[voken]

My MBP crashed a week back so bought the new SATA drive Seagate Momentus and installed it. First I tried installing the OS X by holding the CMD + C button, but it didn't work, so finally tried the CMD + Option + P+R and it recognized the disc 1 and took me to OS X Installer screen. For recognizing the drive I used the Disk Utility and finally after 3 hrs was able to complete Disc 1. Then when asked to insert Disk 2, I did and after 2 hrs or so, it popped out saying the installation didn't go thru.

Now when I switch on the Macbook, it shows back that 'Please Insert the "Mac OS X Install Disc 2" and when disc 2 is inserted it waits for 5 mts or so, and pops out the CD back !

Is there a way I can clean/erase the harddrive and start over ? If so how do I do that ? I tried inserting disc 1 back and holding CMD + C and also tried CMD +Option +P+R, but nothing took me to Disk Utility !

Appreciate any help !!

[Big Mac]

Well, first of all, to startup from an optical disc, it's not command-C at startup, it's just C. Or you can hold the option key to get the startup disk selection screen. I'm a little concerned that your Disc 2 is bad, which is why it's getting spit out. Start up from the first install disc, erase the drive and start over to try again.

[voken]

Thanks BigMac. My bad, I tried just C not Command+C. I also feel that disc 2 might be corrupted and I want to start over by erasing the hardrive and start with disc 1, but issue is what ever I try, the system brings me back to that - Insert the "Mac OS X Install Disc 2" display. Is there any way I can erase harddrive and start over?

[Waragainstsleep]

Insert Disc 1. Boot holding the 'alt' key and choose the DVD. Choose your language then go up to the menus at the top of the screen, and choose Disk Utility.

Disk Utility will show the hard drive in a list on the left. Select the drive, then click the erase tab. Choose 'Mac OS Extended Journaled' from the drop down menu. Then click erase. After this you can quit DU and carry on with the installer.

[voken]

Thanks. I followed the steps. Inserted Disc1 and held onto 'ALT' key. After a while it threw the disc1 out and I see a hardrive pic shown up on the screen with text 'EFI Boot' below it and an Arrow sign beneath it. Pressed the arrow but nothing happened !!

[voken]

I just tried one more time..once I press the arrow, it took me back to the 'Insert disc2' screen !!

[Big Mac]

You may be caught in a loop. Do you have an alternative startup disk like a USB backup disk?

[voken]

Yes, seems like a loop. What ever I do takes me back to that Insert disc 2 screen.

Can I try with fsck ? I tried singleuser mode and then "/sbin/fsck -fy" - it said the volume is OK !! but can I clean the drive using that mode ?

No, I don't have alternative start-up disk USB etc..is that something I can copy onto USB and use that to boot my Macbook Pro ?

[Waragainstsleep]

It booted from disc 1 once, keep trying. Maybe try your cmd-alt-P-R (PRAM) reset again? Hold it down for several chimes.

If it still won't boot from disc 1 having rejected disc 2 (any visible scratches?) maybe the optical drive is toast.

[voken]

Tried the cmd-alt-P-R a few times as well. Problem is this takes me thru several chimes only when I don't ahve any disc in the drive. When I try the same cmd-alt-P-R with disc 1 in, then it doesn't go thru any chimes, just white screen for a few mts, ad then eject disc 1 and asks for disc 2.

No scratches as its the first time I am using those discs. Could be optical drive or may be time for new macbook pro ! Its just frustating that I can't clean the harddrive so I can start fresh again !

[Big Mac]

The easiest path I would use if I were dealing with your Mac would be to startup from a different hard drive. Then you can reformat the internal and try again. Good thought about single user mode, but you can't reformat an active boot drive.

[Waragainstsleep]

If you alt - boot, then insert disc 1, does it just spit it out? That would imply bad optical or bad disc.

[voken]

Yes, it just spits out the disc 1 and asks for disc 2 ! I just gave up now...might salvage this and end up buying a new macbook pro

[Waragainstsleep]

Can you borrow a Macbook Pro and a firewire cable from someone? You can use the optical drive from another MacBook Pro or an iMac in target disk mode to boot yours from. If that works, chances are your optical drive is shot.