Kernel panic error during reformat/reinstall?

[Bob_White]

Hi all

I have a mac pro desktop running 10.5.6. I am in the process of reformatting my main internal hard drive. After backup and all was done. I popped in the OSX leopard install dvd like I have so many times before, opened up the disc, clicked 'install os x leopard' and expected it to do it's thing. It restarted my computer and sounded like it was reading the cd, after about 2 minutes it throws a faint black screen and the error message to restart my computer. A kernel panic error?

I've ruled out the hard drive. I booted up another hd i had laying around with os x on it, put the main hd in bay 2 and used disc util on the new hd to reformat the main hd as mac os x extended journaled and then switched the main hd back to bay 1 and tried to reinstall, it did not work. if the new hd is in bay 1 by itself it also will not boot from the cd just the same as my main hd does. The disc doesn't seem to have any problem being read on the desktop and having an icon at all so I can't see why the disc would be a problem, but I doubt it's the hard drive's issues since two of them react the same way.
any ideas?

 

[Collin Bl]

You could power on put in the DVD and hold down the C key - if it still has a panic then reset the PRAM here and hopefully that will sort it.

 

[cwa107]

I would recommend running the Apple Hardware Test. Seems very odd that you'd get a KP during setup.

Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test

 

[Bob_White]

I reset the PRAM and then attempted to run the disc with no success. It read boots the grey screen w/ apple and runs the spinny thing underneath for a good 5 minutes, you can hear the disc speeding up and slowing down the entire time and then it drops the black screen panic error and asks to restart. Holding C at startup yields the same results. I'm not in possession of the original discs, just the standard os x leopard install disc so I have no access to apple hardware. I couldn't find a download of it available either.

Any ideas?

 

[Kevriano]

Have a read of my advice in this thread:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/151975-how-do-you-fix-kernel-panic.html#post846109

It worked for the poster.

Kernel panics are a failure in the OS normally.

 

[Bob_White]

Kevriano, I tried the fsck and after about a minute it gave me the disc appearing ok message. I rebooted. I'm not understanding, if the kernel panic stems from the os itself, which i'm assuming is a hard drive-centric entity, then why when i switch out hardrives and attempt the install process i get the same thing. That would rule out hardrives as common denominators and point towards either the motherboard (and this is a brand new computer so I hope not) or the cd right?

another thing is that I hooked up the main hd in bay 2 and deleted it using disc utility. Then put it back in bay 1 and booted it up as a blank hd, even the running the mac os x cd caused a kernel panic.

 

[Kevriano]

That's very odd then, but at least the HD is ok, so that isn't the problem.
I've never come across Kernel panics due to the CD though. It has always been an OS problem.
If this is a brand new Leopard disc it could be faulty. Maybe contacting Apple for a replacement may be an option, but it still makes no sense to me!

 

[Bob_White]

Ok second thought:

The system is an intel 2x 2.8ghz quad core xeon machine. It was at one point recently owned by a local business who shut down and sold it's stuff off, at which point it came into my possession. Could there exist something on the motherboard (I don't know my macs very well) that would prevent a reinstall, like a permission or authentication or some sort of lock on the motherboard? since both hd's seem fine, and the disc issue is unlikely, that leave the mobo.

 

[Bob_White]

A friend of mine suggested something to the effect of putting a dmg of the install disc on an external and running it from there to rule out the disc being an issue. I have no idea how to go about doing that.

 

[Kevriano]

A friend of mine suggested something to the effect of putting a dmg of the install disc on an external and running it from there to rule out the disc being an issue. I have no idea how to go about doing that.

Yes that's possible if you have a firewire external. It won't work through USB.
If you do let me know, it's not easy peasy, but not too hard. The only thing is you will need to be able to create a DMG file first, which could be a problem if you don't have a working Mac.

 

[Bob_White]

well I'm running off the second mac hard drive....so I have a working mac, just not the one i want. And I do have a firewire external.

 

[Kevriano]

Ok. You will sacrifice a small portion of the HD doing it this way, as you need to partition.

Here's how I did it on my Powerbook.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/149038-freezing-install-screen-powerbook-2.html

 

[Bob_White]

ok so based on that link and those directions and them not being specific to a hard drive parition and all i'm not too comfortable with them. Could you maybe clarify step for step what I'm to do in this specific situation?

 

[Kevriano]

ok so based on that link and those directions and them not being specific to a hard drive parition and all i'm not too comfortable with them. Could you maybe clarify step for step what I'm to do in this specific situation?

Sure. If you don't mind I'll have to do it tomorrow morning, I'll post a step by step for you in this thread.

 

[Bob_White]

Actually, I just got a hold of another copy of the osx leopard disc and had the same kernel panic with both hd's. So it's def something with this motherboard locking out an install.

 

[Kevriano]

Actually, I just got a hold of another copy of the osx leopard disc and had the same kernel panic with both hd's. So it's def something with this motherboard locking out an install.

Very strange, however it's probably still worth a try this way, so, as promised:

First use Disk Utility to create a .dmg of your Leopard install disc. Open Disk Utility, select create new image, and select the Leopard install dvd.

Now:

1. Plug in your external hard drive
2. Open up Disk Utility
3. Click on the name of your external harddrive
4. Click on the “Restore” tab
5. In the “Source” field, select the image file (such as leopard.dmg) from wherever it is on your hard drive
6. In the “Destination” field, drag your external hard drive from the Disk Utility drive list on the left onto this field. Of course, if it’s only a partition on the external drive that you want to use, drag only the partition.
Note: anything on the partition will be erased and replaced with the installation files for Leopard. Therefore, it is best to make a partition on the external hard drive which has about 8 gigabytes. Use this partition as the destination so that everything else on the drive remains unchanged.
7. Click on restore. This may take awhile.
8. Once its done, open up System Preferences
9. Click on Startup Disk
10. Select the external hard drive (or partition in it) with the Leopard Install
11. Click Restart. The leopard installation will begin from the external hard drive. This installation is identical to installing leopard with a DVD.

As I say, still worth a try, but why your motherboard won't let you install from the disc is beyond my understanding.
Hope it sorts it.