Can't install 10.4.9 on my internal hard drive - no destination volume

Hello, is the Partition scheme GUID?

One thing that may work...

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.

2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)

*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*

3. Click the Erase tab.

4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.

5. Select your Mac OS X volume.

6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion hopefully you'll be able to install.

Was the older drive having problems also?

It's either a bad Hard Drive, Logic Board, RAM, etc.

It's not very thorough, so it can only be trusted if it finds a problem, not if it reports no problem, but...

Boot off your *original* Install Disk while holding down the *d key*, (not c key), then run the extended Apple Hardware Test. Some disks require you to use the Option key at bootup to select AHT. Some models have a separate AHT CD.

Wow, incredible!?

Sorry, I have no Macbooks, nor would I accept one for free... too many problems. 😟

So we know more about it...

At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac7,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 6 GB

Bus Speed: 800 MHz

Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03

SMC Version (system): 1.21f4

Hello,

Was Highlander85's issue ever been resolved?A

I'm experiencing the exact same problem as Highlander85 except my system is an iMac and I'm attempting to erase/partition an internal Seagate Barracuda 500G SATA. I have tried everything that Highlander tried and still no luck. I also confirmed w/Seagate that adjusting jumper settings for this drive is not necessary. Is there a chance there is an issue w/my RAM or would you think it's time to open up my machine again and R/R myHDD while I am still within the stores return policy?

The spec's for my system per your last reply are below:

OS X 10.4.7 (Have original disks)

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac5,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 2.5 GB

Bus Speed: 667 MHz

Boot ROM Version: IM51.0090.B09

SMC Version (system): 1.9f4

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Kurt

Hi Kurt,

Never heard back from Highlander85, so no idea. 😟

What are the symptoms/steps, it's not clear out here the similarities.

This may be a stupid question but one of my friends suggested trying to first formatting to exFAT on my XP machine then reformat on the mac.I havent run the AHT yet but will momentarilly.

I am having this exact same problem after installing a new HD on my old Core 2 duo.

The system booted once off of my external drive and showed my new HD properly. I partioned the new drive properly and rebooted and have all of the exact same issues discussed above.

The system now hangs when trying to boot off the external drive as well.

Somebody has to have figured this out by now.

So I have solved this problem in a strange way. I ended up using my Leopard upgrade disk to reformat the HD with disk utility as it reads the new HD properly whereas Tiger did not. The problem that still remained was that because it was an upgrade disk I needed Tiger to be installed first. Next I installed Ubuntu (Linux) as the stand alone OS from a Ubuntu Live CD (easy to download and burn on any computer). I left Ubuntu on for a couple days and quite liked it but decided I wanted to give OSX another shot.

If you have a smaller external drive you can create an OSX boot disk the same as your internal drive would be and you can take it anywhere with you and boot on any Mac. My external drive was able to load Tiger and Leopard onto that drive.

I rebooted my machine and held down the option key. I could now boot into Ubuntu (shows windows on the boot screen) or off my external drive into OSX very slowly. Once I was into OSX I downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner. I used the Mac disk utility to erase the internal drive and then simply cloned my external drive using the cloner software.

***Your easiest fix to this issue is to simply purchase a Leopard retail disk or if your machine can handle it buy a Snow Leopard retail disk. The upgrade disks will not work. Apparently the earlier addition of Tiger lacks the ability to read the new Hard Drives due to them having Advanced Format (AF) and this is likely the Tiger you have as your install disk.***