Introduction: How to Install Mac OS X Leopard From a Damaged DVD Using an IPod

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About: Eric J. Wilhelm is the founder of Instructables. He has a Ph.D. from MIT in Mechanical Engineering. Eric believes in making technology accessible through understanding, and strives to inspire others to learn …

I replaced the hard drive on a mac mini and needed to reinstall OS X. Unfortunately, my copy of the Leopard DVD would not boot the mini, or my MacBook Pro -- the computers both just spun it up and down multiple times before ejecting it and displaying the circle-with-a-slash symbol. On closer inspection, the DVD was scratched, but would still appear fine within finder. This is my work-around to install using an iPod.

Step 1: Make an Image of the DVD

Make an image (.dmg file) of the DVD. I did this through Disk Utility.

Step 2: Copy the DVD to an Ipod

Copy the DVD's image to an Ipod. Within Disk Utility, I erased an 8 GB Ipod, then restored it using the Leopard image.

Step 3: Boot From the IPod

Connect the iPod to the mac mini via USB, and boot the mini while holding down the option key. The Leopard install DVD iPod will appear; click on it to boot.

Step 4: Install Leopard

Install Leopard as normal.