Hi everyone.
I'm trying to install OS X Lion on my MacBook Pro mid 2012. Even though my computer came standard with this operating system pre-installed, when I reboot with Shift + Option + Cmd + R the Yosemite installer appears instead of Lion.
What can I do please?
MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15
Then you likely can't. Per Apple's note:'
Shift-Option-⌘-R
Reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
I would say it's giving you the closest OS that's still available on Apple's servers.
Then you likely can't. Per Apple's note:'
Shift-Option-⌘-R
Reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.
I would say it's giving you the closest OS that's still available on Apple's servers.
I tried to make a bootable usb from an original Lion copy…
I'm not sure what that would be since Lion was the start of Macs that shipped with no OS on physical media. Only for a limited run did Apple relent to demand and make it available for purchase on a USB stick. Those are not easy to find.
Apple's page of instructions for creating USB installers for various releases only goes back as far as El Capitan. I don't think earlier versions included the embedded app, createinstallmedia, to do that with those instructions.
DiskMaker X was a very popular app for creating bootable install media. It's still available, though I haven't used it in a long time. It says that it does run in Catalina, but I have no idea if it will still work to create a Lion installer. But you'd have to first have a copy of the Lion .dmg installer. You still have to buy it for $20 from Apple.
If, by an "original copy", you mean you already have this Lion .dmg installer, then I think DiskMaker X should work.
Do you actually have two separate drives? There'd only be room for one in a Mini and the other would be external. If not, then I would guess it's a Fusion drive that is not correctly joined.
Apple has instructions on how to rejoin a split Fusion drive.
Thanks Lanny and Kurt,
As you say I tried this OS X and it works very bad, with a clean install spotlight indexes every time and never stops, a disaster of OS X...
At the moment what I have decided is to use my Mac mimi late 2012 for this purpose. The problem has been that when trying to reinstall OS X Mountain Lion, in disk utility the two physical disks (1 TB HDD & 250 GB SSD) appeared in red and, when I choose the "correct" option offered by disk Utility, it creates a group of logical volumes and there is no way to keep them separate. I have tried disabling the terminal group and they reappear red in Disk Utility. I have called Apple support and they say they do not know why this happens ...
Can you please help me?
Thank you.
Thanks for the quick answer Kurt Lang.
I tryed to make a bootable usb from an original Lion copy and when I try to restore the 8 GB USB from the Mac OS X Install ESD it says:
Could not validate sizes - operation not allowed
The operation can't be completed. (OSStatus1.) error
It's related by the fact that I'm trying to make the USB in Catalina?
Thanks a lot!
Thanks again Kurt Lang,
I used DiskMaker X with an original copy that I had bought from OS X Lion years ago and the result is fantastic.
On the other hand I did the test with a Mac mini late 2012 and with the same key combination Shift + Option + Cmd + R it loads Mountain Lion, so how is it possible that the Mac Book Pro that is earlier, mid 2012, install Yosemite with the same combination?, it doesn't make sense ..
No, that doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, both being 2012 models. Particularly odd the older Mac (roughly six months) won't install Mountain Lion, but defaults to the newer Yosemite.
I would bet if you called Apple Support and asked them why it does that, even they couldn't tell you.
Yes Kurt Lang, I have two separate disk. I installed another with an OWC upgrade kit.
When I start with Catalina recover I can see the two disk without problem but when I start with OS X Mountain Lion recover I see the disk in red. I formatted the disks as HFS+ but nothing change...
Ah. My post before was incorrect. You can squeeze two drives into a Mini.
By "Correct", it sounds like Disk Utility is trying to turn them into a Fusion drive. I can't say I've ever seen that before. No idea why Disk Utility won't let you erase the drives separately.
If you select each partition name of SSD and HDD rather than the physical drive name, can you erase them separately that way?
Kurt Lang wrote:
If you select each partition name of SSD and HDD rather than the physical drive name, can you erase them separately that way?
No it does the same, but only in OS X Mountain Lion recovery disk Utility, Catalina disk Utility finds everything ok separately...
Why would you want Lion, probably the worst OS 10 version?
Second, third and fourth that!
It was the most hated version of the Mac OS I've ever seen. About as much as users despised Windows 8.
Oh! Duh. I'm pretty sure that's because the older OS versions don't recognize an SSD. I'd use what works. Which would be El Capitan or later.
Yes, my brain is functioning. 🙂 I had the same basic issue with an older 2010 Mac Pro I sold. While trying to reinstall the original OS (Snow Leopard), it had no idea what an SSD was.
Reinstall OS X Lion
