Anyone else noticed 2009 MBP's don't boot from 10.5 install DVDs?

[quantum003]

I ran into this issue twice at my work. I was charged with setting up a client's MBP, the brand new model. She didn't provide me with the grey install DVD's so I used a Leopard install DVD instead. The MBP would not boot up the Leopard DVD and let me get to the installer. Not even to the . I tried multiple DVDs, multiple versions of Leopard, and multiple methods of attempting to get it to boot up the DVD, but no dice.

That same afternoon, my boss brought in Snow Leopard, and lo and behold, the MBP likes that just fine. Yummy yummy I'll install that. (good thing because I had already formatted this lady's hard drive via firewire transfer. Another futile tactic...)

So I didn't think too much of this issue until a few days later when I tried to boot my own work MBP from a Leopard DVD. Mine's a model from earlier in the year, but it encounters the exact same problem! It will not boot from Leopard DVD, it gets to the grey screen, then black, then grey screen, intermittently changing colors but nothing ever happens. But again- Snow Leopard it has no problem installing.

Has anybody else noticed this issue? What gives?

 

[Techhie]

The MBP should boot fine on any Leopard DVD 10.5.6 or AFTER because this was the release that included GPU drivers. I have had the same issues with my 2009 Mac Pro, in that the drivers for the CPU aren't present until 10.5.7 (I think)

 

[gr8tfly]

That all sounds pretty normal. The DVD's shipped with machines are often newer than the retail version, so that determines the oldest rev you can use.

They can even ship with a newer build of the same version. Many people (and even some Apple Stores) experienced this with the Early 2009 unibody MBPs. It caused a very noticeable color cast due to an older build being used, rather than the one shipped.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I ran into this issue twice at my work. I was charged with setting up a client's MBP, the brand new model. She didn't provide me with the grey install DVD's so I used a Leopard install DVD instead. The MBP would not boot up the Leopard DVD and let me get to the installer. Not even to the . I tried multiple DVDs, multiple versions of Leopard, and multiple methods of attempting to get it to boot up the DVD, but no dice.

That same afternoon, my boss brought in Snow Leopard, and lo and behold, the MBP likes that just fine. Yummy yummy I'll install that. (good thing because I had already formatted this lady's hard drive via firewire transfer. Another futile tactic...)

So I didn't think too much of this issue until a few days later when I tried to boot my own work MBP from a Leopard DVD. Mine's a model from earlier in the year, but it encounters the exact same problem! It will not boot from Leopard DVD, it gets to the grey screen, then black, then grey screen, intermittently changing colors but nothing ever happens. But again- Snow Leopard it has no problem installing.

Has anybody else noticed this issue? What gives?

I've been trying to get my 2 year old MBP to do the same thing, it just spits the disk out after a restart...

 

[Chundles]

Most, if not all of the 2009 MacBook Pros that we've received came with 10.5.7 pre-installed. It would stand to reason that the 10.5.6 discs will not boot them.

 

[quantum003]

The MBP should boot fine on any Leopard DVD 10.5.6 or AFTER because this was the release that included GPU drivers. I have had the same issues with my 2009 Mac Pro, in that the drivers for the CPU aren't present until 10.5.7 (I think)

Duh... you got me, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the posts.