# Can't Erase Hard Drive on M5521 iMac



## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm trying to erase the HD on a Summer 2000 iMac. Currently, 2 OSs are contained on the disk - 9.2 and 10.2. This HD is only 7 GBs and I think it needs to be erased to accommodate a 10.4.4 Tiger installation, which is needed for WiFi access.

Problem is, it won't accept the 4 Tiger OS install CDs (It's a CD optical drive only). I've tried to force an erase with no results.

How can this HD be erased without having the option offered on an installation CD?
Also, why won't the installation CDs engage?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Can you boot off of the First CD? If so, then go to the Toolbar and the top and choose *Disk Utilities*. Here you can Delete *both* partitions then create one large partition and *Erase* (Format) it *HFS+ Journaled* then return to the Tiger installer and choose to install to the blank Disk. 
If that doesn't work boot from the *OSx 10.3* Panther disc and Disk Utilities. 
BTW, this OS is so old that you will not be able to go to any Web sites, as the Safari browser for that OS is too old and no other browsers will work either.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

No, it won't boot off of any OS CD. That's the problem.

The optical drive is functional because I've installed WiFi drivers off a CD, so it does work.

I found this in the trash last Wednesday and I've been working on it since. That's why I haven't gotten back to the Alienware M18X-R2. Too many projects (but I love it).


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

Also, refer to this link concerning compatible Tiger browsers.
OS X 10.4 Tiger Is Still Very Useful | Low End Mac


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You can access *Disk Utilities* while booted into OSX 10.2 by going to Toolbar to Go/Utilities. At that point you can delete the Non used Partition. 
Then restart the computer with the OS disc in it, right after the chime, press the *C* Key. continuously Or hold down the *Option* Key. If that doesn't work go to the Apple logo on the Upper Left, choose *System Preferences/Startup Disk* and choose the CD drive as the Startup disk.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

There is no "Disk Utilities" or "Go/Utilities" in 10.2. Nothing comes up when searched, either.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

On the toolbar, click *GO* then *Applications* then *Utilities *then *Disk Utilities * The Partitions should show up on the Left Side
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=1362


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

Those instructions don't apply to this 10.2 OS. There is no "Applications" or "Utilities" folder. Every 10 OS is different.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You are in _System Preferences_, you will not find it there. 
In *Finder* (see attached)(ie) the regular desktop with no windows open, On the toolbar, click *GO* then *Applications* then *Utilities* then *Disk Utilities* The Partitions should show up on the Left Side
Or In *Finder,* click the *Spotlight* Search bar and type in *Disk Utilities*, you also can click the _Macintosh HDD_ and Browse to it that way.
If you want to change the _Boot order_ to boot to CD, With the CD in, in S_ystem Preferences _choose *Startup Disk*


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

Both "Erase" and "Partition" in "Disk Utilities" are grayed-out and won't activate. A sentence at the bottom of "Partition" Reads: Cannot initialize startup disk.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

I see only one partition that occupies the whole disk. There is no other unused partition where the second OS installation supposedly is. Have you checked the CDs and confirmed that they are readable before trying to boot from them? I would try to make images of the CDs to see if there are any read errors as a result of scratches. They surely must be old.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

The CDs were just unzipped and burned from the linked site. I'm in contact with someone who just burned the same Tiger CDs from this site and he said they copied to his HD without issues.

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-osx-mac-os-10-ppc

I've accessed both OS 9.2 (original factory install) and OS 10.2. I've used both OSs on this computer.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

manhattanman said:


> The CDs were just unzipped and burned from the linked site. I'm in contact with someone who just burned the same Tiger CDs from this site and he said they copied to his HD without issues.
> 
> https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-osx-mac-os-10-ppc
> 
> I've accessed both OS 9.2 (original factory install) and OS 10.2. I've used both OSs on this computer.


Both OS, according to the pdf on the link you posted, can be installed on the same partition as long as the partition is HFS Plus formatted. That must be the case here. While running 10.2, is the Tiger cd loaded successfully such that you're able to browse its contents? That PDF also explains how to start the installation, I'm assuming you've actually read and followed it keenly.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

manhattanman said:


> The CDs were just unzipped and burned from the linked site. I'm in contact with someone who just burned the same Tiger CDs from this site and he said they copied to his HD without issues.
> 
> https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-osx-mac-os-10-ppc
> 
> I've accessed both OS 9.2 (original factory install) and OS 10.2. I've used both OSs on this computer.


The zip files contain .toast image files. How exactly did you burn them to cd?


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

The Tiger CD didn't load successfully and I couldn't browse its contents.

I unzipped and burned all 4 files using CyberLink Power2Go 11. 

After reading macintoshgarden's guide, I see they're recommending "Stuffit Expander 5.5". Should I download this and try unzipping with this program? 

Incidentally, I unzipped another one of the CDs using the Stuffit program on the M5521. It took 40 minutes to unzip and afterwards, didn't install either. So, one of the files was actually unzipped on the old Mac, itself.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

As stated, there is only 1 partition on the computer with Mac OSX 10.2 on it which the computer is booted into, that is why you can't Erase it. 
The Tiger disc, should be a DVD not a CD.
To burn the Tiger disc, you need a *.dmg *file which is a Mac OS Image File. this can only be opened on a Mac. Using _Disk Utilities_, you can Burn the *.dmg* file to a DVD. But the iMac probably doesn't have a Super Drive (ie) DVD Burner. so it would be best to burn it on another Mac.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-it-possible-to-burn-a-bootable-tiger-dvd.123353/


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

Will this differ from the original factory 10.4.4, Tiger DVD that I've already tried installing without success?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Go to the Apple Logo on the upper left of the toolbar, click *About This Mac*, Click *More Info *scroll down to CD/DVD drive, make sure the drive in the computer is a combo CD/DVD drive, it may only be a CD Burner/Reader. In which case it won't open your Tiger DVD.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

manhattanman said:


> The Tiger CD didn't load successfully and I couldn't browse its contents.
> 
> I unzipped and burned all 4 files using CyberLink Power2Go 11.


