How to Convert a MacOS X 10.5 Leopard Upgrade DVD into a Retail MacOS X 10.5 Leopard
This post was published 2 years 2 months 23 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.
Recently buying a few new Macs I found that Apple bundles a special crippled “drop in” Leopard upgrade disc that requires an installation of MacOS 10.4 on your Mac. Considering that I format my Macs right out of the box this crippled upgrade DVD doesn’t really work for me – which then forces me to purchase a retail copy of Leopard. Hardly fair!
Here is how to convert that crippled MacOS X 10.5 Leopard “Drop In” DVD into a regular retail MacOS X 10.5 Leopard DVD. Mind you this is NOT TO be used for any illegal distribution and should only be used within your “fair use” rights of your licensed media.
- Put your licensed Leopard Disk in DVD Drive
- Start Disk Utility
- In Disk Utility Select New Image
- The New Image Dialog will pop up. Leave everything at default setting and set Volume Size to “8.0 GB (DVD+R DL)”
- Select the Leopard DVD on the side pane of the Disk Utility and Click Restore
- Set the source as the Leopard DVD and destination as the Newly Created Disk Image
Now wait. This process will take a VERY long time.
- After it is done, eject the DVD
- Now you must show some hidden files on your Mac. To do that you will need to open your Terminal (in your utilities folder) and type the following commands:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles True
- Press Return then type in the next command:
Killall Finder
- Press Return
- Go into the newly created Leopard Image on your desktop
- Navigate to /Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System/Installation/CDIS/
- Right-Click on “Mac OS X Installer” and Click on Show Package Contents
- In the New Window goto Contents/Resources and DELETE the “CheckForOSX” File
- Now just rename the DMG Volume to Mac OS X Install DVD using the Get Info Dialog
- Now burn this image
Thats it now your crippled upgrade DVD is the equivalent to a retail DVD.
Thank you to faithful reader TIM for sending in this tip!
Hmmm…
I’ve yet to come across a Leopard Drop-In DVD which ISNT a full, retail copy of Leopard.
To date, I’ve never seen a Leopard Drop-In DVD asking for a pre-installed version of OSX, 10.4 or otherwise.
…there’s also an alternative way to do it:
1) Insert your Leopard Drop-In
2) Open disk utility
3) Select the Leopard DVD (not the Device, the DVD) in the left hand pane
4) Hit on “New Image”
5) The image format should be “DVD/CD Master”, with no Encryption
6) Choose a save location, and go!
It’s as easy as that, hope this helped.
DISCLAIMER: THIS METHOD IS NOT TO BE USED FOR ILLEGAL PURPOSES. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Why do you format your Macs upon purchase? Dude, its not a Dell.
@Tom. Probably just to be safe. I format mine because the store I used to purchase them from (until they closed, now I purchase from Apple Online Store) because they used to set them up and install the updates.
I liked to set them up with my .Mac straight away and watch the pretty movie.
Wow, I was actually in the same situation when my MacBook came in recently. Thanks for the tip, I probably should’ve figured it out myself.
I just upgraded from to Leopard using CPU Drop-in DVD (product # 22691-6040-A) a few minutes ago and I was just thinking about how I would have preferred to do a clean wipe-and-install.
Next time I’ll try this, thanks!
Thankx! My drop-in dvd DOES require a pre-installed version of OSX, 10.4, so this is helpfull!
“I’ve yet to come across a Leopard Drop-In DVD which ISNT a full, retail copy of Leopard.
To date, I’ve never seen a Leopard Drop-In DVD asking for a pre-installed version of OSX, 10.4 or otherwise.”
The Leopard Drop-In DVD ie upgrade DVD was issued to those owners who had bought a new Mac in the month prior to leopard’s launch at a knock down price.
The fact you do need a copy of 10.4 installed is a pain in the ass
Excuse me Dan, I don’t understand one thing. How i’m going to burn a dvd if the image is about 8 GB?! I can’t burn DVD of 8 GB, only for, isn’t? Is the only step that i don’t understand. Thanks very much.
Spidermac, from Barcelona.
I prefer to install it on an external HD and boot it off firewire. Great tutorial though!
hi, to do the same with the Tiger Upgrade DVD, which file would I need to delete? I didn’t find any “CheckForOSX” File.
spidermac this is what you need
http://www.verbatim-europe.com/index/product.php?cat_id=255&sub_cat_id=265&pid=8&lang_id=1
DVD+R Double Layer
Like Henning Harms, my Mac OS X Leopard CPU Drop-in DVD Version 10.5 doesn’t have the “CheckForOSX” File either. However, it does check for “OS X v10.4 or later” and on first attempt it says this “could not be found”. When I go back and try again it succeeds on all subsequent attempts.
@ GEOFF
look harder!!! you have to look for it manually!!!
Hello,
i tried this trick, but when it comes to deleting this checkforosx file, I go to ‘volumes’ as specified, but find 0 files in there…
Where did it go wrong?
thanx in advance,
schokkie
and even in the original dvd I find the folder ‘Volumes’ to be empty. How is that possible?
thanx in advance
schokkie
Hello,
You do not actually need to burn a DVD, just see this:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=380408
Enjoy,
Rexx
Guys. Check System/Installation/CDIS/Mac OS X Installer ….Click show contents…then you’ll find your file in there. HOpe this helps
I followed the steps mentioned above but could not find the CheckforosX-file, after looking around I found it in /System/installation/CDIS/ view package Os X installer:
Contents/resources.
