Help - "Installation failed" Mac OSX could not be installed

Dear all -

As a fellow sufferer of this issue, I feel that the following information might be of use to some of you. I do not claim that it is a cure-all solution, but I will tell you what I did that led to my install working... finally!

After being told I needed a new hard drive and then new leopard disks - I thought I'd try some leftfield solutions before my new disks arrived.

a) With my old laptop hard drive, I decided to make use of it by putting it in a firewire caddy.

b) I then thought it'd be useful to install Tiger again (so I can actually use my laptop). So I did that, then I did ALL the updates required.

c) Then I though it'd be a laugh to have a go at installing Leopard on my firewire disk. Guess what? It installed!

d) Then I thought I'd have a go at installing Leopard on my laptop again. With the Firewire drive still plugged in, I ran an 'archive' type install of leopard. Unfortunately, I had to leave my office with my laptop - with just 10 minutes left to run - so I closed the case (this didn't put it to sleep). The install continued to run. Unfortunately, when I opened the lid again the machine had shut down.

e) Then I started the machine again - but it did not want to start. The boot menu couldn't see the drive - neither could the installer.

f) I booted off my firewire leopard and ran repairs on my internal drive using disk utility.

g) Then I ran the leopard install again. This time it worked fine.

I don't know if I'm being superstitious, but the only time it actually worked, my firewire drive was plugged in. I know that makes no sense in a logical frame... but sometimes computers are illogical.


Anyway, I hope this might be of some use to someone here... it's well worth trying if apple have been unable to come up with a reasonable solution for you!

Can you run a hardware test when you can't even get back to your own system? Like through disk utility or something?

In some of the other threads people have repeatedly had problems with the basesystem error. A lot of it is tracked down to the replacement RAM in machines although it's not consistent. I had the same problem as you:

iMac - 2 gigs of Crucial memory - refused to validate until replaced with original RAM - then installed in 15 mins
Macmini - 2 gigs of Crucial memory - installed no issues
Powermac G5 - 8 gigs of Crucial memory - installed no issues

So go figure - if you don't have original RAM it might be worth putting it back in (glad I didn't throw it)

Seems to me that Apple have a bug in their hardware checker.....

If you could please post your DVD drive type from the system profiler. I've read a number of people are having problems with their drives & the DVD. You could even post it to this thread I started (list of drives for those with disc/install problems). http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1206824&tstart=210

If you could please post your DVD drive type from the system profiler. I've read a number of people are having problems with their drives & the DVD. You could even post it to this thread I started (list of drives for those with disc/install problems). http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1206824&tstart=210

Sometimes its not the ram or the install DVD - because several people achieve a successful install via firewire target mode off another machine's DVD drive. That's why I'm compiling a list in that thread. See if yours in in there. If not please post it.

russiandude wrote:
Can you run a hardware test when you can't even get back to your own system? Like through disk utility or something?

*Apple Hardware Test* should on your original installer disks that came with your Mac. It is not an application but a model-specific mini OS. Typically, you insert the disk & hold down the "Option" key on restart & select it from the startup disk choices that appear, just as you would for any other disk with a startup OS on it. Usually, the disk that contains it has these instructions printed on the disk itself.

Note that your fan(s) will likely run at full speed throughout this process. That's because the fans are controlled in a "fail-safe" mode -- unless a full featured OS is running & tells them to slow down, they run at the default speed, which is wide open. There is nothing to worry about if this happens, but it can be unnerving unless you are ready for it.

I had a pretty new MacBook core 2 duo that failed install twice. After installing the prohibitory sign would be displayed on the screen. I Repartitioned and formatted the hard drive and then it installed without problems.

mobus wrote:
Seems to me that Apple have a bug in their hardware checker.....

Why? Because the OS can't reliably check the RAM it is using to check itself with? Even Apple Hardware Test, which is a special, model-specific mini-OS designed just for this purpose, can't always reliably find intermittent or marginal RAM. It is sometimes necessary to run purpose designed apps for as much as 24 hours (!!) to detect this kind of error. People are already complaining about how long the install takes -- imagine what would happen if the installer ran 24 hours before even starting the install itself!

The best & hands down fastest RAM test is to replace it with known-good sticks & see if anything changes. Unfortunately that isn't practical for most people, just like a 24 hour RAM test isn't.

I've got an intel MBP 17". I put in 2MB memory from Crucial and was worried about doing the 10.5 update with "non-standard" Apple memory.

It took about an hour, but no hitches. I went the upgrade path. Was worried about that, too...given the recommendations of others to do a back-up and re-install. I had to restart my cable modem and wi-fi, but once I did that, no problems getting on the net.

The only issue I did have was with my Lexmark 9350 AIO printer. Come to find out, Lexmark won't have drivers available 'till March '08. That's not an Apple problem, though. Even though the printer was almost a month old, I took it back to Circuit City for a full refund. Their store mgr said the Lexmark printer was the 4th returned THAT DAY, for the same incompatibility issues.

Fortunately, I had another older printer (Epson RX580) that's worked flawlessly with just the Apple drivers.

At least for me, good upgrade. No hassles really to speak of.

Actually using one of the other machines that managed to install Leopard, I made a disk image and then partisioned a drive and made a start up disk drive with leopard. So now, there was NO dc drive in the process. Went swimmingly well for about 35 to 40 minutes. then same problem.

Why at the top of this thread does it say that "This question is answered. "Helpful" answers available: 2 . "Solved" answers available: 1 ."

It is none of those things.

This problem is still NOT solved.

Some people have managed to overcome this issue by doing the extraordinary things to the install process. That is not a solution.

A solution in --> Problem = Install Failed. Solution. = Clean the disk or whatever. NOT reformat drive hundred times, stand on your head and then with one eye open, reinstall.

SteveBox wrote:
Why at the top of this thread does it say that "This question is answered.

Because the person who posted the original question has the right to mark the question answered & to mark up to two posts as helpful & one as solved to draw attention to them. Please read the help & terms of use link if you need more help understanding how this works.

Edsel,you are a star !!!

After numerous failed attempts,I did exactly this and finally got Leopard working on my G5 iMac.
I

Got exactly the same problem. Always with BaseSystem! Tried everything, nothing worked, always the same problem... It's really freaking me out, I've got no computer now! Apple really has to work on this problem

Not sure if Apple has even acknowledged that this particular problem exists. Blue screen of death yes. THis one, not that I am aware of. Don't hold your breath for them to sort it out. Take your mac into the shop with the disk and make it their problem...