Only Boots with Snow Leopard Disc

Sorry, this is a MBP and Boot camp question...
I've been running fine with windows 7 for months and one day I went to play and all I got was a black screen. The weird thing is that I could still run the bootcamp partition of windows in Parallels.
This morning I reformatted my MacBook Pro and installed Snow Leopard. I created a boot camp partition and told it to "start install", my computer rebooted, the windows disc spins up and the screen goes black indefinitely. I've tried 2 Windows 7 install discs (one from George), a Windows XP SP3, and my original Windows XP SP2 disc, no luck. I can't even get to the windows installer.
I've zapped my PRAM and performed a SMC reset.
I just erased my hard drive and tried to reinstall Leopard and then I was going to try bootcamp again. I can't even boot up off of my old Leopard disc and it won't let me boot from the system disc that came with my MacBook Pro either.
I've gone ahead and reinstalled Snow Leopard for now. I can at least use the Mac as a Mac, but it's weird that my machine will no longer accept any other disc to boot from. I can insert all of the discs and view their contents, I just can't boot from them.

Well, I found the answer myself.
My PCIe graphic card appears to be dead. When I open up System Profiler, all it shows is my NVidia 9400M.
Time for a trip to the Apple Store.

Similar Messages

Installing Leopard server on the servers that only come with Snow Leopard

Has anyone ever "downgrade" - installing Leopard server on the servers that only come with Snow Leopard installer disc??? Is there anything special involved?? Or can I just pop in a Leopard Server installation disc from previous generation servers and procede?? These servers are going to be a part of Xsan. And with my previous horrible experience with Snow Leopard and Xsan, I am really trying to avoid going through that again... Thank you!

The general answer is yes. But the conditional answer is that you must have the original installation media from the Xserve model before it started shipping Snow Leopard exclusively. This means you would need to have bought an Xserve as recently as December to have the combo OS pack as I believe Apple stopped shipping Leopard around early January (although that might be on BTO models so if you got one from the channel it may still have the original media kit). You need to be mindful of the machine's Boot ROM version. The change of one digit can cause some issues with older installation media.
If you don't have recent media kits, you "should" be able to construct a functional OS by building on other hardware and patching up to 10.5.8. Then cloning it to the new unit.
And, you've peaked my interest. What specific issue have you had with 10.6 and Xsan?
Hope this helps

The Tale of the Beeping Macbook - AKA- My Macbook Pro keeps beeping when trying to boot into Snow Leopard Disc's disk utility

Quick back story: about a month ago my macbook was falling and I caught it quickly, I had a game controller in my hand and it lightly hit it whilst I was catching it; the laptop made no contact with the floor, couch etc. Upon reveling in my epic matrix esque catch I noticed it was beeping and the screen was completely black - Horrified I held down the power button for a forced power down and then turned it back on to see that it was fine, along with no visible scars, dents etc to the chassis. Now flash forward to present day, and the macbook pro is only two months old (bought may 4th 2011) and I notice it's got some slightly irregular slow loading points when loading a browser, photoshop, etc. I do the standard disk utility to verify the disc and it says
"Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume file count
(It should be 537095 instead of 537096)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be 161641 instead of 161640)
The volume Macintosh HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk."
So I put in the snow leopard disc to go to the disk utility within, reboot the laptop, and it goes to the gray boot screen with the dark gray apple logo and stays there whilst doing the aforementioned beep from my spider-sense catch. Does anyone happen to know what is wrong? Would that tiny tap from my controller when catching it have caused this problem I have now? Is there anything I can do at home to fix this since I can't get to the disk utility on the snow leopard disk? Will Batman ever get out of the Joker's trap? Or am I better off just making a genius bar appointment? Thanks in advance.
-ZRS

Are you using the Snow Leopard disc that came with that Mac? A gray disc that came with a different Mac won't boot yours, and a Retail (white) disc with a version of OSX earlier than the one your Mac came with won't boot it, either.
If you don't have the right disc, do you have an external HD, or can you borrow one?
(By the way, your post shows you're running Tiger; you might want to update that.)

Mac Pro will not boot with Snow Leopard - need help!