Good luck
Hi,
First of all i want to thank you for the explanation.
Secondly i had a few questions abou the image.
In the first method by Dan, he mentions to make a image, but then something about restore, i dont seem to get that part.
The second method works fine for me, but should i delete the “CheckForOSX” file?
And how should i burn the image to a DL- dvd ?
thanks a lot for your help
Chris
Hi again,
I tried to make a image as mentioned in the first method.
I found the checkforosx file, but when i want to delete it it shows two messages:
1. Are you shure?
When i press OK, i get:
2. The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for ChecForOSX
any advice ?
thanks
chris
Hi again, I might have been misunderstood.
Can anybody point to where the checkforosx file is located on the TIGER Upgrade DVD?
Regards
Henning
On the TIGER Upgrade DVD I found the file here: System/Installation/Packages/Essentials.pkg/Contents/Resources/CheckForOSX
However I couldn’t delete the file. I get an error that I don’t have “sufficient privileges”
What can I do?
Regards
Henning
Hi now all my hidden files are showing all the time even when i do a restart :-(
Can someone please tell me what command do i use in the terminal to hide everything again and let my osx tiger look like it normally does.
thanks a million in advance.
Vince
Hi there…
In response to Dan’s tutorial I would like to ask a question. Instead of having to use the terminal to show the hidden files, couldn’t I just use some of those small freeware programs available that do the same job? The advantage for me as a Unix/Terminal ignorant would be that I could switch from showing the hidden files and hiding them again (I can see Vince has the problem of not being able to hide the files again).
Do I really have to use the terminal???
to hide the files again just type the same but replace true with no
Hi
i followed every step and the copied dvd seemed te be allright. Except it doesn’t appear to boot. When i open the dvd in Finder i can double click on Install OSX and then ‘restart’. The computer keeps booting from harddrive….? Also holding the ALT key during startup only shows my harddisk partitions (bootcamp/osx)
Did i forget to do some action to ensure wether the disc would be bootable….?
ALoha,
I’ve just installed Leopard on my PowerBook G4. It installs, restarts, but gives me a blank blue screen instead of a desktop. Multiple restarts don’t help. It appears to be a fast enough processor. Any suggestions? ( I’m glad I didn;t install on my working computer, I’d be up s creek without a paddle.)
Thanks,
HAns
So I was fooling around with a blank hard drive and upgrade leopard disc, somehow I was able to fool the computer (just through selecting options, I think i formatted the hard drive (erased it) and then I saw an “install leopard” here option and I did) so when it’s done I’m going to try it again.
Alright, I figured it out. Put the disc in, then erase the drive, then the “select a destination” comes up, click on the drive and click “options” and the option to “install mac os x for the first time” comes up, no upgrade necessary.
THIS IS ON MY UPGRADE ONLY DISC! Hope it works for you
You can do a “clean install” of Leopard with this DVD.. You can completely erase your HardDrive and install it from this DVD. The ONLY problem is you must have OS 10.4 installed to do this. It will scan for that first. Then you have the option to do a clean install, or exit out of the installer, running Disk Utility to format, then going back to the installer (it only checks the first time you run the installer.. not the last time). Doing a Clean install is an option with this DVD in the installing options.
All ok until i find the OSX installer in the system /installation/ CDIS/
But then: how do you “right click” witout a mouse?
I ve got the information on the file by selecting it and go to “file, get information” but didnt find the content/ resources to delete the ” check For OSX”
Where is that window? How to show this dialog box!!
Very frustrating to go to that very final point and be unable to do it.
Thanks for help!
Thierry
Self answer for my previous question:
1/Select file OSX installer
2/Right click = Ctrl Click : then the full menu appears with Show package contents/ resources and finally the ” check for OSX” which can be deleted by click and drag to the trash!
Many thanks Dan,
Thierry
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i believe you can fool the installer by backing up the library receipts folder of the root level.
macintosh hd library receipts.
then once the drive is blank copy the receipts folder to the same path.
blank disk library receipts.
also if you do a erase disk first you can get a fresh start without needing to install the retail first.
How to Convert a MacOS X 10.5 Leopard Macbook restore DVD into a Retail MacOS X 10.5 Leopard for install to my mac mini duo core 1.83Ghz?
Thanks
Hi Roberto; This is not possible. The architecture of the MacMini is quite different then your Macbook. The Installationdisc nr1 checks for the Modell-Identifier thats written onto the Motherboard of your Mac. The software on a OEMversion-disc is different on every other MacModell. For an upgrade from Tiger to Leopard you mostly can only use the retailversion of Leopard. You can check yourself for which models your Installationdisc is suitable. The printed text on the disc is very confusing about the model it is exactly ment for. However if you can reveal the hidden files on the disc you can also see for which Mac it is intended to work. If you try it on another Mac the well-known message: “This software cannot be installed on this computer” will appear. If you want to know the specific details about all the involved details: send me an email. It’s my hobby to collect all kind of Installationdiscs from Apple Computers. I use them to help other people with it.
Greetings from Germany / the Netherlands macfan55 at g o o g l e dot c o m