Why can't I install Snow Leopard to my Intel Tiger iMac?

Question

Why can't I install Snow Leopard to my Intel Tiger iMac?

I Tried using the disk to install snow leopard 10.6.3 on my iMac which is currently running Tiger. It is from 2006/2007 and I checked it is a 2 duo intel core processor but it just won't work?

I checked the memory and it is 1GB 667MHz or something like that and it have a speed of 2GHz

When I boot from the disk it connects t my Bluetooth mouse and let's me choose a language. At this point, the option bar at the top is greyed out so I can't click anything and a box appears saying I can't install OS X on this computer even though it's specs are in line with the requirements pretty much...

can anyone please tell me what is wrong? Do I need to do a wipe of my macintosh HD To make memory space or do I need to install leopard 10.5?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Upgrading to Snow Leopard

Posted on May 19, 2015 8:21 AM

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Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,822 points

May 19, 2015 9:45 AM in response to CelineParisDior

Check to see if the drive's partition layout is GUID or Apple Partition Map. If it's the latter, you'll have to erase the drive to install SL.

Disk Utility can show you that info. Launch DU and click on the physical drive name at the far left. Then look in the lower right corner. What does it say the partition map scheme is?

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Answer 2

May 19, 2015 1:58 PM in response to Kurt Lang

It's GUID so should I erase my physical drive by erasing the Macintosh HD in DU? I have 84.1 GB remaining and a capacity of 148GB but I believe the hard drive its self is 1GB or something

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,822 points

May 19, 2015 7:23 PM in response to CelineParisDior

No, you shouldn't need to erase the drive. I was just checking to make sure it wasn't Apple Partition Map as GUID is required for Snow Leopard and later.

The 1 GB would be your installed RAM, and not anything to do with the hard drive, which is storage space. You should put in more RAM, though. 1 GB on Snow Leopard is going to be really slow.

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Answer 4

May 19, 2015 11:27 PM in response to Kurt Lang

So you're saying it should work? And I shouldn't have to change anything in my iMac? It's the iMac 5,1

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Answer 5

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,822 points

May 20, 2015 6:01 AM in response to CelineParisDior

With a 2 GHz processor speed and 667 MHz RAM speed, this is your exact model. Lion is the last OS you can install on that Mac, if you wanted to go any further than Snow Leopard. Though you'd then lose access to any PowerPC apps you use.

I would very much recommend upgrading the RAM in your Mac. A 3 GB upgrade kit is only $38. You would take out the two current 512 MB sticks and put these two new ones in. Just toss the old pieces of RAM. They aren't worth anything.

But yes, the Snow Leopard disk you purchased should work. I can't explain why it's stalling. As a thought, what Snow Leopard disk are you attempting to use? Is it the retail disk from Apple, or a gray disk from another Mac?

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Answer 6

May 20, 2015 7:47 AM in response to Kurt Lang

It is the full retail version from Apple for £14.99... wether I get it to work or what I think upgrading it to 3GB is a good idea so I might do that anyway so it runs faster... even though it runs like 10x faster than my toshiba windows 8 laptop x'D

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Answer 7

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,822 points

May 20, 2015 7:53 AM in response to CelineParisDior

I think I have seen this issue before on these forums. While Snow Leopard is supposed to allow installation on Mac with 1 GB of installed RAM, others have had it fail to install until they bumped their Mac to at least 2 GB of RAM.

It's not the only possible reason, but the RAM is a cheap upgrade you would appreciate having anyway.

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Answer 8

May 20, 2015 10:36 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Thank you, I will order a new RAM For it and we'll see what happens 🙂

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