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Desperate for help!

T

TheAussieStig

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 21, 2011
11
0
Hello, new to the forums but hoping for some assistance.

I have just bought a MacBook Pro A1278 which has only Vista installed on it.

I am trying to remove it completely and install Mac OSX v10.5 Retail.

I'm having dramas.

Firstly, if I boot and hold the options key, the HDD image appears with Vista under it, and the CD image appears with OSX under it, but once I hover my mouse (both keypad and external) over the CD image, the computer freezes. You can't click on the OSX but you can click on the Vista image, and it will load.

I've also tried holding C from boot however it doesn't autorun the CD it takes me into a program like DOS but is called GRUB, I have tried to run OSX through there but it also fails.

I phoned apple who tried a few things with no luck, I have booted holding option, control, P,R, which didn't help.

Is there any way I can format the hard drive and just instal OSX fresh? I don't want/need a dual boot system and despise Vista.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Yes I'm considering that. I think I have another external HDD case I can use. It is probably the best option as I don't need/want anything on it. But if I format it on a Windows machine in NTFS will the Apple machine read it? I think it is in NTFS now and thought that may be my problem.
 
Another option that might help would be to make a bootable USB drive with OS X installer on it and trying to boot off that when holding option, that might also freeze but since it's a different interface I figured it wouldn't hurt to mention. (you can search these forums or the web for pretty straightforward steps to create one, especially if you have the disk at hand).
 
you can also try booting and holding the t key down to force it into target disk mode. that will make the drive act like any other external, so at that point you can plug it into another machine.

if you do yank the drive and format it in windows, you can reboot holding down c to boot from the installer cd. then once you reach the installation screen you can re-format the drive to HFS+.
 
I've just yanked the HDD and formatted it, stuck it back in and put OSX in the CD drive. I'm now getting an error NTLDR not found, press CRT ALT DEL to continue,

Frustrating, as this is a windows error and the HDD is completely wiped.

I tried holding the C key when I turned the computer on to no avail.

Do I need to do a flash of some sort?
 
Still freezing at the Options screen, and also still showing the HDD as Windows, although that may have been named automatically by the other laptop.
 
TheAussieStig said:
Still freezing at the Options screen, and also still showing the HDD as Windows, although that may have been named automatically by the other laptop.
Click to expand...

If you can wipe the drive on another Macintosh, or get into Ultimate Boot CD, format the drive as Mac OS Extended - Journaled (Also known as HFS Extended). If you can format the drive from a Macintosh, insert a Snow Leopard, or other Mac OS X DVD, and run the installer from the desktop. Tell it to install to the drive, and install it back into the MBP, and it should work.

----------

Also, just to help, zap the PRAM and NVRAM.

Shut down the computer.

Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously.

Turn on the computer.

Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.

Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the third time.

Release the keys.
 
Unfortunately I don't have another Mac, only iPad and iPhone and 3 MS machines.

I think I've nearly reached the end of my knowledge with Mac's. I don't really want to go much further as I might get it really wrong.

Anyoe in the Newcastle area want to do a bit of work for me and get it running?
 
Steve.P.JobsFan said:
If you can wipe the drive on another Macintosh, or get into Ultimate Boot CD, format the drive as Mac OS Extended - Journaled (Also known as HFS Extended). If you can format the drive from a Macintosh, insert a Snow Leopard, or other Mac OS X DVD, and run the installer from the desktop. Tell it to install to the drive, and install it back into the MBP, and it should work.

----------

Also, just to help, zap the PRAM and NVRAM.

Shut down the computer.

Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously.

Turn on the computer.

Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.

Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the third time.

Release the keys.
Click to expand...

These are all great ideas as well as restarting holding T to get the comp to function in drive mode where you can then just plug it (FireWire) into another Mac and then do the above described method of running the install cd on a working computer but tell it to target the HDD in the Mac that is in disk mode.
 
This probably won't help you, but GRUB is a bootloader. The usual way to install Windows is through bootcamp, but in this case it seems the machine was hacked to turn it into a full windows machine.

I don't know how to fix a Mac that is down to this stage. Did you try a different (unformatted) HD?
 
I did a brief search on "MacBook pro grub" and it looks like the previous owner installed Ubuntu. Try googling "MacBook pro uninstall grub".

