My macbook won't read the snow leopard disk but my macbook pro does...why?

For better or worse I ran a clean install of the original MacBook OS for an early 2008.  It had been running Lion over the years it had never been wiped and reinstalled.  In any case, I successfully reinstalled 10.5.2 with the start up disks that came with the machine when we purchased it.  (That showed me the drive was operational.)  I then attempted to install Snow Leopard with the install disk we've kept and the drive rejected it; however the MacBook Pro's drive did not reject it.  (That showed me the disk is operational as well.)
Is the problem as simple as having to update Leopard to the max before the drive will accept the Snow Leopard disk?

Zap the PRAM and Reset the SMC; then, try again. BTW, does the optical drive show up in Apple menu item->About this Mac->More info?

Similar Messages

  • I'm trying to reformat my macbook 2007 edition and have erased the partition, and trying to install from the Snow Leopard disk but after language screen it says "System cannot be installed on this computer." any suggestions?

    I have tried erasing and moving forward, erasing partition and creating new partition using GUID, no solution yet, keeps giving me same message.

    Did you check if your Macbook meets the requirements for Snow Leopard?

  • A magnet fell on my macbook "late 2007 series black" and it stopped working. When i start my macbook up it sits on the white screen. i tried inserting the snow leopard disk to do a clean install but the disk ejects and all i see is the pointer.help please

    A magnet fell on my macbook "late 2007 series black" and it stopped working. When i start my macbook up it sits on the white screen. i tried inserting the snow leopard disk to do a clean install but the disk ejects and all i see is the pointer. i even bought a new hard drive to do the clean install but the same thing happens. Please Help

    Your problem is not Boot Camp, in fact, is your optical drive. Win XP requires indeed sp2, but also the internal drive, does not work from external optical drive.
    For other possible tricks, please use the appropriate Boot Camp forum, not here. Mac OS X may be installed from both external and internal optical drive and/or internal/external partition of a disk, any disk. Windows is not so generous.

  • I used my snow leopard disk to erase my hard drive. Now I want to eject the snow leopard disk to clean install from the lion boot disk I made. How do I eject the snow leopard disk?

    I used my snow leopard disk to erase my hard drive. Now I want to eject the snow leopard disk to clean install from the lion boot disk I made. How do I eject the snow leopard disk? It is the start up disk and I can't figure out how to get it out of the computer so I can put my lion boot disk in. Thanks

    turn the mac all the way off. turn the mac on by pressing the power button. as soon as the apple logo appears, pres and hold your mouse button(trackpad mouse clicker etc...) until the CD comes out.

  • On start up my Mac Book Pro shows a white screen with a spinning wheel. I have tried starting up with the Snow Leopard disk - all I get is a blue screen. I guess that this is a major repair job??????

    On start up my Mac Book Pro shows a white screen with a spinning wheel. I have tried starting up with the Snow Leopard disk - all I get is a blue screen. I guess that this is a major repair job??????

    If you have the exact same problem - take the computer to an Apple store or an AASP.  Whichever is more convenient for you.  If you have AppleCare call them!

  • Can I reformat and partition a new internal hard drive with the Snow Leopard disk?

    I'm planning on installing a new internal hard drive in my 15'' Macbook Pro. Can I format and partition the new drive with the Snow Leopard disk or is it just an upgrade from Leopard? Thanks much.

    You should be able to do that.
    If you want to change the sizes of existing partitions this may help:
    Enlarging a partition

  • Why does my MacBook Pro not boot up with the Snow Leopard Disk?

    I have erased the entire hard drive on a 2011 macbook pro that had snow leopard on it. I was corrupted. I not insert my Snow Leopard Disk and the machine will not boot. I chose target mode to erase the hard drive from my mac book pro with Mt. Lion on it.
    Thank uou for any help,
    Ken

    Target mode?  Is there a second computer involved?  Why not insert the Snow Leopard disc in the computer on which you wish to install and hold down the C key to boot from it?
    If the disc came with a different computer it will not boot another model.  Retail discs also may not boot all model computers, even those that came with the same major version.  For example, some MBPs came with 10.6.6 but a retail disc may only be 10.6.3.

  • I bought the Snow Leopard Update but now my macbook wont even accept the DVD and keeps ejecting it. This is the same for all DVDs.

