System won't boot to USB Recovery Media

I have a Satellite P55-A5312 with pre-installed Windows 8 (upgraded to 8.1), Intel i5 processor and 6GB Ram. I created a set of DVD recovery media and a USB Flash (Toshiba brand 32GB) recovery drive. I set the boot order in BIOS to USB, then DVD, then HDD. Secure Boot is enabled.
Question I have is, how can I verify that the reovery media will boot if needed? If I power on the laptop, neither the DVD nor USB will boot and it goes directly to Windows, which kind of makes sense. If I then restart, the DVD recovery media will in fact boot, but the USB recovery media won't boot. Even if I restart with F12 and choose USB as the boot device, the USB media will not boot. The only way I can get the USB recovery media to boot is if I disable Secure Boot.
I find it hard to believe that USB recovery media will only work if Secure Boot is disabled. What am I doing wrong?
Ken
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Sure would be nice to know what the recovery media boot behavior is suppose to be with Secure Boot enabled...
With a little luck, Peter will stop by and let us know.
-Jerry

Similar Messages

Won't boot from Toshiba Recovery Media; Will boot from Win 8 builder DVD

Satellite L855-S5309, Windows 8, 64-bit
Created 2 sets of Windows 8 Recovery Media using Toshiba Recovery Media Creator. First set a year ago, created a new set yesterday.
The laptop will not boot to either set (DVD 1). The DVD is bootable in another machine. EUFI is grayed out.
Tried a Windows 8 DVD store bought. It booted from this DVD.
The big question: Why won't the Toshiba laptop see its own DVD it created for recovery?
Win 8 Repair DVD - boots from USB drive but won't see DVD files on drive. Is this the image?
Do I need to order the recovery media?
Darryl

If you can't solve your issue and no one in the community can help, contact support to speak with a tech support agent at (800) 457-7777.
- Peter

T410 won't boot up with Recovery Media CD

Hi all,
Long story short, dropped lappy, took it to Geek Squad at best buys, determined they could not see all 3 partition, only one partition. So they said buy new hard drive and take old drive elsehwhere to recover data.
Bought new hard drive, tried to boot up with Recovery/Boot Media but the system is saying "worng disk, please put in correct one" I only have 1 Recovery Media Disk that I made last year. Am i missing something?
If i can't use the Media Disk how should i proceed so i can get the lappy working again? Do i have to purchase MS office 2007 and start from there?
Thanks!

Sounds like you may have created a Windows repair disk, not a Lenovo recovery disk set?
Edit: You can get a T430 recovery disk set from Lenovo - about $45.00
Keith
Formerly 600E 2645, T30 2366, X31 2673, T40 2373, T41 2379, T42 2373, T42 2379, T60 1952, T61p 8889, T61p 8891
Currently T420 4177-CTO, T430 2347-A54, T430 2349-L64, T430 2347-UN9, T430 2342-CTR, Ideapad K1, H520S 2561-1LU

HP Elitepad 900 G1 won't boot from HP W8 usb Recovery media and mobo replaced

I replaced the mobo on my HP ElitePad 900 G1and have the HP W8 usb Recovery stick. When docked with usb media,mouse /keyboard attached I see the "usb hard drive" in F9 Boot options. I select the usb drive as a boot device and the screen goes to black with no HP logo.
SKU B6A72AV System BIOS Version 68CUA Ver F.04
Options in BIOS
F1 System Information
F2 System Diagnostics - HP BIOS application is corrupt or missing BIOS Application error (501)
F9 Boot Options - USB Hard Drive,Ethernet IPV4,Ethernet IPV6
F11 HP Recovery - Blank screen
F12 Network Boot - n/a
SecureErase
Known good Dock and HP usb Recovery media.
Has anyone seen this before and can assist please ??

If you mean Motherboard when you said mobo then the recovery disk or drive will not work.
Recovery media contents have the motherboard info on then and will only with those respective motherboard.
Wish you luck,
Karthik
--Say "Thanks" by clicking the Kudos (purple thumbs up icon in the lower right corner of a post)
--Please mark the post that solves your problem as "Accepted Solution"

Usb recovery media made from t430i does not boot

hi i got a problem here
a friend got e new t430i with windows 7 pro 64 bit
so he asked me to install windows 8 he gets from his university on his t430i - therefore i started the rescue and recovery programm via lenovo solution center and did all with a 32 gb flash media.
the flash media is set active but the the recovery system does not start of it but the R&R does not let me do the whole process once again this time on som DVD's
so how can i do the whole process once again - as otherwise i could not install win8 without loosing the ability to set the system back to win7 factory defaults ?

