Os x cannot be installed on macintosh hd

Hello,
The title is the error msg I keep getting.  I think it is related to Time Machine??

Are you trying to install on a Time Machine volume?
Or does your hard drive have problems? Have you run a file system check by booting into the recovery HD? If the disk has problems, the installer will not run.

Similar Messages

  • PLEASE HELP! OSX cannot be installed on Macintosh HD

    PROBLEM
    I'm trying to update from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 to Yosemite 10.10.2 and it's not working. I downloaded the installer file from the app store and it is in my applications folder. When prompted, I "Select the disc where I want to install OS X" and select Macintosh HD, causing a bubble to pop up saying "This disc cannot be used to start your computer". If I press the back button, then go back forward it simply says "OS X cannot be installed on Macintosh HD".
    TROUBLESHOOTING ATTEMPTS
    I have tried to repeat the process about ten times with the same results.
    Reinstalling the installer doesn't help.
    I ran Disc Utility, which claimed I had an error in the number of blocks in my volume, booted in Recovery Mode and repaired the disc. No change.
    Other online threads told me to find and delete the file "backups.backupdb" on my HD, but I can't find that anywhere on my computer using the Finder Search function
    SPECS
    Late 2011 MacBook Pro
    OS X 10.6.8
    2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 processor
    4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Memory
    65GB available disc space

    You must have a really fouled up Snow Leopard system. Please do this:
    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. 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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
    If you continue having errors reported, then you should backup your files, erase the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard. Be sure to backup the Yosemite installer you downloaded if you don't want to download it again. Otherwise, try the installer again.

  • Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD", because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer

    I have a macbook pro with snow leopard on it. I am giving it away to a family members, but would like to erase the disk before giving it away. When I put my snow leopard dvd in, and click "install", I get a screen asking me to select the hard drive to install on. When I click the only one listed: "Macintosh HD", I get the message:
    Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD", because this disk cannot be used to start your computer
    If I try to boot from the dvd, my mac just hangs on the gray screen that shows the apple logo. Basically I put the dvd in, shut down the computer, when I turn it on, I hold the "C" key, and it just hangs.
    How should I go about erasing everything on the computer, and re-installing the OS, I just want it to look like it did when it came from the factory. Any help would be much appreciated.
    Note: I lost my original install dvd, so I called Apple and asked for a replacement, they charged me $20 and sent the Snow Leopard disk that I am using as my replacement.
    Thanks.

    It's possible you got a disk from Apple you can't use. What you should have gotten were gray disks based on the Mac's serial number so you would get disks which were identical to the ones it came with.
    If the disk you received has a picture of a Snow Leopard on it, then they sent you a 10.6.3 retail disk, which will not have any of the bundled iLife apps on it.
    Much more important is the point release. If your Mac originally came with 10.6.4 or some later point release of Snow Leopard, then 10.6.3 will not install on that Mac. The necessary hardware drivers are not on the retail disk.

  • Os x mounatin lion cannot be installed on Macintosh HD

    Hello!
    I just downloaded Mountain Lion from app store and ran it. After rebooting i have chosen install on my Macintosh HD and after about 5 mins i recieved a message "os x mounatin lion cannot be installed on Macintosh HD". what's the point??

    we have a problem.....
    another solution - buy a hard drive and a usb external enclosure (not an external hard drive).......
    take your old hard drive out and install it in your usb external enclosure.
    install your new hard drive in your macbook.
    connect your usb external to your macbook's usb port.
    power up your macbook and keep your finger in the option key until you see the apple logo....
    you'll get a boot menu, choose your external drive as the boot drive - when ML installer pops up, direct it to install it in your new hard drive....
    once the install is done, restart your macbook and open migration assistant and use that to bring your files and apps from your bad hard drive over...

  • Yosemite cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD"

    When trying to upgrade from Mavericks to Yosemite I get this:
    Yosemite OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD".
    This is a late 2009 iMac with 4G RAM and 1TB of hard disk space.
    Suggestions please.

    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
    Select
              /var/log ▹ install.log
    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
              View ▹ Show Log List
    from the menu bar at the top of the screen. The contents of the log will appear on the right. Each log message begins with a timestamp. Select the messages from the time of the last installation or update attempt. If you're not sure when that was, click the Clear Display button in the toolbar of the Console window and then try the installation again. Select the new messages that appear. Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).
    ☞ If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.
    ☞ When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
    ☞ Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
    ☞ Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
    ☞ Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. You may need to use a text editor with search and replace, such as TextEdit.

  • I just purchased OS X Mountain Lion Upgrade.  When I went to install it is says "Os X Mountain Lion cannot be installed on Macintosh HD" please help!

    Just purchsed upgrade OSX Mountain Lion.  Went to install and it says "OSX cannot be installed on Macintosh HD" Why?

