MacBook won't boot from install disc

Insert the DVD then shut down your Mac. Restart while holding down the Option/Alt key. After a short while you should see icons of the available Start Up discs; ie your MacHD plus the DVD. If you see the DVD then select it and continue.

likely the SuperDrive is going bad.

Could try seeing if the DVD works on a different machine..

As the poster above mentioned, there is a possibility that the SuperDrive isn't working right, or perhaps the lens is just dirty (a possibility if you haven't used it much lately).

There are some "cleaning DVDs" available that might work. I've never used one, but others have reported that doing so helped in some circumstances.

There are other strategies that could work.

Do you have access to an external drive?

timelessmelodee said:

right so it might be the superdrive? i tried a cleaner cd I have here but still doesn't work . I just played a dvd on it though and it worked fine?!
Any other ideas as to what it could be?
thanks alot

Click to expand...

Are you using Mac OS X Install Disc 1?

Duff-Man says…I really suspect the drive is the issue, especially given the age of the computer. laptop drives are a little more fragile than others and I had both the '08 and '09 models here replaced just before Applecare expired.

Does the drive read/write other discs ok? Any other bootable discs around - like Diskwarrior etc etc to confirm it's the drive and not the disc?

If you (or a friend) has and external drive you can plug in and boot that way you'd get the desired result, but it you're doing to sell the old laptop then of course a faulty drive reduces the value - whether the cost of fixing is recoverable on resale is debatable, I'd guess probably not on something that old????

Test every combo of possibilities you can - that narrows it down really quickly….oh yeah!