"OS X can't be installed on this disk. OS X isn't installed." Trying to install El Capitan on a new HDD.

I bought a new Seagate hard drive, formatted the drive "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", downloaded InstallMacOSX.dmg from the Apple Support page, and opened "Install OS X." It says


OS X can't be installed on this disk. OS X isn't installed.


Yes, I know that OS X isn't installed on the HDD. That's what I'm trying to do!


Disk Utility now says that the Seagate drive is formatted "OS X Extended."


Both drives are in an external USB 4-bay enclosure.


Any suggestions what to do?





Mac Pro, OS X 10.11

Posted on Oct 12, 2021 5:41 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 12, 2021 9:58 PM

When you open the InstallOSX.dmg you will get the InstallOSX.pkg.

Opening that you will see an installation window.

The installation window does not install Mac OS X El Capitan.

(the text in the box says it will take about 14MBs of disk space

and the process takes two minutes, no OS only takes up 14MBs

and only two minutes to complete).


When this installation window asks you where you want to 'install' to you must pick

the disk you are currently booted to, not the new disk you want El Capitan on.


Select the disk you are booted to and press Continue, what this process actually

does is create the Install OS X El Capitan.app in your Application folder, it will be

6.2GBs in size. Double click on that to install El Capitan, the installer prompts will

ask you where you want to install El Capitan, this is where you select your newly

formatted drive.


The installation should take about 15 to 30 minutes to complete and will use about 25-35GBs of disk space.


After the installation the installer app self deletes, before installing you can make a copy of it for safe keeping,

or create a bootable USB flash drive installer using these instructions.


How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support (UK)

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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 12, 2021 9:58 PM in response to Thomas Kehoe

When you open the InstallOSX.dmg you will get the InstallOSX.pkg.

Opening that you will see an installation window.

The installation window does not install Mac OS X El Capitan.

(the text in the box says it will take about 14MBs of disk space

and the process takes two minutes, no OS only takes up 14MBs

and only two minutes to complete).


When this installation window asks you where you want to 'install' to you must pick

the disk you are currently booted to, not the new disk you want El Capitan on.


Select the disk you are booted to and press Continue, what this process actually

does is create the Install OS X El Capitan.app in your Application folder, it will be

6.2GBs in size. Double click on that to install El Capitan, the installer prompts will

ask you where you want to install El Capitan, this is where you select your newly

formatted drive.


The installation should take about 15 to 30 minutes to complete and will use about 25-35GBs of disk space.


After the installation the installer app self deletes, before installing you can make a copy of it for safe keeping,

or create a bootable USB flash drive installer using these instructions.


How to create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support (UK)

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"OS X can't be installed on this disk. OS X isn't installed." Trying to install El Capitan on a new HDD.

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