Cannot install Mountain Lion on empty drive

I'm helping my father try to install the OS onto a newly installed internal drive on his Mac Pro. He's trying to install Mountain Lion, which is the same OS X generation as his usual boot drive (which is remaining in the system—the new drive is getting an OS as a backup boot drive).
The problem is that the Mountain Lion installer, downloaded from the App Store, refuses to install on the new drive. The drive, which is formatted but otherwise empty, does not appear as an available drive to install on.
My father believes that this is related to the note in the System Requirements saying that the Mac being installed on must already have Snow Leopard or Lion installed on it. I'm not so sure, but it's a valid question: can Mountain Lion be installed only as an upgrade, requiring an existing OS install on the actual drive being installed to?
My interpretation of the listed requirement is that you have to boot from Snow Leopard or later to do the install, because the installer has to contact the App Store, but the requirement is worded ambiguously enough that it could mean that the drive itself must have Snow Leopard or later on it. It doesn't make sense to me, though, for this installer to be useable only as an upgrade; there are numerous situations under which a person might need to install an OS on an empty drive.
So there's two questions here: can Mountain Lion be installed on an empty drive, and are there other likely reasons for the installer to not offer the drive in question as an available destination?

Mark McKean wrote:
...So there's two questions here: can Mountain Lion be installed on an empty drive, and are there other likely reasons for the installer to not offer the drive in question as an available destination?
Yes, it can be installed on an empty drive but the drive must be properly partitioned and formatted first. The HD must have a "GUID Partition Table" which you establish when you first partition the drive (use the Options... button), and it must then be formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Boot from his current drive and run the ML installer from there with the new drive as the target. Note that if you haven't actually downloaded the ML installer yet, when you do, it automatically starts running but you get the choice to continue and choose the drive.
Snow Leopard or Lion are mentioned as prerequisites because the days of install DVD's are over; the installer must be downloaded and at least Snow Leopard is necessary to get to the App Store to do that.

Similar Messages

Cannot install Mountain Lion as the installer provides message that my target drive is using Time Machine. My target drive is my internal drive and I use an external drive for Time Machine. When I check the Time Macine set up under system prefereces it sh

Cannot install Mountain Lion as installer sys the target drive I have selected is using Time Machine. The target drive I selected is my internal drive. I have an external drive that I use for Time Machine backup. When I go to System Preferences and look at the Time Machine set up it shows my target disk is the external drive. What to do?

Yes, you’ll be able to do that.
(116841)

Getting S.M.A.R.T. when trying to install Mountain lion. Hard drive works pretty well. I understand that many users have been facing the same issue. Has apple patched it yet?

I'm getting S.M.A.R.T. error when trying to install Mountain lion. Hard drive works pretty well despite the Failing status. I understand that many users have been facing the same issue. My hard drive was/is working perfectly. Has Apple patched it yet?
Has someone found a solution which is not replacing the hard drive which works just fine? Or Is anyone aware of a procedure that can force the installation despite the S.M.A.R.T error? Below details of my hard drive
Thanks
ST31******ASQ:
Capacity:          1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 bytes)
Model:          ST31000528ASQ
Revision:          AP24
Serial Number:                      6V***5JR
Native Command Queuing:          Yes
Queue Depth:          32
Removable Media:          No
Detachable Drive:          No
BSD Name:          disk0
Rotational Rate:          7200
Medium Type:          Rotational
Partition Map Type:          GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status:          Failing
<Edited By Host>

If you haven't done so, run Disk Utility /Applications/Utilities
to run a live verification.
The drive may be ok at the moment, but that's not to say the drive may fail at anytime.
Hopefully you have all your important data backed up just in case.

Cannot install mountain lion. error "This copy of the Install OS X Mountain Lion application is damaged, and can't be used to install OS X."

cannot install mountain lion. error "This copy of the Install OS X Mountain Lion application is damaged, and can't be used to install OS X."

You do meet the hardware requirements. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to purchase ML.
If you're connected wirelessly to your router, connect with Ethernet.
If you're connecting through a proxy, connect directly.
Boot in safe mode (shift key down at startup) and try again.

Cannot install Mountain Lion on my hard disc, as I keep getting the message" 'This disk is used for Time Machine backups'. Which it isn't - I don't use Time Machine

Cannot install Mountain Lion on my hard disc, as I keep getting the message" 'This disk is used for Time Machine backups'. Which it isn't - I don't use Time Machine

Check to see if you have a folder named "Backups.backupdb" at the root level of your hard disk. That can cause this error message.