    I have a very old (refurbished, bought over 4 years ago) macbook pro 15". It's been running ok on OS X 10.5.8 until very recently. It started ejecting disks, and then the new adobe flash player update wouldn't work. Lots of other little things have been happening as well.
    I had been considering buying a new macbook, but one of the Apple store people suggested I update instead (a much cheaper alternative!). So I bought Snow Leopard, and it arrived in the post today. But now my macbook wont even accept the dvd. It takes it in, whirs and complains a bit (for less than 60 seconds) then ejects it again. I have tried cleaning the disk, cleaning the disk area with a credit card + lens cleaner (a trick I saw recommended on this forum). But no luck.
    Any advice?
    I am a trainee teacher and actually will be gutted to have to get a new laptop (as I really cant afford it). BUT obviously if I have to I will. I just need to extend the life of this one for as long as possible, until I have more money to get a better one!

    Bring your MBP to an Apple store genius bar and see what they say about your MBP optical drive. 
    Look on the OWC web site.  They sell optical drives for older MBPs.  Perhaps there is one that will fit yours.  Installing one is not brain surgery.
    Otherwise examine the iFixit.com and Powerbookmedic.com web sites for replacements.
    Ciao.

  • Just bought a used '06 MacBook Pro. Where can I get instructions for starting it up?  This is all new to me. When I powered it on it showed "Utilities".  Asking me to select startup system - am I supposed to insert the Snow Leopard disk?

    I'm so lame at this! I bought the laptop used and was told that Snow Leopard was installed. I don't want to mess this up. Are there detailed instructions anywhere that will take me through this step by step?

    The utilities window is giving me 4 choices: Restore from Time Machine Backup - You have a  backup of your system that you want to restore
                                                                         Reinstall Mac OS X - Set up and install a new copy of 'Lion'.
                                                                         Get help online - Browse Apple support
                                                                         Disk Utility - Repair or erase a disk using Disk Utility.
    If I use Time Machine is it going to restore all of the previous owners content?

  • I have a macbook with Tiger.  What are the steps I need to take to upgrade to Lion and the cloud? I have the Snow leopard disk just received from Apple.

    What are the steps I need to take to upgrade my Macbook with Tiger to Lion and the cloud?  I have the install disk for Snow Leopard.

    Hi Carol, good/sound advice by Ziatron so far.
    We need more info about your Mac to see if it will even be capable,
    So we know more about it...
    At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...
    Hardware Overview:
    Model Name: iMac
    Model Identifier: iMac7,1
    Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
    Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
    Number Of Processors: 1
    Total Number Of Cores: 2
    L2 Cache: 4 MB
    Memory: 6 GB
    Bus Speed: 800 MHz
    Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03
    SMC Version (system): 1.21f4
    You'll need to buy SL/10.6 first & get it to 10.6.8, then get Lion... if you can run it.
    Or if you can erase your disk...
    http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD256
    Snow Leopard/10.6.x Requirements...
    General requirements
       * Mac computer with an Intel processor
        * 1GB of memory (I say 2GB at least)
        * 5GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)
        * DVD drive for installation
        * Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
        * Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
    Which apps work with Mac OS X 10.6?...
    http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
    It looks like they do still have it:
    http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA
    If it's a core Duo & not a Core2Duo, then it'll only run in 32 bit mode.
    Snow Leopard/10.6.x Requirements...
    Lion/101.7 System requirements
        •    x86-64 processor (Macs with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, or Xeon processor.)
        •    At least 2GB of memory, (I say 4GB)
        •    Latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8), with the Mac App Store installed
        •    At least 4GB of disk space for downloading, (I say 40GB at least)
    Like Snow Leopard, Lion does not support PowerPC-based Macs (e.g., Power Macs, PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs (G3-G5), eMacs).
    Lion also does not support 32-bit Intel Core Duo or Core Solo based Macs. Rosetta is no longer available in Lion, which means Lion no longer supports PowerPC applications.
    It looks like Apple will have Lion available on USB drives for $69...
    http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD256

  • Why does the Snow Leopard disk keep tell us to restart in order to start the install?

    We are trying install Snow Leopard on a MacBook that currently has Tiger. We were told by the Apple folks when we ordered it that we could install straight to Snow Leopard.
    So when we put the disk in it tells us to restart to begin the install. When we restart it spits the disk out and then we put it back in and it again tells us to restart in order to install.
    What are we doing wrong??
    Thanks!!!

