Googling for instructions on installing OS X to my new blank internal MacBook hard drive, I found there were two pieces of information not readily available on the internet. Here they are.
When you boot while holding the option key, Startup Manager looks for volumes to boot from. If it doesn't find any, the screen remains blank. So if you have a blank internal drive and you're having trouble with this step of the boot, don't think you have to wait for a prompt to insert the disk or connect the volume - just bang it on in there after the grey screen appears.
After it boots from your install disk and offers to install the OS, Installer will again fail to find any volumes to install on. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and erase the new drive, giving it a name in the process. Then close Disk Utility and the name of your new drive will be available to select for the install destination.
That's my contribution to the world's knowledge.
Note that the installer also has an option there to restore from your Time Machine backup, but what it doesn't mention is that you need to use Disk Utility to format and/or erase it first.
ReplyDelete