OSX 10.6.3 Upgrade from 10.4.11 Disk drive is showing up but cannot install?

[BANNERWORX]

Ok

Went to the Apple store in Regent st, they said I should be able to upgrade my system from 10.4.11 to 10.6.3 (purchased disk) quite easily, but when I get to the installer, it shows my main hard disk drive, but it's ghosted out and I cannot click it.

BUT

On my other MACBook black, which doesn't run as much software, I was able to do the upgrade easily, so why is my main one having this issue? Has any one else come across this, and if so, how do I resolve it without having to wipe my hard drive fully?

Thanks

 

[JediMeister]

They should have sold you the Mac Box Set if you're upgrading from 10.4 to 10.6. If your other MacBook was running 10.5, that explains your upgrade disc "works." Technically you can boot to the 10.6 install DVD and do the install, but if you run the installer from within the OS it will not show it as a valid install destination because you don't have 10.5 which it checks for.

 

[BANNERWORX]

I did explain to them what I wanted to do, and both macbooks were running 10.4.11.

I've heard such things as making sure I have no files on my mac above 1GB, is that so?

 

[ohanian]

I did explain to them what I wanted to do, and both macbooks were running 10.4.11.

I've heard such things as making sure I have no files on my mac above 1GB, is that so?

Call me Stupid but you are not trying to upgrade your powerpc Mac 10.4.11 to Snow Leopard 10.6.3 are you?

 

[Mal]

They should have sold you the Mac Box Set if you're upgrading from 10.4 to 10.6. If your other MacBook was running 10.5, that explains your upgrade disc "works." Technically you can boot to the 10.6 install DVD and do the install, but if you run the installer from within the OS it will not show it as a valid install destination because you don't have 10.5 which it checks for.

Not if he bought a disk in the store. That only applies to the “Up-To-Date” disks which were provided in the box or for $9.95 to those that purchased machines after 10.6 came out but which did not ship with it installed.

OP, is there a small caution symbol (yellow triangle) on the lower right corner of the drive when you boot to the installer? Usually that indicates a problem with the drive, such as an incorrect format, not enough space, a newer version installed, etc. Clicking on the drive should reveal the reason. If not, and you can’t click on the drive, then it sounds like it may just not be finishing it’s search, or for some reason can’t identify the drive. Use Disk Utility from the install disk to repair the disk.

Last option, of course, you can always back everything up and wipe the drive, but obviously that’s not best case scenario.

jW

 

[psxguru]

Have you upgraded your hard drive previously? Certain drives are NOT recognised by the lame installer. I had problems with a Western Digital WD3200BEVT drive not being recognised. There are workarounds but it is a PITA. IIRC there were plenty of threads on here and Apple's support forums about some drives not being recognised.

 

[BANNERWORX]

Call me Stupid but you are not trying to upgrade your powerpc Mac 10.4.11 to Snow Leopard 10.6.3 are you?

No, both my macbooks are intel, I just have 2 as 1 of them is for serato use only.


@Mal, I'll do a disk repair and see what happens there.

@psxguru, I upgraded the hard drive in this one about 3 years ago, but i'll check the make/ version of hard disk in this machine.

Thanks for the advice, off to upgradeville I go.

 

[Mal]

Have you upgraded your hard drive previously? Certain drives are NOT recognised by the lame installer. I had problems with a Western Digital WD3200BEVT drive not being recognised. There are workarounds but it is a PITA. IIRC there were plenty of threads on here and Apple's support forums about some drives not being recognised.

That’s odd, because I’ve installed probably 2 dozen WD3200BEVT’s in MacBooks without issue, with OS’s ranging from 10.4.6 to 10.6.4. It must not be an inherent problem with the drives, but some other factor. Could be helpful to the OP if we figure out what.

jW

 

[Fishrrman]

"Went to the Apple store in Regent st, they said I should be able to upgrade my system from 10.4.11 to 10.6.3 (purchased disk) quite easily, but when I get to the installer, it shows my main hard disk drive, but it's ghosted out and I cannot click it.
BUT
On my other MACBook black, which doesn't run as much software, I was able to do the upgrade easily, so why is my main one having this issue? Has any one else come across this, and if so, how do I resolve it without having to wipe my hard drive fully?"

Put the upgrade DVD aside for a moment, and check this:

Turn on BOTH of the laptops.

On the BLACK MacBook, open up disk utility.

On the left you will see the listing for the internal drive. Click the topmost line ONE time to select it.

Now look down at the very bottom of the window, to where it says "Partition Map Scheme". I'm _guessing_ that it says "GUID Partition Table". Is this correct?

Next....

On the OTHER MacBook, repeat this process.

What does the "Partition Map Scheme" read on THAT one?

If it is NOT "GUID", you will have to use Disk Utility to re-initalize the drive with a GUID partition table in order to install Snow Leopard....

 

[BANNERWORX]

@Fishrrman,

Thank you, and yes you are right. if I could purchase you a drink I would.

NOW, if I do the repair, will this mean my disk will be fully formatted, if so, how do I perform a full back up, to then restore safely?

 

[Fishrrman]

"NOW, if I do the repair, will this mean my disk will be fully formatted, if so, how do I perform a full back up, to then restore safely?"

Well, you'll have to re-initialize the drive to change the partition map, and YES, it WILL wipe out any and ALL data that's currently on the drive.

So... you have to:
1. BACK UP the internal drive to another source (external drive, etc.)
2. RE-INITIALIZE the internal drive with Disk Utility and make sure it's in the GUID partition scheme
3. I'd suggest a completely "clean install" of Snow Leopard, then
4. Create a NEW ACCOUNT for yourself (you might use the same username and password as your old account)
5. With the new account, use Software Update to get the MacBook FULLY UPDATED to the latest system software
6. ONLY AT THIS POINT, you can start "migrating" your old data over. You can use "migration assistant" or "move it over manually".

If you don't have a backup drive, you need to start thinking about keeping things backed up.

I don't know if they have an equivalent to amazon.com in the UK, I'd suggest you get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=sata+dock+usb&x=0&y=0
(various items shown)

Then, get a couple of "bare" hard drives from your favorite source.

Download CarbonCopyCloner (FREE)

Use CCC and the USB/SATA dock to "dupe" the contents of each MacBook onto an external drive. You can then use the dock to "swap drives" and do periodic incremental backups.