Cannot install mountain lion keep getting "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" when trying to install, HELP!!!

Ok i currently have Lion on my early 2011 15" MBP. When i try to install Mountain Lion to my mac HD it keeps telling me I cannot because its used for time machine backups. I have done a search and I know I have to delete the backups.backupdb folder but I cannot find it for the life of me. If anyone can help I would really appreciate, thanks!
Nik

If you double-click on your hard drive icon the Backups.backupd folder should be on the root level of your drive. Sometimes OS X gets confused and incorrectly puts a Backups.backupd folder on your hard drive. That folder should only appear on a drive used for Time Machine
If you can't find the Backups.backupd folder try using the free EasyFind with both Package Contents and Invisible Files & Folders checked. Search for "Backups.backupd" without the quotes on your hard drive (default selection), not your Time Machine drive. Right-click on the search result and choose to Reveal in Finder. Click on the link that kisuke3 provided and follow those directions
If you can't find a Backups.backupd folder anywhere try booting into Safe Mode by holding down the Shift key right after you hear the startup chime. Keep holding the Shift key down until you see the Apple Logo. The progress bar that appears indicates the progress of the file check that Safe Mode automatically does. Give it time to finish.
Reboot normally and see if the ML installer will work. If it does wait until Spotlight is finishing indexing before turning Time Machine back on.

Cannot install Mountain Lion on Mac Pro 4,1 (2009) - can anyone help?

Hi All,
I have a 2009 Mac Pro - purchased 2nd hand in January. I am trying to install Mountain Lion and had the same issues as other Mac Pro 4,1 owners have had.
I've tried installing from the installer exactly as downloaded from the App Store - this results in a grey screen, and I have to re-install Snow Leopard to get the machine running again.
I've tried creating a bootable USB stick. This boots into the installer, but then I get the message "Mac OS X could not be installed. Try reinstalling." which is the most ridiculous error message I've ever read.
I've unplugged all peripherals except keyboard/mouse and one monitor. I've removed all extra drives from inside, except for the system drive. I've removed the wireless card. And I still can't install Mountain Lion. If it had cost more than £14 I've be rather upset at the moment.
Does anyone have any sage advice that will get me running ML?
I do have a full error log I'm happy to share, if that will help.
Thanks in advance!

Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
OS X Lion Install to Different Drive
How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt
Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
Create an OS X Lion Install disc
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc
http://www.coolestguyplanettech.com/how-to-make-a-bootable-osx-10-8-mountain-lio n-disc-or-drive-from-the-downloaded-mountain-lion-app/

Cannot install Mountain Lion 10.8.3

I have tried to install the 10.8.3 update and while it will download and restart when it has downloaded, the App icon still shows that it needs to be downloaded and installed. I have tried manually downloading from Apple and have restarted way too many times to no effect. I cannot install the new version of iTunes without this upgrade. I have a mid 2011 iMac 2.7 gHz Core i5.

Give this a try:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
After this is completed download and install OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.3 (Combo).

Cannot install Mountain Lion because of a S.M.A.R.T error.

I just bought the Mountain Lion Upgrade, (Mac OS X 10.8) from the app store, and I can't install it because of a S.M.A.R.T error. How can this be resolved???

If you are getting SMART errors immediately backup the drive.
If the system is still under warranty (or AppleCare) contact Apple to make plans to have the drive replaced. If not you have to decide if you want to get the drive replaced or replace the system. How old and what is the system?
SMART errors cannot be repaired you need to change the drive.

Cannot install Mountain Lion due to an application error

I have a late 2010 MBP. I had 10.6.7 and had updgraded it up to Mountain Lion.
Lately, I was having some issues with my computer (i.e., failure to startup, or move past the grey screen), so I decided to reinstall my system.
I accessed the partition, and tried to restore my system to a previous backup, but it didn't work. After trying a few times, I decided to reinstall Mountain Lion to my system. However, each time I try to run the setup, it gives me an error which says "Cannot run installion due to an application error. Please try again later."
Of course, I can't downgrade my mac 10.6.7 as well.
Help?

From the Installer menu bar in Recovery, select
Window ▹ Installer Log ▹ Show Errors Only
What error messages are shown?