RnR is not available for win8 systems.
I assume you are trying to backup up the Factory recovery partition on the win7 system to use in a far future time, ie like if pc is sold.
You are trying to CREATE PRODUCT Recovery (factory install ) backup. This is only allowed to run 1 time.
(1) Create USB backup wont boot (you have to prep the usb before the backup).
(2) cant run process a second time. You have to change DONE_ini parm inside the recovery partition to allow it to run again.
Both of these issues are discussed in other posts on here.
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkVantage-Technologies/Problem-with-usb-recovery-media/m-p/1038829#M2...

USB recovery media from Toshiba for Windows 7 doesn´t work

Hi,
Recently as my laptop Potégé was slow I reinstalled Windows without using Toshiba recovery disks. Now I can't activate Windows 7 (64 bits), so I ordered a USB recovery media from Toshiba. I tried to use it but it doesn't work. I turn off the laptop, turn it on again pressing F12, -with the USB plugged to the laptop- and when I press HDD recovery, the system just takes me to Windows as usual, without reinstalling. Any thoughts on how to reinstall?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi,
Are you getting a boot option menu when you press f12? Have you tried going into BIOS to check your boot order? Usually f2 or DEL will get you to BIOS, or at the bottom of the boot option menu (which I assume is f12). Once you are in BIOS, check that your USB drive is above the others in the boot order and save your configuration and reboot. If you are still having a problem, you might check to see how many USB devices you have plugged in, or chained, and remove the ones that are not necessary because they could interfere with booting to your USB drive. If you are using a USB hub, you might try putting the usb key into a different slot to give it priority over the other USB devices on boot up. The highest priority slot on a USB hub might be the one closest to the USB cable that plugs in to your laptop's USB port.

System won't boot-no chime.

Despite repeated attempts and resetting the CUDA button, the system won't boot when start button is pressed. In the first few seconds it seems to make normal sounds; but no chime and settles into simply fan noise. This is true even if using C (with an Install CD). or Shift key. Is there anything else I can try? (I know it's actually a G3 B&W Motherboard; but I had nowhwere else to post it)

I do not remember exactly what was happening when it stopped. It may have been executing something , hung up, and wouldn't respond to the Command-Opt-Esc or I do remember one incident when it was booting up and stopped when it was partly thru "searching for local discs.
I checked the ref. article and tried to measure the voltages on the power connector. I was never quite sure what pin was what, since the colors did not jive with those in the article. At any rate 2 were approx. + 5 V (one was 4.85), the rest were essentially zero (I believe 1 or 2 were about 300 mv). I did notice that when the power connector is reconnected and start up is attempted, 3 little green lights come on on the motherboard. One goes off after a while.
I have tried the old Sonnet upgrade and have tried reseating all the RAM modules. All to no avail.
The Hard drive and all other parts seemed to be working fine prior to the failure.

System won't boot. INIT: No inittab file found Enter runlevel:

After the latest update that changed how intel ucode is updated, my system won't boot.
I think I missed a line when I edited "/etc/grub.d/10_linux" and ran grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
Any ideas on how to fix this?
I can't run grub-mkconfig from another machine, as it uses the live kernel info.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise I'll have to reinstall

TheSaint wrote:
SyXbiT wrote:
But I still get the error:
system won't boot. INIT: No inittab file found
Enter runlevel:
It seems to me that you've an old Arch version. inittab is deprecated AFAIK.
What is the Arch iso version?
That would probably be mid-2012 at the very latest I think as that's when I remember completely moving over to systemd...
@SyXbiT: Are you using the current Arch install ISO?

System won't boot up

Help please. I have a kt6 delta running an athlon 2700+ xp chip, 512 mb ddr 400.
When I set the fsb at the correct speed for the chip (166) the system won't boot hard drive led lights up constant. dvd drive and cd-r drive each run but the system won't boot. system seems to run fine at default and 133 mhz but the chip is incorrectly identified in windows (xp pro sp1) Any Ideas whats wrong?

