[Help]How to install snow leopard in a new HD

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lucrabbit

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The installation drove me nuts these days, tried numerous times but still couldn't figure out what went wrong. BTW I am new to Mac

Configuration: MC118LL 09 June Unibody 15" Internal HD Fujistu 250G
Want to replace the internal one with a Hitachi 320G 7200rpm HD (7K320) or 320G 5400 rpm (5K320)

Here is what I did:
1. Format the 7K320 in an external enclosure with Mac OS X extended (journal), GUID selected, as I couldn't partition/erase the 7K320 while it's installed internally (error msg. couldn't unmount the HD)
2. Replace the internal original HD with 7K320
3. Boot from DVD and install SL to 7K320, installation failed at the beginning (stopped at sth. like 40min left, should be around 30min. I guess), tried several times, no luck.
4. Put 7K320 back to the external enclosure, boot from DVD and install SL to the external HD, it worked (could boot from the external HD, so I guess my HD works). When I put 7K320 back to the internal bay, my MBP stopped at the spinning gear during start. (Disk utility could find the parameters of 7K320 were correct: SMART verified, GUID correctly displayed)
5. Tried with another HD 5K320, symptoms were exactly the same, so I guess I must be wrong somewhere

Really don't know what to do, had to put the original HD back, and spent over ten hours on this already. Could anyone offer some help here?

Many many many thanks!!!
 
Just add one more test result:

The 7K320 can boot Snow Leopard from an external enclosure, and everything works fine in the newly installed SL. But it just refuse to work in the internal bay... ...

Any thoughts here?
 
Could be the HD cable. Its that new just make sure to put in the original Apple drive and let Apple deal with it. You may not want to mention you were replacing the original drive because I've seen situations like that where Apple has voided the warranty over it.
 
Thanks.

If the HD cable is the cause, how can I mention this to the Apple guy? The cable works perfectly fine with the original Apple HD. I got my MBP in early August (phone support is going to expire soon) and it's definitely within the 1-Yr warranty.

Any advice?

Thanks again!
 
What kind of SL installers are you using? Is it a retail version? Do you still have the machine specific DVDs. Possibly do the installation using the machine specific DVDs with the new drive installed in the machine. Then do the upgrade to Snow Leopard after that.
 
Yes, I actually tried to use the machine specific DVD(leopard) to install the new HD in the internal bay. It failed the same way as the SL installation (installation halted when it came to the "30 minutes left")....

yeah, I was using a SL retail DVD version (the $9.99 one since I brought my MBP in Aug.)
 
I suspect its a problem with that new drive unless there is just something flaky about it. May want to check if its SATA 2 compliant.

EDIT: Looked up your new drive, it is SATA 2.
 
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Forgive me if I missed this, but did you try putting the new drive in, booting from the DVD, formatting the drive from there (in one of the menus you'll find Disk Utility), and then installing SL?

Bot
 
if I put my new HD in the internal bay, boot from DVD, Disk Utility will not allow me to format the HD, saying the "couldn't unmount the disk". If I neglect this information and proceed with the installation, it failed.
That's why I could only install the SL in an external enclosure.

Didn't check my 5K320, but I am pretty sure that the Hitachi 7K320 is a SATA 2 compliant HD.
 
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