Constantly ejects Mac OS X Boot disc

I am trying to wipe & reload my MacBook Pro to give to a friend. Whenever I insdert my Mac OS X 10.5.6 CD into the laptop and try to boot to it by holding C, it just ejects the disc when the boot screen comes up. I tried clicking on disc's icon on the desktop and trying it that way, but it still ejects the disc after it reboots. I have tried three other Mac OS X discs, and all of them do the same thing.

Any advice?

dmbjr said:

I am trying to wipe & reload my MacBook Pro to give to a friend. Whenever I insdert my Mac OS X 10.5.6 CD into the laptop and try to boot to it by holding C, it just ejects the disc when the boot screen comes up. I tried clicking on disc's icon on the desktop and trying it that way, but it still ejects the disc after it reboots. I have tried three other Mac OS X discs, and all of them do the same thing.

Any advice?

Click to expand...

Just to be sure...are you using:

- a "model specific" OS X install disk (basically the disk's that come with a computer when new)
- or a "Universal" install disk (something you would buy separately at the Apple Store)?

If you're using a "model specific" disk, they have to be for the same computer you are using them on. For example you can't use a "model specific" disk meant for a 1.83ghz MacBook in a 2.53ghz MacBook Pro.

- Nick

As far as I know, I am using a Universal disc that was purchased along with several others by the university I work at. I have used this discs on a number of other MacBooks and have yet to have any problem with them.

dmbjr said:

As far as I know, I am using a Universal disc that was purchased along with several others by the university I work at. I have used this discs on a number of other MacBooks and have yet to have any problem with them.

Click to expand...

Again we need to "pay attention to detail here".

You mentioned in your initial post that you were working on MacBook Pro, and in your 2nd post you mentioned "MacBook's".

MacBook Pro's & MacBook's are NOT the same computer model...so we need to be exact regarding the disk's.

If it turns out you are using "model specific" Mac OS install disks...they may have worked fine on the MacBook's you worked on previously...but they may not work on a MacBook Pro.

BTW...model specific Mac OS install disks are usually a grey color, and will state what model Mac they are for...such as "MacBook", MacBook Pro, etc.

Universal install Mac OS disks will usually be a bit "fancier" looking...but probably won't be grey. For example, my OS 10.5 Universal install disks are black with a big X & stars on the disk.

Sorry for all the details...but we have to be sure you're using the correct disks, before we can figure out if the problem is the hardware or not.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Sorry, I should try and be more clear in my language. Yes, I am aware I am working on a MacBook Pro, not a MacBook. I have actually never reloaded a white MacBook because most people in my department use MacBook Pros. And yes, it is a universal install Mac OS disc (it's the "fancier" looking one you described).

Try this. Put the disc in the drive, turn the machine and hold the option key down rather than 'C'. This should present you with a list of bootable media, including the disc. I've had mixed results using 'C' key, but never with the Option key.

You did mention that it's a retail DVD and I think you said it was for 10.5.6 - make sure that's the case, because if it's 10.4 (Tiger), be aware that there was never a retail edition of Tiger that was for Intel machines.

I tried booting up the laptop while pressing the Option key, but it just ejected the OS disc immediately before it brought up an icon for the Hard Drive (that was my only option).

dmbjr said:

I tried booting up the laptop while pressing the Option key, but it just ejected the OS disc immediately before it brought up an icon for the Hard Drive (that was my only option).

Click to expand...

It would seem to me, since you have tried multiple disks in this computer & multiple methods of trying to boot with the CD..that something may be wrong with the DVD drive.

If you "boot" the computer normally from the hard drive...then insert the Mac OS install DVD...will it "mount" & show up on the desktop?

Can you insert other CD's/DVD's into this MacBook Pro's drive, and have them mount & work properly?

Thanks,

- Nick

When I insert the Mac OS install disc normally, it mounts just fine on the desktop. When I click the 'Install Mac OS X' option, it restarts my computer, and before coming to the white screen with the gray apple on it, it ejects the install disc and starts as it normally does.

dmbjr said:

When I insert the Mac OS install disc normally, it mounts just fine on the desktop. When I click the 'Install Mac OS X' option, it restarts my computer, and before coming to the white screen with the gray apple on it, it ejects the install disc and starts as it normally does.

Click to expand...

This sounds very strange!

The:

- install disk mounts normally when you boot from the hard drive, but not when you try to boot from the disk
- you've tried holding down the "c" key & "option" key to boot from the disk
- you've tried multiple Mac OS X install disks (assuming they all are universal install disks)

Here is one other idea. How new is this MacBook Pro we are talking about?

If it's a "really" new machine...it may have a minimum OS version requirement HIGHER than the Mac OS install disks you're using.

For example the newest MacBook Pro's need a minimum of Mac OS version of 10.5.7...so if someone was trying to use a Mac OS "Universal" install disk of Mac OS 10.5.1...it may not work.

I would double check the version of the Mac OS install disk you have, against the minimum OS version requirement for the computer you're trying to install on.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

This sounds very strange!

The:

- install disk mounts normally when you boot from the hard drive, but not when you try to boot from the disk
- you've tried holding down the "c" key & "option" key to boot from the disk
- you've tried multiple Mac OS X install disks (assuming they all are universal install disks)

Here is one other idea. How new is this MacBook Pro we are talking about?

If it's a "really" new machine...it may have a minimum OS version requirement HIGHER than the Mac OS install disks you're using.

For example the newest MacBook Pro's need a minimum of Mac OS version of 10.5.7...so if someone was trying to use a Mac OS "Universal" install disk of Mac OS 10.5.1...it may not work.

I would double check the version of the Mac OS install disk you have, against the minimum OS version requirement for the computer you're trying to install on.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Click to expand...

Hi Nick

I have the pretty much the same problem, but I am using the original Apple CD that came with my mac mini
I tried to reboot with the key command and the letters P & R, S, C
as well as the option key and the letter C, several times, but still have the same problem, the CD ejects, before the apples shows up in the grey display, after it reject, it start a the normal way.
I admit I made a mistake, since I acidentally erase the administrator privileges and now I am a standard user.

Any Help?
Thanks in advance
Regards

Macbook Black Rejects Mac Os X Install Disk

Hi
I have a Early 2008 black macbook. 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; 250 GB, 2 GB Ram; Running Mac OS X 10.5.8
-I am trying to format my mac but the install disk(grey colored disk came bundled) does not mount and ejects after 4-5 seconds.
-I reset the SMC but the problem persists. (don't know how to make out if the smc was reset; just followed the procedure mentioned on the apple website)
-Tried mounting another audio CD which played perfectly.
-Inserted the install disk and shut down the machine before it could eject and restarted the machine holding down the D key for AHT, the cd spun a few times, and the disk ejected. Then AHT started and went on for 4-5 minutes and then the machine shut down automatically. This happened twice.
-Tried the step mentioned above but this time with pressing 'C'. The disk ejected again after spinning a bit and mac started normally.

Whats wrong with the machine ? Any ideas please ? and what needs to be done.

abhishek1108, please return to the thread you started and answer the questions you were asked and don't repost in someones thread.

I had all these problems on my late 2007 mackbook ( black) so what i ended up doing was holding down the Option key on start up.. it ejected my install DVD only showing my Startup hard drive.. so while still holding the option key i re-inserted my install dvd and it showed up next to my hard drive and i then selected the install DVD to start up from i hope this helps some one having the same issues...