2011 MBP - OSX Reinstall Help

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2011 MacMini - 2.5ghz 128gb SSD + 500gb HDD, 2012 - MBP 2.4 ghz 256 gb SSD
Hi everyone, here is the brand new apple to our home:

Macbok Pro:
13in 2.4GHz dual-core
Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz
500GB 5400-rpm1
Intel HD Graphics 3000

I had already successfully installed an SSD in our 2011 Mac Mini last year so i thought the process would be more simple on the MBP because I only had to take off the cover to replace the existing HDD.

What I did different:
Before I even started up the MBP I removed the back cover and replaced the existing HDD with a 256gb Crucial M4 SSD, closed it, flipped it over, turned it on, pressed "command - R" for the recovery sequence, just as I did with my Mini, and waited. After the long wait it gave me an error and since then I have tried everything on the internet - as far as I can find - to reinstall the OSX Lion on the new MBP.

I have tried several steps and partitions to get to work and nothing. A couple of times it get down to less than an hour to finish the install and it shuts down and restarts with just the white screen and Apple Logo - nothing happens for at all after that.

Am I doing something wrong. Any help will be awesome.
 

chscag

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What happens if you remove the SSD and put back the original hard drive?
 
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I haven't tried that, but I have booted up the MBP and went through the basic set up using the original HDD with a USB to SATA adapter.
 
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The easiest way is to get the crucial ssd m4 kit comes with adapter, make your ssd as your external drive,
then using Carbon copy clone to copy over your existing hd to external (ssd) drive, boot from external drive, press on option key after the chime sounds. if okay, install the ssd as your internal drive, then boot up your mac see if it works, the mbp will be slower though.
install osx by booting up, press on option key after the chime sounds, screen instructions should guide you.
This should work make sure the software update is run after the osx is installed in your new ssd.
I have done few ssd replacement this is the sure way, with OWC ssd that is different story.
 
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Thanks, Okay - I cloned the HDD onto the SSD and booted it up from the external - it was slow but it booted up. Afterwards I installed the SSD in the MBP and went to start it up - it didn't boot up like I thought it was, so I connected the HDD in the USB as an external drive and booted up the computer again - it took a while for the computer to read what was on the SSD. I;m now trying to reinstall OSX Lion to see if ---- and just now it gave me an error and did the SSD did not take the reinstall.

Does this mean I got a bad SSD? Or did I do something wrong? Should I try something else?
 
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you need the lion osx software physically to boot up the mbp, while the ssd as internal.
another words osx has to be as thumb drive, dvd or sd to install.
did your mbp comes with osx install disk ?
 
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no, the new Macs don't come with install disk. I read somewhere else all we need to do is go to the recovery screen ( command - R ) and follow the steps shown there. This is what I did on my Mac Mini, I returned the SSD and am getting a new replacement in tomorrow from Amazon. I also read several threads from people who had similar problems with this Crucial SSD.

I don't know if its only the 256gb, my 128gb Crucial is working like a charm. I'll wait for the new one to arrive and I'll try my luck with that one.
 
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you might have to get hold of the bootable osx installer to get the ssd to work.
 
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That's what I was thinking, there is a procedure on one the forums on how to create one. If that doesn't work I'm thinking of buying the OSX again and installing it on the new SSD the installing that in the MBP. If that doesn't work - I'm throwing it away... - No, I probably won't throw it away but I am going to be frustrated.
 
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I thought to install OSX you just had to insert the CD and hold the C key while it's booting up. Is this not all you have to do?
 
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Solution:

Okay, we returned the MBP to exchange it for the new 2012 version (base model $1,099) same price as he 2011 model. I also returned the SSD to exchange for a new one and the RAM chips as the 2011 RAM is not compatible with the 2012 MBP.

I got both in about a day apart and then the RAM two days later. I started the MBP as is and went through the set up, once in there I plugged in the new Crucial SSD with a SATA to USB adapter that came with the cloning software. I formatted the SSD with the Erase option in Disk Utility and restarted the MBP.

At the start up I pressed Command-R for the Recover windows at start up, I went through those steps just like I did on the previous SSD, it was taking a while so I left over night. In the morning the MBP had restarted itself and was on the initial setup phase again. We went through the set up again, the SSD had gotten the Lion reinstall perfectly. I restarted the Mac using the SSD as the start up disk, the boot time was about 15 seconds and the shut off to restart time was about 23.5 sec.

Later that day after work in opened the back cover and replaced the stock 500 GB HDD with the new Crucial 256 GB SSD and the stock 4 GB RAM chips with the 8 GB chips. Put everything back together again and the MBP was ready for action.

The install was simple with the reinstall of Lion OSX taking the most time - I can't say how much time as I left the computer to do its business over night.

I will say the the first Crucial SSD that i got was one with the "M4 - Solid State Drive" logo on it, the replacement, which is the same part number, is one with "Crucial" logo on the top left hand corner. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but the install went way more smoothly on this SSD. It is also the same SSD I installed on my Mac Mini last year.
 

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