Reformatted harddrive, now install of OS fails

[whir24]

I just sold my mac mini on ebay, and I went to wipe my info and do a fresh install of Leopard. However, after formatting my drive with the zero writing security setting, the install fails. I've tried to install about 5 times, doing a fresh install. I've tried 3 times trying to recover from a time machine image I had on an external harddrive. Each time I've gone into disk utility to try to erase any problems the failed install leaves on the hard drive.

I considered trying to install off the 10.4 discs that came with the mini, but can't get the leopard disc out of the mini. I've tried, during reboot, holding down cmd+opt+O+F, holding down the mouse button, holding the eject button, and holding down F12. However, I'm not sure this is my biggest issue.

So I'm looking for suggestions of how to install with leopard or to remove the disc from the mini without taking it apart. The buyer i waiting for cofirmation of the shipping, and I'm too frustrated to think straight. Please help.

Thanks

 

[Theophany]

Have you tried verifying and repairing the disk and it's permissions via Disk Utility in the Leopard installer? I remember I had a mass of problems installing Leopard on my MacBook because the permissions had become borked over time.

 

[whir24]

I have tried that multiple times, usually after I erase the drive after the failed install attempts. No luck so far.

 

[Theophany]

*If* you happen to have a firewire drive handy, I would suggest installing Leopard to that and booting from it in target mode to run something like Tech Tool Deluxe. Otherwise, if you are blessed enough to be close to an Apple retail outlet, take it in and see what they think.

I would also advise being honest with the buyer on eBay about this if it isn't fixed quickly too, just as a courtesy.

 

[whir24]

I appreciate the help. I do have an external drive here. I'll try that. If that doesn't work, then I'll contact the retail store.

I have told the ebay customer that I was having issues. I'll probably have to cancel the transaction for now, unless he's into brick collecting. I've been at this for 8 hours now. ugh.

 

[whir24]

that did it, thanks!