I have had a lot of issues with Snow Leopard since I upgraded from 10.5.8. Most of my problems started after installing Office 2007. I finally wiped the hard drive and reinstalled everything. No problems until last week. Start up was taking longer and had to reboot a couple of times because of grey screen. So I would just put computer to sleep. Yesterday the computer was frozen on screen saver with scrambled rows of pixels on screen two and the main monitor had a frozen image.
I initially pulled all peripherals out and pulled the power plug for 5 minutes. I have left the peripherals out and pulled the second monitor as well. I tried pulling the power plug during a few more starts but nothing gets me to a complete start up screen.
I have tried resetting PRAM and VRAM and tried a safe boot. I tried booting from Snow Leopard and my Leopard disk stayed on either a blue or gray screen with spinning beach ball (on gray screen).
Put original install disk in and booted from using D to check the hardware. Good news is that the hardware test was OK. I did the extended test.
All different kind of start up problems.
- Some start with start up sound goes to Apple logo to blue screen to grey screen with beachball
- Some start ups with no initial sound then Apple logo to blue screen to grey screen with no cursor or beachball
- Some start ups with no sound to gray screen to blue screen to grey screen.
I have no problem wiping the HD1 again but I can't even get the OS disk to be recognized with holding the C key during start up. This last time it went to a blue screen (holding the C key) and a cursor.
I don't know what else to do - Please help!!!

There are lists (MacIntouch and MacFixit) of hardware / software support issues with 10.6. Accelerateyourmac is another place to watch.
There were some really long threads back in Sept about printer driver support.
The 7300 firmware was more about Windows support; those cards are failing and dropping like flies (how DO they know 3 yrs has expired anyway?) and they don't support SL features like OpenCL etc so I'd invest in ATI 4870, best graphic card and works in all models Mac Pro.
Lots and lots of bootable clones for backup. Never need to wipe and install again.

Dual Boot with Snow Leopard and Mavericks not possible?

I have a Early 2011 Macbook Pro with 2,3 GHz i7 Quad and two 512 GB SSDs (the secondary disk in an optical drive bay enclosure). This Macbook Pro can run Snow Leopard and Mavericks on the primary disk without problems. When I try to set up a dual boot system however, problems appear and it looks like it is not possible. When I start from Snow Leopard, I cannot select Mavericks as a start volume and vice versa. The error message says something like "Bless tool" cannot use this disk, i.e. unmount and boot from it. The problem remains when I exchange the disks (putting the primary disk in the drive enclosure and vice versa). When I put the secondary drive in an external case however, it is possible to boot from it - but strange things happen when the system starts: My computer clock is reset to 1/1/2001, WiFI passwords are not remembered for more than one session, disk permissions are reported as "repaired" but do apear as not repaired when I check them again - and other issues). I have verified both disks already and repaired permissions but that does not change the situation. So my experience is different from what is said in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/566781. It looks like the latest Mavericks cannot coexist with Snow Leopard on neiter a secondary internal drive nor on an external drive. This is strange since both disks and systems work flawless when run alone. Any suggestions to solve this problem?

When I check the Mavericks disk in the optical drive with disk utility after booting / running Snow Leopard on the primary disk I get som errors, see below ("disk utility Info"). So after all, I decided to erase the disk and install Mavericks new. But even erasing the disk is not possible when it is in the optical drive enclosure. I get this error message:
"Volume Erase failed with the error:
Could not unmount disk"
When I put this disk into an external case connected via USB however, it starts and runds MAvericks without any Problem. Same happens when I put thie Mavericks disk into the internal primary hard disk place.
"disk utility Info" when verinfying the secondary drive in the oprical bay:
Verifying volume “Samsung SSD Daten”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 40)
Checking catalog file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 30)
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 8)
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume bitmap needs minor repair for orphaned blocks
Checking volume information.
The volume Samsung SSD Daten was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Samsung SSD Daten”
Error: Could not unmount disk

IMac won't boot unless snow leopard disc is in the drive

I am running 10.6.4 and have a boot camp partition running windows 7. The windows side is working fine, however snow leopard will not boot unless I put the disc in the drive. I don't need to do anything else at all, just put the disc in. If I do not put the disc in, I get the apple logo appear, a time bar appears at the bottom of the screen which fills up a small amount and then disappears and then I get the grey spinning circle and the apple logo for ever more!
Can anyone please offer me some advice?

