Installing OSX on Mac Pro 3.1, first Mac

[Tech Tested]

First I need to start by saying this is my first Mac. I bought it from an e-scrap recycler. It is a Mac Pro 3.1 with dual xeons. It did not come with an operating system and I have no other macs to try and get a recovery bootable USB from. I know that the latest official supported OS is El Capitan. I got a .dmg file and have tried various programs to burn it to a USB using my Desktop PC. So far I have had no luck. Programs I have used are.

UUbyte dmg editor
Transmac
PowerISO

If anyone else has some tips it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[terry.mac]

Does Internet Recovery work?

Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support (EG)

Learn about the Mac features and tools that you can access by holding down one or more keys during startup.

support.apple.com

 

[Nermal]

There's no Internet Recovery on that machine.

You're probably better off getting the 10.6.3 DVD image and creating a real DVD. Install from that, then you can access the App Store and download a more recent OS officially.

 

[Tech Tested]

There's no Internet Recovery on that machine.

You're probably better off getting the 10.6.3 DVD image and creating a real DVD. Install from that, then you can access the App Store and download a more recent OS officially.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I advise you to consider using a dosdude1 patcher to install a later version of macOS. For one thing, that machine qualifies for his Catalina patcher and, for another, it's easy to get the necessary macOS installer application.

However, I don't have any tips on how to get that together without a running Mac to do it on.

dosdude1's Personal Web Server - Software

 

[StoneJack]

One possible way is to get the hard drive out of the Mac, install Mac OS on another Mac computer and then put it back in Mac. If you got Mac, of course, which is not a case. But I assume that you have a friend who could let you use his computer for a hard drive formatting and installation. It will take just few minutes.

Second way, you mentioned a desktop PC. While it is a major hassle, you can install Mac OS on that PC - its called Hackintosh, and on the Hackintosh, you can use a lot of various software to install Mac OS on Mac's drive. If you tell me what kind of PC you use, I could give you some ideas. There are two sites which will greatly help you with installing Mac OS on PCs, as well as readily assembled installers. That's much longer process, usually may take half a day and also depends on the PC hardware.

Finally, there is a way to make Mac installer on PCs - it is not easy but possible. You have to use apps like Clover for Windows, though I myself never tried it.

You can also update your Mac Pro later: mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766

First I need to start by saying this is my first Mac. I bought it from an e-scrap recycler. It is a Mac Pro 3.1 with dual xeons. It did not come with an operating system and I have no other macs to try and get a recovery bootable USB from. I know that the latest official supported OS is El Capitan. I got a .dmg file and have tried various programs to burn it to a USB using my Desktop PC. So far I have had no luck. Programs I have used are.

UUbyte dmg editor
Transmac
PowerISO

If anyone else has some tips it would be greatly appreciated.