Posted on by Cody

“You cannot install Mac OS X on this volume. You cannot start your computer from this volume.”

Installing OS X 10.3 tonight and ran into this problem. I was installing to a 30Gb disk that used to have a copy of slackware on it so when I ran the installer I had to run the disk utility and erase the old disk. Once I resumed the install I received the error message:

“You cannot install Mac OS X on this volume. You cannot start your computer from this volume.”

After scratching my head for several minutes and re-trying the disk utility a couple times I decided that maybe it simply needed a reboot. Sure enough a reboot using the 10.3 install CD’s cured the problem. I hate non-descript errors, if a piece of software is not going to perform a function due to a problem it should tell you WHY. Anyway, easy enough fix.

EDIT Oct 26 2008: I experienced this issue again tonight while configuring a software raid on a G4 Tiger machine. After the raid was initialized I simply rebooted the machine and entered setup again, the installer allowed me to install on the raid partition after that.

111 Replies to ““You cannot install Mac OS X on this volume. You cannot start your computer from this volume.””

  1. Thanks !! After buying and installing a new drive in my daughter’s 12″ powerbook, you saved the sinking feeling in my stomach.

  2. Likewise, many thanks!! Installed new HD in iMac and, just like you said, rebooting fixed the problem. Great job! I’m sure I’d have been hunting around for ages for a more complex solution if I hadn’t seen your advice.

  4. Thank you!

    I got this error after replacing the hard drive in a iBook G4. There are 56 screws of innumerable types and sizes between the user and the component most likely to fail. When I got this error I thought the drive must be incompatible and I was seriously not looking forward to another 3 hours dissasembling and reassembling the entire system. What a nightmare.

  5. You are a very nice person. I have been scratching my head while surfing for an answer to this problem. As always the answer was so easy. Why did Apple not prompt users to restart the computer? Perhaps they will see this and impliment it into a future OS.

    Thanks

    Othalian

  6. Having a second failed hard disk, in as many years and being told that apple don’t warrenty their warrenty repairs (WTF?) I decided to bung a 30G drive I had space into my two year old 12″ iBook G4. As I’d lost a good couple of weeks work (I know, backup backup backup) I was not pleased this drive was showing up as “unbootable” when all it needed was a reboot – a quick google later found this page!

    My iBook thanks you as it was destined for the wall :o)

    Many thanks!

    .oP

  9. Thanks for the message. Replaced a HD tonight in my 2 year old ibook, only to get the unable to install message. A quick reboot, and everything is going forward smoothly!

  10. It /MAY/ be that the new drives partitioning information does not get written (or used properly) until REBOOT.

    I ran into this same error while installing X10.3 on old G3/233 Rev B Bondi unit (hardly used pristine condition -for $50!). Threw in a old 80GB Hitachi Deskstar I had laying around and set up 8-partitions (for MAC and future Linux installs). BTW, this box only has the original 96MB RAM installed, the installer complained…but went ahead anyway with the install (will upgrade that later).

    have fun.

  12. Hello!

    I replaced the contents on my powerbook g4 15,2″ (alu) hard drive when trying out linux.

    Now none of my OS install cds/dvds get past the initial installer bootup apple logo – sometimes it freezes , sometimes it gives me a corrupt folder logo (or kernel panic logo) which I read on apple support can be due to missing system folders (obviously) OR due to firmware update (which apple.com says aren’t needed for the current model/version of powerbook/OS).

    Being new to mac I find it annoying not to be able to install OS X
    Linux installed like a charm in about 12minutes sweet!

    Assuming my cabling is allright as linux didnt complain , what can cause this ?

    And more important how can I fix it myself ?

  13. I would suggest booting with the OS X CD by holding the C key down when you boot your power book. From the installer you should be able to run the disk utility from the tools menu if memory serves me right. In the disk utility select your disk and use the erase option to wipe the disk clean (caution! This will remove ALL the data on the disk!!!). After that’s complete restart your mac and boot from the CD again (C key). From there you should be able to reinstall OSX.

  14. Oh man, you saved so many of my precious hair follicles tonight!
    My wife knows “that look” when it comes over my face (and let’s face it, I had to dismantle and reassemble this clamshell Mac already today, just to replace the freakin’ drive in the first place…), and both of us were equally happy when a smile returned and I could say, “okay, let’s go ahead and open the wine and start the pasta.”
    Thanks!

  16. You are a life saver! I was ready to throw my ibook across the room. I upgraded the hdd from 10 gig to a 60 gig drive and the ram from 64mb to 320mb. First issue, is that the 60 gig was formatted ntfs. We were trying to correct this through firewire on a powerbook. After a few hours getting through that problem, it wouldn’t unmount itself in order to create a partition. After many hours, gave up on it because I was finally able to obtain OSX Panther cds. Then those wouldn’t install because of the so called “You cannot install…” error. Thanks to you, instead of demolishing it out of frustration, everything is installing. :o)

  17. Thankyou so much. I guess the drive is doing something that needs a restart, like Fdisk on a PC. What a pathetic error message though.

  18. Thanks. Apple is such an idiotic company. Of course non of their literature says anything about this.

  19. G’day mate;

    I ran into a same message once I put a second-hand 40GB HDD to my iMac G3/500; and went through exactly the same ideas – erasing, reformatting, etc. And then while I was looking for an answer, I rebooted the computer – so I got your answer pretty much at the same time as I find it myself. However, great thanks for posting it, as there is nothing on this matter on Apple website.

