Old Mac Book Pro

[TVtheTiger]

I think it's a 2008 / 2009? It was friends laptop. He left it with me years ago when he upgraded his laptop and was moving out of the coutnry. So it sat in my closet for years. lol Cleaning house now I want to get rid of it. He doesn't want it. I want to just donate or give it away. However, I am unable to reload the OS on it. I have erased the drive several times. I am unable to reinstall the OS. I have everyhting that came with it. But every time I try to load 10.5.5 from the grey (?!?!?) CD's I get an error message "Cannot install Mac OSX on this volume". Well, that's helpful. lol

Yes, I've Googled the hell out of it. Someone said somewhere that the discs I should have... should be blue? My friend never got any different discs. These should be the discs that came with it.

I am not an Apple guy, although I do IT for a living so I am not clueless when it comes to Apple. I support an Apple PC in my office.

Would you believe the battery still holds a charge on this old thing? LOL I hate to jst throw this thing in the trash. I just cannot bring myself to do that.

Any ideas besides sending me to yet another webpage to do yet another (failed) attempt and reinstalling.

 

[Audit13]

I'd take it off your hands but you probably aren't in Toronto Lol.

Did you try deleting all partitions and creating a single partition with a GUID partition table?

 

[EugW]

My original battery on my 2009 still holds a charge. A couple of hours. Not great, but for our usage it's OK, especially since it's usually plugged in. I also just picked up a 2008 and I think that one still has the original battery too. Lasts a bit longer than my 2009.

For your issue, it depends on the model of the unit, so it would be good to get the exact specifics. Are you 100% sure those are the original discs? Cuz 10.5.5 won't install on some of the 2009 models. It should install on the 2008 models though.

Easiest though would just be to find a copy of 10.7 and install that instead, assuming there isn't something wrong with the drive or drive partitioning or something. It should be GUID with HFS+ (Journaled).

BTW, I have a 2008 MacBook and a 2009 MacBook Pro, and am running 10.13 High Sierra (which only comes out next week) on both just fine, after using a patched installer. Very responsive if with SSD and sufficient RAM. It's quite possible you have a diamond in the rough there, if it's the right model. Some of the 2008s and 2009s run perfectly in High Sierra. Some of them don't.

The model should be printed on the bottom case, assuming it hasn't rubbed off yet. Or else it might be in the battery compartment. You could also take some pix and post them and we might be able to start you off in the right direction. It really depends on the model number.

 

[TVtheTiger]

Yes, I currently have one partition formatted to: Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

The only mark I can read is the serial number. Somehow that is wholly intact and nothing else. Yes, I am 99.9% sure these are the original discs. Everything was still in the box that I still have. The 2 discs (OS and Apps) look like the plastic wsa never broken.

Can I get a newer OS without paying for it? Guessing not from my searching. I don't want to invest money in something I am giving away.

Pics as requested:

 

[EugW]

I may be mistaken, but I wonder if that could be 2010 13" MacBook Pro. The discs you have appear specifically to be for a MacBook (non-Pro).

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...o-2.4-aluminum-13-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

If it is indeed a 2010 MacBook Pro, 10.5.5 can't be installed on it. However, 10.13 High Sierra can be, and is officially supported.

That would be the diamond in the rough I was talking about it. With 4 GB RAM and SSD in it, that thing runs High Sierra very well. With 2 GB RAM and spinning HD, not so much. It should be noted that from 10.9 on, OS X supports memory compression.

Those machines are worth a fair bit of money on the used market BTW. I'm not sure, but I think you may be able to tell the model number by the serial number with an online checker.

EDIT:

Here we go:

http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/

 

[Audit13]

Is the partition map GUID?

It's also possible that the internal hard drive cable has failed.

 

[EugW]

Yes, I currently have one partition formatted to: Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

As Audit13 said, you have to sure it's a GUID partition.

The only mark I can read is the serial number. Somehow that is wholly intact and nothing else. Yes, I am 99.9% sure these are the original discs.

I believe the serial number is etched into the aluminum, but everything else is printed. Check that serial number with the link I provided. That will give you the exact specs.

