Dec 24, 2018 It is also possible to burn this DMG file to a DVD or USB Pen Drive from Windows PCs using software like Transmac. Just in case you find any difficulty, check our video on converting macOS.app to bootable.dmg. How to convert macOS installer to iso format.
DMG is a disk image format for Mac just like an ISO file in Windows. That means, it is possible to mount a DMG file on a virtual disk or write it to a DVD and access its contents. A macOS installation package with DMG extension enables creating bootable installer DVDs. My first experience with burning a DMG file to DVD was actually on Windows, back in 2013, when Mountain Lion was the operating system. I accidentally formatted the hard disk of my iMac and lost the recovery partition in the process. The only option left for me was buying an OS X Lion Installer disc as the Internet Recovery required a lot of bandwidth and time. Later, I found a way to burn macOS DMG file to a bootable DVD on my Windows laptop. Eventually, I restored my iMac to OS X 10.8 using the same DVD as macOS installation disc.
Steps to burn DMG file to a bootable macOS DVD in Windows
This is about burning a Mac OS X installer in DMG format (InstallESD.DMG) to a DVD in Windows environment. Please note that it’s an old method applicable for Mac OS X Mountain Lion. However, the procedure is somewhat same if you download a compatible macOS High sierra or Catalina in DMG format for Transmac on Windows.
Let’s see the steps and requirements to achieve what you see in the video.
- Get macOS Installer in DMG format. (Check below for macOS High Sierra and Catalina)
- In the video we use OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion downloaded from the Mac app store. You could also find a copy from the Internet.
- Install the free Windows application 7-ZIP (download) to extract and locate InstallESD.DMG, which includes all files to form a bootable macOS DVD.
- Now, download and install TransMac version 12 (15-day trial) for Windows 10 from this link.
- Run Transmac app as administrator, by right-clicking on its icon.
- Click on the File tab at the top, and select the option “Open Disk Image” to load macOS installer DMG file to the software.
- Find the DMG file loaded on the left side, right-click on it and choose to burn it to DVD.
- Once you write InstallESD.DMG file to DVD on Windows, load it to a Mac and start it.
- Press the Option key and select the listed DVD as your installation source.
The macOS High Sierra and Catalina DMG files have a size around 5.8 and 8 GB. For this file size you need a dual-layer (8.5 GB) DVD. Alternatively, if your Mac doesn’t have a DVD drive, You may consider making a macOS USB installer disk.
Make a macOS install DVD in Windows PC from DMG/ISO image
Apple has changed the file architecture of the macOS installer from OS X Mavericks 10.9. Hence, you cannot follow the above-given technique to directly extract InstallESD.DMG in Windows and make it a bootable DVD in newer macOS variants like Catalina and High Sierra. It is possible to locate InstallESD.DMG or Basesystem.DMG from the ‘Shared Support’ folder inside macOS installation package ending with .APP extension, but still, you cannot make it bootable for a USB or DVD.
A workaround for this problem is to create the DMG file in a Mac itself from the official macOS installer. However, most people searching for methods to burn macOS DVD on Windows don’t have a Mac in working state. We have converted macOS Catalina, Mojave and High Sierra app to DMG format for such users.
This upload is hosted on OneDrive for quick and easy downloads. Although Mojave is the newest macOS release, it is not compatible with older iMacs and MacBook Pros. Hence, we also provide High Sierra in DMG format for those who want it. For personal use on your Mac only. We will set an expiry date for the download link to prevent leaching and hot-linking.
Convert the downloaded macOS Mojave or High Sierra DMG to ISO or IMG
You may want macOS in ISO or IMG format if Transmac doesn’t work as expected to create Install DVD from DMG. It is also useful for running MacOS on Virtualbox.
Download DMG to IMG 1.6.7.
Extract the tool to the folder where you have macOS Mojave or High Sierra DMG installer. Then, right-click and open the DMG file and point to the DMG2IMG program. The conversation starts immediately, showing the progress in a command-line interface.
Windows 10 natively support mounting or burning files with ISO and IMG extensions. Hence, IMG is just enough for the purpose if burning DMG to DVD in Windows PC is the sole requirement. to do this, right-click on the IMG file and pick the option “bun to DVD disc,” and follow the instructions.
We also have an article on how to convert macOS to ISO on Mac and Windows.
Alternative options to burn DMG in Windows 10 without DVD drive.
If you have I an old iMac or MacBook Pro with a DVD slot, you may use the above method to restore macOS through a bootable DVD installer created from a DMG source. However, as you know, none of the new Macs has an optical drive. Let’s check out a few alternatives.
- Format a USB Drive to GPT partition scheme in Windows. Next, restore the macOS Mojave or High Sierra DMG using Transmac.
- Get a portable DVD writer to boot into macOS installer.
External hard disks also work well for this requirement provided the file system is in the HFS+ format with GUID partition scheme.
Burn DMG to DVD in macOS Catalina 10.15
Looking for a way to burn the Catalina or High Sierra DMG Installer on your Mac computer? Here is the simplest and universal method to write files with DMG extension to DVD disc on macOS.
Right-click on the DMG file. Now, as shown in the screenshot, choose the option ” Burn Disk images to Disc.” Then, select the options as required. Keep the burning speed at the lowest rate to avoid write errors, although chances are rare.
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BurnDMG file
DMG files are Mac OSX disc image file. It is commonly used on Mac OSX system, just like ISO file on Windows. Most of Mac OSX software are packed into a dmg file, which can be mounted as a volume within the OSX Finder, thus you can install the software without using a physical disc. AnyBurn can extract dmg file, convert dmg file to iso format, or burn dmg file to a new disc directly. To burn a DMG file, please follow the below steps,
1. Run AnyBurn, then click 'Burn image file to disc'.
2. The 'Burn image file' page will show. You can select the source DMG file by clicking 'Browse' button. The burning drive list will list all writers connected to the computer, please select the correct one from the list if multiple writers are connected.
The default burning speed is the maximum speed allowed. You can select a slower speed from the speed list if needed.
Check the option 'Verify written data' if you want to compare the data written to the new disc with the original data to make sure that the new disc is readable, and all files are identical with the source files.
Click 'More settings...' if you want to change other settings, such as simulation burning, setting number of copies, or burning to multiple drives at once.
Click 'Burn Now' to start burning the DMG file.
3. AnyBurn will start burning DMG file to the disc. If the disc is rewritable and not empty, anyburn will prompt you to erase the disc automatically before burning.
AnyBurn will show the progress information during burning. After the burning completes, you should see the message, 'Burning completed successfully'. If 'Verify written data' option is set, and data verifying completes successfully, you should see the message, 'Verifying media completed successfully'.