Snow Leopard will not install on MacBook Pro (1st gen)

Question

Level 1

0 points

Snow Leopard will not install on MacBook Pro (1st gen)

I'm having a problem installing Snow Leopard on my 1st gen. MacBook Pro. I am running OS X 10.4.11 on a 1.83 GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM installed.

I am able to get as far as the "Installing.." screen, but after a couple of minutes, the process stops and displays the error log.

I am not super familiar with error logs but I have picked out a few items that I think may give insight as to why SL won't install. Here are some items that have popped up in the log:

CFGetHostUUIDString: unable to determine UUID for host. Error: 35

and more recently, after 5 attempts:

localhost Unknown[80]: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain

Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=30 "The operation couldn‚Äôt be completed. Read-only file system")

I am completely stumped and have not found anything on the internet or these pages relating to this phenomena.

Thanks for looking...

j.m.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1.83 GHz 2GB RAM

Posted on Jan 13, 2010 7:16 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

musicwind95

Level 4

1,282 points

Jan 13, 2010 8:13 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

Try using the install disc to repair permissions.

Reply

Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Jan 13, 2010 8:29 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

Does the Snow Leopard disc look like

*

If it doesn't it won't install on a first generation MacBook Pro.

Does it say anything about Upgrade, DropIn, Update, or OEM?
If it does, then it won't install on a first generation MacBook Pro.

If neither applies and your data is backed up, are you attempting an erase and install, or an update and install?

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Reply

Answer 3

j.m. Steiner Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 13, 2010 8:33 AM in response to musicwind95

Try using the install disc to repair permissions.

I want to try this but I have no means of backing up. Can repairing permissions corrupt data on the startup disk?

j.m.

Reply

Answer 4

j.m. Steiner Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 13, 2010 8:36 AM in response to a brody

The disc looks as pictured...and the others don't apply.
I am trying to update and install.

j.m.

Reply

Answer 5

Jan 13, 2010 8:48 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

Always back up your data, especially before installing the OS. At least make a direct copy of your important files onto an external drive.

Reply

Answer 6

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Jan 13, 2010 9:10 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

Can repairing permissions corrupt data on the startup disk?

Not directly, but repairing permissions from the wrong disc, can lead to a system which can't boot a CD, because the boot instructions on the hard disc can get corrupted, and the hard disc is accessed before the internal DVD-ROM.

Using data recovery software to recover to a second hard drive if your system can't boot is the first suggestion before attempting to upgrade your system*:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html#RECOVER

You should only upgrade healthy systems that are backed up. Otherwise attempt to restore your system to a working condition first.

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Reply

Answer 7

j.m. Steiner Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 13, 2010 9:21 AM in response to a brody

You should only upgrade healthy systems

Barring the fact that I need to backup my current system...how do I know it is "healthy"? What can I do to make it so?

j.m.

Reply

Answer 8

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Jan 13, 2010 9:50 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

The system isn't too full.
The system doesn't have crashes.
The system is working well for applications and drivers that are known to be compatible with it.
The system isn't behaving too slowly.

Reply

Answer 9

j.m. Steiner Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 13, 2010 3:47 PM in response to j.m. Steiner

I have repaired the disk permissions, using the disk utility installed with 10.4.11. When I attempted to repair permissions with the SL disc, the repair permission button was "grayed" out.

I attempted, again, to install SL...but it has been as unsuccessful as before. What is my next step?

j.m.

Reply

Answer 10

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Jan 14, 2010 6:12 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

As I said:

1. If you can't boot into Tiger, use a data recovery tool to backup your data*:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html#RECOVER

2. If you can boot into Tiger, get a backup software to backup your data*:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

3. Then we can talk installation of Snow Leopard, and not before then.

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Reply

Answer 11

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Jan 14, 2010 6:56 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

a brody is giving you exactly the same kind of advice I would. There's obviously something wrong with your system and until we know what it is, installing Leopard must take a back seat. In your situation I wouldn't even begin to take another step until my data was safe so backing up really should be the first priority.

Having backed up, to be honest, I'd be tempted to format the drive and start over after running a full hardware diagnostics test run. Install Snow Leopard, reinstall software, then restore data. The error messages you received are odd, I've never seen some of them, but others seem to point to a drive that has issues.

Reply

Answer 12

direwolf8

Level 4

1,280 points

Jan 14, 2010 9:16 AM in response to j.m. Steiner

Is your target drive formatted with a GUID partition?

Reply

Answer 13

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Jan 14, 2010 9:50 AM in response to direwolf8

Direwolf's point is good, however, I would not be checking on the formatting until after my data is backed up. You risk losing everything if you make a mistake trying to view the formatting. Please backup or recover your data first. Take it as a word from the wise. Even I've lost data, and only a backup solved my problems.

Reply