Snow Leopard DVD not working

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Level 1

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Snow Leopard DVD not working

I have 10.5.8 currently - Today my installation DVD for Snow Leopard (10.6.3) arrived in the post. The DVD is not working in my iMac when I put it in my disk drive. When I put it in, after about 15 seconds, the computer ejects it again.

I've tried the CD facing both ways, but there has been no different result.

I've checked that my Mac has all the other criteria needed to install Snow Leopard, and it meets all points.

Is this a hardware, software, compatibility issue?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Nov 1, 2013 2:36 PM

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Answer 1

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 1, 2013 2:57 PM in response to liamml

Try powering it up push in the disc holding the C key. Make sure the disc is clean, wipe it with a soft cloth. Does your drive spit out other discs? If it does your lens on the optical drive may be dirty, you can try a CD/DVD cleaning disk that you can get at walmart, costco,radio shack, etc...

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Answer 2

liamml Author

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Nov 1, 2013 3:11 PM in response to sanjampet

I've tried using the C key during startup, no luck.

I've also cleaned the disc as well ,although I've noticed a couple of patterns/marks in the CD back face.

Having said that, I've tried this disc in a Mac that has 10.9 running, and it loads up just fine.

I also tried a Michael Buble CD in my Mac with 10.5.8, and it loads up with no problems at all.

Confusing...

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Answer 3

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 1, 2013 3:21 PM in response to liamml

Does your machine meet the requirements?

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard system requirements

To install Snow Leopard for the first time, you must have a Mac with:

An Intel processor
An internal or external DVD drive, or DVD or CD Sharing
At least 1 GB of RAM (additional RAM is recommended)
A built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer
At least 5 GB of disk space available, or 7 GB of disk space if you install the developer tools

For more information, see the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard installation guide

http://support.apple.com/manuals/#mac%20os%20x%20v10.6%20installation%20and%20se tup%20guide

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Answer 4

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 1, 2013 4:14 PM in response to liamml

Iiammi,

You can also try this, go to applications/utilities/disk utility and select your volume (default name Macintosh HD)

then click repair permissions.

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Answer 5

liamml Author

Level 1

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Nov 1, 2013 4:28 PM in response to sanjampet

Thanks, I'll give that a go.

I've also checked it's got all the permissions and it has

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Answer 6

liamml Author

Level 1

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Nov 1, 2013 4:59 PM in response to sanjampet

That didn't work either - I've either got a problem with the disk or my optical drive. Or both. I need to get to an Apple Store this weekend and find out what's going on.

Thanks for your help anyway!

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Answer 7

Nov 2, 2013 3:23 AM in response to liamml

How come you received yesterday in the mail an install DVD of Snow Leopard 10.6.3, when the latest version (still available from the App Store, by the way) is 10.6.8? Is it a used DVD you bought on, say, eBay? If so, is it a retail version (i.e. one that can be installed on any Mac meeting the specs sanjampet reminded us of, or a DVD that came originally with another Mac?

If the latter, you're in trouble, because it won't install on yours. If the former, then you're in the same wagon as several other users who recently tried to upgrade or update their OS, and got stuck, probably because a recent firmware updgrade now prevents them from installing a different version of OS X than the one that was already there when the firmware got upgraded.

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Answer 8

seventy one

Level 7

27,424 points

Nov 2, 2013 3:29 AM in response to FrenchToast

Hello FT,

It has been mentioned before that the DVD disks supplied may only be for 10.6.3 and it is necessary to use the Combo update, followed by software update to bring in the recent security and iTunes updates.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1

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Answer 9

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 2, 2013 3:30 AM in response to liamml

The retail disk should look like this, if it is grey, it is a build specific version for a specific model build, and most likely work on your machine.

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Answer 10

Nov 2, 2013 3:45 AM in response to seventy one

seventy one wrote:

Hello FT,

It has been mentioned before that the DVD disks supplied may only be for 10.6.3 and it is necessary to use the Combo update, followed by software update to bring in the recent security and iTunes updates.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1

I just learned something new (one of the many reasons I visit this website). It's still a mystery to me why Apple won't just sliptstream the latest major update to date in its retail DVDs, but they probably have their hands full maintaining more recent versions of OS X.

It had never occurred to me that retail SL DVDs could still contain 10.6.3... 😊 Thanks, seventy one!

Anyway, as sanjampet posted, this is how a retail DVD looks like. If it's dark grey, it won't work.

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Answer 11

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 2, 2013 3:55 AM in response to liamml

I meant to say it most likely WON'T work on your machine...sorry

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Answer 12

liamml Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 2, 2013 9:56 AM in response to FrenchToast

Hi FT,

I didbn't buy it off of eBay; I bought it online from the Apple website.

And yes sanjampet, my install DVD looks just like that, with the install OS X version and disclaimer on it

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Answer 13

Nov 2, 2013 11:19 AM in response to liamml

We've seen several threads on this forum lately, that dealt with the same issue, more or less: people owning legitimate copies of a retail SL DVD, who are incapable of (re)installing the OS on their Mac, without any obvious reason other than their Mac was subject to a firmware upgrade between the last install and today.

I may have missed something, of course, but I can't help wondering if the recent firmware upgrades on Macs ranging from 2009 MBPs to 2011 iMacs isn't responsible for this.

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