Trouble Reformatting my MBP to sell

Hey guys
I finally got my HD backedup using carbon copy cloner, but now I am having issues reformatting it for the new owner. Its the 2.2 Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro. It originally came with Tiger, then I upgraded to Leopard and on to Snow Leopard. So currently its running Snow Leopard. I have the DVD Disc 1 and 2 that came with it (Tiger) and then I have a DVD drop in disc of Leopard, but I do not have a Snow Leopard disc. So, I'd like to give it to the new owner with Leopard running.
So I put the DVD Disc 1 in the drive and restarted the computer. At the apple chime I held down option... it tried for a while but eventually ejected the disc. So I did it all again and this time held down the C button and it once again ejected the disc.
What am I missing? Should I just start with the Leopard disc instead of the DVD Disc 1 and 2 that came with it as Tiger? Will I still be able to install Ilife and everything for the new owner?
thanks
jared

jrod81 said:

I have the DVD Disc 1 and 2 that came with it (Tiger) and then I have a DVD drop in disc of Leopard, but I do not have a Snow Leopard disc. So, I'd like to give it to the new owner with Leopard running.

What am I missing? Should I just start with the Leopard disc instead of the DVD Disc 1 and 2 that came with it as Tiger?

Click to expand...

The deal is you have a "drop-in" Leopard disc. This means it is an upgrade install only (not a stand alone installer of Leopard). You have to install Tiger (10.4) first...then upgrade Tiger with the Leopard disk (the Leopard disk first looks for a previously installed version of the OS).

If you had a stand-alone Leopard install disk...then you would be able to directly install Leopard.

HTH,

- Nick

I am not sure that is right. I have 3 discs. The first two are grey ones labeled Install Disc 1 and the second is labeled Install Disc 2. Those are the two that came with the computer which I suppose means they have Tiger on them. I am trying to boot from Disc 1 but its not working.
The third disc I have is the Leopard logo (purple with big black X) disc labeled Max OS X Leopard.

jrod81 said:

I am not sure that is right. I have 3 discs. The first two are grey ones labeled Install Disc 1 and the second is labeled Install Disc 2. Those are the two that came with the computer which I suppose means they have Tiger on them. I am trying to boot from Disc 1 but its not working.
The third disc I have is the Leopard logo (purple with big black X) disc labeled Max OS X Leopard.

Click to expand...

Sorry...I guess I thought that your only problem was with the Leopard disk.

Actually what I said is right (you have to install Tiger first before installing Leopard with the "drop-in disc"...which is what I said in my earlier post)...just that you also seem to be having trouble with the gray "Tiger" discs.

Are you absolutely positive those 2 gray discs are the original ones that came with this particular computer? If they aren't (or you have any doubts)...they will not work...because they are model specific...and will only work with the computer/model they came with.

If these two gray discs did originally come with your computer (100% positive)...are you sure the CD/DVD drive is working...will any discs work in the drive?...since it sounds like no discs you've tried so far seem to work.

- Nick

well i did just get the computer back from apple with a new optical drive installed so let me try another disc on it when i get home. well, i take that back... i did burn a DVD when the computer was returned from apple just to see if it could burn, so yes i think its working.
i am positive the gray discs came with the computer, but the version of snow leopard that is currently installed on the computer was my brother in law's software so did i mess up with that?

jrod81 said:

well i did just get the computer back from apple with a new optical drive installed so let me try another disc on it when i get home. well, i take that back... i did burn a DVD when the computer was returned from apple just to see if it could burn, so yes i think its working.

Click to expand...

Whoa...hold on a second...when did this this optical drive replacement happen? Are you talking since your last post in this thread as of 12:31pm today (about 6 hours ago)...or recently (like within the past couple days or weeks)? Just curious...it helps to have all the details when trying to help someone out.

jrod81 said:

i am positive the gray discs came with the computer, but the version of snow leopard that is currently installed on the computer was my brother in law's software so did i mess up with that?

Click to expand...

Well it depends on what aspect we're addressing in terms of "messing up". You probably messed up by using your brother-in-laws disc. According to Apple...only 1 disc/1 install per computer. But as far as installing Snow Leopard on this computer...and then later on trying to "backwards" install OS 10.5...no...this really should not have messed anything up.

Keep us updated,

- Nick

the optical drive was replaced about a week ago...
called apple and they were very helpful. since i had snow leo on it, tiger was not doing a thing so instead they had me put the leopard disc in and i was able to boot from it...
i forgot to do the security part though (which i chose the 7 pass option which was a mistake cause it is taking forever) so we hit stop and started back over... then when we booted it said it couldn't do it because 10.4 Tiger was not installed which probably means i had killed it by stopping the process... anyway, i am 2 of 7 in the pass right now and i will hopefully be able to continue with the leopard install once it gets done with all 7 passes...
what happens if i hit skip and start this over choosing the 0 option this time instead of 7? should i just let it do its thing now?
the computer keeps going to a black screen... is the process still going even though its a black screen? i can't change system pref while its doing it apparently.
thanks for all the help
sorry such a long post

okay, the 7 pass is over...
new problem... my computer will boot from the leopard disc, but a box comes up saying "you don't have 10.4 installed" so i thought, no problem... i will just insert the 10.4 Tiger disc. i did that and tried to restart the computer holding down the C key and the disc just ejected. did the same thing again holding down the option key and once again, the disc ejected...
so as of now, i have no operating system, the tiger install dvds, and a leopard upgrade disc. so any suggestions?
i also have an external hard drive with my HD backed up on it with Carbon Copy Cloner... can i get OSX off that external hard drive?
i do have snow leo discs that came with my brand new macbook pro- could i use it or is that computer specific?

jrod81 said:

...so as of now, i have no operating system, the tiger install dvds, and a leopard upgrade disc. so any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Yes...make it easy on yourself...and just install Snow Leopard on the MBP you're selling. It's a good selling point anyway...selling a computer with the latest OS on it. Get a $29 SL install disc at the Apple Store.

Why your gray 10.4 discs aren't working is a mystery...since you said that they are the original discs that came with that MBP. The only thing I can think is that they are damaged in some way...because if they are the original gray discs & they are not damaged...they should work.

jrod81 said:

i do have snow leo discs that came with my brand new macbook pro- could i use it or is that computer specific?

Click to expand...

Nope can't do it. Those discs are model specific...and probably won't work on your older MBP. Secondly (even if the discs did work)...it's against Apple's rules. 1 set of OS install discs = 1 install on only one computer at a time.

Good luck,

- Nick

well i think i tried 8 times and finally on the 8th time the disc booted. i have no idea what was special on that attempt but i read a post on another forum of a guy trying 25 times and got it to boot on the 25th so i was not even halfway thru what i was willing to try... anyway, tiger booted... then i upgraded leopard and i just got back from delivering it to the new owner...
i have learned alot, which i hope to retain for down the road sales... we'll see

jrod81 said:

well i think i tried 8 times and finally on the 8th time the disc booted.

Click to expand...

That's kind of weird. I'm thinking the disc is dirty or damaged in some way (maybe just some slight scratches). I have an OS 10.5 install disk that has a serious bit of damage on it. Sometimes it won't boot/load, most times it won't pass the disk "check-scan"...but most of the time it will successfully install the OS.

Congrats on getting it working...and not giving up!

- Nick

it might have some scratches but it really looked pretty clean to me... nevertheless, thanks for helping me out on this process