    Hi,
    If you bought the iMac in 2010 it should be supported indeed, however be aware that the information refers to the manufaction date which might be different than the purchase date.
    Please verify the following information:
    Click the Apple icon.
    Click About This Mac.
    Click More Info.
    What is the listed Model Identifier?
    You may identify the exact model by comparing it with the Model Identifier below:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1758
    Now go back to your Desktop, click the Go menu and select Utilities.
    Open the Disk Utilitiy.
    Select Macintosh HD from the left pane.
    You may find the Available space listed in here.
    As well, what it the listed Format within the same screen?
    Shlomi

  • OS X Mavericks cannot be installed on Macintosh HD

    Macbook - Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
    34.5 GB free out of 159.18GB
    When I try and download Mavericks it says, "OS X cannot be installed on 'Macintosh HD'."  I am unable to delete the backups.backupdb file as it says "...unexpected error occurred (error code - 8072)".
    Suggestions?  Thanks!

    I'm not sure what would cause that error.  You might want to post this question over in the OS X Mavericks forum: https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mavericks?view=discussions.

  • "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'Macintosh HD'. This disk is used for Time Machine backups."

    I am trying to upgrade our MacBook to Snow Leopard, but when prompted to select which hard drive to install on and "Macintosh HD" is selected, the following message generates: "Mac OS X cannot be instaled on  'Macintosh HD'. This disk is used for Time Machine backups."
    I disabled Time Machine switched it "off," put it in the trash can, then "Secure Emptied" the trash can. I also rebooted. Then I connected an external hard drive thinking that might help, but for some reason I still cannot proceed with the Snow Leopard upgrade because "the disk is used for Time Machine backups."
    WHAT is the DEAL!?

    It doesn't sound like an upgrade would work very well anyway. Make sure you have a good backup and repartition the startup volume. Then install Snow Leopard onto the hard drive and migrate your old users and applications.

  • When i try to download Xcode i get the error that it cannot be installed on "macintosh hd"

    when i try to download xcode i get the error that it cannot be installed because of "macintosh hd" and me not having os x version 10.8.4!!!
    please help me

    Correct.
    System requirements for XCode is 10.8.4 and above. Since you have 10.7.5 it can't be installed.

  • Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD"  This disk is used for Time Machine backups-can you help in layman terms?

    I know there are discussions out there regarding this but my system is 10.5.8, I know how to turn the computer on and run some programs but understanding partitions, etc...forget it.  I have programs on my computer I don't want to lose, images in photoshop that, if lost, I would kill myself so please help me in basic English terms...what the heck do I need to do to update to OS X so I can feel inferior again when I update to OS 7?

    Somehow, your internal HD got selected as the destination for TM backups, perhaps long ago.
    That left a Backups.backupdb folder at the top level of your internal HD.
    All you need to do is open your internal HD (probably named Macintosh HD) via the Finder, locate and delete that folder.

  • Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD"

    I get that message when trying to upgrade my OS. It also reads: "This disk is used for TIme Machine backups."
    So what do I do now? Do I call Apple and yell at them for a refund or is there a solution to my syntax error???

    [It the message at the top of this article part of the message(s) you see|http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10330520-263.html]? If so, then the article contains your solution. You should be well backed up to use the solution. Do what is suggested above on TM. Then, just turn TM off and lock it for now. If these steps don't work, then you may have to direct TM to use an external for backup.
    Message was edited by: donv (The Ghost)

  • Leopard cannot be installed on MacBook Air

    I have not been able to install Leopard on my MacBook Air because of an error message "Mac OS X cannot be installed on "Macintosh HD", because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." I have gotten this message when trying to install Leopard via remote disk. I used the disk utility to run a disk repair and no problems were found. I am not sure how to resolve this problem.

    Do you have the Ethernet attachment for the MBA? If so, the Install will go much faster.
    1. Insert the Snow Leopard Install Disk into the remote computer (if the remote computer is not running Leopard, first insert the original disk that came with your MBA and install the Remote Disk app, if you haven't already).
    2. Attach by Ethernet cable.
    3.Turn off Airport on both computers, and activate Remote Install OSX on both computers. This is found in Applications/Utilities. Follow the instructions.
    4. ON Restart hold down the Option key.
    Sorry if you've done this already, but if you haven't, give it a try.
    null

  • HT1338 i try and download Aperture but i get a dialog box stating 'Aperture can't be installed on macintosh HD because OSX version 10.9 or later is required' i am using an iMac with OSX Mavericks

    I try and download Aperture but i get a dialog bos saying 'Aperture cannot be installed on macintosh HD because OSX 10.9 or later is required. I am using an imac with OSX Mavericks

