Fatal Error during OS X installation (NEED HELP ASAP)

[SilverSamurai23]

I have a Macbook Pro 2011 model A1278 and here is my issue:

I have a feeling that my HDD is broken because everytime I boot the system up, It'll just stay at the Apple Logo with the loading screen animation on the bottom (gray screen). This has been happening for the past year and since I am busy with work, I did not have time to fix the issue until recently. I tried to reinstall my OS X. While downloading my OS X, it just stayed at around 65-70% loading at the status bar and it stayed on that for a good 6 hours. Then through my research, I decided to wipe my HDD clean and stary fresh, hoping that it might fix the issue.

At this time, I have scanned the HDD that I have with the Verify Disk/Repair Disk from the Disk Utility. It says that the disk appears to be OK, after I erased all what is in my HDD. I proceded to have a Partition (1 only) in my hard drive. Then when everything seems to be fine and dandy, I Re-installed my Mac OS X.

After 2 gruelling hours of high hopes and joy of fixing my Mac, it finally finished the download of the software. Now, this is where my dilema comes in. During the Installaltion process, it determines how long should I wait for it before the installation begins. It says approx. 23 mins. As I approach the 12-minute mark on the download, It gave me a Caution Sign in Yellow and on the top of the sign it says Install Failed. On the bottom, it says "Mac experienced a Fatal error that caused the installation to fail. Please contact your Software Administration" (this is just a recall from memory, I am not sure of the exact verbage).

Now, I am making a decision to change my HDD to a Seagate 1TB Laptop SSHD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000LM014) changes my Storage Capacity from 750gb to 1TB.

Now these are my questions:

1.) What can I do with the HDD since it seems that its "OK", just with the FATAL ERROR issue?
2.) Can I fix it to the point that I can install the OS X?
3.) Would buying a SSHD 1TB (since I heard great things about it and it is compatible with MBP 2011) a great choice I can make to fix my issue?
4.) Will my MBP 2011 run better when the SSHD, OS X installed and everything that the MB needs to be installed?

Please help and thank you in advance for the advice.

 

[honestone]

Welcome to MacHelp! Hopefully, we can help you.

First, we need to know what version of OS X you are using. The most recent one is Yosemite, V10.10.3.

Secondly, how did you erase the internal drive? Did you do it "externally", and if so, how?

Third, do you happen to have a more robust disk maintenance/repair program like Disk Warrior (the best one!) or TechTool Pro?

Also, how much of the 750 gig are you using?

Given that your machine is 4 years old, the internal hard drive should be fine (even if it is the original one). If you replace it with a new drive, you could still possibly use the old drive in an external case. In fact, you could partition it, and try creating a backup on one of the partition with the excellent backup/cloning program SuperDuper!.

Just to let you know, after I purchased my late 2012 Mac Mini, it came with a (slow) 5400 rpm hard drive. I really do not need that much storage, so after I had it for about 4 months, I replaced that internal drive with a fast Samsung 840 Pro 256 gig SSD, and boy, was it ever like a breath of fresh air! I also installed that 1 TB drive in a nice, slim external case, and that has served me well for various purposes.

In any event, if you could answer those 4 questions, it would help.

 

[SilverSamurai23]

Thanks for replying Honestone.

The OS X im trying to install is 10.7 Mountain Lion.

I erased the drive thru Disk Utility. I remember just by reformatting the HDD and promted me that my files will be gone. I went on and it reformatted it successfully.

I do not unfortunately due to the fact that I cannot get pass the loading screen (apple logo + loading wheel)

Im not following the how much are you using with the 750gb im using. (how I understood the question>>>) I think I used maybe 3/4 of the drive since I do Photoshop Editing frequently.

Im actually at work right now, but when I can, I'll post some snapshots of the notifications I get during the installation process and how I reformatted my HDD.

Once again, thank you very much.

 

[honestone]

Thanks for the information.

One reason I ask about how much of the 750 gig of space you are using is to have an idea the true size of your boot drive that you need, and also if you need "immediate", same disk/access to your files. If that were not the case, you could install an SSD inside your machine, and use the 750 gig drive externally for storing files, etc. But, if that's not an option, I understand.

Regarding erasing your drive, did you run Disk Utility externally from your machine to perform the erase task? That is what I meant.

 

[SilverSamurai23]

I am still not sure how I did it, but here is the link https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201376. That is what I went by in terms of reformating my HDD.

And also, disregard my last answer for what OS X is it. Its OS X Lion 10.7 (since I recall the picture of the OS) which my MBP automatically chooses this OS thru Wi-Fi Internet.

 

[SilverSamurai23]

So, I verify thru Disk Utility that My HDD is good.

And then, I Install the Mac OS X thru Internet Connection (wireless)

Then, I selected the desired HDD to install my OS.

These are the ones that show when you go to Reports>Show all Errors and Login Notes( Start>Finish)

And then, Mac starts to install in my Mac.

Then this shows up after 12 Minutes.

I cannot seem to get around this problem, even though I have reformatted the HDD and all that was necessary to have a fresh space of storage. I cannot get to the username/password screen to get to my desktop anymore. This is how I have been seeing ever since my Macbook crashed mid 2012s

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

The installation failure you are experiencing is usually caused by two issues: a failing HD or RAM.

-Do you have the original Apple RAM in your MBP, or is it third-party? If you installed third-party RAM, try replacing it with the original Apple RAM to see if that will allow the install to complete.
-The Verify Disk command in Disk Utility may pass as OK, but it doesn't do a full surface scan of the HD for bad blocks. So, you still may have a failing HD.
-If you don't have a disk utility such as Drive Genius or Techtool Pro that can do full surface scans, then you can try to do a custom OS X install, by clicking the Customize button on the installer disk selection screen. Uncheck X11, any print drivers for companies other than yours, and any languages you don't use, then proceed. See if that allows the install to finish.

C