iMac Upgrade Question....Advice Needed

[Dazzystar]

Hi All,

I've been given an old iMac which is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. The model of iMac is 10,1 which means it should be able to be upgraded to Yosemite but whatever I try and do the upgrade won't download. It gives no error just simply won't download.

I have a retail copy of Snow Leopard which I've also tried to boot from but the system refuses to boot from the DVD as I wanted to completely start from new. When I insert the DVD it spins around for about 20 seconds then ejects. I've also tried putting in a DVD movie and the same happens.

I'm thinking that perhaps there are some restrictions on the system which stops users from reinstalling an OS, modifying it or playing movies. Is this possible?

Can anyone advise what I need to do?

Many thanks
Daz

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Hi All,

I've been given an old iMac which is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. The model of iMac is 10,1 which means it should be able to be upgraded to Yosemite but whatever I try and do the upgrade won't download. It gives no error just simply won't download.

I have a retail copy of Snow Leopard which I've also tried to boot from but the system refuses to boot from the DVD as I wanted to completely start from new. When I insert the DVD it spins around for about 20 seconds then ejects. I've also tried putting in a DVD movie and the same happens.

I'm thinking that perhaps there are some restrictions on the system which stops users from reinstalling an OS, modifying it or playing movies. Is this possible?

Can anyone advise what I need to do?

Many thanks
Daz

It really sounds like the Superdrive (CD drive) is not working. They're kind of known for being junky, mine doesn't work either.

Try using an external ROM drive to boot the Snow Leopard disc.

 

[Dazzystar]

Thanks but I don't have an external drive. I do have a USB memory stick and my daughter has a Macbook Pro running Mavericks if that helps?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Thanks but I don't have an external drive. I do have a USB memory stick and my daughter has a Macbook Pro running Mavericks if that helps?

You can try this then: Install OS X Snow Leopard from a USB flash drive

 

[Dazzystar]

Well I've tried that and things have gone from bad to worse. I managed to copy the Snow Leopard DVD on to the USB stick and got the iMac to boot from it but after it attempted to install I get a message saying that OS X can't be installed.

I've now go no OS on the iMac!

Any ideas as to what to try now?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Well I've tried that and things have gone from bad to worse. I managed to copy the Snow Leopard DVD on to the USB stick and got the iMac to boot from it but after it attempted to install I get a message saying that OS X can't be installed.

I've now go no OS on the iMac!

Any ideas as to what to try now?

Try mounting Disk Utility when booting up after holding down the Option button and see if you can either repair the disk or format it and try loading SL again.

 

[Dazzystar]

I've tried creating a new partition, erasing it, etc. Still no joy with the same error about cannot install OS X. Something about install files.

Any other ideas?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

I've tried creating a new partition, erasing it, etc. Still no joy with the same error about cannot install OS X. Something about install files.

Any other ideas?

Is it a retail version of SL or a gray disc that is specific to a certain Mac? If it's specific to a certain Mac, it may not be for that that one you have.

 

[Dazzystar]

It says...The installer could not copy the necessary support files. This happens after about 3 or 4 minutes during installation.

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It's a retail copy of SL. I'm quite happy to try and install another version if you point me in the right direction as at the moment no OS is a pain!

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Hmm... Try to select "Customise" and deselect all additional options at the start of the install wizard.

 

[Dazzystar]

Tried that. Still no joy with the same error. The install estimate before was around 31 minutes, when I removed the file option that dropped down to 17 minutes. Isn't that a bit fast? Have I created the image correctly from the SL DVD?

 

[AppleNewton]

maybe the install DVD is older than the supported shipped OS On that mac?

on the macbook pro can you try making the USB drive into a bootable installer for Yosemite?
Sign in to the app store and download yosemite from your account and then try this;
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

[Fishrrman]

My suggestion:
Scrounge up a copy of Mountain Lion (it -can- be found if you know where to look), and try that...

 

[Dazzystar]

Okay I'm downloading Yosemite on her Macbook as we speak. What do I do with the file once it's downloaded. Is this a full OS or an update. If it's an update it won't work will it as I have no OS on the iMac?

 

[siddhartha]

You need to make sure that you make a bootable USB drive version of the installer.

http://www.macworld.com/article/236...otable-os-x-10-10-yosemite-install-drive.html

It should work for you

 

[Dazzystar]

I'm getting very confused here. I have a file on the desktop of her macbook saying Install Mavericks but when I try and pull it in to the source area of the Restore in Disk Utility it isn't accepted. Perhaps it's not an image file?

What do I do?

 

[Dazzystar]

Anyone?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Anyone?

Did you follow the steps here, particularly Option 2, as the other person posted above? Is it the actual installer file?

 

[Dazzystar]

Tried so many things I'm starting to get lost.

I'm now on my sons macbook which is running Yosemite. I'm downloading it as we speak.

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When I download these files from the App store am I downloading the full OS and not an upgrade as remember the iMac has NO OS currently installed?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Tried so many things I'm starting to get lost.

I'm now on my sons macbook which is running Yosemite. I'm downloading it as we speak.

----------

When I download these files from the App store am I downloading the full OS and not an upgrade as remember the iMac has NO OS currently installed?

Yes, they should be full installer files.

 

[Dazzystar]

OK. Yosemite has downloaded and I'm using Diskmaker X to create the USB bootable stick. I'll let you know what happens!

 

[Dazzystar]

Diskmaker X is still creating the USB stick some 30 minutes later. Is that correct?

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Diskmaker X is still creating the USB stick some 30 minutes later. Is that correct?

Yeah, it's probably USB 2 and you're putting a few GB onto it. It should be almost done by now.

 

[Dazzystar]

I thought it was going well and sorry to drive you all mad.

It took quite a while to prepare the Yosemite install USB stick but I booted from it on the iMac and it started to install.

After about 15 minutes (progress bar said 15 minutes to install) I received an error. The error says: File system verify or repair failed.

Advice please?

 

[Dazzystar]

It's now decided to download installation components. Twice now it's failed after about 30 minutes or more. Third time lucky!