Cannot install Mountain Lion - my iPhoto won't quit and Mountain Lion won't let me do a force quit

I'm trying to upgrade to Mountain Lion but when it ries to quit all programmes to install my iPhoto won't quit as albums are being sync'd. I try to stop and quit but it won't. I then try to force a quit and Mountain Lion won't let it. help!

if you don't mind interrupting the album sync, you can do a hard shutdown of the mac by pressing and holding the power button down for 10 seconds to make sure it's all the way off.
you can then do SMC reset which is described in the following article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
after doing this turn on the mac, click on the black apple then force quit and make sure all apps are closed
open app store and try again to install the mountain lion

Please help me. I cannot install Mountain Lion.

I'm getting "OS X cannot be installed on Macintosh HD".

Number of lookups done last 30 days: 1
You will be limited to 10 lookups per 30 days.
Nice Name: MacBook Pro 13 inch Unibody Core i7 (Late 2011)
Machine Model: MacBookPro8,1
Family name: A1278
Model Number: MD314
Group1: MacBook
Group2: Pro
Generation: 81
CPU speed: 2.8GHz
Screen size: 13 inch
Screen resolution: 1280x800 pixels
Colour: Aluminium
Production year: 2011
Production week: 45 (November)
Model introduced: 2011
Memory - flavour: DDR3-S-1333
Memory - number of slots: 2
Memory - maximum total: 16GB
Memory - largest module: 8GB
Factory: C0 (Quanta Computer (Susidiary = Tech Com) China)
External link: Repair guide by iFixit

Can't install Mountain Lion.

i cannot install mountain lion nothing happens after clicking install. It downloads from the AppStore fine. I accept the terms and conditions then it gave me an install window showing my harddrive. I couldn't make a green circle or select the Hard drive of my macbook pro, but I clicked on install. then the window closes and nothing happens. I did this twice. I went back to the app store and it shows the Download button again on my purchases for mountain lion. It let me begin downloading again. Would this happen if I had already downloaded it once? There was not warning saying I had it already. What in the world is going on? I can't seem to find anyone who has this problem.
Note: I believe I had only have 12 GB on my hard disk, now 8, i think after downloading MLion

Here are a couple errors in my console. Any comments on what to do next?
7/27/12 10:33:31.077 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb[5172]) Exited with code: 1
7/27/12 10:33:31.077 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
7/27/12 10:35:11.098 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb[5182]) posix_spawn("/Library/Application Support/Orb/Orb Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Orb Daemon", ...): No such file or directory
7/27/12 10:35:11.099 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb[5182]) Exited with code: 1
7/27/12 10:35:11.099 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
7/27/12 10:36:20.021 AM mdworker: (Error) ImportPluginLoading: Couldn't load plugin 'file://localhost/Library/Spotlight/iWeb.mdimporter/'
7/27/12 10:36:51.124 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb[5202]) posix_spawn("/Library/Application Support/Orb/Orb Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Orb Daemon", ...): No such file or directory
7/27/12 10:36:51.125 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb[5202]) Exited with code: 1
7/27/12 10:36:51.125 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501: (com.scriptsoftware.orb) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
I did a permissions repair of my hard drive and got the followoing error which I am unfamiiar with.
Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Warning: SUID file “System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent” has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions repair complete

How I installed Mountain Lion on Un-repairable Hard Disk.

