Is Leopard on compatible on a 17" MacBook Pro

A

Amysdad

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I have a MacBook Pro 17" (Overvew below)

Have been running 10.4.11 but rec'd 10.5.4 as a gift.

Tells me the OS cannot be run on this system. is that correct? No upgrade route with this system?? Its only 2 yrs old.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro 17"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,2
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP12.0061.B03
SMC Version: 1.5f10
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
 
You say you got 10.5.4 as a gift?
What color is the disk - grey, or black?
I guess it will be grey :)

What is the exact wording of the 'can't install' message?
 
Black install DVD - Big X.

I also originally tried the gray ones that came with the new 13" black MacBook I bought for my daughter. Same or similar message that it could not be loaded on this computer.

Is this not a system that can run on this system??
 
Also should have added.... My original install attempt failed after starting and messed up my OS to the point I needed to do a clean install of 10.4.11

I had a space constraint - could that be an issue too if 10.5 SHOULD load??
 
Hello Amysdad & welcome to MacosX :)

You have the Full Retail Version of Leopard (black label + large white X), which is the right version for your MacBook Pro and I can't say outright why you are having issues.

Am I correct in understanding that your MBP has a clean install of 10.4.11 but you have removed your personal files/data/music/etc?

When you wrote space constraint, how much free space is currently on your MBP?

Leopard does take up more space than Tiger (around about 9 GB), but not to the extent that it won't allow you to install it ... but there does need to be a required amount of free disc space ...

Have you tried installing Leopard again, since the clean install of Tiger?
 
The gift os x was most likely for a different type of computer. Apple does this now, device-specific OS's. Make sure the OS X you have is made for your machine.
 
I thought it was already established that's _not_ the case here, Natobasso, because the disk looks like retail, not like machine-specific disks.
 
Amysdad said:
Also should have added.... My original install attempt failed after starting and messed up my OS to the point I needed to do a clean install of 10.4.11

I had a space constraint - could that be an issue too if 10.5 SHOULD load??
Click to expand...

Sure, the main problem may be space on the hard drive.
If you can boot to 10.4.11 from the hard drive - you should make sure there is enough space to install Leopard. Boot to the Leopard installer, and get to the screen where you choose the destination volume. It should tell you how much more space you will need. Then, restart back to your old system, and delete files with the goal to remove unneeded files and apps.
If you need help with that, it's a very common thread subject. Also, someone will help you decide how to look for drive space hogs! I always look for old folders named "previous systems", from older system reinstalls.
 
Thanks Folks. I dove in and took the chance that it was a series of issues that prevented the load and tried again. Looks like a success. Thanks for the assistance!!! Happy Holidays!
 
Thanks. Noticed that Previous Systems has about 10gb tied up. Tried trashing before the install but noticed some activity that made me think it was still being used (like system prefs would not launch) now with 10.5 successfully loaded is it safe to delete the Previous System' folder?
 
Amysdad said:
Thanks. Noticed that Previous Systems has about 10gb tied up. Tried trashing before the install but noticed some activity that made me think it was still being used (like system prefs would not launch) now with 10.5 successfully loaded is it safe to delete the Previous System' folder?
Click to expand...

Yes.

It is designed to be there when you do an Archive & install so you can get what you want (music, video,email,etc.). So once you get what you want out of it you can safely delete it to save space.
 
Just out of curiosity, do you know what exactly prevented the installation? The reason is people will search for answers, and they may find your solution helpful.

--J.D.
 
The outcome was successful and the issue appears to have been primarily one of space. Because I could not even get to the Finder to delete files I firewired from another laptop to access the hard drive and delete files. It took some time (and 2-3 attempts to install) but upgraded to a clean 10.4.11

After I was comfortable that the system was 'stable' I used the new 10.5.1 DVD to install the base system (which AGAIN required me to delete more files) but finally got it stable as well.

Then I followed the "software update" route to update to 10.5.6 which AGAIN required me to delete about additional 7GB of space to download and optimize the system.

I now appear to be running normally with a 10.5.6 system which is completely up to date.

Would love to get some advice on deleting the bloated "PREVIOUS SYSTEMS" folder to regain almost 11GB but it is unclear which of the files remain in use by the new system. ANY HINTS FOLKS??

Also looks like there is a MacOS 9 "SYSTEM" folder in Applications (which seems to be a remnant from an earlier version of OS X that ran OS 9 as well. Is it safe it delete this as well???

Thanks to all for their help! Have a safe and happy new year!
 
To my knowledge--and I defer to the Gurus--you can completely dump anything in "Previous Systems." These are not "bootable" and your current system is using everything you need. You can confirm this by comparing the folders--I bet your current system will have everything that is in your "Previous System."

The only difference may be some non-OS X applications you had. To my recollection, this will not be the case, and you can always reload old Applications.

Also, to my knowledge, Classic is not well supported on 10.5.6? For my Intell, Classic is USEless--will not work. I use to have OS 9 on a separate partition on my Widdle Pismo--PowerPC--which you might consider if you HAVE to use applications that only work on OS 9. If you do NOT you can dump that as well.

Can you get a bigger internal HD?

--J.D.
 
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The previous system folders are *not* in use. They're archives to retrieve older data from. As soon as you've retrieved from them (i.e. copied or moved it to a safe place) what you really need, you can delete them.

Classic is not supported at *all* on 10.5.x.

I'd keep at least 10 GB of free space at all times, which means: Keep 20 GB free, because that number can drop quite quickly once OS X starts to really use virtual memory.
 
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