Kernel panic—Trying to reinstall OS X encountered problems

[MacConvert2007]

I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro that was running OS X 10.11.6
Started to get a kernel panic error and it would not finish booting up. Would not boot into safe mode either.

Went back to my Leopard Install DVDs and did an archive and install—moving my old OS to a different folder. This went fine. Computer boots up great and I have access to all my files.

So now I need to get it updated to El Capitan. I put in my Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD and clicked install OS X. About 20-30 minutes into install I get all these errors and it refuses to finish the install. It shows an error log full of lines and lines of statements that I don’t really understand.

I tried the Snow Leopard install again with the same result. What should I do?

Can I install El Capitan without going to Snow Leopard first.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Perhaps your hard drive is failing? I'm assuming it's a mechanical drive, and it might finally be having trouble after almost 10 years of action in a laptop.

 

[MacConvert2007]

Perhaps your hard drive is failing? I'm assuming it's a mechanical drive, and it might finally be having trouble after almost 10 years of action in a laptop.

I’ve just installed a new 2 TB hard drive SSHD in the laptop with a new Sata cable. So I don’t think it is that.

 

[DeltaMac]

You can install El Capitan without any other OS on the drive.
You can make a bootable USB installer drive (search for one of the methods that lots of users have successfully used) from the downloaded El Capitan installer app (8GB flash drive is ideal), boot to that installer, Install El Capitan.
If that fails, try again after first erasing the hard drive.

If you continue to get that bunch of errors, and just can't install OS X - you may have a bad SATA cable, or your new SSHD might just not be completely compatible with your hardware. (Which SSHD do you purchase? Seagate, probably OK. WD, maybe not so much) The SATA cables are inherently fragile, and may not respond well to handling...

...Might be nice to post the errors that you get when you try installing El Cap...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Were you able to successfully install

I’ve just installed a new 2 TB hard drive SSHD in the laptop with a new Sata cable. So I don’t think it is that.

Did your issue coincide with the new hard drive installation? If so, then it seems like it might be the issue. From what I read, a new cable is recommended. You did that, so I almost wonder if there's a problem with the cable, or maybe you just need to check your connections. Are there any jumpers on the drive that might help with compatibility on older hardware?

 

[MacConvert2007]

Can I Get a download of El Capitan somewhere without going to the Mac App Store? The Mac App Store only exists on Snow Leopard and that is what I can’t get to install. I have a Snow Leopard disc and the install on top of Leopard isn’t working.

The drive and cable must be fine because I successfully installed Leopard on the new drive/with cable with no problems. Doing this eliminated the kernel panic. But now I can’t get back to El Capitan. Please help.

 

[DeltaMac]

If your old Snow Leopard installer is an updater disk, that might explain the problem, or maybe your DVD is just faulty/scratched You can still purchase a replacement Snow Leopard DVD direct from Apple.

Anyone can download the El Capitan installer from the App Store. If you cannot --- do you know anyone else who has a Mac? This would need to be a Mac that is also capable of booting to El Capitan, which is most Macs more than a year or so old.

There are other possible routes (torrents are a possibility) but I only mention that if you have no other choice. There's always "trust" issues with those kind of sources. Works out for some, so a possibility.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

If you can clarify, you can install 10.6.8 ok and have access to the Mac App Store? If so, what version of MacOS will it let you download next from inside the store? If you can successfully download a newer version of OS X, then you should still be able to make a bootable USB install drive of that version. You just let it download, then quit the installer. It will leave the OS installer in your Application folder, and from there you can build a USB installer with some copy and paste Terminal work.

I highly recommend you keep a USB thumb drive installer of your preferred version of MacOS (/ OS X) stored away. That way you can get back on your feet quicker if/when you do have an issue. It's another step in the upgrade process, but it's well worth it.

 

[MacConvert2007]

If your old Snow Leopard installer is an updater disk, that might explain the problem, or maybe your DVD is just faulty/scratched You can still purchase a replacement Snow Leopard DVD direct from Apple

The Snow Leopard DVD is an “Updater” DVD. I bought my Mac so close to the release of Snow Leopard that they sent the Updater in the mail. So this is not a full disk/DVD of the OS it is looking like?
[doublepost=1508111589][/doublepost]

If you can clarify, you can install 10.6.8 ok and have access to the Mac App Store?

No I cannot. So far I can only get 10.5 Leopard installed. The Snow Leopard DVD is an “Updater” which may not have the full OS I guess. Anyone know how to check if an “Updater” disc is the full OS?

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Do you still have your old HDD with OS X on it? If so, try putting it back in, download the El Cap installer, make an El Cap bootable USB thumb drive and then try again with your new HDD.

 

[MacConvert2007]

Do you still have your old HDD with OS X on it? If so, try putting it back in, download the El Cap installer, make an El Cap bootable USB thumb drive and then try again with your new HDD.

Great idea. Attempting this now. Creating a bootable flash drive sure does take a while. Waiting for it to finish.
[doublepost=1508120459][/doublepost]Successfully created a bootable El Capitan flash drive. But when I booted off it and tried to install on the new hard disk with Leopard it refused. Said can’t upgrade this version of OS X.

However, if I restore my El Capitan time machine back-up to the new hard drive—Shouldn’t I be able to reinstall El Capitan on top of El Capitan to get rid of the kernel panic error?

I guess if that doesn’t work I will need to buy a $20 Snow Leopard DVD.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

You may need to boot from the USB installer, then load Disk Utility and reformat your new drive. That would obviously wipe whatever data you had on it, but then it shouldn't see upgrading from Leopard as a problem since the drive will be blank. If you manage to get El Cap installed, then you'd restore it from backup toward the end of the install process.

 

[MacConvert2007]

Fixed it. Laptop running great now. Thanks to everyone for all the help.

Creating the bootable El Capitan flash drive did the trick. Everything back to normal and I saved all my data with the backups.

Thanks again.

 

[Fishrrman]

As I've stated again and again, the easiest way to upgrade a Mac these days is to create a BOOTABLE USB flash drive, boot the Mac from it, and upgrade that way.

Apple -used to- offer flash drives with the OS installer on them, "ready-to-go" for a while.
Perhaps it's time to bring them back...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Glad you got it going. Keep that flash drive safe!

As I've stated again and again, the easiest way to upgrade a Mac these days is to create a BOOTABLE USB flash drive, boot the Mac from it, and upgrade that way.

Apple -used to- offer flash drives with the OS installer on them, "ready-to-go" for a while.
Perhaps it's time to bring them back...

An 8GB USB flash drive is dirt cheap, and it isn't too hard to make one yourself. Maybe what Apple should do is make this process easier, or even recommended before you upgrade, or prompt it as an option when you first buy/setup a Mac. Maybe it helps keep the Apple Stores busy?

 

[Fishrrman]

RE:
"An 8GB USB flash drive is dirt cheap, and it isn't too hard to make one yourself."

Don't use 8gb.
Use 16gb instead.
I don't think 8gb will leave enough "free space" for the installer to "do its thing"...