Major problems Mavericks install attempt

[Weaselboy]

The old drive is visible internal but mavericks thinks it's damaged and I can't go back to mountain lion because it's stuck in the maverick's installer.

I think you're on to something with the cable and I have read of more than a few instances of seagate drives having this issue. However, the problem I think is more in the point of connection with the seagate brand. If it were a bad cable or connector the old drive should have the same issues. I know that SATA is a standard but like I said, I'm not the only one with this.

Since getting to an apple repair center is a couple hours round trip for me, I think I'll just buy a small gb western digital to prove or disprove my theory.

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Could the fact that the drive is SATA 3 be an issue?

SATA is backwards compatible so that would not matter. The cabe is only a few dollars, so if you are going to spend money testing, it might also be worth springing for the cable. Look at iFixit for the cable

Sorry this is not going more smoothly. Frustrating I'm sure.

 

[jm-empi]

Ok I will do that. I'll post back when get the cable. Thanks very much for your help so far. Frustrating indeed.

 

[jm-empi]

One more question while I wait, in a normal situation when you have a bad drive what is the process to putting in a new one? Should you be able to access disk utility with a non formatted drive installed? Or does the formatting have to be done with an enclosure?

 

[Weaselboy]

One more question while I wait, in a normal situation when you have a bad drive what is the process to putting in a new one? Should you be able to access disk utility with a non formatted drive installed? Or does the formatting have to be done with an enclosure?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4904

It depends on how old your Mac is. Newer models (list at link) support Internet recovery, so you can just pop a new drive in and DL a utility direct from the Internet that has Disk Util to format and an OS install function.

Older models without Internet recovery will need some kind of external drive or USB key with an OS on there to boot to and format the drive and copy over the OS.

 

[jm-empi]

I've got it fixed.

Sorry but I went against your advice and went with my gut. I got another hard drive, on sale and it was easy to get. Ordering parts online usually takes 2-3 weeks to get here.

I put the new new drive (WD from now on) in the enclosure with the original drive in the mac. Formatted the WD, then ran the mavericks installer and installed to the enclosure. This installation was usable and bootable from the enclosure just like the first new drive (Seagate from now on) was. I installed the WD in the mac and had the same issue - folder+? Both drives have working mavericks installed on them, neither would boot in the mac.

Seagate in the enclosure, WD in the mac, I booted from the Seagate using the control key when starting. I downloaded yosemite then ran that installer. Installed to the WD. Disconnected the enclosure and now all is good, I'm booting internally with yosemite.

Bonus - my bluetooth with the squiggly line is gone, I can use my trackpad again! Woohoo!

My diagnosis - a bad mavericks installer?

Thanks for all of your advice, I appreciate all the tips I got!