Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MP All Models I believe in a second Chance Mac Pro

L

Lizzy85

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 10, 2024
21
2
Hi everyone,
I strongly believe that in life you should give yourself a second chance.
in this specific case I found this Mac in the landfill near my house. I couldn't resist and took it home. I'll show you two photos.
I tried it at home and realized that it started with Windows 10. Don't ask me how, but with a series of random key combinations I managed to enter the Mac OS X screen and create an account to delete the bootcamp partition. That's where the problems begin. The Mac only boots in recovery mode. I can't install the Mac OS version from the internet. I always find the same 403 error if I'm not wrong. tried many times to set date, and check the Internet connection was ok. always had the same problem to verify id apple
also I had problem to create a usb boot image, the reason? I Had always the same recovery screen on Mac
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0427.jpg
    IMG_0427.jpg
    336.5 KB · Views: 121
Last edited:
According to MacTracker, this should be a MacPro 2010 I was wrong; it's an early 2008 model (h/t to

tsialex). Here's the changed information:​


1. Redact the serial number in your pictures.
2. That RAM is a strange amount (5GB)? What's the RAM Configuration like? Did you run a hardware test on it? Read this https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8405642?sortBy=best on how to run a hardware test.
3. This should work with MacOS Lion. You should be able to make a MacOS Lion boot stick by following the instructions at https://www.lifewire.com/create-bootable-flash-drive-os-x-lion-installer-2260350 - assuming you have a Macintosh. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/106383 for a download of MacOS Lion

From there you should be able to update to 10.13. I don't know what video card you have or if it's metal compatible. The latest version of MacOS it can run is Mac OS X 10.11, but the earliest is Mac OS X 10.5.2

I *DO NOT* believe Internet Recovery works on this machine, and therefore you can't go online and pull down the latest version. But the link to MacOS Lion should work.
 
Last edited:
Justan Expat th so much..here the answer:
1)Redact the serial number in your pictures.
2)here the picture of the ram... I didn't do an hardware test on it.
3) I use to create a boot stick balena etcher with an iso od Mac OS lion. the problem Is when I push option + alt I hade a scree of recovery mode.
IMG_0452.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0453.jpg
    IMG_0453.jpg
    773.3 KB · Views: 54
Last edited:
Happy to ear some news info.... so is right install Mac OS leopard on the usb? I think that some ram is broke.. see the second image
:confused:
 
Lizzy85 said:
Happy to ear some news info.... so is right install Mac OS leopard on the usb? I think that some ram is broke.. see the second image
:confused:
Click to expand...
I think one of the 1GB sticks is broken. I don't know which one is broken though. But yes, install a copy of MacOS Lion (NOT Leopard - it'll require a machine specific version of Leopard) to a USB stick and install it that way.
 
JustAnExpat said:
I think one of the 1GB sticks is broken.
Click to expand...
yeah I think the same. One question.. Is it possible if I extract the HDD the Mac run? I need this information to bypass the old Hard disk and install a new one with the usb image.
 
Lizzy85 said:
yeah I think the same. One question.. Is it possible if I extract the HDD the Mac run? I need this information to bypass the old Hard disk and install a new one with the usb image.
Click to expand...
I can't see any reason why you can't extract the HDD and physically connect it to another Mac or MacBook. You can use the disk as an external drive on a modern MacBook with an SATA to USB connector. You will need to know the user account's password though. You can also format the drive as well - if you want.

You will not be able to install a copy of MacOS from your new to the HDD, if that's the idea. You will need to make a USB drive with a copy of MacOS on it, which the computer will read as basically a fast DVD.
 
I badly explained myself. in this mac there is the disk with mac os I was able to log in and create an administrator profile. in doing so I deleted the Bootcamp partition that started Windows 10 as startup. Now I can't log in with my user, I only have the recovery screen
 
Lizzy85 said:
I badly explained myself. in this mac there is the disk with mac os I was able to log in and create an administrator profile. in doing so I deleted the Bootcamp partition that started Windows 10 as startup. Now I can't log in with my user, I only have the recovery screen
Click to expand...
If you remove the hard drive and connect it to a laptop using a SATA to USB-C Cable (like this: https://shopee.co.th/USB-C-3.1-Cabl...39&xptdk=52561a81-7680-4446-a76e-a38fd5458939) It should mount the disk. When you navigate to the home folder on the disk, it will prompt for the user name and passport, and you'll enter that information. You can then copy or move the files from the hard drive to the computer's drive.
 
