High Sierra is Junk!

[MacInWin]

No, that won't work. Holding Option while booting forces the system to look for bootable drives/partitions. That partition is NOT bootable so it won't appear. So you won't be able to see, much less run, the installer.

Let me review the situation for you so you understand.

1. That Mac shipped with Lion, so that is the oldest version of the OS you can load. Snow Leopard will NOT run, period. That's just how it is.
2. To install a version of the OS, you cannot be booted into a newer version than what you are trying to install. So booting into HS you cannot install Lion or anything older than the version of HS you booted from.
3. Lion was the first version of the OS Apple distributed over the Internet, not on a DVD, so the only place to get it legally is from Apple, over the Internet. I think they did ship some UBS sticks, but I don't know if they still do that now that the Internet restore is available.
4. You CAN reinstall Lion over the Internet if you follow the instructions in the link to the Apple article I provided.

So, no matter what, SL won't install, Lion is your best bet and the best way to get that is to do the Internet installation from Apple's directions.

Otherwise, you are just going to be beating your head against the same wall.

Or you can stick with High Sierra.

 

[BondAMR]

yes you are right Jake it did not work lol the new partitions aren't bootable ofcourse because there was no install and I can't access the installer. I have Snow Leopard loaded on another SSD but hooking that up via USB it won't load into it, it gives me just a black screen. I was hoping it would work since pre-loaded late 2011 MBP's do work with Snow Leopard.

I have a both a Mountain Lion installer and a Yosemite. So how can I get these 2 installers loaded onto their own separate partitions? High Sierra won't allow me from what I'm gathering. So I think I need to install both Mountain Lion and Yosemite on their own partitions using a 2nd computer using Snow Leopard? Would this work, or what options do I have then?

 

[MacInWin]

Do the Internet Lion install, then boot from Lion and run either of those installers to install them from Lion. You don't need to install all of them, as the installers will install OVER the existing OS as long as it is the older version. And if you don't like HS, then repartition the drive as part of the Lion install and get rid of that partition altogether. The Installers are NOT bootable, they are applications that run on a booted system. But as I have indicated, the boot system has to be OLDER than the installer in order for the installer to work. You cannot go backwards.

 

[ferrarr]

Ok this is what I'm going to try now and hopefully it works. I'm going to try and install to a new fresh partition on a USB by pressing the option key at start up and going directly to that empty MAC Journaled partition and clicking on the installer there and it should load.

Nope, that won't work. Make the USB bootable installer I gave you the directions for.

I will try the same with Snow Leopard which I desperately would rather like to use than the rest of them, but I don't think that will work despite late 2011 MBP's having that ability to work with an older SL OSX despite being shipped and preloaded with Lion.

The motherboards. in the Mid 2011 MBA, were never initiated to work with Snow Leopard, so they will not work. The Late 2011 MBP, had the same motherboards, as the Early 2011 MBP, which is why they worked with Snow Leopard.

 

[MacInWin]

If you want to know why Snow Leopard won't work, it's because SL does not support the mother board in the 2011 and later systems. Bear in mind Apple sells hardware and gives away the operating system, so it's in their best interest to avoid having to support older versions of the OS on newer equipment. That way they don't have to worry about backward compatibility. Microsoft sells software, so they find it in their best interest to do that backward compatibility as far as they can so that they can sell the software. It's just s different model between the two.

Hope that helps some.

I know Bob has suggested making a bootable USB drive, but your challenge to do that is you will need to be booted into an older version of the OS than HS to do that successfully. If you have another older Mac available running Lion, then you can make a bootable Lion installer drive on that Mac and boot the MBA from that. But you've never mentioned having another older Mac available, so I don't think that's practical for you.

 

[BondAMR]

yes Jake I do have a 2011 MBP running Snow Leopard so I will create a USB with a Mountain Lion partition and load the OSX onto that partition using Snow Leopard then transfer that USB to the MBA option key during boot phase and into Mountain Lion then disk utility and wipe out High Sierra on the internal drive and load Mountain Lion onto that MBA internal with a drag n' dropped Mountain Lion installer on the the Mountain Lion OSX yes? This will work then I'm taking it?

 

[harryb2448]

You just do not get it. You have to download the OS, burn it onto a USB thumb drive which will make it bootable, restart and hold down 'C' to boot from the thumb drive and proceed from there. NO DRAG AND DROP you have been told six times.

 

[MacInWin]

Almost, but you don't "drag'n'drop" the installer. The ML installer has to be transferred to the bootable USB stick using the steps given here: How to Make a Bootable OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion USB Install Drive That's the way to make it bootable and installable and for it to work. You have to follow the steps to get where you want. No shortcuts. No other way. Just follow the steps, make the installer drive, boot from it, partition, format and install.

 

[Slydude]

Thanks for all the help guys. I don't know how many more ways this process can be described. Multiple solutions have been proposed despite perhaps not being the one the OP wants.

It seems that this thread has run its course in terms of useful solutions/information. Unless it gets on a productive vein I'll close it.

 

[BondAMR]

I'm still trying here, just needing to move tons of data first.

 

[pm-r]

I'm still trying here, just needing to move tons of data first.

Do I dare ask: what and why????





- Patrick
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[harryb2448]

I fear we have caught a troll!