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    Are you sure you are using OS X Mavericks? OS X Mavericks is 10.9, so it looks like you are using an older OS X version. To check this, open  > About this Mac, and check Version.
    To get Aperture from the Mac App Store, upgrade to OS X Mavericks. Open the Mac App Store and download OS X Mavericks. Make a backup of your files with Time Machine and check that your apps are compatible > http://www.roaringapps.com
    After upgrading, you will be able to purchase Aperture

  • HT6114 Why can't I install Mavericks on OS X Mountain Lion? I keep getting the message "Cannot install on Macintosh HD"

    Why can't i install mavericks on OsX mountain lion? I keep getting the message "Cannot install on Macintosh HD"

    You have a Macbook Pro, not a desktop Mac Pro and, since yours is a 2011, it should install.
    How much RAM do you have?
    And how much empty hard drive space?
    Did you get the machine new or did you buy it used with Lion installed?

  • How to reinstall Mac os x 10.5.6 to my imac desktop 24 inch all in one i put in disk and held c down and it came to a message saying os x cannot be installed on this computer HELP?

    Ok here lately when i came into my office and go to cut on my imac desktop 24inch all in one it would come up to a white screen with a grey folder with a question mark blinking in the center of the screen well i just want to reload the machine but when i put my Mac os x install dvd that came with it into it you gets past the folder blinking to the screen where it has the Mac os x installer bar at the top but in the middle of the screen in says Mac os x cannot be installed on this computer and has two buttons one that says ok and the other that says restart how can i get this to stop giving me this error and get to where i can just reinstall the os PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I understand, while you may have knowledge with PCs you don't have the diagnostic tools available to you to professionaly diagnose a Mac. Apple does not make those tools available for the general public, they are only available to Apple and AASPs. To install the OS on the machine you need to locate the original 10.5.x install disc that shipped with the machine and insert it into the SuperDrive. Below are Apples instructions for setting up the machine:
    Turn on the computer.
    Insert the Mac OS X Install DVD into the optical drive, or insert the MacBook Air Software Reinstall Drive into the USB port.
    Restart the computer.
    Press and hold the "C" key while the computer starts up. The computer will start up using the Install media. Alternatively, press and hold the Option key at startup to select the volume containing the installer.
    If your are using a wireless mouse, a mouse icon should appear asking you to turn the mouse on so that the computer can discover it.
    Select a language, then press the right arrow key.
    Click the Utilities menu, the choose Disk Utility.
    Select a volume to erase (usually called Macintosh HD).
    Click the Erase tab.
    Click Erase... Important: This step will completely erase your hard drive. If you have installed Microsoft Windows using Boot Camp, or have multiple partitions, this procedure will erase the partition you select.
    A dialog box appears asking if you want to erase the partition: click Erase.
    After the partition is erased, choose Quit Disk Utility from the Disk Utility menu.
      Part Two: Installing the operating system 
    When the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Installer screen appears, click Continue.
    When the license agreement appears, click Agree.
    Select the disk you erased. It should now be highlighted with a green arrow.
    Click Install. A status bar appears on the bottom of the screen while Mac OS X installs.
    An Additional Information screen appears, advising you that you operating system has been installed. Click Continue.
    An Install Succeeded screen appears. Click Restart.
      Part Three: Completing the Mac OS X Setup Assistant 
    When the restart has completed, a welcome video plays, then country/region selection screen appears.
    Select your country or region and click Continue.
    Select a keyboard layout and click Continue.
    A migration screen appears. If you wish to migrate your data from another Macintosh, see Migration tips and tricks. If you do not wish to migrate, or want to migrate later, select "Do not transfer my information now" and click Continue.
    A Wireless Service screen appears if you have wireless services available within range of your computer. Select "On" and click Continue.
    If the network is password protected, you be asked for a password when you select it. Type the password and click Continue.
    An Apple ID screen appears. This is used to purchase content from the iTunes store. When complete, click Continue.
    If you do not have an Apple ID, click Continue to move to the next screen.
    A Registration Information screen appears. You are not required to fill this out, but it is helpful if you do. When complete, click Continue and your product registration will be sent immediately.
    If Mac OS X servers are available on your network, you'll be asked if you'd like to log on to them. If not, click Continue.
    A Create Your Account screen appears. This will be used to create a User Account with Login ID and Password for you computer. You should remember this password. You'll be asked for it when you install new software or perform other administrative tasks on your computer. When complete, click Continue and your account will be created immediately.
    A screen to select your user picture appears. Take a snapshot with the built-in camera or select a picture from your Library. When complete, click Continue.
    A MobileMe screen appears. Select an option and click Continue.
    A Thank You screen appears. Click Go to complete the Mac OS X Setup Assistant.
    Eject the Mac OS X Install DVD by dragging its icon to the Trash.
    Good luck.

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