Mac OS X on new hard drive

this could already be a problem someone else has posted, but i dont really feel like searching through threads...so here it goes.

i have a 2 1/2 year old white macbook, 13". my hard drive crashed, so i bought a new one, installed it, and went to reinstall leopard. no luck. my disks were kind of scratched, and i cleaned them a few times, but my computer still told me they were dirty. so, i bought new disks, specifially for macbook on ebay. they say MacBook Mac OS X Intall DVD version 10.5.6. ok, popped those in, i get to the pick a language screen, i choose English and BAM! it says "Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer." Ok or Restart are my only options.I had Leopard on my old hard drive, before my computer crashed, so what's the deal?

I am able to get to the utiilites if i click OK, so i can get to Disk Utility, etc., if need be. Can someone please, please please try and help me out. what should i do next?

and just an fyi, i dont have any fancy external hard drives, or old macs lying around i can test this stuff on. im in college, so i dont really have any money to be buying all of that stuff. if there is a fairly simple solution, ill take it.

I think the only problem is the file system (or lack thereof) on the hard drive. If you can get to Disk Utility, that's a great thing.

You most likely bought the hard drive empty, without even a file system on it. Go into Disk Utility > Partition Tab > Volume scheme: 1 Partition > Format with Mac OS X Extended (I think that's the best one) and click Partition.

That will format the drive so that Mac OS X can be successfully installed. If it doesn't work, I can see if I can help you further.

The Gray restore DVD's that come with a Mac model are only for that exact model Mac with the exact same hardware specs. I have a feeling that is your new issue. I would call Apple and tell them your install DVD's are badly scratched and see if they will see you the exact DVD's for that model Macbook.

klamariie said:

this could already be a problem someone else has posted, but i dont really feel like searching through threads...so here it goes.

Click to expand...

Well, at least you were honest . . .

dmordigal said:

I think the only problem is the file system (or lack thereof) on the hard drive. If you can get to Disk Utility, that's a great thing.

You most likely bought the hard drive empty, without even a file system on it. Go into Disk Utility > Partition Tab > Volume scheme: 1 Partition > Format with Mac OS X Extended (I think that's the best one) and click Partition.

That will format the drive so that Mac OS X can be successfully installed. If it doesn't work, I can see if I can help you further.

Click to expand...

i tried this, to no avail. after that, i went into disk utility and looked around a bit, and clicked on my hard drive (partion) on the left, and went to the "restore" tab. i thought maybe, if i copied the install dvd onto the hard drive, that would do something. after it was done, i shut it down, and turned it back on, and ejected the disc. the apple logo came up (even with no disk) and i *thought* i had finally fixed it, but then i got this (click the link):

http://flic.kr/p/8PUfvj
(sorry if it's crappy quality, i took it on my phone.)

so, i restarted it, same thing. i tried to restart it a couple times, but it kept saying the same thing. would it be better for me to just re partition the drive, without the files copied onto it, or what? i'm not really any good at this, so i really appreciate everyone's input. thanks in advance.