Hi - I have the same board with the same processor, I have not problems rebooting after changing the bus speed. But I have had problems rebooting after adding in any card PCI or AGP. the system seems to have trouble clearing the Cmos, I would try clearing the CMOS with the JBAT. it doesn’t always seem to work but I have had some luck, though I have also pulled out the battery a couple of time too..
Good luck!

Upgrade from snow leopard 10.6.8 to montain lion on a iMac system won't boot getting a crossed out circle

Upgrade from snow leopard 10.6.8 to montain lion on a iMac system won't boot getting a crossed out circle

Clean install OS.10.6.8 update it completly. May be you ignored some firmware update.
I have two incedents.
My thunderbolt port stopped working after upgrading to ML 10.8. I booted from external 10.6 , 10.7 still didnt work. Then i clean installed 10.6.8 and ran software update it updated the thunderbolt firmware and all is well now. This firmware update for some reason didnt show up in ML 10.8.
Secondly , when i upgraded my Brother's Macbook from 10.5 to 10.6.3 it would install but stuck with crossed out circle. Then i downgraded checked for update found an efi update , then the 10.6.3 worked fine.

[SOLVED] Switch to systemd - Now system won't boot

I saw that todays update upgrade included the installation of systemd. I looked the wiki and did the necessary changes (I already had made the /etc/hostname etc. files). So I added the
init=/bin/systemd
line to grub and now my system won't boot. I get an error saying something about syslog service not enabled and then a black screen. I can boot my machine fine without the "init=/bin/systemd" line but I want to run a pure systemd system since Arch is moving to it anyway. In the wiki it mentions to install systemd-sysvcompat but it conflicts with initscripts it says. What am I doing wrong or missing?
Last edited by fettouhi (2013-12-08 14:42:04)

fettouhi wrote:
Thanks for the clarification about the DAEMONS list. My DAEMONS list is:
DAEMONS=(!hwclock ntpd syslog-ng !network netfs crond @alsa dbus networkmanager ufw cupsd avahi-daemon samba)
when I try to enable alsa and dbus I get this
[root@andre ~]# systemctl enable alsa-store.service
The unit files have no [Install] section. They are not meant to be enabled using systemctl.
[root@andre ~]# systemctl enable alsa-restore.service
The unit files have no [Install] section. They are not meant to be enabled using systemctl.
[root@andre ~]# systemctl enable dbus.service
The unit files have no [Install] section. They are not meant to be enabled using systemctl.
Is LVM handled automatically by systemd? The reason I ask is because I have the USELVM= set to YES in rc.conf.
I made the permanent transition to systemd and did not start alsa at all - sound works fine - so I never bothered with the alsa-store/alsa-restore service files at all - it just works! Also dbus gets handled by default in systemd so you don't need any starting of dbus service at all... it just works.

Btrfs: System won't boot anymore after unclean shutdown

Hi,
I have a problem with my ArchLinux (kernel 3.19.2-1-ARCH).
I have my root partition as BTRFS and no /boot partition.
After an unclean shutdown the system won't boot anymore.
GRUB loads the kernel and the kernel starts but it hangs saying: Mounted /dev/sda3 on real root.
Then, I have to start a Live CD and do:
btrfsck /dev/sda3
After that the system boots correctly.
I've tried adding fsck to the HOOKS in the mkinitcpio.conf file and in fact it tries to fsck the filesystem (but with BTRFS, fsck.btrfs doesn't work...)
What can I do?
Thanks

