Cannot upgrade OS X?

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Cannot upgrade OS X?

I have Snow leopard on a flash drive and have tried booting directly from the computer and also from the start up menu holding down the "alt" button. I chose startup from mac os x drive and it just kept loading with a "block" symbol. I also tried loading lion the same way on a external hard drive directly and from startup and I can't pick the MAC HD as the install location?

I just tried them before I wiped my hard drive completely and set it to factory settings with the original disk, and they gave me no problems. Now that everything is on factory setting I can't seem to do any of the two.

When I tried installing Snow directly from the computer I get this, "The application "Install Mac OS X" cannot be used from this volume.

and when trying to install from a DMG file i get, "You cannot use this version of the application Install Mac OS X Lion with this version of Mac OS X"

I don't know what else to do? Help me please!!!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Apr 10, 2012 6:06 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

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Apr 10, 2012 6:28 PM in response to Sage74

What Format & Partition scheme did you use?

How to format your disks...

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html

(To Install OSX on an IntelMac the Drive it needs the GUID Partitioning scheme mentioned at the bottom.)

Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...

http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html

What is the source of the 10.6 on the Flash Drive, was it a Gray Machine soecific Disc?

Does the MB have at least 2 GB of RAM?

The Lion report would normally mean it sees an OS version on the drive less than 10.6.6, try erasing it again.

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Answer 2

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 9:01 AM in response to BDAqua

They both are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and are on an 8GB flash drive, more than enough room. Like I said before they have worked on my mac before, flawlessly, i just can't figure out why they aren't working now. Do you think It could of been something when I wiped my drive clean and went from lion back to leopard from the gray disk? I did a "Zero Out Data" and reinstalled what the macbook originally came with, the gray disk with leopard on it.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

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Apr 11, 2012 10:45 AM in response to Sage74

Only thing I can figure is the Drive isn't GUID Partition scheme, or a serious Hardware issue.

But does the Hard Drive boot Leopard now?

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Answer 4

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 12:40 PM in response to BDAqua

Yes it boots leopard just fine. What is a GUID, I've tried lots of different things but not that. let me google.

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Answer 5

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 12:44 PM in response to Sage74

How do I know what scheme it is on. They should be on GUID because I have booted them to this exact computer before. I have never used these OS's on anything else other than my own computer. What could have possibly changed that my computer will not upgrade to snowleopard.

My Mac Hard Drive has to be Mac OS X Extended (journaled), right?

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Answer 6

BDAqua

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238,979 points

Apr 11, 2012 1:32 PM in response to Sage74

If you installed Leopard on this volume it is GUID, it is possible to clone to an APM partion & have it bootable, but doesn't sound like you did that.

In Disk Utility, highlight the whole drive, not the Partition below & inset a bit to the right, click on the ble Info icon above, it should show like this except GUID I suspect...

Name : OWC Mercury Elite Pro AL

Type : Disk

Disk Identifier : disk3

Media Name : ST350084 1A Media

Media Type : Generic

Connection Bus : FireWire

Connection Type : External

Connection ID : 512381018047168

Partition Type : Apple_partition_scheme

Device Tree : fw/node@1d202009202c0/sbp-2@c000/@0:0

Writable : Yes

Ejectable : Yes

Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No

Location : External

Total Capacity : 465.8 GB (500,107,862,016 Bytes)

S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported

Disk Number : 3

Partition Number : 0

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Answer 7

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 1:41 PM in response to BDAqua

It is actually not partitioned as a GUID. OK so how do I get it in that format? I would have to make a copy of the current Snowleopard.app in order to partition the USB to GUID? How exactly do I make a back up, carbon copy? If that is the case then which setting do I use, its my only copy and I don't want to damage it.

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Answer 8

BDAqua

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Apr 11, 2012 2:18 PM in response to Sage74

So, it says Apple_partition_scheme ???

Do you have another Hard Drive?

Oh wait, At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, report the version of OSX from that window, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: eMac

Model Identifier: PowerMac6,4

Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (1.2)

Processor Speed: 1.42 GHz

Number Of CPUs: 1

L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB

Memory: 2 GB

Bus Speed: 167 MHz

Boot ROM Version: 4.9.2f1

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Answer 9

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 2:48 PM in response to BDAqua

I think it said unformatted or not recognized or something like that.

I actually partitioned it to GUID, or tried. I think I failed lol. Is it possible you could tell me from step one what to do in order for it to boot the snow leopard upgrade? I made a carbon copy of it before i partitioned over it

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Answer 10

BDAqua

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238,979 points

Apr 11, 2012 2:52 PM in response to Sage74

If you don't know the model, find the Serial# & use it on one of these sites, but don't post the Serial# here...

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

How to find the serial number of your Apple hardware product...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349

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Answer 11

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 3:17 PM in response to BDAqua

Name : Snow Leopard Install COPY

Type : Volume

Disk Identifier : disk2

Mount Point : /Volumes/Snow Leopard Install COPY

File System : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Writable : Yes

Universal Unique Identifier :

Capacity : 202.4 GB (217,314,234,368 Bytes)

Free Space : 196.0 GB (210,488,057,856 Bytes)

Used : 6.4 GB (6,826,176,512 Bytes)

Number of Files : 19,312

Number of Folders : 9,124

Owners Enabled : No

Can Turn Owners Off : Yes

Can Be Formatted : Yes

Bootable : Yes

Supports Journaling : Yes

Journaled : Yes

Disk Number : 2

Partition Number : 1

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Answer 12

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

Apr 11, 2012 3:33 PM in response to Sage74

Sorry, that doesn't help, but the exact Mac this is may... or may not. That info on the Hard Drive might help.

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Answer 13

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 3:36 PM in response to BDAqua

This ***** lol. I appreciate you taking the time and at least trying to help me.

Name : Hitachi HTS543225L9SA02 Media

Type : Disk

Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table

Disk Identifier : disk0

Media Name : Hitachi HTS543225L9SA02 Media

Media Type : Generic

Connection Bus : Serial ATA 2

Device Tree : /PCI0@0/SATA@B/PRT0@0/PMP@0/@0:0

Writable : Yes

Ejectable : No

Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No

Location : Internal

Total Capacity : 232.9 GB (250,059,350,016 Bytes)

S.M.A.R.T. Status : Verified

Disk Number : 0

Partition Number : 0

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Answer 14

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

Apr 11, 2012 4:29 PM in response to Sage74

"You cannot use this version of the application Install Mac OS X Lion with this version of Mac OS X"

I don't know what else to do? Help me please!!!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Oh silly me, slaps head! 😟

Lion will not install over the top of anything less than 10.6.6/Snow Leopard, but I hear it can if you erase the drive completely.

But were you mounting this DMG from the Hard Drive/10.5.x? If so you couldn't use the DMG if you erased the drive.

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Answer 15

Sage74 Author

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Apr 11, 2012 4:44 PM in response to BDAqua

That will work for me, How do I got about doing that exactly and how do I get Lion ready for when I am ready to install it? Yeah, it is a DMG file.

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