Reinstalling Mac OS X On to white Macbook (Broken Optical Drive) (no hard drive to clone from)

Question

Reinstalling Mac OS X On to white Macbook (Broken Optical Drive) (no hard drive to clone from)

I have (I Belive it's) a Late 2006 ot 2008 White Macbook. My Hardrive recently crash and i couldnt format it so i got a new Wester digital Internal Hard Drive, After putting in the hard drive i found out that i have to install Mac OS X To it. I have the Mac OS X Install Disk 1 and 2 but i do not have a working Optical Drive... I Do have a fire Wire and an iMac with a working optical drive. I Read some where online that i can use the iMac's Optical drive via the Firewire but i need assistance on that...

I read online that i need to boot the Macbook while holding T, Which i did

And boot the iMac holding C. But when i do that the iMac screen stays white, some one please help me...

MacBook, Other OS

Posted on Feb 2, 2013 3:45 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 2, 2013 4:50 PM in response to Demetrius2292

Connect the Macbook and the iMac with a firewire cable.

Turn the iMac on. After the iMac has booted, turn on the Macbook and hold the T key down until it boots. When the MB boots it will show the firewire symbol on the screen, and the MB hard drive will appear on the iMac desktop.

You can now install to that drive from the iMac.

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Answer 2

Feb 2, 2013 5:08 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

I did everything you said. How do i install it? i try putting in the CD and it restarts the iMac and then the screen stays white. i even tried doing it with mountain lion.app but i have no idea what login was used, i believe it was my brothers login and asking him is out of the picture.

what do i need to install into the MB? i see it as a hardrive with the Firewire symbol on it on my desk top... what steps do i need to take from there?

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Answer 3

Feb 2, 2013 5:18 PM in response to Demetrius2292

The MB is the target - you do nothing with it.

When the iMac is up and running you put the OS CD in the iMac, when it mounts you double click on the CD icon, find the installer in the CD contents, and double click on that.

When the installer is up and running it will select a drive. You must make sure it selects the MB's drive - the target drive.

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Answer 4

Feb 2, 2013 5:18 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

I'll try it out. please stick around, if it dosnt work ill let you know. you're a huge help

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Answer 5

Feb 2, 2013 5:25 PM in response to Demetrius2292

You may need to format that new drive in the MB. You can do that right from the installer. The screen after the language selection has access to Disk Utiliities via the Utilities menu.

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Answer 6

Feb 2, 2013 5:29 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

Same thing as before. I open installer. it resets iMac and it stays on the white screen, im pretty sure it should boot and ask which loaction i want to install on and pick the MB but i just cant get passed the white screen

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Answer 7

Feb 2, 2013 5:30 PM in response to Demetrius2292

I'm not sure if this means anything but i do have Mac OS X Install disk 1 and 2, not the Mac os X install DVD

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Answer 8

Feb 2, 2013 5:32 PM in response to Demetrius2292

Is it possible the iMac cannot run the OS version you are trying to install? What OS, and what cd's are you using?

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Answer 9

Feb 2, 2013 5:34 PM in response to Demetrius2292

What version OS? And where did the disk come from? Are they for example, specific to a particular mac model, rather than stnadard retail disks?

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Answer 10

Feb 2, 2013 5:37 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

I opened the instructions folder and witin it was a PDF called welcome to Leapord, so i believe it's leapord

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Answer 11

Feb 2, 2013 5:43 PM in response to Demetrius2292

Is this a fairly new iMac? My guess is the Leopard installer sees the iMac and cannot proceed because it predates the iMac. Just a guess. Do you have any other OS DVD, for example anything that came with the MB?

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Answer 12

Feb 2, 2013 5:44 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

i found this in my girlfriends house. the only other thing i have is the iMac install dvd

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Answer 13

Feb 2, 2013 5:55 PM in response to Demetrius2292

can i partion the MB hardrive and make a part of it boot as my Snowleapord.app? when im done with that will i be able to remove the partion? without having to fully reinstall OS again?

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Answer 14

Feb 2, 2013 6:05 PM in response to Demetrius2292

Suggest you first verify what OS the MB can take. There is no point going to a lot of trouble trying to install something that wont go there. If you try to boot from a hard drive with an incompatible OS on it - which you could manage to install in target disk mode - the MB will simply refuse to boot.

So you need to get an appropriate version retail OS CD/DVD. Apple is selling OS 10.6 DVDs for $20. Verify your iMac is the correct vintage that you can open that DVD on it.

When you are installing an OS, to any drive including a target disk, the OS installer looks at the computer that it is sitting in. To all intents and purposes the target disk is part of your iMac. And if you ask the iMac to run an installer of an incompatible OS, it just won't do it.

Partitioning will not solve the problem, if my hunch is correct that the iMac cannot take the CD you have. Actually partitioning will not solve anything. The problem is with the installer CD and the iMac.

By the way, what OS is on the iMac now?

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Answer 15

Feb 2, 2013 6:05 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

i had mountain lion running on my MB before the hardrive broke

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