Something you could try would be booting to the Snow Leopard install disk. Once at the welcome screen, choose your language and click next. At the top of the screen you will notice the menu bar appear, choose Utilities > Disk Utility. In Disk Utility choose your Mac partition, from there go to the First Aid tab and Verify the Disk and also your Disk Permissions. If any errors show up click Repair on the respective option. After that try booting to OS X again, without the Snow Leopard disk inserted.

Problem with Snow Leopard disc

I just bought the Snow Leopard boxed set and I cannot get the drive to recognize the SL disc.
Before I even began, I backed up my files to my external drive and used the Disc Utility to repair permissions and ensure my HD was ready for the upgrade. When I put the SL disc in, it just ejects it.
So far, I have tried:
1. Other DVD's including a movie, the iWork disc, the iLife disc (that came in the boxed set) and they all work properly
2. Put the SL DVD in my mom's iMac - that worked fine as well
3. My Tiger install DVD - works fine too
My drive will not recognize the SL disc. It just makes some noise for a moment and I can hear the drive spinning but then it just ejects the disc.
I have 2gb of RAM and 30gb of available disc space and I'm currently running 10.4.11.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
I used a DVD cleaner and cleaned my drive. It's now working.
No idea why all the other discs worked fine and not this one but it's working now. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Very weird, though.

I currently run Mac Pro with three hard drives. Can I dual boot or even triple boot with Snow Leaopard on one drive and Mountain Lion or Lion on others?

I currently run Mac Pro with three hard drives. Can I dual boot or even triple boot with Snow Leopard on one drive and Mountain Lion or Lion on others?
I need to keep Snow Leopard so that I can run some old softward.

If you are careful you can put at least two on one drive, having Recovery from Lion and Mountain Lion on their own drives though.
CCC can clone Lion Recovery - great for moving or backup.

How to install new reboot drive with Snow Leopard when new drive is unformatted and the only thing displayed is to choose to run the OS disc? It is impossible to choose disk utility as nothing happens.

Mac Pro (2006) running Snow Leopard crashed. Geniuses were certain it was bootable HD. Installed new HD and pressed option key with Snow Leopard in optical drive. Chose "Mac OS Installation Disc." Disc runs once for a minute, stops, runs again, then nothing. It is impossible to choose disk utility to format the disc as absolutely nothing but a black screen is visible!

pull all your drives so you just boot the DVD
If you have an ATI 5770 you cannot boot with less than 10.6.5
Ideally you would go through phone system and buy Lion, download and SAVE and create a Lion Installer media (DVD and flash memory are possible).
If you can't boot the DVD alone, let us know as gives a better idea.

Can only boot into Windows 7. Can't even boot from Snow Leopard DVD.

I have no idea what prompted this. I don't recall installing any OS updates recently, other than some Windows Live apps in Windows 7.
I have an early 2009 Mac Mini with Snow Leopard, and have Windows 7 64-bit installed in a Boot Camp partition. When I installed Windows 7, I couldn't get the Boot Camp utility to install within Windows (I guess because it's 64-bit) so to switch back and forth between OSes, I just shut down the Mac and restart it with the Option key pressed, and select Mac OS X when I want to return to Mac. This has worked for about a month and a half now (ever since I got Windows 7). Suddenly I have problems.
I first had problems booting into Windows or Mac. I got to the grey screen with the Apple logo, with that spinning "progress" thing going for a while, then it would freeze up and get stuck on the grey screen with the Apple logo. I zapped the PRAM. No help. Then, after disconnecting all external drives (I have several) and extra USB devices, I was able to boot from the DVD install disk and reinstall Snow Leopard on my internal drive. Joy, or so I thought. Then I booted into Windows 7, and after some weirdness getting it to start, it did successfully start and ran just peachy.
Then I turned off the Mac and held down the option key (as usual) to return to Mac OS. But now all that happens is that I get a grey screen for a few seconds, then the Mac boots back into Windows 7, which seems to work fine. (I'm in Windows 7 right now.) I turned on one my external drives (Snow Leopard installed, connected via Firewire 800) in hopes that the Mac would boot into that, but same thing. Ignored and back to Windows 7.
Then I thought I'd boot from the install DVD again by putting it in the drive and holding down the C key as I restart, but the same thing--a grey screen for a few seconds, and then booting right into Windows 7. I can't seem to escape Windows 7! It's a bit disturbing when it won't even recognize the install DVD.
I tried to call Apple Care since I'm within my 90 day support window, but of course they are closed. I'm figuring that I'm going to have to take this into an Apple Store, but thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