My Recommendations for Avoiding Trouble, Avoiding Risk, and Saving Time.
1) Make a boot clone first!!!
      http://www.bombich.com/
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
2) Fix and repair your hard disk with Disk Utility and fsck_hfs before installing Mountain Lion!
    (Otherwise the installer will write-lock the disk preventing repair.)
Mountain Lion Aborted Installation—Claimed Hard Disk Failed, Couldn't be Repaired, and Should be Replaced
I have a 2011 MacBook Pro. Installation of Mountain Lion aborted claiming the hard disk could not be repaired by Disk Utility, should be backed up immediately, and replaced. It didn't make sense that the drive was booting up the computer for installation, but needed replacing. I removed the drive, put it in an external enclosure, and backed up the drive using a working Mac Mini, and Carbon Copy Cloner.
Hard Disk Was Write-Locked—Not Failing
Booting in Single User mode (hold command and S keys down while bootup is proceeding). I then typed in the fsck command given after Single User bootup. It informed me the drive was write-locked and read only. Now things were starting to make sense. Disk Utility couldn't repair the drive because it was write-locked! Maybe it could have been unlocked by the "chflags nouchg /Volumes/volume" or "chflags noschg /Volumes/volume" commands (http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20031017061722471), but I didn't try it. Unlocking the drive is really worht a try because it could save hours of coppying through a slow USB interface.
I formatted my laptop drive after copying it to another large external drive. Then I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone Snow Leopard from my Mac Mini to my freshly formatted original laptop drive. I unsellected the "Users" folder so I would only get the operating system—saving lots of hours copying data I don't need. Then I put the drive back in my laptop, and it booted with Snow Leopard. Checked the volume with Disk Utility and was informed the drive is fine. I removed the drive and connected it externally to my Mac Mini and ran fsck_hsf a few times in the terminal, which showed problems were found and fixed.
sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/rdisk1s2
Password:
** /dev/rdisk1s2 (NO WRITE)
   Executing fsck_hfs (version diskdev_cmds-491.6~3).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
   Volume bitmap needs minor repair for under-allocation
** Checking volume information.
   Invalid volume file count
   (It should be 550614 instead of 550591)
   Invalid volume free block count
   (It should be 175459733 instead of 175460263)
** The volume MacBookPro HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
3) sudo fsck_hfs /dev/rdisk1s2
Password:
** /dev/rdisk1s2 (NO WRITE)
   Executing fsck_hfs (version diskdev_cmds-491.6~3).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
fsck_hfs: Volume is journaled. No checking performed.
fsck_hfs: Use the -f option to force checking.
[karl_ihrig] 4) sudo fsck_hfs -f /dev/rdisk1s2
** /dev/rdisk1s2 (NO WRITE)
   Executing fsck_hfs (version diskdev_cmds-491.6~3).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume MacBookPro HD appears to be OK.
5) sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/rdisk1s2
** /dev/rdisk1s2 (NO WRITE)
   Executing fsck_hfs (version diskdev_cmds-491.6~3).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume MacBookPro HD appears to be OK.
6) sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/disk1s2
** /dev/rdisk1s2 (NO WRITE)
   Executing fsck_hfs (version diskdev_cmds-491.6~3).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume MacBookPro HD appears to be OK.
I put the drive back in the laptop and repeated the fsck commands after a Single User boot. (Omited the sudo commands and used /dev/disk0s2.)
Downloaded and Successfully Installed Mountain Lion on "Unreparable" Drive
I downloaded the Mountan Lion installation application to my laptop, ran it, and had a smooth install.
More Trouble Migraiting My Applications and Directory
I expect to use up more time changing my computer name, migrating applications and rsyncing my User Directory. I will post how I achieve this.
I Hope People Avoid Trouble and Problems are Solved
I hope everyone will avoid trouble by making boot clone of their whole disk before attempting an install of ML and repairing their disk with Disk Utility and fsck before ML installer prevents it with a write-lock. Please see the first section.
I hope this solves other peoples problems with 'unreparable' disks. I believe this proves disks are repairable when ML says otherwise.
Good luck everyone!

troca, you certainly helped dtigerbme! Isn't that encouraging?
I recommend you copy your drive as soon as possible. I really don't think the drive is bad, but you may have to format it and copy back to it. Hopefully not. Clone or backup the drive before trying this recipe. Any time you have errors on a drive, back it up. A failing drive has lmited life. However, I don't think these drives are really failing, but that is my opinion and I break a lot of things.
Let's try this recepie for you:
Start in Single User Mode. Power on while holding the Command + S keys.
At the prompt, type "fsck_hfs -fy" or "fsck -fy" and hit return.
Do it again.
Enter the command "reboot".
Just googled "volume count disk utility" and got the same recipe to fix it.
http://counterjumper.com/post/19265700171/how-to-fix-invalid-volume-free-block-c ount-error-in
So my recipe is to try to fix the drive without taking it out of the computer, which requires you can boot it up.
troca it looks like Apple has said that error is benign and can be ignored in 2010.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2028?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_U
I do believe fsck will fix it though.
Some other results from the same search:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1071850
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3635034?start=0&tstart=0

Install mountain lion on a not GUID partition

I try to install osx mountain lion but i can't because it should be installed on a GUID partition. Mine is not as it should be, how could I format with GUID option if I have only one partition? Disk tool doesn't let me make other partition, how could I do?

You cannot install Mountain Lion on a partition other than GUID; an Intel-based Mac needs a GUID disk to boot. Is this disk you're trying to install to the one your computer is booted from now? If so, what model of Mac do you have and what version of Mac OS X? Only if your computer is a PowerPC-based system would it be able to boot from a non-GUID volume, and you can't run Mountain Lion on a PowerPC system, so I'm rather puzzled about your situation. Please provide more details.
Regards.

Cannot install Mountain Lion on empty drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for