Mac OSX Installation Problem

[JC Masangcay]

Hello everyone!
Ok first things first.
The goal I am trying to achieve is to downgrade my Macbook Late 2008 (Aluminum Unibody, 2.0 GHz model) from Yosemite back to Mavericks.
So basically what I did is downloaded the Mavericks installer from the Mac App Store and install it in a 8 GB USB flash drive using DiskMakerX. When I'm installing it, I format my main hard drive using disk utility and proceed with the installlation, it goes smooth until the "downloading additional components" gave me 207 hours estimated time of download. I felt something is going wrong so I asked the help of my friend.
Both of us have no idea what to do.
So, I had a copy of the Mavericks.app on my external hard drive and we tried to mount it in the same 8 GB USB flash drive using transmac on a windows PC. No luck. Nothing appears, only gray screen.
Next thing we did is downloaded a mavericks.dmg on the torrent and tried again to mount it on a flash drive using transmac.
I entered the usb on my mac and I pressed option while its starting up and "OSX Base System 1" appears, and when I enter I got an apple logo with spinning wheel and after several seconds I get a circle with a slash sign.
Without anything (just letting the mac start) a blinking folder with question mark appears.
I really do want to use my mac now since I'm a college student (has a lot of work to do) and also having said that, as a student, got no money to go to an apple repair.
I hope you guys can help. Thanks.

 

[honestone]

I suspect there is no bootable system on your external hard drive, just a collection of files. Also, your machine does not have a Firewire 800 port, and thus cannot be used in Target Disk Mode. However, you do have a Super Drive, and thus there is hope.

I have never tried using a USB Flash Drive, and thus unsure why you are having issues with that. So, here is the best way to get things going again:

1. You'll need to purchase a Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) DVD from the Apple Store (unless you know someone that has one):

http://store.apple.com/us/search/Snow-:eopard-DVD

2. Boot your Mac from that DVD, and do the following:

A. Run Disk Utility from the DVD to do a Verify and Repair of the drive, to make sure it is OK.

B. Next, assuming the disk is OK, run Disk Utility from the DVD to COMPLETELY erase everything on your hard drive. I believe that the version of Disk Utility on that DVD will have 4 Erase Options, one of them being "7 Pass" (or something like that). That is the one you need to execute. It will take quite a bit of time for that to complete, so maybe start that process before you go to sleep.

C. Next, format the drive, and if necessary, partition it (if you partition it, you will need to choose one of the partitions to install Snow Leopard on).

D. Install Snow Leopard from the DVD onto your hard drive (or appropriate partition).

E. When that is done, boot up your Mac.

3. Once your Mac is functional again, you will need to download the OS 10.6.8 Combo Updater. You can get it from here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399

4. Once you download it, install it onto your Mac. That will bring the version of Snow Leopard up to 10.6.8.

5. With that complete, "place" the Install OS X Mavericks file inside your applications folder (this is assuming you still have it on the Flash Drive. If not, go to the Apple Store and download it again).

6. Make another copy of that Install OS X Mavericks file in another location on your hard drive. The reason for this is that after you run that file from the Applications folder, it will be gone.

7. Run the Install OS X Mavericks file from your Applications folder. That will update your machine from OS 10.6.8 to Mavericks. If the installed version of Mavericks is 10.9.5, you are up to date. If not, you need to install the Combo Updater to get to 10.9.5. You can get it from here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1760

8. Besides maybe needing to update any other software you have for OS 10.9.5 compatibility, that Combo Updater includes Safari V 7.0.6 (I believe). If that is the case, an update to Safari V7.1 for Mavericks was released on December 11th. You can get it from here:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15675/apple-safari

Of course, if you use another browser (like myself; my primary browser is Firefox, but I do run the latest Yosemite-compatible version of Safari once in a while), that step will not be necessary.

