Re-Installation of MBA Rev 2 going wrong...

[icymountain]

Hello everyone...

I just got my MBA rev 2 (128 SSD). As I do with all my new macs, I started doing a fresh reinstall of OSX, so as to get a system without fancy things I will never use such as Garage Band, printer drivers, exotic language support, etc.

So, I restarted the 'Air with the external DVD drive plugged in and OSX DVD inserted, formatted the drive, and launched the installer. But this failed: the DVD was reported faulty by the install procedure. Looking at it, there may indeed be a small defect on the surface of my new DVD. Yet it reads fine in my good old MacBook Pro; hence, I wonder what is faulty: the external DVD drive, the DVD itself, or the MBA (I tried to plug the DVD drive to my MBP and it does not get recognized: is it normal ? does this indicate the DVD drive itself is DOA ?). After trying again to boot the MBA on the DVD, I notice the drive seems to read the DVD forever and does not reach the first install screen anymore.

Therefore, I decided to attempt a remote OSX install, with my MBP reading the DVD and the MBA connecting to it via Airport. But this fails too: after I create an Airport Network on the MBP, and start the MBA, the MBA will not connect to that network. It will just seem to try forever but not find it. Even when both laptops are just next to each other (and I tried various positions). Could I have missed something in the creation of that network ?
When I put a password on my network, the MBA sometimes seems to get rejected from it (ie, the attempt to connect to the network fails after about twenty seconds, instead of looping forever; then it asks for the password again).

So, I am accumulating a lot of frustration right now, and feel that my attempt to reclaim a few gigs did just allow me to end up with a non-booting machine.

Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[byke]

what version does your install disks say ? 1.0 or 1.1?

 

[McGilli]

This doesn't help - but my MBA SuperDrive does not read my original Logic 8 discs without getting a read error partway through - but the discs read fine on my iMac.

Either the Superdrive is very picky - or - ours got bumped around too much when they were shipped....

and NO - it will not work on a regular macbook.

 

[Cynicalone]

The MacBook Air Superdrive (if that is what you are using) won't work on just any USB slot. It requires more power than a standard USB slot provides.

Did you install the Remote Disk software from your MacBook Air install DVD on your Macbook Pro?

 

[icymountain]

Thank you for your answers.

I read on the install disk "10.5.5 v1.0".

I did try to plug the MacBook Air Superdrive (yes, this is what I am using) via a USB hub, with no success: it worked neither on the MBA nor on the MBP.
Only plugging the Superdrive on the MBA directly will do something.

What I notice when I try booting the MBA via Superdrive is that the drive seems to re-try a lot (it does make no continuous noise; instead it seems to start, stop and start again). Should I conclude the problem is not the DVD but the drive itself ?

Regarding to the remote install, I did install it on the MBP from the MBA DVD. The MBP has Mac OSX 10.4 on it. Could it be a source of problem ? Nothing indicated a version problem so far.
Moreover, the remote install fails much earlier in fact: the MBA will not find the Airport network I created on the MBP regardless how I position it (laptops are just sitting next to each other).

Well, I am very frustrated to report no progress so far. snif.

 

[byke]

Thank you for your answers.

I read on the install disk "10.5.5 v1.0".

I did try to plug the MacBook Air Superdrive (yes, this is what I am using) via a USB hub, with no success: it worked neither on the MBA nor on the MBP.
Only plugging the Superdrive on the MBA directly will do something.

What I notice when I try booting the MBA via Superdrive is that the drive seems to re-try a lot (it does make no continuous noise; instead it seems to start, stop and start again). Should I conclude the problem is not the DVD but the drive itself ?

Regarding to the remote install, I did install it on the MBP from the MBA DVD. The MBP has Mac OSX 10.4 on it. Could it be a source of problem ? Nothing indicated a version problem so far.
Moreover, the remote install fails much earlier in fact: the MBA will not find the Airport network I created on the MBP regardless how I position it (laptops are just sitting next to each other).

Well, I am very frustrated to report no progress so far. snif.

I am guessing you are based outside the USA?
As you should have disk version 1.1?

I spoke to apple yesterday and told them I had no 4 finger swipe and a few other issues and asked if they could send me the 1.1 disks, which was fine and they are on their way.

Somebody has said that version 1.0 was not meant to be shipped with Rev B's ... so maybe this could be part of the problem?

I would just call apple care and ask for some new disks (1.1)

 

[icymountain]

I am guessing you are based outside the USA?
As you should have disk version 1.1?

Yes, I am based out of the USA (Europe).
I am not sure I understood what you mean about 1.1 though: should all non US users get 1.1 or the other way around ?

I can understand v1.1 is needed to enable four finger swipes, but I do not see why v1.0 would not install at all... That would be a major mistake from Apple anyway.
Moreoever, it seems to me the install fails long before it can see it does not have a 1.1 disk, but a 1.0.

In any case, I will do as you did, and ask for a set of 1.1 disks. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks.

 

[byke]

From what I understand, all non US MBA's Rev B's came pre loaded with the wrong software and wrong software disks.

Now I am not sure how many problems can be associated to these software errors, but it has to be worth a try.

Someone mentioned that the 1.0 software was designed only for the REV A MBA's ... not sure how true that may be, but even if it holds the slightest hope its worth a try.

Another user said that he was unable to install his Rev A disks on his Rev B machine ....

good luck

 

[icymountain]

From what I understand, all non US MBA's Rev B's came pre loaded with the wrong software and wrong software disks.

Ok, I see. Kudos, Apple.
You are right, it is worth a try, even though it may indeed not solve all my problems.

Just out of curiosity: how fast should Apple send you these new disks ?
I will ask for mine tomorrow of course, but would like to use my 'Air this month...

 

[icymountain]

Another thing I fail to understand (beyond the disk issue) is why does my macbook air not see the Airport network I create on the MBP ? As far as I understand that step is completely independent from the disk to be used for the install.

This is the first time I create a network with my MBP (never needed that so far), but the process seems fairly simple, so that I cannot see where I could have made a mistake. Is there anything to set on the MBP so as to avoid connection from the 'Air be blocked ? Should I use a password or not ? (I tried both).

If there is a how-to I could refer to, I would be very happy to know it.

Right now, if I try to summarize the state of things, I can see three issues:
- wrong disk (not sure whether this is blocking or not)
- very likely DOA Superdrive
- no connection on the Airport network cretated on the MBP.
To get it, I need to solve either of the last two, and very likely the first one too.

 

[Cynicalone]

Do you have a firewall setup on your MacBook Pro? You might want to take that down before attempting the Remote Install.

The software disks shouldn't cause a problem for a non-US Macbook Air, I suppose it is possible since the US Macbook Air comes with a different build of OS X than the one publicly available at the moment.

• Early 08 Macbook Air - OS X 10.5.5 (9F33)
• Late 08 Macbook Air - OS X 10.5.5 (9F2523)

 

[icymountain]

I just succeeded in installing OSX on the MBA, using another approach:
1. connect the MBP to a network via Airport;
2. connect the MBA to that network via Ethernet;
3. click on "ethernet" in the remote OSX installer (I had only one Ethernet plug available, so the MBP had to do with wireless; the install lasted a little bit over one hour).
Wow, that was painful... but I feel much better now that it is done. My MBA boots nicely now, and the HD (uh, SSD) shows over 103 Gb left. Cool!

I had no firewall installed on the MacBook Pro.

Thanks to everybody for all suggestions. The version of the disks was not the issue apparently, so I guess that the issue is the MBA Superdrive. I will check it up. And I will try to get that v1.1 install disks.