How To: Brand new OS X install on erased HD.

Hi All.

CONTEXT:
I recently did a major nuke on my bloated, heavily duplicated externals. (Araxis Find Duplicate Files is pretty sweet, btw.) Anyway, it was so addictively cathartic that I decided to lighten the load on my old, 1st gen MacBook Pro by wiping it and doing a fresh OS X install. I never considered that it's a hand me down that I never needed to purchase Lion for.

THE PROBLEM:
'Recovery' will only install online and requires you to log in with your Apple ID. When I do, I get a message saying that my ID is not listed as the OS X purchaser (presumably just for this machine, as it recognizes my iMAC. Don't get me started on how I know this. Winks). The kicker is that it doesn't offer a way to purchase a new copy.

ATTEMPTED SOLUTIONS:
I tried installing from a disk, but the recovery partition doesn't 'see' the hardware.

MY QUESTION:
How do I purchase a copy of OS X and associate it with this machine such that Recovery recognizes it?

Thanks, All. Your input is appreciated as always. <3

PrettyCharlie said:

Anyway, it was so addictively cathartic that I decided to lighten the load on my old, 1st gen MacBook Pro by wiping it and doing a fresh OS X install. I never considered that it's a hand me down that I never needed to purchase Lion for.

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If this is truly a 1st generation MacBook Pro...then you cannot install Lion (OS 10.7) on it. It does not meet the system requirements for Lion.

PrettyCharlie said:

'Recovery' will only install online and requires you to log in with your Apple ID. When I do, I get a message saying that my ID is not listed as the OS X purchaser (presumably just for this machine, as it recognizes my iMAC. Don't get me started on how I know this. Winks).

Click to expand...

If you're referring to something illegal here...we do not support/discuss these sort of things at Mac-Forums.

PrettyCharlie said:

MY QUESTION:
How do I purchase a copy of OS X and associate it with this machine such that Recovery recognizes it?

Click to expand...

I'm assuming that you're talking about Lion...because just saying "OS X"...can mean Mac OS X version 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7...or the upcoming Mac OS X 10.8. There are MANY versions of "OS X"!

PrettyCharlie said:

Thanks, All. Your input is appreciated as always. <3

Click to expand...

How can you say "Your input is appreciated as always."...when this is your 1st post at Mac-Forums??

The bottom line is...if you truly have a 1st generation MacBook Pro...you cannot install Lion on it.

HTH,

- Nick

Hmm... I was told it was the first gen, but perhaps not because it was running Lion before I nuked it. As for legality, I suspect it was upgraded from Snow Leopard under less than legit circumstances. But as I said in my post, I want to legitimize this one - nothing nefarious.

I was sure I recently read that if you have one copy you can use it on any of your other personal machines, and my new iMAC came with a legit copy, of course. But as I said it would not download for me even using the AppleID I used in connection with that purchase, Or perhaps the one time purchase refers solely to the upgrade. Either way, the point is to get it on this machine one way or another, and am not worried about the cost of another one.

I've just spoken with the previous owner, and he has given me the original disks. They're Tiger, I think. And yes, he upgraded to Lion.

For you to upgrade to Lion, if the machine can handle that OS, it will be necessary to install Tiger, purchase Snow Leopard from the Online store $29 and the after updating to OS X.6.8 go into the App Store and for $29 purchase your own copy of Lion. Or to save a lot of hassle, go to the Apple Store and buy Lion on a USB thumb drive for $69.00

When I attempted to use the original disks, I get the same language choice dialog box followed by the statement that MAC OS X can't be installed on this machine. That's not a hardware issue, as it was running Lion until this morning.

Further digging indicates I need to install OS 23.1.1, the one you use when down-grading from Lion to SL. Anyone have any idea where I might find this?

Thanks!

Sounds like you got some silver grey discs not for the MB. They are extremely model specific.

And OS 23.1.1 is not an operating system but installer version.


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3542632?start=0&tstart=0

If you want Lion follow previous post.

Hiya. I'm confident these grey disks do belong to it, as the previous owner, pirate or not, is pretty straight with me. He's also well organized. I've also read the article you referenced. Suffice it to say that issue seems to have never been resolved, and I'm WAY past the 'hold down C while you boot' level recovery tactics.

I suspect the disks are not the problem, and it is more likely related to any non-backward compatible firmware updates made while I was using Lion. In the search for the elusive 23.1.1 (I challenge anyone to find it) I came across this: Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro, which may be it.

I attempted to re-erase and reinstall in target mode, but only succeeded in removing the recovery partition. Now when I boot, regardless of what's in the drive or how I do it, all I get is a flashing grey folder icon containing a question mark. Next I deposited the installer dmg through target, but it's also invisible to the boot process. I can't seem to unpack/install anything in target mode either.

Suggestions please, folks?

What version of OSX is this installer?

dtravis7 said:

What version of OSX is this installer?

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I'd love to tell you, but I've got no more info that what I previously mentioned. Are you aware of more than the mythical 23.1.1? I'd love to know so I can try to root one out. Thanks

For those who like completion (winks), here is how this ended up: As it turned out, the update version 'seen' on this machine was apparently one higher than the original install disks, explaining why they would not work. In addition, any attempt to install the recent version via target from my iMAC resulted in an error message when I attempted to open the installer package. Any installer package, actually. The message was that the software could not be installed on my machine. I'm presuming that meant the iMAC itself. Interestingly, when I tried this from another (newer) MBP, the same install package asked me what machine I wanted to install the software on. I chose my MBP and Viola. The reason my iMAC balked will likely remain a mystery, but at hopefully the other info will help someone down the road. Cheers and thanks!

Thanks for the rest of the story . . . Strange!

But, glad it worked out for you.

My pleasure.

Razormac said:

Thanks for the rest of the story . . . Strange!

But, glad it worked out for you.

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Well, it seems disrespectful to ask for help and then not bother to follow up. (laughs) Love your pic and your quote, btw. (smiles)

PrettyCharlie said:

Well, it seems disrespectful to ask for help and then not bother to follow up. (laughs) Love your pic and your quote, btw. (smiles)

Click to expand...

Thanks.