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Level 1

12 points

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

Best reply

austingaijin

Level 1

15 points

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

View in context

72 replies

JUKE179r

Level 1

0 points

Dec 11, 2013 7:07 PM in response to igalarzab

Resetting the PRAM helped me on my '07 MBP while doing a clean install of Mountain Lion.

Cheers!

Jan 22, 2014 8:23 AM in response to igalarzab

Had the exact same problem in my attempts to install Mac OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion. The solution worked like a charm. Thanks!

Apr 30, 2014 3:20 PM in response to igalarzab

I was about to scream. Thank you.

Jun 12, 2014 7:18 PM in response to austingaijin

Thanks a lot!! I was searching for 5 months. Worked perfectly

NJappler

Level 1

0 points

Jun 29, 2015 9:49 AM in response to austingaijin

After following the directions for resetting PRAM, I was able to successfully restore my most recent TimeMachine backup. Thank you!

justkzoe

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2015 12:52 AM in response to austingaijin

Thank you so much!

You saved my friend's Mac!

Oct 4, 2015 2:33 AM in response to justkzoe

Cheers.

Oct 10, 2015 10:22 PM in response to austingaijin

You're a genius - this worked for my Mac Mini after two people tried to help me and failed. I at least checked the log file after the install failed, and found the error - that led me to your solution.

Thanks!

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.

May 20, 2016 6:42 AM in response to austingaijin

Install fine but only boot on rezap pram . Then too many rainbows and then freeze . Is it having trouble tunneling or threading ?

I ubuntu,d the drive. Then 1 guid partition via disk utlity...

Nogard54

Level 1

4 points

Oct 11, 2016 11:41 PM in response to austingaijin

Thank you very much Brett!!!

Oct 26, 2016 8:56 AM in response to austingaijin

非常感谢！

There was a problem installing Mac OS X