OSX Cannot Install, even with GUID table and disk that came with the computer

[dennasty]

My main problem is exactly what I put in the title. It's a black macbook that I purchased a new hard drive for. I had lost the cd's so I called Applecare and they sent me a new copy of the back up discs for the computer. After I load it from the cd, the computer tells me that OSX cannot be installed.

I formatted the harddrive into one partition into Mac OSX Journaled, with a GUID partition table. Then I restarted the computer to no avail. Does anyone have a solution that could help me? Funny enough, I'm having this issue on TWO macbooks; it's the same issue except one is a black macbook, and the other is white.

Would upgraded ram impede the installation of OSX onto a fresh harddrive? Is there anything else I can do to fix this?

 

[baggss]

How big is the hard drive?

 

[dennasty]

I believe it's a 160gb harddrive.

 

[baggss]

Ok, that wouldn't be it then.

Have you simply tried formatting the drive via the erase option and then partitioning it? It shouldn't make a difference but I have seen Disc utility be flakey when partitioning without formatting.

I mention this as I recently installed a 1Tb drive in my G5. I partitioned it but Disc Utility got weird and the drive wouldn't partition (it failed). Once I erased it, then formatted it, then partitioned it, it worked fine.

 

[dennasty]

Oops, I just checked and the harddrive is a western digital 150gb laptop drive. Would that change anything? I am currently in the process of reformatting the disc as you suggested.

 

[chscag]

To the OP:

Your problem sounds like Apple sent you the wrong install disks. Make sure you have the correct installation media. Installation disks are specific for the model except for the commercial sale disks which will install on any Mac.

Regards.

 

[dennasty]

Oh, one last thing. I've been trying to install OSX by just plugging in the AC cord and leaving the battery off of the macbook (as it has terrible battery life anyways) would that be an issue?

 

[baggss]

Oh, one last thing. I've been trying to install OSX by just plugging in the AC cord and leaving the battery off of the macbook (as it has terrible battery life anyways) would that be an issue?

No. Check the discs to make sure they are the correct ones too.

 

[dennasty]

No luck; I'm going to request a new set of cd's I suppose. Does apple frequently ship the wrong discs?

 

[harryb2448]

Quite possibly. System restore discs are very much manufactured to suit particular models and can change week to week for the same machine, when a software or Security Update is included and so on.