According to Apple, Win 7 64bit is supported with Bootcamp 3.0. If bootcamp 3.0 is available; I could not find it anywhere on Apple's website. It appears the most recent version is 2.2. The only place I could find 3.0 is not on Apples website and it's a questionable source so I won't post it here.
It may just be a matter of time before Apple makes it available. I'm not suggesting you wait, however if the install disk can't be used, I'm not too sure where u could go from there. Calling Applecare might work.
If you do a simple google search using the terms 'download bootcamp drivers windows 7' u will see what I was referring too.
Here's what I found from Apple (It doesn't specifically mention 64bit however just win7): http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920
This is not from Apple, but specifically addresses whether they support win7 64bit: http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/08/31/boot.camp.win.7.64.support/
Here is more info about bootcamp 3.0 and win7: http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard.

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard. But my Snow Leopard install disk is too old for Windows 7, so attempted Boot Camp install of drivers fails.
I have hand-installed the NVidia graphics driver, and I have keyboard, minimal trackpad, and hardwire to internet all working. So the WIndows machine is usable. But I am hurting for wi-fi, better trackpad, and whatever else is delivered by Boot Camp. I can't use any of the Boot Camp upgrades because I do not have XP or Vista.

Dear Nathan,
Many thanks. To the best of my memory, that is how I got where I am today. Initially I had one failed setup, then discovered compatibility mode and ran using it. The result was not an obvious failure, but something was not there because not only were some drivers missing (wi-fi, trackpad, ...) but (much to my disappointment) the 3.1 update would not run. It complained that 3.0 wasn't there. If I hardwired to my home network, the machine would do almost everything I wanted, but the graphics were slow and clumsy. That is when I hunted around for the NVidia driver and downloaded it from NVidia. And that is where I stand now.
My son found this link http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/01/15/using-boot-camp-to-install-windows-7-on-you r-mac-the-complete-walkthrough/
which has instructions claiming to do the install straight to Win 7 without using compatibility mode.
Given that my clumsy efforts to patch things up have probably necessitated a Win 7 deinstall and reinstall to test either your plan or the one my son found, I am inclined to sit tight for a couple of days to see how much I can learn.
I appreciate your interest in this problem, and if you are up for reading the process at the link my son found and commenting, I would be grateful.
In any case, many thanks, Paul

I have a MacBook pro version 10.6.7 with snow leopard. After an scheduled software upgrade I could not open Quicken (It said it could not open the files). Now I can only open it if I have my external drive on. Can you help?

I have a MacBook pro version 10.6.7 with snow leopard. After an scheduled software upgrade I could not open Quicken (It said it could not open the files). Now I can only open it if I have my external drive on. Can you help?
All the information that I had input on Quicken is gone. I have to have the external hard drive that I use to back up to be able to use quicken now. It is as if it was erased from the laptop hardrive

Try repairing permissions. My favorite way is with a utility called AppleJack. Info and download here. It's free. It only works when you boot in Single User Mode. When restarting or booting, hold down the Command key and S keys.
You will get a very different startup screen that looks like the Terminal app has hijacked the screen. Just let the lines of text scroll by. When that happens you will get a text entry prompt. Type in "AppleJack" without the quotation marks.
A DOS looking menu will appear. Choose 1 or d to run Disk Repair. If you get a message that Disk Repair found and corrected errors, run it again. Repeat until you get the "your disk appears to be ok" message. This rarely happens with my experience, though. This does the same thing as as booting from an external drive and running Disk Utility's repair. Only, no external drive is required!
Next, choose 2 or p to repair disk permissions. This will take a little while. AppleJack warns that it will take up to an half hour to run repair permissions. It'n never taken more than about ten minutes for my MacBook Pro.
As permissions are repaired, you will see each repair scroll on the screen. When done, the menu returns, choose q to quit. Then at the prompt, enter "exit" without the quotes. Your MacBook Pro should restart into Mac OS normally after this.
Hope this helps.

