Urgent: Mountain Lion could not be installed because HD is damaged

[diablo9333]

I know this is posted everywhere but mine seems to be somewhat different. I had some problems with repairing and verification and found out I could reinstall Mountain Lion without erasing data(official Apple website). I did this and when I got to the install process I got "Installation failed because Macintosh HD is damaged". What makes my situation different from others is because it wants me to restart and if I go to utilities in the finder bar on the top, it gives me a few options. In this case, Time Machine Backup would really be the only applicable feature at this point(besides using Disk Utility to wipe the whole thing). The problem is when I click on Time Machine Backup the whole system restarts. Please don't go about telling me "the importance of backing up". I was cautious going into this thing, and did not expect to get this problem. Telling me the importance of backing up isn't going to help at this point(I never usually do anything such as reinstalling anyways, I have never had the need to except for a few times). I did this once before on a Macbook without issue.

System specs(on which the problem is occurring on):
2012 iMac
16 GB Ram
1 TB Fusion HD.
Nvidia Geforce 650M graphics.
3.1 Ghz Intel Core i7 with Turboboost to 3.9

Right now I am looking to at least get to my files so I can back them up. If anything better can be done(such as reversing the process?) please let me know. Figuring out why Time Machine is messing up would be nice as well.

*Once again it is urgent, I have a few projects to work on this week, so please try to respond if you have an answer*

Thank you.

-Jake


EDIT: I would like to point out I am using another computer right now. I am trying to experiment to see if there is something I can do(simple and logical solutions) to get access to the files. Right now what happens is, when I restart the disk just takes me right back to the install failed. I clearly see it hasn't removed the files as I still have the same amount of space and everything I had before, but I can't access those files. That was just a quick clarification.

EDIT 2: After putting some thought and Google searches together, I was able to boot up in Safe Mode. I recommend leaving this up because it might help aid much for other people with the same issue.

 

[diablo9333]

I know this is posted everywhere but mine seems to be somewhat different. I had some problems with repairing and verification and found out I could reinstall Mountain Lion without erasing data(official Apple website). I did this and when I got to the install process I got "Installation failed because Macintosh HD is damaged". What makes my situation different from others is because it wants me to restart and if I go to utilities in the finder bar on the top, it gives me a few options. In this case, Time Machine Backup would really be the only applicable feature at this point(besides using Disk Utility to wipe the whole thing). The problem is when I click on Time Machine Backup the whole system restarts. Please don't go about telling me "the importance of backing up". I was cautious going into this thing, and did not expect to get this problem. Telling me the importance of backing up isn't going to help at this point(I never usually do anything such as reinstalling anyways, I have never had the need to except for a few times). I did this once before on a Macbook without issue.

System specs(on which the problem is occurring on):
2012 iMac
16 GB Ram
1 TB Fusion HD.
Nvidia Geforce 650M graphics.
3.1 Ghz Intel Core i7 with Turboboost to 3.9

Right now I am looking to at least get to my files so I can back them up. If anything better can be done(such as reversing the process?) please let me know. Figuring out why Time Machine is messing up would be nice as well.

*Once again it is urgent, I have a few projects to work on this week, so please try to respond if you have an answer*

Thank you.

-Jake


EDIT: I would like to point out I am using another computer right now. I am trying to experiment to see if there is something I can do(simple and logical solutions) to get access to the files. Right now what happens is, when I restart the disk just takes me right back to the install failed. I clearly see it hasn't removed the files as I still have the same amount of space and everything I had before, but I can't access those files. That was just a quick clarification.

EDIT 2: After putting some thought and Google searches together, I was able to boot up in Safe Mode. I recommend leaving this up because it might help aid much for other people with the same issue.

Okay new problem now......I can't reinstall Mac OS X using a clean hard drive. It is a brand new computer, and I know it couldn't be a failure because the problem only occurred as a result of what I had done. *facepalm*

 

[smithrh]

(I won't talk about the importance of... never mind!)

I will mention a couple of things here.

a) Fusion Drive is new, so the number of people who have Fusion Drive and have run into what you have will be low. You may need to get help from Apple; at the very least, post some more details on the issue you're seeing. I realize that may be difficult as the system is not up and running. It may also be helpful to start another thread with a descriptive title.

b) Unlike Windows, it's generally not helpful to re-install Mac OS X. I mention this not necessarily for you specifically, but for others that may read this thread. Re-installing Windows (and indeed, some other OSs) was and is a valid thing to do to re-vitalize systems. People have seen this over the years and generalized the problem and thought that this applies everywhere, it does not.

 

[xgman]

Whatever you are doing, 2012 imac uses a special version of Mountain Lion. It won't accept just any image of it. make sure you are using the correct version and the correct recovery method.