9. Once you complete all that, you need to start getting into the habit of making a backup of your "system". And, a bootable backup is the best. Given that you have an external hard drive (might want to check out its' health, via Disk Utility (unless you have a more robust disk maintenance/repair program like TechTool Pro or Disk Warrior)), you would need to add another partition to the drive (assuming you have enough space). You can do that with Disk Utility. Then, get yourself a copy of the "free" version of SuperDuper!. You can get it from here:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/13803/superduper

I use that program "religiously" every week to back up each of my Macs to two different external drives, and I can tell you from direct experience that it has "saved my bacon", so to speak, on at least two occasions. It is a snap to do a restore from such a backup. One thing, though, about the "free" versions is that it does not back up the Recovery HD partition on your internal drive created by a Mavericks installation. But, as long as you have the original Install OS X Mavericks file (another reason to have more than one copy). one can re-create this Recovery HD partition after doing a restore from a SuperDuper! backup by using the excellent, free program entitled "Recovery Partition Creator 3.8. You can get it from here:

http://musings.silvertooth.us/2014/07/recovery-partition-creator-3-8/

Just click on where it says "Recovery Partition Creator 3.8" near the top of that link to download it.

By the way, if you already had such a bootable backup on your external drive, all of this would have been quite a bit easier (and avoiding the necessity of purchasing the Snow Leopard DVD).

 

[JC Masangcay]

Yea I forgot to tell another thing. The superdrive of my macbook is broken.

 

[honestone]

Yea I forgot to tell another thing. The superdrive of my macbook is broken.

Are you posting this from another Mac? From your original post, it seems like your MacBook cannot be booted to anything.

 

[JC Masangcay]

Im posting using my phone.

 

[JC Masangcay]

I have a access only on a windows 8.1 pc. I can try to borrow my friend's mac if it's necessary

 

[honestone]

I have a access only on a windows 8.1 pc. I can try to borrow my friend's mac if it's necessary

The first problem, even if you have another Mac that you can use, is that your Mac does not have a Firewire 800 port. If it did, and if the other Mac has such a port also, then you could boot your Mac in Target Disk Mode, and your machine's hard drive would appear on the other Mac's desktop. But, that situation is not possible.

So, about the only thing you can possibly do at this point is to try and boot the Snow Leopard DVD from an external DVD drive attached to one of your Macs' USB ports. This link talks about it in more detail:

http://www.chriswrites.com/boot-os-x-from-an-external-cd-or-dvd-drive-quick-tip/

However, that link also mentions a bootable USB Flash Drive. I know you said you tried to use DiskMakerX for that, but apparently that created further issues.

In doing a google search of "How to make a bootable USB Flash Drive with Mavericks installed", the initial links that came up are:

https://www.google.com/search?q=How...ve+with+Mavericks+installed&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

According to that second link:

http://www.macworld.com/article/2056561/how-to-make-a-bootable-mavericks-install-drive.html

using DiskMakerX can create issues. It looks like the "sure fire" way is to use the method using createinstallmedia (described there as Option 1). So, here is what you need to do:

1. Borrow your friend's Mac, and download the latest version of Mavericks from the app store. This will be placed in the Applications folder on that Mac, with the name "Install OS X Mavericks".

2. Make a copy of that file somewhere else on that Mac. The reason for this is that after you use that file in the /Applications folder, it will be gone.

3. Plug in your USB Drive into one of the USB portr on the Mac, and use Disk Utility to Erase it and format it.

4. Use the instructions under Option 1 - use createinstallmedia to create the bootable, Mavericks "stuff" on the USB Flash Drive.

5. Take the USB Flash Drive out of the "good" Mac, plug it into one of the USB Ports on your Mac, start up your Mac by pressing the Option Key, and then select the USB Flash Drive to boot your Mac from it.

6. That installer on the flash drive should contain Disk Utility. Assuming it does, first do a "Verify Disk, and then Repair Disk" for your internal drive.

7. Next, use Disk Utility to Erase, Format, and if necessary, partition your ("fixed") internal drive.

8. Finally, run the installer from the USB Flash Drive.

9. Assuming all that works, start up your Mac. Hopefully, you will have success. Also, make sure that the version of Mavericks is the latest (and last) one, 10.9.5. If it is anything less, get the OS 10.9.5 Combo Updater, and install it. You can get that from here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1760?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

One thing, though, is that Combo Updater includes V7.0.6 of Safari. A newer version, 7.1, of Safari came out in December.

Finally, in case you don't have it, download that Mavericks file again on your machine, make a copy of it in another location, and start getting into the habit of making a bootable backup of your system. Once you finish getting your machine up and running, I can help you with that.

 

[JC Masangcay]

Thank you so much. I will definitely try that once I got to my friend to use her mac. I'll update you soon. Thank you so much.