So I had a lot of traffic and comments on my previous entry about how to install Leopard from an ISO without burning a DL-DVD. With that, the number one question everyone has been asking me is, “Can you an iPod to install Leopard?” and the answer is an astounding Yes! Follow these steps to use your iPod.Prerequisites:

• You must have an iPod with 8GB (that means 8GB iPod Nano, any HD based iPod, etc)
• Note: the iPod Touch + iPhone will not work for this. You need to have a click-wheel iPod that supports Disk Mode
• A Leopard ISO

UPDATED: 11/18/2007Important Notes:

• Intel based Macs can only boot from USB devices using the GUID partition scheme (this means 5G iPods, 2 & 3G iPod Nanos)
• PowerPC (PPC) based Macs (ie G3, G4, G5 Processors) can only boot using Firewire devices using the Apple Partition Map scheme (all firewire iPods) 
• I have had a lot of people have random problems when restoring the disc image to the iPods. Please make sure you have an exact image of the Install DVD. If there are any inconsistencies, there will be problems restoring the image. Please check the checksum of the images.

Procedure:

1. Reset your iPod and force it into Disk Mode – Press and hold Menu + Center until you see the Apple logo. Then Press and Hold Center + Play/Pause. The screen should turn to gray-scale and show “OK to Disconnect” (circa old old ipods).
2. Connect the iPod to your computer (do not use a USB hub if possible).
3. iTunes will launch automatically and probably start syncing. Make sure “Enable Disk Use” is checked on the settings for iTunes and press Sync one more time.
4. Quit iTunes and launch the Activity Monitor and quit the iTunes Helper.
5. You should still see the iPod listed on your desktop as a mounted drive. If you don’t see the iPod mounted on the desktop, return to step 1.
6. Open Disk Utility
7. Select the iPod (the top one, mine is labeled 74.5 GB Apple iPod Media) then select the Partition tab.
8. Change the selection from “Current Partition Scheme” to “1 Partition”. Click on Options and select GUID Partition Table and press OK. (NOTE: If you are going to use a PowerPC based Mac, ie G4 or G5, you need to select Apple Partition Map here. GUID is for Intel Macs ONLY)
9. Give the Partition a name and select Partition. The system will ask you to authenticate.
10. Click on the Restore tab and drag the iPod partition to the Destination field
11. Drag the Leopard image file to the Source field and press Restore. 
12. Once complete, open System Preferences and go to the Start up Disk option. Make sure you see the iPod listed there. Select the appropriate drive and click restart.   
13. Install Leopard!

** If you are using a PowerPC Based Mac (G4, G5), you must use the Startup Disk utility in System Preferences to select the startup volume and reboot from this tool. Notes:

• It’s really important the iPod stay in Forced Disk mode. If you try and boot up the Mac with the iPod connected but not in Disk Mode, it won’t do anything

Video Guide: 

Full Resolution Quicktime MOV Because of the amount of feedback I get on this article, I am disabling comments on this post and would like to invite readers to discuss on the newly created forum, http://nickganga.com/forum. 

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