And as mentioned, I'm suspicious they are the wrong discs.

 

[Audit13]

This site also gives a lot of information if you have the serial number: http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

The serial number will be printed on the bottom casing and it's on a printed label near the ram slots.

I bought a mid-2010 Macbook Pro 13" that would not install el capitan. After replacing the internal sata hard drive came, I was able to install Sierra from a usb flash drive.

 

[TVtheTiger]

Mid-2009 13" according to that site.

Hard Drive cable is fine. It worked beautifully before I wiped it. Not to mention I run VERIFY and REPAIR and it returns no errors.

How do I check that it is a GUID Partition. I don't see that anywhere.

 

[Audit13]

Even though it passes when verifying and repairing, it could still be the cable. I got the same type of errors on a 2009 15", 2010 13", and 2011 13".

Do you have a usb drive that can be loaded with an OS?

Open disk utility, click on the boot drive, select erase, change partition map to GUID, and erase.

 

[EugW]

Mid-2009 13" according to that site.

Hard Drive cable is fine. It worked beautifully before I wiped it. Not to mention I run VERIFY and REPAIR and it returns no errors.

How do I check that it is a GUID Partition. I don't see that anywhere.

As I suspected, you have the wrong discs. 10.5.5 is not supported. For some reason, you have the discs for a 10.5.5 MacBook, but the machine is a MacBook Pro that requires 10.5.7 or later.

The installer won't allow you to install 10.5.5 on such a machine.

If I were you, I'd go back to the website and confirm the specific model number. It should be something like MacBookPro5,5. If it is then go to this page and download the High Sierra Patcher.

http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/

That will download the patcher for High Sierra and it will download the actual free copy of High Sierra GM.

The only problem is you'll need some sort of a Mac to make the installer USB drive.

Once you have this, boot your MacBook Pro with the USB drive, while holding down the option key. That will give you a menu of discs bootable.

Boot from the USB drive and complete the High Sierra install process.

Once High Sierra is installed, reboot to the USB drive and then choose the patcher. Select the appropriate computer model and patch.

Then reboot normally.

After this you will have a fully functional High Sierra MacBook Pro. The only issue is it will be slow with a spinning HD and 2 GB RAM. But then again, any OS from 10.7 to 10.13 will be slow with that setup. 10.5 and 10.6 won't be as slow, but unfortunately, they are obsolete. In fact, I consider anything before 10.10 obsolete.

 

[TVtheTiger]

But it also ran the OS just fine before I wiped it though? Could STILL be a cable?

OK, so I wasn't seeing an option for Partition before. I was selecting where it says UNTITLED in the photo. Selecting the line above that gave me partition. Erased > GUID > 1 Partition.

Yes, I have a USB. Can I just download an ISO somewhere? Trying disk again after Erasing again.

Thanks for the help guys. Y'all ROCK.

 

[Audit13]

So the Macbook booted and ran fine before you started the reinstall process?

I asked about the external drive because if you install to and run the os without any problems from a usb drive, it's probably a failed cable.

The late 2009 13" Macbook Pro came with 10.6 preinstalled: https://support.apple.com/kb/sp579?locale=en_CA

You would need another Mac to create a Snow Leopard install usb key.

 

[EugW]

If you had a functional install before it was GUID, so you're probably good there. But at this point it can't hurt to partition again as GUID just to be 100% sure.

Don't bother with Snow Leopard 10.6. It's not very useful in 2017. The OS is 8 years old.

Unfortunately, I don't think any of the OSes are readily available as an ISO. Usually you'd need another Mac to download the OS, and to create an installer drive or installer disc. But if you have another Mac, then it's easy to just use dosdude1's installer application to download the High Sierra GM and create that USB installer drive.

High Sierra 10.13 isn't officially supported on that model (assuming it's MacBookPro5,5 or similar) but it runs absolutely perfectly on it with no issue.

The last officially supported version is El Capitan 10.11, but you'll still need another Mac to download the OS. IIRC, those Macs do not support internet recovery. (As of 2010, you could download the OS directly from the internet onto the Mac by holding down COMMAND-OPTION-R at bootup, but AFAIK, the 2009 models don't support that.)

