Cant install OS on Macbook Pro

Question

Cant install OS on Macbook Pro

Hello, Im trying to install Mac Os X from my internal optical drive on a new harddrive (formatted mac os journaled) and it doesn't seem to work. I tried both Snow leopard dvd and lion. Then I tried both dvd's with an external optical drive and same problem, stops spinning after few minutes the dvd that is. So I thought it might be that the harddrive is the problem(1 TB samsung) so removed it and installed the hitachi one that came with my macbook pro mid 2009, same issue. I tried everything even changing the ram from 8 GB to the 4 GB that came with my macbook pro. Help will be much appreciated as im trying to sell it ASAP, I really need the money. Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro July 2009 2.66 GHz

Posted on Feb 10, 2012 7:04 AM

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Answer 1

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Feb 10, 2012 7:08 AM in response to David Quandos

Your DVD drive is probably bad and Mac's can't boot from a external DVD drive.

If you have another Mac create a image of the SL DVD and then restore it to a USB thumb drive. then use that thumb drive o install the OS on the new drive.

Or if you have a cloning program you can clone the old drive to the new drive.

Or if you have a Time Machine backup you can restore that to the new drive.

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Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 7:13 AM in response to David Quandos

Include the original discs that came with the Mac and any discs of software you are going to install on it. See this FAQ*:

http://www.macmaps.com/selling.html

A July 2009 Mac can only install Snow Leopard from the retail Snow Leopard installer, and not a gray disk or Update disc that came with another Mac.

Such a Mac would have shipped with a gray discs by its name with some version of 10.5.

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Answer 3

Feb 10, 2012 7:42 AM in response to a brody

Shootist007: thanks for the quick reply sir. is there a way to buy the same optical drive from amazon? if so can you please tell me the name of the model so i can search it?

PS: I burned a lion disc and was suscefull using the same internal optical drive, so i think the optical drive is fine? maybe?

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Answer 4

Feb 10, 2012 7:42 AM in response to David Quandos

a brody: I tried the snow leopard 10.6 grey disc that came with my july 2009 macbook pro and a burned lion disk that i made.

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 7:41 AM in response to David Quandos

Amazon may not have the correct drive for you, as it may need a firmware patch. http://www.macsales.com/ and http://www.mcetech.com/ are the only ones that have known fully compatible drives with Macs on the optical front. http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ can tell you what might be needed for other drives, and it varies.

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Answer 6

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 7:46 AM in response to David Quandos

10.6 did not come out until August 28, 2009. Thus a July 2009 Mac can't use a 10.6 gray disc at all.

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Answer 7

Feb 10, 2012 7:54 AM in response to a brody

a brody: Sorry Its JUNE*, MacBook Pro5,3 June 2009 15" Unibody 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4GB DDR3 RAM and 320 GB Hitachi HardDrive, came with 10.6 installed. Discs: Mac Os X 10.6 and iLife 2009.

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Answer 8

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 8:40 AM in response to David Quandos

You still have your facts confused. It may have come with 10.6 installed, but it would have had either a DropIn 10.6 installer, or retail 10.6 installer. The gray 10.6 disks from another Mac will NOT work with it. The only gray disks that would work with it are 10.5 something. 10.6 was not available in June.

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Answer 9

Feb 10, 2012 8:48 AM in response to a brody

a brody: You have your facts confused. I had this macbook pro for more than 2 years and i formated it 3 times using the gray disc that came with it. THE DISC IS 10.6 SNOW LEOPARD. Go download mactracker from the appstore and check by urself. wikipedia is not always right.

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Answer 10

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 9:07 AM in response to David Quandos

It may have formatted, it may have installed, but it will not work right. Why do I know that? The horse's mouth:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1159

The introduction date may have been June, but you are calling it June, and saying it was prebundled with Snow Leopard means the actual manufacture and ship date new was much later than June. That's the question here. Was it shipped to you new after August 28, 2009, or not?

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Answer 11

Feb 10, 2012 9:23 AM in response to a brody

a brody: I call it june cuz its june's model of the macbook pro but that doesnt mean i bought it on june. and yes i bought it new on september or october i think, so yeah.

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Answer 12

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 9:43 AM in response to David Quandos

OK, that makes more sense. In the future, please be sure to indicate the date the machine was purchased new, not the date of the model. The date of the model's initial release did not have a gray Snow Leopard disk, nor was it compatible with it.

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Answer 13

Feb 10, 2012 10:06 AM in response to a brody

a brody: sorry about that. so the problem is with the optical drive now or what? as i said i burned a lion dvd without any problems with the same optical drive, can u make it clear to me as whats the problem here? thanks again.

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Answer 14

a brody

Level 10

82,841 points

Feb 10, 2012 10:14 AM in response to David Quandos

I'm guessing the optical drive could be the problem, or it could just be an aged disc. The machine is too young for a PRAM battery issue.

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Answer 15

Feb 10, 2012 10:22 AM in response to a brody

im not sure what you mean by "old disk" sir, but if you mean mac os x sl or lion disks are brand new 4.7 GB dvd's. as for the battery I remmber seeing it as %90 health in the iStat nano gadget for dashboard.

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