cant upgrade from 10.5.8 to 10.6.3

[jd20075]

hi all

 

i am currently trying to upgrade a macbook pro spec listed below from osx 10.5.8 to 10.6.3 i have the installation media on dvd format but when i try to install says you cant install osx yet my system meets the requirements and all updates have been carried out any ideas. many thanks

[featured_spectre]

Does it just hang on the update? I have seen many a Mac hang for days on end in the hope that it will update (not me leaving it like that) and nothing ever happened. Granted it was 10.5.3 to 10.5.8 then to 10.6.2

 

Have you tried formatting the HDD and starting from scratch?

[jd20075]

does not hang just says the following "Mac OS X Snow Leopard cannot be installed on this computer" both from disk and inside os yet i meet the required spec strange. have not tried reformatting the hdd would like to avoid doing if possible any ideas welcome

[featured_spectre]

Partition your HDD and give it enough space to have the OS on there (20GB should be more than enough if you have the space). Try installing to that? If it fails (fresh from the disk) then you will know it is the machine.

[Arthur]

What install DVD are you using? Is it a retail 10.6.3 disc i.e. one purchased from a shop, or a restore DVD included with another Mac?

[jd20075]

it is a restore cd as this mac was 1 - 30 would i be better off with a retail if the partioning fails

[featured_spectre]

yes, very much so, I found most Mac install disks are designed for those particular Macs unless you buy the generic ones from the shop.

[jd20075]

in that case could i buy lion and go straight to that or does it have to be done in stages

[featured_spectre]

In theory you could but it is not recommended, especially as Lion takes a fair bit from Snow Leopard.

[Arthur]

As Nephilim mentioned, the restore discs are tied to specific models, so unless the DVD you are using came with your MacBook Pro, it's not going to work at all.

 

in that case could i buy Lion and go straight to that or does it have to be done in stages

Technically there is nothing stopping you from going straight to Lion, although you would need access to a Mac running Snow Leopard to be able to download Lion from the Mac App Store. Lion is also available on a USB flash drive from Apple, but you have to pay more than double the price (£55) for the privilege.

 

especially as Lion takes a fair bit from Snow Leopard.

Are you referring to the fact that there isn't a Mac App Store in Leopard?

[featured_spectre]

Yes, as well as some kernel bits and pieces...some people upgraded from leopard and had nothing but issues, mainly due to upgrading with usb, but other than that it should be fine

[mac_shinobi]

I tried going from Leopard to Snow Leopard and I just had issues so I just did a fresh install of snow leopard straight from the dvd

[GrumbleDook]

Fresh install of Lion is best ... Leopard > Snow Leopard > Lion can be interesting and if you do go down that route try to make sure you run as Snow Leopard for a bit and run all available programs to ensure all software settings take on anything specific to Snow Leopard first (e.g. Mail, Office 2008 for Mac, etc) as I have seen this cause issues too.

[jd20075]

many thanks for all the help guys going to go the mac store and buy the retail disc and see how it goes

[featured_spectre]

remember to do a fresh install if possible so as not to cause issues which will force you to do that anyways!