PianomanDave

Q: How do I do a clean Install on a an empty Hard Drive

I have  MacBook Pro 17"-Late 2011 with a hard drive that has some bad blocks.  Using "Recovery/Disk Utility" I erased the disk, hoping the bad blocks would be mapped and not used.   I then tried to re-install OS X.  It appeared to be downloading, but when I went back to it a few hours later, it was on the main screen and I could not find or initiate an installer.  I tried again and this time it hung up when it got to 1 hour and 0 minutes left.

 

I booted up on an external clone.  The internal hard drive is there and the partition I want is empty and seems ready for an install. I am trying to download the OS X installer  directly from the Apple site, hoping that it will give me an opportunity to use the Installer to Install to the empty hard drive.  I clicked Download and a timer started spinning in the upper left hand corner.  This has been unchanging for about 8 hours. The word Download never changed to Downloading and I can't tell whether it is doing anything or just has hung.

 

I have an iMac running OS X 10.11.4 and running fine.  I just went to the Apple site and downloaded the OS X Installer.  It downloaded  fairly quickly. It noted that I already had 10.11.4 installed, but said if I wanted to get the full installer to hit Continue. I did.  The Installer seems to have installed, but is now asking me where I want it installed.  I really don't want to install it here on anything in this computer. I just found the file "Install OS X El Capitan.app" in my Applications Folder.  I stopped the Install and have the copy of the Installer app.

 

Can I turn this into an Install disk and then install it on my MacBook Pro with the disk? Can I do it on a Flashdrive? 

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), 12 GB Ram

Posted on Apr 3, 2016 6:45 AM

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Q: How do I do a clean Install on a an empty Hard Drive

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Apr 3, 2016 7:05 AM in response to PianomanDave
    Level 10 (314,264 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 7:05 AM in response to PianomanDave

    Click here and use DiskMaker X.

     

    (141194)

  • by PianomanDave,

    PianomanDave PianomanDave Apr 3, 2016 8:04 AM in response to PianomanDave
    Level 1 (42 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 8:04 AM in response to PianomanDave

    I went to the link at <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372> for "Create a bootable installer of OS X".

     

    I had an 8GB USBFlashdrive. I followed the procedures for how to make a bootable install disk.

     

    Terminal initially erased the flash drive and renamed it "Install OS X El Capitan".It then went to a line that stated "copying installer files to disk..."


    The "Install OS X El Capitan.app" is listed as 6.21 GB.  If I double click the flash drive icon in  List mode, it shows a single item called "Install Os X El Capitan.app" that is 391.4 MB.  The window indicates there is 1 item and that there is 1.88GB available (from my 8GB flash drive).

    The  Terminal window just sits at


    Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 10.59.02 AM.png

    Activity Monitor lists  a Process SfntMonD as using 99.8%CPU and 10% WindowServer.


    Are things working correctly and the other files are being loaded as invisible files of the installer?


    Should I just wait until Terminal completes what it is doing and moves to the next message automatically?

  • by PianomanDave,

    PianomanDave PianomanDave Apr 3, 2016 8:09 AM in response to PianomanDave
    Level 1 (42 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 8:09 AM in response to PianomanDave

    Shortly after sending the last note, Terminal completed, made the disk bootable and completed its task.

     

    Now the flash drive indicates a single .app file with 6.21GB.

     

    BTY the webpage that gave me the information and EXACT wording to use in Terminal is

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

     

    Now to install my new OS on the Re-initialized hard drive.

  • by PianomanDave,

    PianomanDave PianomanDave Apr 3, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (42 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 3, 2016 8:11 AM in response to Niel

    Neil, Thanks.  But I was able to get this done using directions from Apple Support at

    Create a bootable installer for OS X - Apple Support