Original Install Discs...

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I'm not sure if this falls into this software category or under notebooks but did the late-2011 MBP come with actual Lion install discs in the new package from Apple and the same question for 2012 MBP's and when did they stop shipping MBP's without install discs, which model year?
 
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The last version of OS X offered on disc was Mountain Lion which came out in 2012. I am not sure when they stopped shipping install discs but my guess would be with Mountain Lion(?) because the next version was Mavericks in 2013 and it was a free download.

The late 2011 would have come with OS X 7.4 (Lion) and the 2012 also shipped with OS X 7.4 (Lion)

You can still get install discs for older versions from Apple: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion

All this information is available from an app called MacTracker. It is free in the Apple store and has tons of free information.

Lisa
 

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The last MacBook Pro that included install disks were the early 2011 versions. Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or 10.6.7 install set was included. Late 2011 models did not include install disks and shipped with Lion 10.7.2. Anything after Snow Leopard was by download only. Lion could be ordered from Apple on a USB Flash Drive but it was rather expensive at the time.
 

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The last version of OS X offered on disc was Mountain Lion which came out in 2012. I am not sure when they stopped shipping install discs but my guess would be with Mountain Lion(?) because the next version was Mavericks in 2013 and it was a free download.

Snow Leopard was the last version of macOS to be offered on disk. Lion and Mountain Lion were download only. Read my previous post.

Note what Apple says in the link you referred to:


If you need to purchase Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, you may order it from this page.
The current version of the Mac operating system is macOS High Sierra. To learn more, please click here.

What do you receive: An email with a content code for the Mac App Store.


When you use that code from the Mac App Store, it will be download. No disk.
 
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gotcha, okay thanks, I'm getting a new-but-used late-2011 MBP next week from the original owner and he said he couldn't find any discs and wasn't sure if they came with them and I didn't know either since I have only early-2011 MBP's. But did the mid-2011 MBA come with that USB stick Lion-installer in the original package order?
 
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So I'm getting this late-2011 MBP in a day or so and it will come with the Lion 10.7.2 installer ready to operate when turning on the machine as if it was new from the store for its first installation.

My question is can I hook up my late-2011 MBA to the MBP and be able to download the Lion installer package into an internal partition on my MBA or activate the install on that empty MBA partition load it up there, and then disconnect the two computers and then restart the MBP and install the Lion a 2nd time straight onto the MBP I hope? I've never tried something like this before, wondering if this sequence is possible?
 
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If it is actually as from the factory, it doesn't have an installer, it has the system installed already. So the answer is "no" you cannot reuse the installer because you don't have it. Now, if the provider of the MBP includes the installer software that was downloaded as some later time from Apple, you still have to find a way to boot the MBA to run the installer. What you could do is use something like DiskmakerX to create a bootable usb thumb drive, if you have the installer, put that into the MBA USB slot and then boot from there to install to the internal drive of the MBA. You can get the correct version of DiskmakerX for Lion from here: https://diskmakerx.com Read the FAQ there before you start.
 
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I remember when Lion Diskmaker came out, and you could put Lion on a DVD.

@BondAMR, I thought you were going to put Snow Leopard on that Late 2011 MBP?

You “might” be able to use TDM, to install it? Since you want to install it onto the MBA, boot the MBP into TDM, then connect to the MBA, see if the Recovery partition shows up?
 
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to MacInWin ...yeah the installer isn't an actual separate one, it is the already installed one that comes through the new recovery system that Apple created starting with Lion back then. So the OSX isn't loaded on to it yet and I was hoping to use that one installer for two separate installs.

to ferrarr ...yes I'm actually going to try and install Snow Leopard onto both the late-2011 MBP and mid-2011 MBA and I found some supporting data on how to install SL on the MBA with a few workarounds and this will be on the internal WD 1TB with adapter. I'm going to make the 128GB that came with the MBA into an external drive with Snow Leopard / Lion / Yosemite in 3 separate partitions all with install loaders on them.

what is TDM, abbreviation for Diskmaker? connect it how, from MBA Mini-Display to MBP USB?
 
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I assume that the cable I need to try any of these install methods is a mini-display to mini-display cable to hook up the 2 computers yes?
 
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The article I linked lists the cables required.
 
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The article I linked lists the cables required.

yeah but that article is catered towards 2015+ models with USB-C ports and all ...but I have the 2011 models with regular USB so I'm thinking mini-to-mini is my only option or mini-to-USB but then it says mini isn't supported for TDM or Firewire-to-Firewire or Firewire-to-mini for another method if TDM doesn't work?
 
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Firewire, Thunderbolt, or USB-C. Or any combination. It's the port that matters.
 
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I just got the Thunderbolt-to-Thunderbolt cables and just for extra measure mini-DP-to-mini-DP cables and still can't get the 2 MBP's and/or MBA to recognize each other screen-wise nor drive-wise, what am I doing wrong?
 
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To answer your original question, purchased a late 2011 iMac in mid 2012 days before the WWDC. It came with Snow Leopard OS X.6.6 and no discs. When Lion was announced I received an email with a free update to Lion from Apple.
 
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A strange thing happened when I used Target Disk Mode when I tried to copy the installer from a newly-purchased 2011 MBP to an empty partition on a 2011 MBA. The MBA partition is 30gb and the space that is needed is only 12gb to install but when trying to do this the TDM is thinking to copy all of the extra empty space on the 500gb MBP to the 30gb MBA and then gives me this “Not Enough Space” error prompt. If this is correct in what I’m saying, then why does it try to copy the whole drive space including the empty space and not just the 12gb installer on it?

Secondly, when I used TDM in the other target direction the MBP could only recognize the separate partitions that I created in Disk Utility. It did not recognize the main “parent” drive called Yosemite, nor did it recognize an external USB drive called Mini, so my question is here why does this happen?

Thirdly, I have noticed on 2 occasions that when you create a partition using a newer OSX like El Capitan or Sierras then that partition is not recognized when viewing it in an older OSX like I have been in Snow Leopard. I created 2 partitions on 2 separate MBP internals using El Cap and HS but then those partitions are grayed out in the index and unmountable when viewed using Snow Leopard. Wondering if anyone else has noticed this as well and why it happens?
OSX Screen Shot 2018-12-13 at 12.54.01 AM.png
 
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OT here, but it's certainly interesting to see a partitioned volume named "Cougar" above. But I think Mavericks took over from the cat's names, after all they had already had nine lives and time to change.

BTW: What OS X version are you booting from???





- Patrick
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