Lizzy85 said:
Justan Expat th so much..here the answer:
1)Redact the serial number in your pictures. :xxxxxxxxxxxx
Click to expand...
Redact means to remove. Please edit your photos and your posts so that the serial number is no longer seen by people. It can be used against you.
 
leifp said:
Redact means to remove. Please edit your photos and your posts so that the serial number is no longer seen by people. It can be used against you.
Click to expand...
done.... sorry...I"m a noobie.... now I had problem ton create form dmg a usb bootable
 
at the moment when I try to power on the Mac, no lights on muose, and keyboard... only blink the white light of power. Not able to go in recovery mode this morning was working..after I had clean the Ram and pull it again...
Diag button
led 2 yellow stby
led 8 green when power is on
 
Last edited:
Create a USB installer as follows as you can't just burn an install DMG to a USB and run such:
  1. Go to https://support.apple.com/HT211683 and download Mountain Lion
    1. Mountain Lion gives you an improved version of Lion
    2. Mountain Lion gives you what Mavericks, often preferred, gives
    3. Mountain Lion is readily available directly from Apple (unlike Mavericks)
    4. Mountain Lion is natively supported by your MP31, which is best for setup
  2. Go to https://gist.github.com/dakanji/1ab88389c7aaffe4b156db9741687b3a download the script file
    1. Follow the instructions at the top of the script file to create a USB installer
  3. Installation Options
    1. If you can connect a blank disk to another Mac, install Mountain Lion there using the other Mac
      1. Transfer the disk to the MP31 once done
    2. If not, remove all disks from the MP31 apart from a blank target disk and the Mountain Lion USB installer
      1. The MP31 will search through all options until it finds that the USB stick is the only bootable option available and loads it
      2. This can take a while to happen
  4. WIth only the Mountain Lion disk connected, do a "deep" nvRAM reset by starting the MP31 and holding the COMAND, OPTION, P and R keys down until you hear the chime four times
    1. Use a Mac compliant keyboard directly connected to the MP31
Let us know if you can't install or boot and things can be taken from there
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: leifp
Dayo said:
Create a USB installer as follows as you can't just burn an install DMG to a USB and run such:
  1. Go to https://support.apple.com/HT211683 and download Mountain Lion
    1. Mountain Lion gives you an improved version of Lion
    2. Mountain Lion gives you what Mavericks, often preferred, gives
    3. Mountain Lion is readily available directly from Apple (unlike Mavericks)
    4. Mountain Lion is natively supported by your MP31, which is best for setup
  2. Go to https://gist.github.com/dakanji/1ab88389c7aaffe4b156db9741687b3a download the script file
    1. Follow the instructions at the top of the script file to create a USB installer
  3. Installation Options
    1. If you can connect a blank disk to another Mac, install Mountain Lion there using the other Mac
      1. Transfer the disk to the MP31 once done
    2. If not, remove all disks from the MP31 apart from a blank target disk and the Mountain Lion USB installer
      1. The MP31 will search through all options until it finds that the USB stick is the only bootable option available and loads it
      2. This can take a while to happen
  4. WIth only the Mountain Lion disk connected, do a "deep" nvRAM reset by starting the MP31 and holding the COMAND, OPTION, P and R keys down until you hear the chime four times
    1. Use a Mac compliant keyboard directly connected to the MP31
Let us know if you can't install or boot and things can be taken from there
Click to expand...
Hello Dayo,
I have already prepared a USB with Mac OS mountain Lion using the Balena Etcher program(the program say that none create a partition on the usb..is a problem?). This is what's inside the flash drive.
Schermata 2024-05-12 alle 15.34.00.png

I have the possibility to connect a blank disk via USB on my Mac Book Pro 2016, but I need to understand how this thing works and if there is video to do that
I looked at the github in script... it's a mess. I would be happy if Mac OS mountain Lion started and then updated.Do you think there is something broken in the mac pro, or is it just a software problem?
the old hard drive connect external to another pc was empty... see the picture
Screenshot 2024-05-12 153202.png
 
Dayo said:
If unable to follow written instructions, get someone else to do it for you.
Click to expand...
ok Dayo is not a simple procedure to do fir a noobie girl.... this is mine question is it possible create an Hard drive with the os already installed? so on this way I insert it before turn on the Mac
 
OK. Create the USB installer as instructed and the disk to install on will be sorted out after.
As was written, you cannot just burn an installation dmg to a USB stick and use this.
Once you get the installer created, the next steps can be advised.
You need the USB installer created. No getting around this.

You need to use another Mac to create the installer.
Instructions are clearly written in the script file.
They are simple step-by-step actions.
 
Dayo said:
OK. Create the USB installer as instructed and the disk to install on will be sorted out after.
As was written, you cannot just burn an installation dmg to a USB stick and use this.
Once you get the installer created, the next steps can be advised.
You need the USB installer created. No getting around this.

You need to use another Mac to create the installer.
Instructions are clearly written in the script file.
They are simple step-by-step actions.
Click to expand...
is there a video on YouTube? I try to make the usb installer like the guide on GitHub
 
Lizzy85 said:
is there a video on YouTube?
Click to expand...
Please refer to my earlier post about following written instructions.
If this is something you just cannot do and cannot find someone to help with, then we have to leave it there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back