Trouble installing Leopard.

O

orun

Registered
Hello forum!

I'm really new to mac, know very little of the ins and outs of OS X.
Was recently gifted my brother's Macbook (he got one of those new Pro's). He gave me two Leopard recovery disks (Mac OSX install 10.5.2) and told me to format and install a new OS.

I inserted the 1st disk and after selecting the language received the error: "This software cannot be installed on this computer". Now I contacted my brother, who told me to format it first.

Being a smart-ass computer user (I usually use Debian linux), that sounded easy enough, so I erased the MACHD partition in using the disk utility, effectively deleting any operating system that was already on there.

Then I tried again but it didn't work.

I've tried googling my error and have searched through quite a few forums/ support sites, where the most common suggestion is to do something called "archive and install". However, I do not think I can access this option.

I really hope I do not have to venture to the Mac store to resolve this.
Any help is greatly appreciated! -- Thanks in advance.

I have access to the terminal and I know my unix well (although I'm otherwise mac illiterate) - if I can do anything from there..?
 
Those were not recovery discs. They were System Restore discs. Each is intended to restore a specific model Mac to its as-shipped state. You cannot pick-up a random System Restore disc and stick it into a random Mac and expect it to work.

BTW, there is such a thing as a recovery disc for your Mac. It is intended to boot your computer and allow you to run a few select system maintenance and file recovery utilities. AppleCare is an obvious example. They, however, are not used to install a new OS,
 
Thanks for responding so promptly!

Am I to assume that, since I received the aforementioned error, those system restore discs were not from the appropriate model? (I'm asking if there's any other possibility, since I was under the impression that the CD's I had were infact the corresponding ones)

Was not aware of the difference between recovery/sysrestore disks, thanks for the clarification.

I will try to obtain the correct disks; however (acting under the presupposition that my brother gave me the wrong disks because he didn't have the right ones), if I cannot, would my most prudent course of action be to purchase a retail version of Leopard or would there be another option to restore the machine to factory settings? (like ordering disks from apple or something?)
 
orun said:
Am I to assume that, since I received the aforementioned error, those system restore discs were not from the appropriate model? (I'm asking if there's any other possibility, since I was under the impression that the CD's I had were infact the corresponding ones
Click to expand...

Correct.
The options are
1. Those discs are from a different type of Mac (the system restore discs are ALWAYS model specific)
2. The discs were of correct type, but your system was later than the one in disc (which would have been what the Mac was shipped with). If it left the factory with 10.5.2 and someone updated the system to 10.5.6 or some other later build, then you could not, with the default installation options, install 10.5.2 on that. The default install option it gives is upgrade install or new install, but in this case the other install options would work. And after wiping the hard drive clean you should have seen the installer as a more clear option. So this one seems an unlikely option here...
 
Yep, that software wont work on your computer, did you say that they're the discs that came with your brothers new macbook pro? if so then definitely not. Is there a specific reason that you wanted to do a fresh install? Leopard is 129 Here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC094Z/A/Mac-OSX-Leopard?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA&mco=MzgzMjcyOA

That would be your best bet if you want a working computer again. You could also look on ebay or craigslist.org and see what comes up there.
Good Luck
There wont be any restoring what you had after formating the HD.
 
Note *** edited, meaning you will be able to use it. Don't ask me how to do it though, i have no idea, i just know it can me done. ***
 
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