How do i install mac os onto macbook 5.2

Question

Level 1

4 points

How do i install mac os onto macbook 5.2

Hello everyone,

I'm needing help installing mac os on an old macbook. I've put a new hard drive in. I think the specs are

"Apple MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.13 13" (White-09) Specs Identifiers: Mid-2009 - MC240LL/A - MacBook5,2 - A1181 - 2330"

So i've tried the the normal keys "cmd option R" to open utilities menu and "cmd option P R" and a few others but i can't seem to open the utilities menu or any menu to install mac. I do see some people say hold option while booting the mac and that works if there's an ntfs drive inside.

So i also put a windows hard drive inside and it had windows 10 and the mac booted it with no problem. It's not meant to be able to that. I also tried plugging in a usb drive formatted as exfat but it's not picking it up.

I've also tried making a bootable usb with el captain dmg but it doesn't seem to pick up. I used transmac to format the usb and then copy the dmg to the usb. I'm unsure how to make high sierra bootable usb as my friend who had the mac download high sierra and it's folders , not a dmg file.

I can't seem to find what commands will work on this mac. I know this is old but I have been given this so i'm trying every possible way to get it to work. Any help would be appreciated.

p.s. what commands will work on this mac? Are there other buttons to press other than the ones mentioned above? I even tried going into the bios but the keys didn't work. Also when i boot the mac it boots to a white screen not apple logo. it was given to me by someone so i'm not sure if they've done something to it.

MacBook

Posted on Apr 26, 2022 3:52 AM

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Answer 1

my ginger

Level 5

4,910 points

Apr 26, 2022 10:25 AM in response to blanktheman

If the old hard drive is no longer bootable. You would need to start with a bootable dvd of Snow Leopard. Then it can be upgraded to El Capitan. If the old drive is bootable and you have a SATA to USB adapter. You can use recovery to the old drive to reinstall to the new drive. With a new drive installed booting to recovery or to internet recovery will not work.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support. Erase and reinstall macOS - Apple Support

I would like to know how you booted to Windows on a Mac? You have to have a Mac OS and Windows install by way of BootCamp. If you hold down the Option key while starting. It goes to a boot menu. Which if you have a Mac OS it will show. You cannot boot a Mac to Windows by itself.

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Answer 2

PeteB

Level 1

94 points

Apr 26, 2022 4:05 PM in response to blanktheman

blanktheman,

Apple provides instructions on how to download and install El Capitan on computers such as yours. You will find the instructions here: How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

There are also numerous Youtube videos on doing this exact thing.

For a separate link to download El Capitan: How to get old versions of macOS - Apple Support

There is also a program called DiskmakerX that used to be available, I'm not sure if it still is, that automates the process so you don' t have to use Terminal for making the USB drive.

I'm pretty sure you will need another Mac to do this process.

Pete

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Answer 3

blanktheman Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 26, 2022 11:34 AM in response to my ginger

thanks for the response. Do you know where i can try download Snow Leopard? have you got other weblinks, none of the links supplied help me as the mac os i need is old. I have searched for Snow Leopard but can't find a legit copy to download. Will OS X Yosemite be good enough? but it's bigger than a DVD

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Answer 4

blanktheman Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 27, 2022 10:41 PM in response to PeteB

PeteB as mentioned in my first post i do appreciate any help given. I tried those links you sent me already and it didn't help. That's why i made a post here in the apple forum.

If you have this youtube video link that shows a successful install please send it because i've already tried and it's not working for me. I'm in IT so i know how to search google and youtube but i haven't been successful.

I will try this DiskmakerX and see if i can make a bootable dvd or usb.

The main problem is that el captain has a dpkg file inside, i have tried extracting it and i do find the install**.dmg but it's very small and the websites i have searched on tell me to burn only that to dvd which makes no sense and i haven't gotten it working. I think it would be more helpful if you can tell me how to make a bootable dvd or usb with el captain? I'm hoping DiskmakerX is free and will actually do this. I made a bootable usb with transmac but the mac didn't even pick up the usb so my guess is the mac is too old and i'll have to make a dvd but most of the dmg files are too big to fit on a dvd.

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Answer 5

PeteB

Level 1

94 points

Apr 28, 2022 5:01 AM in response to blanktheman

Blank,

I have never used Transmac. I would suggest using Diskmaker X: https://diskmakerx.com/download/. On a Mac computer. El Capitan can be installed from an 8 or 16gig USB drive but not from a DVD as far as I know. I would forget about using a DVD.

Here is a video of how to use Diskmaker X. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Jj1-gFfJc

Use a Mac to do this.

Also, you cannot use High Sierra. El Capitan is the highest OS you can use on that computer.

Pete

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Answer 6

my ginger

Level 5

4,910 points

Apr 28, 2022 9:58 AM in response to PeteB

Due to the fact that you have replaced the hard drive and the age of your computer. You will need to start with a dvd of Snow Leopard. You cannot go directly to El Capitan. It will not let you install it. There is no internet install for that year computer. So Command Option R will not work. You would need to either buy a full install of Snow Leopard 10.6.3, or find a full install download to make a DVD or flash drive installer. Once you install Snow Leopard 10.6.3, you would first have to upgrade to 10.6.8. This is thru software update. Macintoshrepository.org has it for download. But you would have to create an account and because of the size of the download. You would need to give a donation to download it. If you used DiskMaker X you would need an older version of it. Which they have.

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