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There was a problem installing Mac OS X

Hi there,


I have a problem with my macbook pro (2011 series).

I wanted to make a clean install of Lion so I burned the internal DMG of Lion (InstallESD.dmg) to a DVD (and to a pendrive, and to a partition).

Also, I check that the md5 sum of the file is correct (comparing with a friend)


Then I deleted all the partitions and I tried to install Lion, but didn't work.

There is an error in the instalation, before starting. "There was a problem installing Mac OS X. Try reinstalling".


In the install log there are two errors, but I think they are normal, because the instalation process want to find a partition with MacOS Server. The errors are:


Failed to locate volume with UUID AA438896-3641-B662-C0760B37587D

Couldn't find Mac OS X (Server) install data.


The HDD it's in good state (I passed the tests of the Disk Utility).


Now I have a very expensive stone :) without an OS, and I can't install anything on it, because the Lion Instalation DVD doesn't want to work and my DVD of Snow Leopard is 600 kilometers far away (not my lucky day ;) )


Any ideas?


Thank you!!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 24, 2011 12:43 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 24, 2011 6:13 PM

Here's the crucial bit. I got myself into this boat. After wiping my entire drive, I wondered "HOW can it possibly be finding any remnants of Lion?" The answer is PRAM. You need to reset your PRAM.


Follow this article:


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379


After doing this, and restarting, I got a different error and a window displaying a log containing details of the failed installation. It doesn't matter. Just select a new startup disk, or do the "hold the Option key during boot" trick to select your USB install image, and when you restart, you'll get the normal "clean installer" options.


Brett

72 replies

May 18, 2016 1:32 AM in response to igalarzab

I have this problem after fitting new hard drive. Reset both PRAM & SMC to no avail. Interestingly when booting up and using option/alt the installer goes straight into "installing". From memory I thought there were other parameters that had to be set first such as language etc. I am trying to install Lion and have used 2 different install media but both give the same result.

There was a problem installing Mac OS X

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