Can't install Snow Leopard - Macintosh HD cannot be used to start up your computer

Discussion in 'macOS' started by Gray Tragedy, Aug 7, 2010.

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  1. Gray Tragedy, Aug 7, 2010

    Gray Tragedy macrumors newbie

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    Aug 3, 2008
    #1
    Hi,

    I'm trying to install Snow Leopard, but when I put in the installation disk and try to install, I'm quickly stopped from installing when I get to the screen that says "Select the disk where you want to install Mac OS X." The only option is "Macintosh HD," but there is a yellow triangle on it and when I click on it, it says "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'Macintosh HD,' because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer."

    I do also have Ubuntu running on my computer. I'm attaching a screenshot of Disk Utility so you can see how my hard drive is partitioned.

    I don't really understand why it can't be installed there -- Mac OS X is the disk that starts up when my computer starts. I was researching a bit and found it might be a problem with the partition scheme -- but if it is I don't know how to rectify that or know where to go from there.

    Ideally I do not want to have to reformat my hard drive or install Mac OS X from scratch, as I will then have to re-install Ubuntu as well.

    Can anyone help me out? Thanks!
     

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  2. Caleb531, Aug 7, 2010

    Caleb531 macrumors 6502

    Caleb531

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    Oct 17, 2009
    #2
    You can check your partition scheme by selecting your top-level drive in the left sidebar, and looking under Partition Scheme at the bottom.

    Solutions can be found in this support article.
     
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  3. Gray Tragedy, Aug 7, 2010

    Gray Tragedy thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #3
    It's GUID, which I believe is what it's supposed to be, right?
     
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  4. Caleb531, Aug 7, 2010

    Caleb531 macrumors 6502

    Caleb531

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    #4
    Yes, that is what it's supposed to be.

    I have installed Ubuntu in the past, and trying to uninstall it practically erased my Mac (thankfully, I had a backup). The solution turned out to be changing the partition scheme back to GUID, but I did have to reinstall OS X.

    I'm not entirely sure where to go from here. My guess is it's a conflict from installing Ubuntu.
     
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  5. wjlafrance, Aug 8, 2010

    wjlafrance macrumors 6502

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    Madison, WI
    #5
    I'm curious as to why your Macintosh HD is nearly full. I don't think 9GB is enough space to install Snow Leopard, but that should give a different error message.
     
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  6. Gray Tragedy, Aug 8, 2010

    Gray Tragedy thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #6
    According to Apple you only need 5GB. And, as you said, I'm sure it would tell me if there weren't enough space.
     
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