HELP PLEASE!! Boot problems with Snow Leopard (Blue Screen Loop)

Hi guys!
My MacBook (the model before the current one) wont boot up. It started stuttering and acting strange and then froze so I did a force restart. It then loaded all the way up until a blue screen when the mouse appears and can be moved. This flickers off after a few moments (the screen dims) and then comes back. The process repeats as if in some infinite loop.
The main problem is that I've lost my snow leopard disc so I'm pretty limited to what I can do until I can borrow / buy another one and I need to get my laptop back up right away for work.
I've tried booting in safe mode, no joy
I then tried to repair the drive in fsck, which repaired something. I did it again and it said all was ok but then booting stuck at the same place.
Finally I read on another forum that removing /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist fixed login loop issues. I attempted this in single user mode but it said the file didnt exist?
Can anyone help me out here? I'm pretty stressed out as all my work stuff is on there for my new job...
Thanks!!

I had this same problem -- machine would boot, but loop at two blue screens before the login window. I sshed into the machine and checked /private/var/log/system.log and /var/log/secure.log which showed a unexpected character in /etc/authorization. Basically, the authorization file was corrupted (most likely by bad RAM.) The solution was to replace this file with one copied from another machine. I didn't match models, but did match OS when copying the file (i don't know if this matters at all), and as soon as the "cp" command was entered, the login window popped up. <-- totes awesome. The machine has been reliable since (all of 15 minutes)

Starting fresh with a SSD and I cannot find my Snow Leopard disc...

So I have a Mac Pro with OS X 10.6.8, 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 8 GB ram, and I am trying to move my OS over to a Solid State Drive. I have the original instal disc for 10.5 but I cannot find my Snow Leopard disc.
So I installed 10.5 on the SSD but can't figure out anyway to upgrade to 10.6, at which point I can purchase Mountain Lion or whatever, but you can't upgrade beyond Snow Leopard without first having Snow Leopard, right?
I know I can "clone" my original SATA drive with Snow Leopard, but part of the reason I am doing this is to get rid of a bunch of the useless crap on that drive, so I'd like to avoid a full clone.
I know it's only $20 to buy a fresh version of Snow Leopard, but on 10.5 there is no App Store, and there doesn't seem to be anyway to purchase it online as a download. So I would need to go to a real life store or have it shipped, right?
So if there is some other way to upgrade or to clone JUST the OS without any of the other crap, that would be amazing!
Thoughts?!

Why not download and look at its options? I recommended for that and other reasons.
And yes you should move all your data to another drive. Keep what you have 'as is' and pull it as extra backup or in reserve.
Before you clone, install TRIM Enabler!
And after you clone, run Disk Utility's REPAIR DISK on the SSD -- just to be on the safest side.
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/37852/trim-enabler
How to relocate system and user data to another drive:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4337http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-move-the-home-folder-in-os-x-and-why/To successfully relocate your operating system, user accounts and data from one storage device to another, meet the following conditions:
The destination storage device (SSD drive or hard drive) you are migrating to should be physically located in the same computer. Moving operating system files from one computer to another computer using software not specifically designed for that computer can cause issues due to software, hardware, and firmware version mismatches.
Always back up your storage device with Time Machine or Disk Utility before you start.
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
Create an OS X Lion Install disc
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/
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/
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html
SSD: Samsung 840 128GB (500GB $320)
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-120GB-internal-MZ-7TD120BW/dp/B009NHAF06/
Sonnet Tempo Pro
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempossdpro.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technologies/TSATA6SSDPR/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technologies/TSATA6SSDE/
Icy Dock $15
http://www.amazon.com/2-5-3-5-Ssd-sata-Convert/dp/B002Z2QDNE/

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard. But my Snow Leopard install disk is too old for Windows 7, so attempted Boot Camp install of drivers fails.

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard. But my Snow Leopard install disk is too old for Windows 7, so attempted Boot Camp install of drivers fails.
I have hand-installed the NVidia graphics driver, and I have keyboard, minimal trackpad, and hardwire to internet all working. So the WIndows machine is usable. But I am hurting for wi-fi, better trackpad, and whatever else is delivered by Boot Camp. I can't use any of the Boot Camp upgrades because I do not have XP or Vista.

While we all have MacBooks in this forum not all of us use Boot Camp. There's a Boot Camp Support Community where everybody uses Boot Camp. You should also post this question there.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

Only Boots with Snow Leopard Disc

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