I'm also having this problem. I tried booting up the netinstall image to debug it, but I can't mount my btrfs volume from there either: mount just hangs. After a while, the kernel goes:
[...] INFO: task mount:612 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[...] Not tainted 3.19.2-1-ARCH #1
[...] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
[...] INFO: task btrfs-transacti:636 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[...] Not tainted 3.19.2-1-ARCH #1
[...] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
From this post I guessed that I might just need to wait so that I could defrag the volume once it was mounted, but it's been hanging for over 15min now (the message above continues to come up periodically).
Like the OP in the thread I linked to above, my btrfs volume is inside an LVM volume (which is on dm-crypt). Don't know whether that's relevant.
Output of btrfs-check:
Checking filesystem on /dev/pixie/btrfs
UUID: e04cc661-e31a-4dbf-870d-664bc913e34a
found 76855677062 bytes used err is 1
total csum bytes: 72928436
total tree bytes: 2092515328
total fs tree bytes: 1888452608
total extent tree bytes: 104644608
btree space waste bytes: 357251032
file data blocks allocated: 181197139968
referenced 109440282624
btrfs-progs v3.19
dmesg output:
[ 36.824998] Btrfs loaded
[ 36.826713] BTRFS: device fsid e04cc661-e31a-4dbf-870d-664bc913e34a devid 1 transid 98618 /dev/dm-3
[ 46.219014] BTRFS info (device dm-3): disk space caching is enabled
[ 46.259830] BTRFS: detected SSD devices, enabling SSD mode
[ 240.333313] INFO: task mount:539 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[ 240.335542] Not tainted 3.19.2-1-ARCH #1
[ 240.337795] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
[ 240.340263] mount D ffff8800cf2837f8 0 539 453 0x00000000
[ 240.340277] ffff8800cf2837f8 ffff8800cf2331b0 0000000000013f00 ffff8800cf283fd8
[ 240.340286] 0000000000013f00 ffffffff81818540 ffff8800cf2331b0 ffff8802094f67a8
[ 240.340291] 0000000000000004 ffff8800cf283758 ffffffffa0a2fc91 ffff8802094f67a8
[ 240.340298] Call Trace:
[ 240.340335] [<ffffffffa0a2fc91>] ? set_extent_buffer_dirty+0x71/0xc0 [btrfs]
[ 240.340357] [<ffffffffa0a05796>] ? btrfs_buffer_uptodate+0x56/0x80 [btrfs]
[ 240.340366] [<ffffffff8155e999>] schedule+0x29/0x70
[ 240.340389] [<ffffffffa0a47745>] btrfs_tree_lock+0x65/0x200 [btrfs]
[ 240.340396] [<ffffffff810b4380>] ? wait_woken+0x90/0x90
[ 240.340410] [<ffffffffa09e5cd9>] btrfs_search_slot+0x799/0xaa0 [btrfs]
[ 240.340425] [<ffffffffa09e79f5>] btrfs_insert_empty_items+0x75/0xd0 [btrfs]
[ 240.340446] [<ffffffffa0a47a37>] btrfs_insert_orphan_item+0x67/0xa0 [btrfs]
[ 240.340465] [<ffffffffa0a4a12e>] insert_orphan_item+0x5e/0x90 [btrfs]
[ 240.340482] [<ffffffffa0a4c531>] replay_one_buffer+0x361/0x380 [btrfs]
[ 240.340504] [<ffffffffa0a2f244>] ? alloc_extent_buffer+0x34/0x370 [btrfs]
[ 240.340523] [<ffffffffa0a488f3>] walk_down_log_tree+0x1d3/0x410 [btrfs]
[ 240.340540] [<ffffffffa0a48bfb>] walk_log_tree+0xcb/0x1d0 [btrfs]
[ 240.340558] [<ffffffffa0a507f7>] btrfs_recover_log_trees+0x1e7/0x490 [btrfs]
[ 240.340575] [<ffffffffa0a4c1d0>] ? replay_one_dir_item+0xf0/0xf0 [btrfs]
[ 240.340596] [<ffffffffa0a08b3e>] open_ctree+0x17ae/0x2030 [btrfs]
[ 240.340609] [<ffffffffa09dd633>] btrfs_mount+0x843/0x920 [btrfs]
[ 240.340618] [<ffffffff8117b7aa>] ? pcpu_alloc+0x35a/0x680
[ 240.340628] [<ffffffff811d5d68>] mount_fs+0x38/0x1c0
[ 240.340634] [<ffffffff8117bb05>] ? __alloc_percpu+0x15/0x20
[ 240.340641] [<ffffffff811f116b>] vfs_kern_mount+0x6b/0x120
[ 240.340647] [<ffffffff811f4184>] do_mount+0x224/0xb40
[ 240.340653] [<ffffffff811f4dae>] SyS_mount+0x7e/0xe0
[ 240.340661] [<ffffffff81562809>] system_call_fastpath+0x12/0x17
[ 240.340671] INFO: task btrfs-transacti:561 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[ 240.342927] Not tainted 3.19.2-1-ARCH #1
[ 240.345175] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
[ 240.348473] btrfs-transacti D ffff88020b88bd98 0 561 2 0x00000000
[ 240.348483] ffff88020b88bd98 ffff880211edc590 0000000000013f00 ffff88020b88bfd8
[ 240.348491] 0000000000013f00 ffff8802162289f0 ffff880211edc590 ffff8802094a70c8
[ 240.348496] ffff8802094d8000 ffff880200000000 ffff8802094d8000 ffff880200000033
[ 240.348501] Call Trace:
[ 240.348511] [<ffffffff811b5d1a>] ? kmem_cache_alloc+0x16a/0x180
[ 240.348525] [<ffffffffa09e07ca>] ? btrfs_free_path+0x2a/0x40 [btrfs]
[ 240.348543] [<ffffffffa0a64213>] ? __btrfs_run_delayed_items+0xf3/0x1d0 [btrfs]
[ 240.348550] [<ffffffff8155e999>] schedule+0x29/0x70
[ 240.348568] [<ffffffffa0a0b555>] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x2a5/0xbe0 [btrfs]
[ 240.348573] [<ffffffff810b4380>] ? wait_woken+0x90/0x90
[ 240.348590] [<ffffffffa0a06fc5>] transaction_kthread+0x1d5/0x240 [btrfs]
[ 240.348605] [<ffffffffa0a06df0>] ? btrfs_cleanup_transaction+0x5a0/0x5a0 [btrfs]
[ 240.348611] [<ffffffff81091748>] kthread+0xd8/0xf0
[ 240.348617] [<ffffffff81091670>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x1c0/0x1c0
[ 240.348624] [<ffffffff81562758>] ret_from_fork+0x58/0x90
[ 240.348629] [<ffffffff81091670>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x1c0/0x1c0
Last edited by ouroboros8 (2015-04-02 12:37:25)

