Mavericks won't install.

[Gravity Jim]

I can't get Mavicks to install on my Samsung SSD. I figured I was more likely to get an intelligent answer here than most Mac forums.

I cloned my current 10.8.5 set-up to a regular hard disk (omigawd, SO slow by comparison) and downloaded the Mav installer. After a couple of minutes, the installer failed, and said there was a problem with the disk. So I rebooted from the clone and ran Disk Utility.

On verify, it showed a list of oddball problems so I repaired the disk, wiped it clean and retorted it rom the clone. a check with Disk Utility afte restoration a said "the volume XXX appears to be OK." Groovy.

So this morning, I tried again. A new download of the installer, same results. Can't install, problem with the SSD disk. So I restart from the clone, run Disk Utility. It reports the SSD drive is fine.

Both times, after restoration, I was able to boot and run fom the SSD without incident. This is the most stable system I've run in a long time, so I don't think these disk issues are I really there, but Mavericks won't install because of them.

Any clues? I'm thinking of cloning to a third drive, installing Mavericks on the first clone and then restoring the SSD from that drive, but going that far to around the barn makes me a bit nervous.

Thanks for any insight.....

[mikehalloran]

The drive needs to have 10.6.8 installed on it or it won't update to 10.9. This is stated in the install instructions. The App Store needs to see 10.6.8 to work.

Hopefully, you have a copy of 10.6 or later somewhere - perhaps you can borrow one. You want the Retail version as an iMac or Mac Book OE disk might not boot your MacPro. A copy of 10.7 can be installed from a DVD or a thumb drive also.

[Gravity Jim]

Oh, I missed that. Didn't read instructions. Imagine that.

Is this a mistake that Apple intends to fix? Why would a 10.9 installer not be able to "see" a 10.8 drive?

[HCMarkus]

The drive needs to have 10.6.8 installed on it or it won't update to 10.9. This is stated in the install instructions. The App Store needs to see 10.6.8 to work.

Hopefully, you have a copy of 10.6 or later somewhere - perhaps you can borrow one. You want the Retail version as an iMac or Mac Book OE disk might not boot your MacPro. A copy of 10.7 can be installed from a DVD or a thumb drive also.

Jim's running 10.8.5 according to his sig... 10.6.8 or higher is required. I don't think the above is the problem here.

Installing on the clone, as you suggest Jim, may help you get a better understanding of what's going on. Perusing the Apple forums may help, too.

I really have no idea what's going on with your SSD, but wonder:
a) how full is your boot SSD?
b) have you been running with Trim enabled?

[Gravity Jim]

Also, are saying that 10.7 would work as well? I have a 10.7 install disc….

[HCMarkus]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1657947

You should be fine, eventually. Do some searching Jim. You should not have to install 10.7.

[HCMarkus]

http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdispla ... une=&f=168
Someone here will have or has had the same problem. Good luck!

[Gravity Jim]

HC Markus…. yes, the drives are both TRIM enabled, and the boot drive is a 250GB with almost 100GB free.

So, you CAN upgrade to 10.9 from 10.8.x? Lordy, I would hope so!

[FutureLegends]

Yup, I upgraded to 10.9 from 10.8.5.

[Gravity Jim]

Well, here's one for the books.

The link to the Apple forums that HC Markus provided eventually lead me to a thread where one guy described exactly, precisely the same chai of events I had experienced. 250GB SSD, every stop and start, every error message, and every attempt to fix it... The same.

His fix? "Reboot and try again."

Well, after all we'd been through I didn't hold out much hope (we'd both done that about six times already)... but I'll be dipped if it isn't working.

4 minutes to go. It always choked right at the beginning, with 35 minutes to go, so I think it's going to complete the install.

Now we'll see if I get the same whacko windows behavior MLC is describing in his thread. thanks, HC!

[mikehalloran]

Also, are saying that 10.7 would work as well? I have a 10.7 install disc….

Yes.

The App Store needs to function for the Mavericks install to work - it needs 10.6.8 or higher. Install 10.7 first and you'll be good to go - don't bother updating 10.7.

[Gravity Jim]

Mike, I'm running 10.8.

Well, the guy at the Apple forums was right. It worked this time. Running now. Blazing speed compared to 10.8.

Managed to crash DP once by rapidly clicking through Tabs in the CW... it choked trying to switch to QuickScribe while playing back. It opened at an eye-opening speed, though.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Fast clicking in DP has crashed it many times for me since DP 7. Nothing new.

[Gravity Jim]

MLC, that's about what I figured. I don't expect any major problems in Mavericks... that was torture testing.

Man, this OS is... well, I hesitate, but.... pretty darn snappy. No? I mean... Yikes. Scrolling is so fast in every application that I routinely scroll past the point I was shooting for.

[mikehalloran]

Jim's running 10.8.5 according to his sig..

Yep, I misread.

OK... I get it... I need to actually use my Superfocus glasses when I'm looking at my screen. That is why I bought them, after all...