Problems attempting to Upgrade MacBookPro from Lion to El Capitan

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Level 1

13 points

Problems attempting to Upgrade MacBookPro from Lion to El Capitan

Hello World

I found an okd Macbook Pro I thought I lost it works perfectly with its original sytstem Lion but being too old I am unable to upgrade to WL CAPITAN. Hence in Recovery to revert to the original system APPLE offers me HighSIerra which I donot need.

I followed all possible instructions but there is no way for me to install El Capitan which would be very useful for a variety of apps eo open old and important files.

I followed the Apple various instructions but what I get is a file called

INSTALL MACOSX.dmg

which doesn't contain what I read in the apple suggestions to create a bootable stick

I get

Instal Macosx.PKG which instantly attempts only to install in my external drive I use to open the MBP.

the terminal code tells me to sudo an app which should come from the INSTALL MACOSX.dmg as "Install Macosx ELCapitan" from my app folder

Instead it tells me EL CAPITAN is already installed in my machine and I can only6 update the current system.

However I totally erase the internal SSD disk as Lion I had was to old and I was unable to dowwload anything and I booted the MACBOOKPRO ffrom an external dislk with a EL CAPITAN system.

How can I install it in the empty internal SSD?

Using the recovery mode to go back to the original system offers me to install High Sierra which is not what I need ...

Any suggestions please? I really have no choice but to ijstall ELCAPITAN to rescue some very important stuff.

Thanks for your time and kindness

MacBook Pro 13″

Posted on Apr 12, 2025 07:45 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 12, 2025 12:33 PM in response to DanWan

I must wonder if you have not created the bootable installer properly.

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Do this while the MacBook Pro is booted from your external boot drive.

1) Download the El Capitan installer found in the first link above. The download will deposit "InstallMacOSX.dmg" at your downloads location.

2) Double-click the "InstallMacOSX.dmg" to mount it on the desktop.

3) Find the "InstallMacOSX.pkg" file within and double-click that to install the "Install OS X El Capitan" app into your Applications folder. This is not trying to install El Cap as your startup OS, just creating the installer app.

4) Connect your USB flash drive and erase it with Disk Utility. Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format and GUID partition map. Name the drive "MyVolume".

5) Open the Terminal app and copy the following long line into Terminal and then press [enter]:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

Enter your Mac password - Terminal will not show it on the screen - then follow Terminal's prompts to erase the flash drive and create the bootable installer. (See the guidance in the second link above.)

Be patient. I just did this with an old MacBook booted from High Sierra on an external drive. The creation of the bootable drive appeared to stall, but twenty minutes later it kicked out the properly created bootable usb drive. I can confirm that it was bootable and could be used to install El Cap on the MacBook's internal drive.

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Answer 2

Apr 12, 2025 08:14 AM in response to DanWan

If you can boot El Capitan from an external drive, then do that.

Then use another machine to visit the download page at carboncopycloner.com and download a copy of CCC 5. Transfer the download and Install CCC on the old laptop's startup drive and use it to clone the startup drive to the internal drive. If you can visit the CCC site with the old Mac that's fine, but I'm not sure the older version of Safari can make that connection.

You may need to use Disk Utility to erase and reformat that internal drive before cloning. Once cloned, the internal drive should be bootable with EC again.

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Answer 3

DanWan Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 12, 2025 08:28 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thanks a lot however CCC I have in tghe external drive with EL CAPITAN didn't work and Bombich told me that USB cloning didn't always make the cloned disk bootable.

I only cloned the system and the other standard evem invisible folders and keeping the files away but leaving all the user folder empty but available.

Maybe terminal will allow me to copy n a better fashion?

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Answer 4

Apr 12, 2025 09:14 AM in response to DanWan

See if you can get macOS 10.11 installed and booted as a guest in a virtual machine on a newer Intel Mac.

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Problems attempting to Upgrade MacBookPro from Lion to El Capitan

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