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly apprec

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

Downgrade OS X Lion To Snow Leopard [Video How-To]
http://www.cultofmac.com/110614/downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-video-how-to /
How To Downgrade OS X Lion To Snow Leopard: The Complete Tutorial
http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-the-complet e-tutorial/
How To Downgrade from Apple OS X Lion to Snow Leopard
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2389334,00.asp

MacBook Pro won't boot from Lion Recovery USB

Help !!
I just installed a new Seagate Momentus 750 XT hybrid HD in a MacBook Pro 6,2 which was running Lion.
In preparation, I:
1. made a complete Time machine backup on an External drive.
2. Checked that the EFI firmware for recovery was up to date
3. made a usb recovery stick and tested a boot with it (I thought)
Now following the drive install, when I boot up with option pressed all looks good, I sign into my wifi and select the USB symbol Recovery HD.
Then I get a blank screen and the back gets hot and the fan is whining, but nothing else happens.
I shut it off by holding power and tried this again, no change.

OK, so I'm on it now and have the HD formatted. Whew, I hope that means it's not a cable issue.
Do you know if the Install OSX widget will give me a choice to get Lion Back? Your previous response seems to say no.
It is asking if I want to install 10.8, but it won't just install 10.8 Mount Lion without asking me to Purchase it, right?
-> If I'm restoring a TM backup, do I even need to install the OS first?

Grey Screen, won't boot from usb. Only have a PC to create a boot USB. How can I reinstall OSX with a .dmg file?