    Cheers, Martin

  20. Oh MAN, you totally saved me from the dreaded “oh man after tooling around again I screwed something up” feeling in my stomach…

    First time I’d installed OS X on a PowerPC Mac, I think bill above was right, I just put in 250gb and 320gb drives into my G5, and after I’d hit restart it spent a good while doing something. My Mac knowledge is limited so this page was very handy, but still beats any experience I’ve had over the last decade with Windoze…!

  21. You just saved me a lot of grief. I had a drive go bad, so I bought a 500GB replacement, and after I formatted/partitioned it, I got the error message on both partitions. Sure enough, a quick restart fixed the problem. Very unlike Apple to code something this way.

  22. installed a new 80GB maxtor(i know, yuk, but it was new on the shelf, so…) in my g3 b&w and ran into the same problem. googled my way to your site and tried a re-boot.

    worked like a charm after that.

    thanks.

    peace.

  23. replaced a hard drive in iMac G4 (second hard drive, third time taken the machine apart!), reformatted the drive using Disk Utility and then got ‘the message’. Thanks for the tip, saved me another late night (it’s pretty late already!).

    Cheers.

  24. Pingback: Cannot Install OS X on my ibook - Error

  25. Thank you so much after installing a New HD in a Ibook i got the same error…Went to google for help stublmed across this

    Much appricated 🙂

  27. This worked for me, too! My poor little heart sank, then I found this post, restarted, and life was oh so sweet =) Thanks!!!

  28. I just bought a new Hitachi hard drive. I replaced the Toshiba drive and cannot seem to install mac os x on it. Under Disk Utility, the hard drive is recognized but when I get to the “Select Location” screen nothing shows up. What do I do?

  29. I love you man!!! The OS X installer doesn’t even tell you that you need to partition the disk first. It just doesn’t show up. Thanks a million.

  31. Pingback: Cannot Install OS X on my ibook - Error

  32. Thanks for the great tip…had just upgraded a second hand purchased iBook G3 from a 20gb (OS X 10.1.5) to a 100gb (OS X panther) when the dreaded exclamation mark come up.
    Couldn’t fathom what it was until i logged on (via another machine) and saw your comments.
    Apple should issue a warning in the Installer!!

    Now…back to the installing…

  33. Sweet! thanks for posting! I was freaking because I got the Can’t install error- after several attempts at disk utility. This is my first attempt at installing a hard drive and I thought- i have blown $80. Thanks for your help!

  34. thanks so much
    i was poring over my partitions for an hour before i decided to google it and came across this

  35. My apoligies for jacking in on this tread; though only to follow up, see this page at apple, it really helped me get a grip on the problem with my 80gig Segate.

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303220

    “You cannot install Mac OS X on this volume…” alert in Installer

    Mine was also partitioned in a wintel box, this also appears to be a problem for those partitioning under intel-macs and sending the disc back to motarola land.

    Re-partitioning and rebooting under OS X resolved the issure for me… Cheers all!

  38. I spent half an hour reformatting with Journalized/Unix FSs, erasing disks, and repartitioning after adding a 120 GB disk to a PowerBook G3. Finally I performed a quick search and voila! Many thanks.

  39. Thank you so much, I just picked up a 500 GB disk, and got that error and the sinking feeling in my stomach, but all is good now.

  40. I put a 80GB 2.5″ disk from a PC into a ibook g3, took me 2h of screwdriving… I tried to install os x 10.3. Got that error. Erased Partition. Got that error again. Rebooted. Got that error again. I Read the website mentioned in my comment. Partitioned the drive. And if i hadn’t read your article would have tried the installation again another day. After rebooting again installation is working now! Thanks.

  41. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I WAS WORRIED/PISSED UNTIL I READ THIS AND IT WORKED!!!

  42. FWIW, simply restarting didn’t work for me. I tried to format the disk in Disk Utility, but that also didn’t help, either. Same error as before, despite re-booting.

    Instead, I looked a bit deeper and realized I needed to format this drive using GUID for my Mac Mini (1st-gen Intel). The default was to format with a dual-boot system in mind (i.e. for PPC and Intel machines).

    The interesting thing is I was able to boot off the same drive (which had X.10.5 installed when it was inside an external USB), but once it was placed in my Mac Mini, it caused a kernel panic (hard freeze) on boot-up. I ended up reformatting in GUID, and did a clean install…..

    Anyway, just thought I’d add this tid-bit for those for whom the reboot trick doesn’t work. God, I love the internet. 🙂

  43. Nice to see this tip, thanks. It’s the obvious step when something doesn’t work, but reading this whilst waiting for the system to reboot gives confidence rather than just hope that it will actually work.

  44. Good gosh this helped alot. A Simple restart? I completely overlooked it. It worked great. Thanks everyone

  46. Thank goodness for this simple easy tip… Sometimes the most obvious solution *is* the correct one. I would have been banging my head over this for much longer had I not come across this site.

  47. It worked! At first there was no destination to install on, but then I went into Disk Utility and partitioned the disk (into 1). Then the disk showed up, but I got the error message you mentioned. Restarting apparently solved the problem. Who knew? I hope this helps other people with my problem.

  48. SI cuando estaba instalando un nuevo HDD de 120 gb me dijo que no se podia instalar me quiria morir pero ya quedo graciasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

  50. Hi!

    I have upgrade the cd-rw unit and the hard drive of my Power Mac G4 Digital Audio, but when I try to install Mac OS 10.4.6 in a 40 Gb Western Digital Hard drive (WD400), I get the so called message, I erase the hard drive with the Mac OS Journaled format, and then I reboot with the mac os x installer option for reboot, but, after the reboot the apple and the circle screen remain without starting the installation program, please help me. Excuse my poor english. Cheers

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