MacOS – OS X Snow Leopard installer hangs

bootefiinstallmacossnow leopard

I installed Linux on my MBP. I just told it to overwrite the whole hard drive so OS X is gone.

But now I want to go back to OS X so that I can upgrade to Lion.

I start up my MBP with the installation DVD. I see it startup with the white screen and the spinning wheel. Then after a while nothing happens.

I'm not sure if my DVD is bad. Maybe it's trying to read something and it can't do it.

I read that the installation DVD first copies part of itself onto the hard drive. Is it possible that it's expecting to find a certain partition to copy itself on to and since it's not finding it that's the reason it hangs?

Is it possible to copy the DVD onto one of my external USB drives and use refit to boot that drive like it's the DVD?

What can be done?

Best Answer

Try to apply a PRAM Reset:

Hold P+R+⌘+⌥ right after boot and wait till the MBP restarts.

Then insert the install DVD and try to read it again.

  • C will boot from the DVD
  • ⌥ will let you choose your startup volume

Click here for more startup key combinations.

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