I recently recieved a macbook that I was told was broken. She didn't know what was wrong with it, but she told me I could keep it if I wanted to get it working again. Its http://support.apple.com/kb/sp579 this model. I got the laptop to power on, but the apple logo and the spinning wheel under it kept spinning forever. So with me and my "Amazing" knowledge of Macs, I thought it would be best to reformat the drive on my PC via sata cable to FAT32 (which I was told is a format that mac devices can read/write on) and install OSX from usb. So I have a .dmg file and used TransMac to format the usb and make the usb drive bootable with the .dmg.
I formatted the drive to FAT32 and plugged it into my macbook and I get a folder and a question mark blinking on the screen. After looking at some forums online, I found that the error occurs when you don't have the correct filesystem to boot or something along those lines. So I try rebooting the computer while holding C, to boot from an external device (such as USB). Nothing. Again the folder and question mark blink on the screen. I look at some other boot option keys and try all of them. Shift for recovery mode, D for apple hardware test, Control, option, P, and R for resetting NVRAM and PRAM. Everything! The only things that differ slightly are when I press Option for startup manager, N for NetBoot and Option+N for internet default boot image. When I press N and Option+N, I get a blinking globe for about 5-10 seconds and then the folder and ? blink again. When I hold Option for the startup manager, I get a white screen and my curser, which I can move around the screen, but there is nothing to click on, its just white.
Currently I have a USB flash drive plugged into the macbook with a .dmg OSX installer on it via TransMac and for some reason, my macbook doesn't want to try to load it. Either I have the wrong file format for the installer, or my macbook is having problems. I read that the hard drive may be the problem, except I can use it on my PC so I know that it works fine.
If anyone has any information about how to fix this, or any ideas. Please let me know! I would very much like to get this macbook going again.

The correct format for Mac OS X is not FAT-32.
As the computer shipped with an install-restore disc DVD set that could be used to start the computer as an emergency disc and use the Utilities on the Installer, without running the Installer itself, to format, attempt repair, and perform a few different system installs or reinstalls, this is where the correct format would come from.
Was there documentation to confirm the build year and model information, such as to refer you to the product page link you posted above?
If accurate, that MacBook shipped with this custom grey
install-restore DVD version of Snow Leopard:
Original OS
Mac OS X 10.6.1 (10A2047)
Maximum OS
Latest release of OS X
AirDrop
Supported
Hardware Test
AHT 3A181
And to be able to restore the basic OS X to that level, official replacement discs for that computer should be ordered from AppleCare; to facilitiate obtaining correct ones, you should find the product serial number. There likely would be a fee involved. The replacement disc set may have a different number than the one in the information box above, but would match the hardware series by Apple standards. And a replacement disc may not have the original extra applications that shipped with the computer when new. Those original discs are part of the retail computer, an essential part number, like the power adapter, and should be included with the computer even after an OS X upgrade, since they allow basic access without using the internet.
The remainder of the Snow Leopard 10.6(.8) would be a download Software Update Combo v 10.6.8, either direct from Apple servers or through the computer's running Software Update. Once the computer is up to date in Snow Leopard, 10.6.8, then one could visit the Mac App Store, App Store, and iTunes Store; from the Mac App Store, and you could check/get the latest upgrade to Mac OS X, 10.9.2. An Apple ID is required to access.
The computer may not support Mavericks 10.9.2, or may be able to, but could use an upgrade of RAM capacity.
If your model and build year series info is correct:
Maximum Memory
8.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots
2 - 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM
For more information see the database download http://mactracker.ca
and also compare specs with macbook models at everymac.com.
The newer OS X systems that can use a Recovery HD partition on the hard disk drive, can start from there to repair their hard disk drive, and reformat the section where the Mac OS X runs, and reinstall that. Since there is no likelihood of that still being on the drive once it was FAT-32 reformatted, it will not be present to assist in attempts to reformat the drive; if the computer had been upgraded past Snow Leopard 10.6, to a later system that would have used the recovery partition, or the later internet recovery system. That goes to Apple Servers to use OS X Utilities and reinstall the system, helpful for computers without optical drives or system media. Your MacBook with 10.6.8 installed, then had to access the Mac App Store, to get 10.7.5, 10.8.5, or 10.9.x
Identify your Mac lookup by model number or serial number:
https://www.powerbookmedic.com/identify-mac-serial.php
Anyway, the hardware in the computer may need some inspection, troubleshooting, and maybe repair; but the original DVD install-restore disc has an Apple Hardware Test on it, for that series build model macbook. That could help in troubleshooting some aspects of the computer. Could be the hard disk drive failed; or if someone tried to upgrade the RAM, the system may not have worked correctly. Hard to say how it was messed up, at this stage. There are several possible causes.
Hopefully you can get the correct disc set from AppleCare.
You can call Support number, or use Contact Support page.
Good luck & happy computing!

System won't boot to USB Recovery Media

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