The CD drive is probably defective or the CD did not burn properly. The .toast image was created using Roxio Toast on Mac OS and the same program and OS should be used to burn it to CD. Tiger is also available in a set of 4 CDs, whose images you've already downloaded from that site. You just need to burn them in the right way, i.e using Toast and burning at the slowest speed supported by the CD-R media you're using. If done correctly, CD 1 should be loaded and usable as a startup disc, i.e it will be bootable. If the CD drive is also a CD writer, you can use it to burn the toast images after you buy and install Toast on the currently booting 10.2. If the drive is failing, you'll have to replace it with another IDE DVD writer.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm referring to the M5521. It only has its original CD reader.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

You say the CD drive may be defective but I've successfully installed 2 different WiFi drivers using the original CD drive. They're both shown in files.

Also, that drive unzipped one of my OS CDs using the installed Stuffit program. As stated, it took 40 minutes.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

manhattanman said:


> You say the CD drive may be defective but I've successfully installed 2 different WiFi drivers using the original CD drive. They're both shown in files.
> 
> Also, that drive unzipped one of my OS CDs. As stated, it took 40 minutes.


In that case burn the Tiger toast image(s) as advised, i.e on Mac OS using Toast and at the slowest speed.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

manhattanman said:


> I'm referring to the M5521. It only has its original CD reader.


Some M5521 models had a DVD-ROM drive. There also was a time-limited DVD exchange program, so it MAY actually have a DVD drive, but if you've confirmed this then no worries. Does it also have the original 64MB RAM? If so, it won't be able to run Tiger (256MB minimum, but can run painstakingly on 128MB).


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

The files were copied and burned from the (ftp) "toast" option in Macintosh Garden. This was done using the CyberLink Power2Go 11 program. The Mac OS was moved back to 9.2 for the operation. Because nothing completed, several additional operations were attempted as shown in the attachments. Nothing completed successfully. Now, as shown, I can't eject CD #1. It's stuck in the drive bay.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

manhattanman said:


> The files were copied and burned from the (ftp) "toast" option in Macintosh Garden. This was done using the CyberLink Power2Go 11 program. The Mac OS was moved back to 9.2 for the operation. Because nothing completed, several additional operations were attempted as shown in the attachments. Nothing completed successfully. Now, as shown, I can't eject CD #1. It's stuck in the drive bay.


You still don't get it. When I said you need to burn the downloaded .toast images using Toast, I was not talking about the download options available on that site (http, ftp, mirror). The file linked to is the same, regardless of the download option you choose. You've already downloaded the 4 Tiger CDs, haven't you? They are zip files containing .toast images which as I've said, were created using Roxio Toast (a popular cd burning software for Mac OS) and therefore you should also buy, install and use Roxio Toast to burn them to CD. That's the only guaranteed way of burning the images to make the CDs bootable. 

Power2go is another CD burning software, but it's for Windows and it does not support burning toast images to disc. The toast format is very similar to iso and some Windows burning software will claim to support it, such as PowerISO, but they don't fully support the toast format and therefore the burned discs will miss some format-specific data such as being bootable. If in Power2go you simply copied the toast images onto discs, and therefore the CDs each contain a single file with a .toast extension, then you did not burn the images the way they're supposed to be burned and they won't be bootable no matter what you do. Now, you can do the right thing or you can keep trying your own things hoping for success.

Close all of those open windows and dialogs and try ejecting the disc. It may be locked by a running process. If the disc is not spinning, you can eject it using a straightened paperclip inserted into the tiny hole in the drive's tray. The CD getting stuck inside can also be signs of a defect drive. It doesn't matter if it succeeded to read a cd containing wifi drivers. Malfunction drives often behave inconsistently before completely crapping out.

If it still isn't clear, here's what you need:
A Mac OS PC with a functional CD writer and the Roxio Toast application bought and installed from the store. Open Roxio Toast, choose the Copy option, select image file, point it to the CD 1 .toast image file and burn at the slowest speed. Repeat the same for the other three .toast files to make a total of 4 discs. CD 1 can then be used to boot the PC and start the Tiger installation IF the pc meets the requirements. Did you even see my question about how much ram it has?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

To Eject a disc in 9.2, Restart the computer and right after the chime hold down the Left Mouse button, this should eject the disc. If not here are some other ideas: https://www.mactrast.com/2012/10/how-to-force-eject-a-stuck-cd-or-dvd/


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

Yes, I saw your question about installed RAM. It has one 512 MB and another 256 MB card installed. A total of 768 MBs. The machine has a one GB capacity.

I have very little experience using Mac products. This explains my ignorance regarding some of these issues. It's a whole different animal.

As to using another Mac computer to access the Roxio Toast application, I'll need to setup one of my other Macs. I have a Mac Mini and a Mac Pro tower that can be used but I'll need to get them in order. Probably by sometime next week.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

Are options on the linked site a viable alternative? They can be used on Microsoft OSs.

https://www.tipard.com/dvd-solution/roxio-toast.html


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

This discusses which Macs can be upgraded to OSX 10.4 and the hardware requirements. 
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2541


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