make another 'DVD/CD
Master' image
3.Now select from the Menubar 'Image |
Burn Image...'
4.Select your newly modified .dmg file
5.Burn it to CD and enjoy

This took some detective work to find. The post is actually describing a technique sometimes used to change an OS X update CD into an effective OS X new install CD -- Apple might not approve. There are legitimate uses however. I used this technique to create a 10.2.8 boot CD for my iBook. Worked great:

1. Create CD sized .DMG file using Disk Copy on OS X. (In this case I
used BootCD to create the .DMG file -- a bootable OS X 10.2.8 system
CD)
2. Put whatever you need on the .DMG file
3. Use Disk Copy convert to CD/DVD master.
4. rename the .cdr extension to .iso.
5. move to PC.
6. Open with Nero (File menu, burn image) and burn the CD.

Mike's Mac OS X Management Software and Tips: Recovering from a Blinking "?"

Mike's Mac OS X Management Software and Tips: Recovering from a Blinking ?
The simplest tip is to hold down an X on startup. I think that will boot OS X if it can be found. I wish I'd known that tip when an OS 9 boot failed, instead I booted off another CD. Mike also talks about using Open Firmware to change the blessed drive -- a maneuver strictly for the brave.