Macbook Pro and Lion install issues

[Jeffreynya]

So this Mac that I got yesterday just will not install. It seems as though the lady had some kind of error with it and the people at the Mac store told her to erase the drive and start over. So she did and now it will not reinstall.

Its a referb from Macinabox.com It came with the lion disk. I am able to boot it and try a reinstall but it stops om downloading from the internet. I have tried with wired and wireless. It just says "Mac can't download the additional content needed to install mac osx" It does not prompt for a Apple ID or anything. I have reset the Partition and made it a gig smaller to see if that would help. No go there. I can use the help on the mac and get to the internet just fine, but it is pretty slow.

The referb people seem to think all that's needed is the disk to install. User does not have a Apple ID, but I wonder if it really needed. I thoght that when the mac went to the site to download it would be identified and allowed to install.

Anyway, are there any ideas on this. I am new to mac's so sorry for any stupid things I may have said.

 

[compnet]

Have you run check/repair disk from the disk utility on the install cd? Do you know if the drive is good or not?

To me it would seem either the hard drive or the install media is bad.

 

[Jeffreynya]

I ran the disk utility a couple times to be sure and it checks out fine. From the boot CD I am able to remove partitions and add them just fine. I am currently doing a zero disk format on a partition that is a few gig smaller than its total size.

I also tried do the install over the internet with no media and it basically just sat there for 12 hours at the Loading Installation Information" screen. Not sure what happens to it as there are never any error messages.

Are there any issues with routers and network connections. I do run openDNS on the router so I wonder if that could cause it. However it has no issues getting to the sites through the help.

 

[Markverhyden]

While most of the time there are few issues but Apple does not authenticate all machines that hit their site by default. Did you run the serial number to see what model, year and specs it is and compare that to the approved Lion list?

http://support.apple.com/kb/SP629

Edit: by the way tell the customer to do herself a favor and create an Apple ID. She can create a free account, no CC info required, via the app store. Just select a free app and it will prompt you to log in or create and ID. If she goes to Mountain Lion (10.8) she must have an ID to be able to do a lot of the updates.

 

[Jeffreynya]

MacBook Pro 15.4"
Processor: 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo (P8800)
Serial #: W89502LY642
Model #: A1286

It was a late 2009

came with: Mac OS X 10.5.7

Should be good to go for Lion.

I do not have disks other than what was given to me from the person who got it from the Rehab company.

 

[Markverhyden]

Yep, that should work just fine. For grins hook up a USB hard drive, boot into the install and try do the install on the USB drive.

 

[altrenda]

Is it a real Lion install disk? Or a copy from the seller?

I would try to install Snow Leopard and then upgrade to Lion.

 

[Jeffreynya]

Its a copy from the seller. I don't have a disk for snow leopard but will see if I can find one

 

[Jeffreynya]

Tried a external drive. Failed as well. Message was "can't download additional components to install" with about 2 minutes left. So it seems to be hitting a wall with the apple server or something. I can ping apple fine as well as others. Both wired and wireless work fine. Bypassed the router straight to the modem just to see if something was getting in the way. Nope.

 

[Jeffreynya]

Resolved

Looks like it was the ram. Took it out and cleaned it, reseated and started the install. Everything went perfect.

Thanks for the help.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Is it a real Lion install disk? Or a copy from the seller?

I would try to install Snow Leopard and then upgrade to Lion.

!0.7 on a disk, hmmm? Can't be from Apple. Every Apple installer I've ever tried to put on a disk since OS10.4.x has worked mediocre at best, if at all. Best bet is always usb stick or external HD. I'd suspect it's still the media itself. Unless the RAM got jostled during shipping. the machine should have the recovery slice on the HD now. I'd try another install through the recovery slice to make sure.

 

[trevm999]

!0.7 on a disk, hmmm? Can't be from Apple.

Mhm, sounds suspicious.

I had an iMac in a couple weeks ago that had the same problem (with 10.8) using my USB installer. I ended up booting to the OS on an external hard drive and ran the installer from there, it installed fine then. I suspected my USB was corrupt, but maybe I just need to do a NVRAM reset.