    Try starting this way:
    Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
    1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
    2. Restart the computer.
    3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
    4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
    5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
    If you still have a problem possibly the DVD is defective.

  • Trying to install the snow leopard update, but get a grey  apple logo screen

    I cleaned my imac out, and now want to install snow leopard (NOT LION), I already installed Leopard, and the machine works, but when I try to install snow leopard, it runs(installs) and after a while it gives a message that it will finish installation after restarting , but then it just gives a grey screen with a apple logo, and nothing happens, cant use the keyboard also, its been standing on this screen overnight(so Im not impatient ) I then switch it off at the power button and restart it keeping eject in, it ejects the disk and then starts with the normal leopard os, I can open/close/use programs/aperture/itunes etc. and the machine seems just fine, its just that it will not work(finish installation of) after I try to install snow leopard.
    I have installed snow leopard on a few occasions before like this on this imac and my MBPro, and had never had this problem.
    I have reinstalled leopard and tried reinstalling snow leopard a couple of times in the last day, and there seems to be no problem with the machine, aka it works fine, it will just not load SLeopard,
    I dont have a time machine backup, as I dont use it, all my data are on a external disk, (which I did a few minutes before erasing my imac   )
    I have erased disks and reinstalled it, installed it over the existing leopard, used disk utility , verified disk, verified permissions , but no luck
    please help !!
    (it seems that my spell checker doesnt work in this box/forum   )

    Do tell us HOW it was fixed.   It helps others.

  • I want to upgrade from Tiger 10.5 to Lion. I need to install the snow leopard first but they stoped shipping it to Greece. How do I get it? Please help.

    Hello guys!
    I am facing a big problem.  I need to upgrade from OS X 10.5 to Lion BUT I need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first. They have stoped shipping to Greece and I am not able to find it anywhere (even Amazon does not ship this product here!!!) What I am supposed to do? Please help me.

    Clone backup your hard drive at least twice*:
    http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
    Erase and install Lion from the USB Flash Drive version that's available on the online store.
    Use the Migration Assistant to import the data, if you are certain everything is compatible with Lion.  Read this user tip to determine if it might be incompatible:
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2465
    If you have any PowerPC (Rosetta) Applications, you may have to manually import the data from the backup:
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2295
    And then find the applications that are equivalent to them that are Lion compatible.

  • I am going to upgrade from leopard to snow leopard ( I just purchased the snow leopard disk today).  Will I be able to keep my data and third party programs after installation?

    Hi Apple Community,
    This is my first time using the Apple Support Communities.  After installing/upgrading to snow leopard from disk will I lose my data and my third party programs like Adobe Indesign?
    Thank you in advance,
    John

    John... welcome to ASC,
    You could if you don't backup everything to an external drive first. Always backup your important data before upgrading from one Mac OS to the next.
    "Backup"  most important word in computing 
    Make sure your Mac meets Snow Leopard's minimum requirements before upgrading >   Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard - Technical Specifications

  • I need to install osx I have the snow leopard disc but my optical drive doesn't work.

    I made the rushed decision to completely scrub my Mac and reinstall the software again. I bought the computer about 4 years ago from a student at my university who was leaving. When I got it lion was installed already. Now I can use the install disc as my optical drive is broken and I can't recover from the internet as it wants the apple I'd from the original person. I can't find an uncorrupted file to USB boot my machine . has anyone got any ideas before I bite the bullet and get my CD drive repaired .

    Purchase an external CD/DVD optical drive.
    There are cheap ones (under$50) that'll last anywhere from a year to three years or more expensive(over $50 and higher) that will last much longer.
    Not all optical drives are Mac compatible.
    Most Mac compatible drives you will only find to be purchased online.
    Here are two on Amazon.com that are cheap and Mac compatible
    http://www.amazon.com/LG-GP10NB20-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B004K2Z4MS/ref=sr_1 _3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398883289&sr=8-3&keywords=Mac+compatible+external+LG+optical+dr i ve
    http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP40NB40/dp/B009DS6OFU/re f=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1398883289&sr=8-7&keywords=Mac+compatible+external+LG+opti c al+drive
    Here's another source for Mac compatible optical drives. These are also tray loading drives
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/VLU2SD24XS/
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3F82SD24S/
    Good Luck!

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