Early 2011 MBP / New SSD / Install OSX

[canthandle]

So, my early 2011 MBP just stopped the other day, and we deemed it as a HD failure. Apple was able to recover some of the data off of the drive though, so that was cool.

I bought a new SSD off of Amazon (Crucial MX100 256GB) and while I was at it, I bought some more ram as well.

Since my HD failed, I needed a way to install the OS to the new drive, so I read about creating a boot-able USB drive with the OS on it. Well, when I tried that, after the status bar fills it would just go to a gray screen, so it would never let me get to the disk utility part of that. So, I tried the internet recovery option as well, and I could see the loading status, but when it was done, it went to a gray screen as well and nothing happens.

What's wrong?

 

[harryb2448]

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Did you format the SSD after you popped in to the MBP Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?

What operating system were you using and did you have a backup, vital these days? If not after formatting the drive, and assuming you are using OS X.7 or later, go to Recovery (Command + R) and download a new version of whatever you are using. You will require an Apple ID to do this.


http://osxdaily.com/2014/12/14/reinstall-os-x-mac-internet-recovery/

 

[pigoo3]

Since my HD failed, I needed a way to install the OS to the new drive, so I read about creating a boot-able USB drive with the OS on it.

Two things:

1. What OS version are we talking about?
2. Are you 100% sure creating the bootable USB drive was done correctly.

- Nick

 

[canthandle]

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Did you format the SSD after you popped in to the MBP Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?

What operating system were you using and did you have a backup, vital these days? If not after formatting the drive, and assuming you are using OS X.7 or later, go to Recovery (Command + R) and download a new version of whatever you are using. You will require an Apple ID to do this.


How to Re-Install OS X with Internet Recovery on a Mac | OSXDaily

How can I format the drive since my computer is down? I do have a mac mini if that can be used in anyway.

I'm 90% sure I was running mavericks.

 

[canthandle]

Two things:

1. What OS version are we talking about?
2. Are you 100% sure creating the bootable USB drive was done correctly.

- Nick

I created the bootable drive using the terminal command,

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction

Also, erased everything on my 16gb thumb drive and formatted it using disk utility, mac os journaled, and so on.

 

[pigoo3]

I created the bootable drive using the terminal command,

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction

So the answer to my first question was you are trying to install Mavericks.

Also, erased everything on my 16gb thumb drive and formatted it using disk utility, mac os journaled, and so on.

How did you do this (and use Terminal as stated above) if your Early 2011 MacBook Pro isn't operational?

- Nick

 

[canthandle]

Sorry, I answered that one in the post above yours... I have a mac mini that I used to format the USB drive.

 

[canthandle]

So, to sum it all up..

I have a MBP with a new SSD installed (Not formatted).

I used my mac mini to download the OSX Mavericks installer, and used it to format my USB drive as well as make it a bootable OS installer.

Can I assume that the hard drive can't be recognized?

 

[pigoo3]

So, to sum it all up..

I have a MBP with a new SSD installed (Not formatted).

I used my mac mini to download the OSX Mavericks installer, and used it to format my USB drive as well as make it a bootable OS installer.

Can I assume that the hard drive can't be recognized?

Ok…now everything makes sense!

Yes…one of the problems at this point is that the SSD probably isn't formatted to be "seen" by the computer/installer. And the 2nd problem seems to be that the bootable Mavericks installer on a USB stick is not working properly.

The bootable USB installer needs to be solved first…since you need to have access to Disk Utility in order to format the new SSD. And then be able to install the OS on the SSD.

My feeling is that the bootable USB installer of Mavericks is where the problem lies. It is possible that something in the process of creating it went wrong.

Try booting your Mac-Mini with the bootable USB installer of Mavericks. If this doesn't work…then the USB installer must be working…since two different computers cannot be booted from it.

And if it doesn't work try making the USB installer again…but this time use a different procedure. I'm pretty sure there is more than one way to make it. Do an internet search for an alternate method.

- Nick

p.s. The idea suggested by "ferrarr" is a great idea as well (Target Disk Mode). Assuming you have the necessary cable.