Replaced HDD in MacBook Pro - Cannot Install OS X
I upgraded my brother's 2007 MacBook Pro with a new 500GB hard drive. The installation went smoothly, hardware-wise it wasn't too difficult. The real issues (of course) begin where you think it will be easiest - the software.
My brother told me that there might be a problem with his DVD drive, something I didn't take too seriously. I put in his copy of Snow Leopard and it loaded before I did anything with the computer on the desktop, took a little while. So I tried to boot off the disc, using either Option or C, and it would spin and hum for about 1 minute before spitting it out and displaying the flashing question mark logo (no bootable volume).
So I grabbed a few other discs that I have to see what I could do. I created a bootable Lion disc, that did not work either. However, I pulled out a disc I had for my 2006 MacBook, and after flashing the PRAM twice I was able to boot that into Disk Utility and format the hard drive to Extended Journaled. Unfortunately, the disc, due to either incompatibilty or copy protection, I wasn't able to install any operating systems. "[OS X] cannot be installed on this computer." Not even base off of to build my way back up to Snow Leopard. Ironically, this is the only disc the computer seems to want to boot from.
Things I tried: Target Disk Mode, before and after formatting the new drive. Nothing shows up on my 2009 iMac running Lion. I even tried the trick where you put a bootable disc in the iMac and send that into Target Disk Mode to try and let the MacBook use the working DVD drive. Still nothing. So I've got a blank, properly-formatted hard drive sealed inside a MacBook Pro, and no real way to install an operating system that I can imagine. Any ideas?
Dave Derwin wrote:
I sort of figured that my older MacBook disc wouldn't work but I was desperate to install anything on this drive by now.
If any of the other discs are older or came with a different Mac, that may also be an issue. You need the original install disc or a retail version of an OS newer than the version which his Mac shipped with.
Yes, I connected to my iMac with Target Disk Mode and did not see this drive appear in Disk Utility, the Finder, nor the Lion installer i opened for testing.
Hmmm, not good.
The 2006 boot disc seems to be the only one out of all the ones I own that this MacBoom with respond to. I can get to Disk Utility, see my new HDD, and at this moment Im doing a Zero Out erasure, after solely partitioning it didn't seem to help matters.
I do not know if the Disk Utility software changed from 2006, but I'm wondering if that could be an issue. See my comments above on which disc to use.
I thought about flashing an external hard drive and trying to boot / install from that. Could you point me to a tutorial for that?
You need to boot from an install disc (proper one) and select the external to install to. What would be easier is to install the old HD in an external enclosure and boot from it, or is that dead? If so, were there any backups prior to death?
Taking this drive out and installing with an enclosure is the last thing I want to do, for obvious reasons.
Understood, but if it needs to be done . . . .
I've read posts here about various HDs needing firmware updates, using too much power (acting weird). Have you checked the manufacturer's website and/or contacted their tech support?
IDK how or why it would have helped, or maybe even if it was coincidence, but I've read posts here which claimed a PRAM and/or SMC reset helped in situations like yours. Certainly wouldn't hurt to try.
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