How long should it take too boot from cd?

Question

How long should it take too boot from cd?

Hello. I bought a new 1TB hard drive for my mid 2010 MacBook Pro and I wanted to get it up and running. It's currently in the computer installed, I've inserted my installation disk, but how long should it take for it to load? I tried letting it sit and load for about 2 hours but I got impatient and shut it off. I'm going to try to see if I see any changes if I let it sit over night. Right now, the grey apple is on the screen with the spinning gradient pinwheel. But on average, how long should it take? I also read that I should have my macbook plugged to my internet connection, so that's on there as well.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Jan 11, 2014 12:02 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jan 11, 2014 1:02 AM in response to Abcdefghijayjay

It certainly shouldn't take 2 hours to boot from the installation DVD. Do you have the gray installation disc that came with your machine? You should actually have 2 discs, one for System installation and the other for app installation.

If you don't have the gray discs you'll need to order a set from Apple. Have your serial number handy and call the number at the bottom of this page.

Good luck,

Clinton

Reply

Answer 2

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jan 11, 2014 1:04 AM in response to Abcdefghijayjay

Abcdefghijayjay,

I have a MacBook Pro of similar vintage. Are you asking how long it takes to boot (i.e. to start up) from the DVD, or how long it takes to install Mac OS X from the DVD? It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to boot; my guess would be somewhere from 30 to 45 minutes to install. When you booted from the DVD, did you run Disk Utility to format your new hard drive before starting to install Mac OS X on it? You won’t need an Internet connection to install Mac OS X from DVD; you’ll only need it if you want to configure your networking immediately after installing.

Reply

Answer 3

Jan 11, 2014 8:55 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I have both the original disks. I left it running over night and it's still on the screen with the apple and gradient pinwheel spinning. Is it because I didn't prep the hard drive correctly? Am I doing something wrong here?

Reply

Answer 4

Jan 11, 2014 8:57 AM in response to Melophage

I can't even get to disk utility. It's a fresh brand new hard drive that I just bought. I was booting directly from the DVD but it didn't even go through. I let it sit over night thinking it would finish.

Reply

Answer 5

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Jan 11, 2014 9:06 AM in response to Abcdefghijayjay

How were you booting from the DVD drive? Did you hold down the C key at startup? Try holding down the Option key to get a Boot Selection screen, Wait 30+ seconds for the DVD disc to show up and select it to boot from.

If when using the Option key you never get the install DVD disc showing up or after selecting it to boot from the system just sits there for any length of time, over 2 minutes, then your Supredrive is not reading it. This is a very common problem with the Supredrives. They seem to work for some things and not for others or they just fail out of the blue.

I suggest you go out and buy any brand External DVD drive that connect by USB port (That is Except the Apple USB External Superdrive as they won'r work on your model Mac notebook) and try booting the install DVD from that external DVD drive.

Abcdefghijayjay wrote:

I was booting directly from the DVD but it didn't even go through. I let it sit over night thinking it would finish.

Reply

Answer 6

Jan 11, 2014 9:16 AM in response to LowLuster

I tried both methods. Holding down the option key (the cd shows up, hard drive no since it's brand new). I also held down 'c'. I'll try it with my external DVD drive and I'll get back to you.

Reply

Answer 7

Jan 11, 2014 11:58 AM in response to LowLuster

Tried an external, still took too long. Would it be best to use a USB stick with the osx installer? I'm not home right now but I'll use all this information as reference and try it when I get home.

Reply

Answer 8

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Jan 11, 2014 12:06 PM in response to Abcdefghijayjay

What was the reason for buying a new drive? More Space or did something happen to the older drive? If it was because of something happening to the older drive I suspect the drive was not at fault. It sounds like you have some other problem with your Mac. To boot from any CD or DVD disc with a Known Working DVD drive, internal or external, should take no more then a couple of minutes or less. Within a couple of minutes of select it from the Option key boot you should be at the Language selection screen if not past that.

Reply

Answer 9

Jan 11, 2014 12:46 PM in response to LowLuster

My last drive was having problems. It wouldn't go past the dark/light blue screen, and there would be a gradient pinwheel. Before those problems I was able to boot and get everything onto my external hd with time machine. I checked to see if I needed any system updates and my laptop said that all software was up to date. I tried everything with my older drive, booting using cd, holding option to see which drives (I have boot camp running on it). The thing that's weird is for my old hard drive, the stock one, I'm able to run windows 7 but for osx I'm having problems. I also wanted more space anyways and decided to get a TB since they were cheap, so I wanted to start fresh and see if I can just have everything from my time machine save onto the TB.

Reply

Answer 10

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Jan 11, 2014 12:52 PM in response to Abcdefghijayjay

When you said "I tried an external" did you mean an External DVD drive and if so what make? If it was an Apple external superdrive those do not work on Mac computers that originally came with a built in DVD drive. They only work on Mac's that don't have a built in DVD drive.

Reply

Answer 11

Jan 11, 2014 12:59 PM in response to LowLuster

Tried both external DVD drive and original Mac drive. With the external, I would see the apple logo, gradient pinwheel and hear the drive spin but after a while I don't hear anything.

Reply