How to upgrade??

[KarenColes]

I have a friend with an older MacBook Pro, and I'm hoping to be able to help her upgrade to Yosemite. Right now, her laptop has OS 10.5.8, and apparently she needs OS 10.6.6. installed before she can upgrade to 10.10.1. How do I go about doing that for her? The computer has a bit over 2GB of memory available. Is that adequate? Would she need more RAM before trying to upgrade to Yosemite? I never feel comfortable upgrading system software, and don't want to mess up her machine.

[Stephen Hart]

The requirement for 10.6.8 is so that it can run App Store to download Yosemite. You can install Yosemite using an external drive, after downloading the installer on a different Mac.

However, first you want to check on Yosemite system requirements: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT6412

Also, I would suggest maximizing the RAM on any older Mac before installing any OS upgrade. 2 GB, while the lowest limit noted by Apple is probably too low for satisfactory function.

And, there's the issue of older applications. Some may not run on Yosemite.

If you can give us the MacBook Pro model number, we can help more.

[KarenColes]

The model number is A1229. Hope that helps.

[Stephen Hart]

According to this site, that should work, though it's the oldest MacBook Pro model that can use Yosemite. It's a Mid/Late 2007 MacBook Pro.

http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lo ... ords=A1229

Here are the iFixit guides for that model:

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_P ... _and_A1261

As I wrote, you probably want to up the RAM. Other World Computing indicates that you can put 8 GB RAM in that model. I can assure you that Yosemite runs well with 8 GB RAM, because that's what's in the MacBook Pro I'm selling.
RAM is easy to upgrade in that model.

[KarenColes]

Thanks for the help. I think that's all I need to know.

[Carla]

I downloaded Yosemite but the installation seems to have stalled halfway. It's been in one place on the line for about an hour. I'll leave it a few more hours but i am afraid there is a problem. What and when should I do something?

[Stephen Hart]

The progress bars aren't necessarily a good estimate of how long installation might take.
What stage in the installation does it seem to be stuck at?
If it's still downloading, that can take a very long time if your internet connection isn't fast. (It took me all night for one install.)

Once the installer is downloaded and you get the message on your monitor to install, it should be in the hour or two category unless something is wrong. You might see what look like two restarts. That's because the installer runs in a special OS environment.

[Carla]

Thanks for the reply. I finally turned it off and back on with the power button and it seemed to finish up installing and seems to be working OK now.

[Stephen Hart]

Thanks for the reply. I finally turned it off and back on with the power button and it seemed to finish up installing and seems to be working OK now.

You know I've seen this happen before. I've never read what might be going on. But if it restarts properly, and looking in About This Mac, you see that you've successfully updated, you're probably fine.

I would keep my eye peeled for anything weird, but in this case, the complicatedness of OS X is your friend. It depends on hundreds of files and dozens of "processes," essentially special-purpose applications, to run at all. So if it's running, that means your Mac probably didn't suffer any damage.

[Carla]

It had been long enough for the installation to have happened. Time machine tried to backup in the middle of it all and I think that complicated things. I didn't think about that happening. I've used Macs since 1984 and seem to have developed a sense of them. Still having problems getting my calendar to sync from desktop to iPad. I had hoped the new systems would help that along. I installed IOS8 on my iPad last night and the Yosemite today and I'll try again later and see if I can get it to work. My contacts syncs just fine so don't understand why the calendar can't sync as well.