Installing Snow Leopard on MacBook Pro if DVD drive doesn't work

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Installing Snow Leopard on MacBook Pro if DVD drive doesn't work

My superdrive is very finicky, and I don't want to risk an install with it if it decides to kick the DVD out halfway through the install. Can I connect to my iMac and install VIA firewire? I tried this today but the install seemed to stall and wouldn't progress. I had to do a hard restart which I know neither machine liked very much. Ideas? Advice?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Mar 14, 2010 1:10 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

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Mar 14, 2010 2:03 PM in response to joshuahaines

You can connect them via Firewire cable. Both machines must be Intel models. Boot the MBP into Target Disk Mode. Boot the iMac from the OS X Installer DVD:

Booting From An OS X Installer Disc

1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

Proceed to the screen where you select the destination drive. Select your MBP's disk drive then click on the Option button. Select the Erase and Install option then click on the OK button. Complete your installation.

When finished Eject the MBP's disk drive from the iMac. Shut down the MBP and remove the Firewire cable.

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Answer 2

joshuahaines Author

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Mar 14, 2010 3:44 PM in response to Kappy

I do not get the option to erase and install, and trying the method you described resulted in the same problem I had before. The install clock counts down to zero then starts to tell me I have -1 minute remaining and keeps going down from there. And now, CS4 will not open on my MBP. Ideas?

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Answer 3

joshuahaines Author

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Mar 14, 2010 3:50 PM in response to joshuahaines

Now Disk Utility cannot repair the disk and is telling me to erase and reformat. Is this a wise option?

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Answer 4

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Mar 14, 2010 3:53 PM in response to joshuahaines

My superdrive is very finicky

Have you tried cleaning it with a drive cleaner disc?

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 14, 2010 6:29 PM in response to joshuahaines

Sorry, I thought you were installing Leopard. You need to do this:

Boot from your SL Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the Erase tab, set the format type to Mac OS Extended, Journaled, then click on the Erase button. After it finishes quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the installation.

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Answer 6

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

Mar 14, 2010 10:51 PM in response to joshuahaines

joshuahaines wrote:
Now Disk Utility cannot repair the disk and is telling me to erase and reformat. Is this a wise option?

Not until & unless you have a backup of at least your important files (typically most if not all of your user home folder). Better is to have made a bootable clone of your drive before doing any OS install, but that is probably not going to work if the drive already has problems.

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