I'm not entirely certain if installing Ubuntu is limited to just the hard drive or what or something deeper but you could try replacing the drive with a fresh one?

Whatever you do good luck!
 
New HDD isnt a problem, I have one sitting here, but it's in windows format. I will give it a shot though.

I'm just not sure why it won't boot for cd using a retail OSX by holding down C.

It might become a work in progress until I catch up with my Mac mate and throw a new hard drive in an external case and install the OS that way.

Out of curiosity, what is the maximum ram and HDD size this machine can run.


Thanks forbll your help do far, this forum has proved very informative.
 
onions said:
I did a brief search on "MacBook pro grub" and it looks like the previous owner installed Ubuntu. Try googling "MacBook pro uninstall grub".

I'm not entirely certain if installing Ubuntu is limited to just the hard drive or what or something deeper but you could try replacing the drive with a fresh one?

Whatever you do good luck!
Click to expand...

Grub installs (partially) into the Master Boot Record (MBR). This is still part of the HD, but nothing that is accessible. Normally I would expect that the OSX installation program should repair this and remove Grub. Changing the HD should also get rid of Grub.

I've never really installed OSX over something which was not a previous version of OSX. But I would expect that the installer can format any disc to whatever it needs, and it should also be able to fix the MBR. Maybe in addition there is a problem with the CD drive?
 
Yeah I didn't think of that. The apple store is about 1hr from me and in Xmas time the center is chaos, so I'll put it on the backburner.

GRUB has disappeared since formatting the hard drive. It's hard as I know nothing of the history of the machine. The guy I bought it from said he installed Vista, and at first I thought it was a dual boot machine, but then his wife said it came with only a Mac OS and she couldn't use it, so he installed Vista, but once he did, it stopped working properly and has no wifi, no sound, no Bluetooth, etc.

They took it to the Apple shop before selling it and were told that if they bought the OS on a flash disc for $60 or so, it would reinstall Mac OS.

I have a few boot discs laying around so I'll see what I have and how I go.

Does Apple use a DOS type system? As in something I need to instal before the OSX to allow it to run properly?
 
Can you provide more specifics on exactly which MacBook Pro it is? Everymac.com shows 10 different models with the identifier A1278 from 2008 up to present, it's possible that the one you have can not have 10.5 installed on it.
 
I'm not sure how I can do that, on the bottom it only says model A1278. It has apple 2010 on it and I know it ran out of warranty 35 days ago, If that helps at all?
 
TheAussieStig said:
I'm not sure how I can do that, on the bottom it only says model A1278. It has apple 2010 on it and I know it ran out of warranty 35 days ago, If that helps at all?
Click to expand...

Strange, as 10.6 was released in 2009, and 2010 Macs came with 10.6 and not 10.5. You can't install a Mac OS X version older than the one coming with the Mac, and a 10.5 Retail DVD will be quite old and not include any drivers for 2010 hardware.
 
TheAussieStig said:
I'm not sure how I can do that, on the bottom it only says model A1278. It has apple 2010 on it and I know it ran out of warranty 35 days ago, If that helps at all?
Click to expand...

It's probably this one:

Apple MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 13" Mid-2010 Specs and as such shipped with OS X 10.6.3, therefore like simsaladimbamba said you need OS X 10.6.3 or newer to install on it. That probably explains the freezes when trying to install.
 
I think I may have found my problem. The hard drive is NTFS which is read only for a Mac. I am now formatting it via Transmac into HFS+. Once this is done I'll try again. Hopefully I can install 10.5 and then upgrade to the new version via Mac shop.
 
TheAussieStig said:
I think I may have found my problem. The hard drive is NTFS which is read only for a Mac. I am now formatting it via Transmac into HFS+. Once this is done I'll try again. Hopefully I can install 10.5 and then upgrade to the new version via Mac shop.
Click to expand...

One: If the MBP you have is from 2010, you can't install 10.5, as you are able to format any ****ing HDD (inside or outside the Mac) via Disk Utility started from the Installation DVD.
Two: 10.5 has no "Mac App Store", if that is what you mean with "Mac shop".
Three: To learn more about Mac OS X:
 
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