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Macbook stuck in limbo after attempted os x upgrade

Today I attempted to upgrade the operating system of my macbook pro from Mountain Lion to Yosemite. After downloading the installation from the app store, I restarted my computer and the process began. About half way through, the computer stopped its download and stated:


OS X could not be installed on your computer


File system verify or repair failed.

Quite the installer to restart computer and try again.


Well I followed these instructions, which resulted in the same scenario occurring again, and again. I shut the laptop down and held "control r" while turning it back on to bring me to the recovery mode page. I have never backed it up (this was probably stupid but I am not very techy) so time machine was´t an option. I tried to reinstall OS X but it said both available hard drive options were "locked." And I tried to use the disk utility thing, which stated I needed a repair but the button was unclickable, I don´t know why. I´m wishing now I never tried to update the software because it was working perfectly fine before. I need this computer to do my university assignments please help me! Thanks,


Derrick

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on May 2, 2015 11:05 PM

Reply
1 reply

May 3, 2015 5:38 AM in response to Wolfgangsterr

Hi Wolfgangsterr,


Many people are having this problem with the Yosemite update. Try the following:


  • Ensure you are connected to the internet.
  • Choose Apple menu > Restart, and then hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys while the computer restarts.
  • Select “Disk Utility,” and then click Continue.
  • Select your startup disk from the list on the left, and then click the Erase tab.
  • From the Format pop-up menu, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), type a name for your disk, and then click Erase.
  • After the disk has been erased, choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.
  • If you’re not connected to the Internet, choose your network from the Wi-Fi menu in the right corner of the menu bar.
  • Select Reinstall Mac OS X, click Continue, and then follow the instructions.


If this does not work, use the following Apple article to help you resize the partition where you want to install OS X - Installer reports "OS X could not be installed on your computer" or "This disk cannot be used to start up your computer"…


Good luck 🙂

Macbook stuck in limbo after attempted os x upgrade

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