MacOS – Installation of OS X Snow Leopard on a new hard drive using a disk

installmacmac-minimacossnow leopard

I am attempting to install OS X Snow Leopard on a new harddrive. I am using a Mac mini mid-2010 Unibody. I also have the original Snow Leopard disk.

I used a guide on iFixit to replace my harddrive. Now, upon starting up, my screen is white, and has a flashing folder with a ? inside it.

I have tried multiple key combinations:

  • Pressing C before and after chimes with boot disk inserted (original) and no boot disk, nothing

  • Pressing option before and after the chime with the original hard drive and no boot disk, occasionally am able to select and enter the password for my wifi network on a white screen with the wifi symbol and a lov/drop down box with nearby networks, after accepting the password nothing eventuates from that point, merely a white screen, a wifi symbol and the network name – is there anyway to progress from here? Seems like best chance to proceed…

  • Pressing shift results in nothing

  • Pressing command + R results in nothing

  • Pressing command + option + R results in nothing

  • Pressing T results in the FireWire symbol appearing. I do not have access to this cable anymore (I stopped using it in 2011 as I hadn't used it since about 10 years prior.

  • Pressing command + option + R + P to reset the PRAM results in the usual chimes. Then, the white screen appears, then a black screen, then another second chime, and then back to white screen, then repeated.

Are there any more key combinations that I can try?

Also, I am not interesting in reseating the hard drive or taking the hard drive out again.

Best Answer

This answer assumes you have access to another Mac and a way to connect your hard drive to it.

Take out the drive of your Mac using this iFixit guide.

Connect to the drive and boot into Recovery (CMD + R) on the other Mac. Then, follow these instructions from an Apple help article:

Install from OS X Recovery

To install OS X on an external drive using OS X Recovery, follow these steps.

  1. Start up your Mac. Immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Command+R on your keyboard.

  2. After you see an Apple logo or globe appear, you can release the keys. If you're prompted to select a Wi-Fi network, select a network that has a working Internet connection.

  3. When the Recovery screen appears, make sure you're connected to the Internet. If not, select a Wi-Fi network with a working Internet connection from the Wi-Fi menu.

  4. Select the option to Install OS X from the Recovery window.

  5. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation. When you're asked to select a drive for installation, click the button "Show All Drives". Be sure you select the external storage device you've connected for this purpose, not your computer's built-in startup drive.

Your Mac might restart one or more times during installation. After installation is finished, your Mac automatically starts up from the external drive.

When you're done using your external disk, select a startup disk from System Preferences to have your Mac to start up from its built-in startup disk or another drive.

Your computer's serial number is sent to Apple as part of this process to help authenticate your request to download and install OS X.

Once the installation of OS X on the Mac mini's disk is complete, insert it back into the Mac mini and follow the iFixit article's instructions in reverse order.

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