 

[TVtheTiger]

Yes, ran fine before.
Yes, have access to USB sticks or USB hard drives.
Tried install from disc, again. Same error.
I do have access to another Mac.

I don't care if 10.6 is no good. I just want to boot the thing so it's not a paper weight. If I can get ANY OS on it, then someone else can get it upograded when I dontate/give it to someone.

 

[EugW]

It would actually be easier to get 10.13 than 10.6. Furthermore, upgrading from 10.6 to a later OS is a bit of a pain.

10.13 GM is available straight from that link I provided if you have access to another Mac. Also, Apple doesn't charge for 10.13. I think 10.6 costs thirty bucks or something.

 

[Audit13]

What Os was on the machine before?

Snow Leopard may be a good place to start because each os upgrade also upgrades the boot rom. A newer os doesn't always run on an old boot rom but an old os will run on a new boot rom.

You could look for a Snow Leopard ISO or dmg from a download site. This is what the machine was originally licenced with.

Sierra and High Sierra are readily installable on a late 2009 13 MBP without a patched installer: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475

 

[EugW]

What Os was on the machine before?

Snow Leopard may be a good place to start because each os upgrade also upgrades the boot rom. A newer os doesn't always run on an old boot rom but an old os will run on a new boot rom.

You could look for a Snow Leopard ISO or dmg from a download site. This is what the machine was originally licenced with.

Sierra and High Sierra are readily installable on a late 2009 13 MBP without a patched installer: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475

No, Sierra and High Sierra are not officially supported by his machine (assuming it is truly a mid-2009). Requires 2010 MBP. There is no such thing as a late 2009 MBP.

However, they both run fine patched on the mid-2009 models.

 

[Audit13]

My bad, I apologise for mixing up "late" and "mid" between Pro and non-Pro.

 

[EugW]

BTW, I see from your picture you already have a GUID partition. So you're good to go.

BTW2, if your other Mac has a Firewire port, you could directly clone your other Mac's OS to the MacBook Pro.

You can boot up your Mac in Firewire target mode and use your other Mac do the work on the MacBook Pro, as if the MacBook Pro was an external Firewire disc.

http://osxdaily.com/2010/04/07/how-to-boot-a-mac-in-target-disk-mode/

Or you could directly clone that other Mac's OS to a USB drive and just transfer it over. What OS is that other Mac running? SuperDuper! is a good cloning application and it won't cost anything.

 

[TVtheTiger]

OK, on another Mac now and trying what you suggested earlier. Standby.

 

[TVtheTiger]

OMFG. Sigh...
Followed the directions to the letter.
Everything went according to:
http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/
Yay! Install started... about 15 minutes remaining...
And then it stopped...
macOS could not be installed on your computer. No packages were eligible for install. Quit the installer and try again. Done it twice now.
Am I just doomed here?

Trying this now:
Note: Make sure SIP is disabled on the system you intend to install High Sierra on. If it's not or you're unsure, just boot into your Recovery partition of your currently installed copy of OS X, open Terminal, and run "csrutil disable
[doublepost=1505940447][/doublepost]Could be the date? I did have to set the date when I logged into this and it was workiing. Trying that now...

\\EDIT\\ IT'S WORKING!!!!! 14 minutes remaining!

 

[EugW]

Dunno man. That sucks. Hopefully the SIP thing fixes it but I never bothered doing that and didn't have a problem with my MacBook5,1. Did you confirm which MacBookProX,X version you have?

Another option is just to clone your other Mac directly to the MacBook Pro. What is the other Mac that you have, and what OS is installed on it? If anything between 10.6 and 10.11, it should work on your MacBook Pro. It doesn't matter what hardware you are running, since as long as the OS supports the hardware the install will work. Apple includes all the drivers for all the components for all the Macs it supports in the OS. No extra driver support needed.

 

[Audit13]

If you can install and boot from the os on an extra drive, I say replace the hard drive cable.

 

[TVtheTiger]

You guys must have replied while I was editing. LOL IT WAS THE DATE! It's WORKING! Woohoo!