Can't boot from OSX Install disc.

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Can't boot from OSX Install disc.

Hello,

I am trying to restore my iMac from a Time MAchine backup and to do that I remembered that I had to boot off of the OSX install disk and choose Disk Utility. I thought that restoring from timeMAchine would be the hard and long part, but I am having trouble booting off of the OSX disc.

1.) I popped it into my iMac and it mounts and loads. Its runs fine so I know there is nothing wrong with the disc.

2.) I restarted my iMac and held C.

3.) The grey screen appeard and then the Apple logo and then the spinning icon underneath it. But it gets stuck there and doesn't boot off of the disk.

4.) I shutdown the machine by holding the power-button and when it restarted I held D. It ran the hardware test fine and I passed the hardware test.

5.) I shut it down again, same way in four, and held option. This time I chose to boot form the Mac OS X Install DVD. It again got stuck at the Grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning icon.

Does anyone know how to or can help me get my iMac to boot from the OSX install disc or how I can use Disc Utility to restore my iMac from TimeMachine?

Thanks in Advance & Best Regards,

theirf.

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 3:19 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 31, 2012 3:31 PM in response to theirf

Hi Theirf,

I would like to assist you with this issue, but I first need to know what version of Mac OS X you are trying to boot from i.e 10.6 Snow Leopard, Lion 10.7.

Regards,

Jacob

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Answer 2

theirf Author

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Jan 31, 2012 3:45 PM in response to JacobIsHereToHelp

thank you i appreciate that. I am using OS 10.6 Snow Leopard. Hopefully with your help we can solve this!

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Answer 3

Jan 31, 2012 3:49 PM in response to theirf

Does your iMac boot normally from the OK from the hard drive? What OS is installed on your iMac? Are you sure you are using the OS X install DVD that was supplied with your 27" iMac, it will not boot from one supplied with a different Mac. When you do boot from your install DVD, you would select your language, the click on the Utilities drop down menu, then restore from backup. You don't need to access Disk Utility.

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Answer 4

theirf Author

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Feb 1, 2012 10:00 AM in response to techiesteve

yes it does boot normally from the harddrive. I am running Snow Leopard. yes i am using the OSX Install disc that came with my iMac.

I made a mistake when i said I Disk Utility, I mean the Utilities to restore from a TimeMachine backup.

It gets stuck at the Apple logo and the spinning gear / icon underneath. So I can not even boot from the disc propely or at all.

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Answer 5

Feb 4, 2012 5:23 AM in response to theirf

One possibility is that your optical drive could be marginal, and although booted from your hard drive it will mount the DVD, it may not boot from it. I have seen optical drives booting from standard DVD's but not DL DVD's as used with Leopard and Snow Leopard. Optical drives can play up with DL DVD's before effecting standard DVD's. Just one possibility.

To see if this is the problem, if you have a spare external hard drive and access to another Mac, you could use Disk Utilities restore function with the SL DVD to make a bootable SL hard drive installer. Then boot from that, then access the utilities menu restore from backup function to access your Time Machine restore options. Bootable hard drive installers are useful uses for older small hard drives, they also make installing an OS a lot quicker.

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Answer 6

Feb 4, 2012 6:11 AM in response to theirf

Before getting too deep into the technical stuff, how long are you waiting before aborting the start-up attempt?

It can take up to five minutes to boot from the disc.

Hard shut-downs are not good for your Mac.

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Answer 7

theirf Author

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Feb 10, 2012 5:08 AM in response to noondaywitch

15 minutes. i know hard shut-downs are not good for any computer. I came to the conclusion that my disc is damamged because it looks scratched.

Do you have any other suggestions?

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Answer 8

Feb 10, 2012 8:00 AM in response to theirf

No, if the disc looks scratched that may well be the problem. You may be able to clean it sufficiently to work, but if it doesn't you can try to get the disc replaced.

If you have Applecare you may be able to get it free, otherwise they charge for handling and postage (about $16)

In the US, 1-800-692-7753 with the serial no. of the Mac.

Alternatively, as your OE disc will be 10.6.1 or .2, a retail SL disc at 10.6.3 will boot it.

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Answer 9

theirf Author

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Feb 10, 2012 9:44 AM in response to noondaywitch

What do OE and SL mean?

I think i understand though. You mean that any disc with a higher version of something will still work on a machine with a lower version of that thing right?

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Answer 10

Feb 10, 2012 10:10 AM in response to theirf

Sorry, OE = Original Equipment - the grey discs that came with your Mac.

SL = Snow Leopard - Mac OS X 10.6.x.

theirf wrote:

What do OE and SL mean?

I think i understand though. You mean that any disc with a higher version of something will still work on a machine with a lower version of that thing right?

Not any disc. The only grey ones that will work are those that came with that Mac.

Any retail disc of a later OS version will work, and in most cases it would boot from an external HD with a later OS installed.

However, as Snow Leopard only came on two retail versions, 10.6.0 and 10.6.3, the choice is a bit limited.

The current retail version is available here.

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Answer 11

theirf Author

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Feb 10, 2012 1:41 PM in response to noondaywitch

okay. thank you for the help!

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