Need to reinstall Mac OS X starting from Snow Leopard

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Need to reinstall Mac OS X starting from Snow Leopard

Hi all,

I have a big issue because I have an iMac 27" late 2009 (released with Mac OS X Snow Leopard).

It had a crash of the boot disk and couldn't boot anymore.

The best way I supposed to follow was to inizialize the SSD drive I mounted on the iMac (about three years ago) and making a bootable flash drive to reinstall the version of Mac OS X that came with the hardware bought in February 2009 (i.e. Snow Leopard).

I am trying to make a bootable flash drive (USB) but I can't find the right way. For newer version you just download the release you need from App Store or via How to download and install macOS - Apple Support, for those not available in the App Store. They came as .app files and is quite easy to make a bootable USB drive using some Terminal strings.

I tried to download Mac OS X Lion, to start with, but inside the .dmg file Apple supply I only found a .pkg file and I can't go any further.

What is the path for older version than Mac OS X Lion (the older on the support page)?

How can I make a bootable flash drive with Mac OS X Lion, at least?

Thank you in advance

Earlier displays & monitors

Posted on Oct 4, 2024 1:34 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,098 points

Oct 4, 2024 9:05 PM in response to mafrom

mafrom wrote:

Thank you VikingOSX,

is there any way to make a bootable USB for Mac OS X Lion from a .pkg file?

Not easily if it is even possible. You can run the .pkg file to extract the real installer into the Applications folder. Even with the extracted full Lion installer in the Applications folder I'm not sure there is any easy way to make a bootable Lion USB installer.

Download the macOS 10.11 El Capitan installer using any other computer & OS which can access the Internet. Transfer the El Capitan DMG file to this iMac. You can then run the .pkg file which will extract the "Install macOS El Capitan" app into the Applications folder where you can use the command line to make the El Capitan USB installer. Carefully read the instructions in the Apple article both you and @VikingOSX provided for getting the El Capitan installer (even the Lion installer) into the Applications folder.

Here is an Apple article for creating bootable macOS USB installers for macOS 10.11+:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Once you have macOS 10.11 El Capitan installed, then you will be able to access the App Store to download the macOS 10.13 High Sierra installer.

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Answer 2

Oct 4, 2024 1:48 PM in response to mafrom

Use the gray system disk that shipped with that iMac (10.6.2) to boot it up and re-install the early Snow Leopard. Or the retail Snow Leopard 10.6.3 DVD from eBay (if you can still find one). Then install the 10.6.8 Software Update from the Mac App Store Update panel.

As far as I know, there was no means to make a bootable USB stick from that release of Snow Leopard.

To download Lion from Apple, you would need Snow Leopard installed and its version of Safari may use deprecated security protocols that would prevent you from getting Lion from a current Apple website. See How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

That 2009 iMac is now 15 years old and could fail at any time for any reason. Neither Apple nor any Apple Authorized Service Provider will service it if it fails.

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Answer 3

HWTech

Level 9

60,098 points

Oct 5, 2024 11:28 AM in response to mafrom

I was only suggesting once you had Snow Leopard installed that you could skip everything else and go straight to the macOS 10.11 El Capitan installation. macOS 10.7 & 10.8 and 10.10 are irrelevant to getting an OS installed on this iMac and should be ignored.

Of course if you have access to another working Mac from 2007 to mid-2018, then you could skip Snow Leopard entirely and just create a bootable macOS 10.11 or 10.13 USB installer using that other compatible Mac (which OS depends on the exact model of the other compatible Mac).

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Answer 4

mafrom Author

Level 1

27 points

Oct 9, 2024 2:23 PM in response to HWTech

Done. Just starting from Lion (the first one available here). Then I did not skip anything, because I couldn't find anymore this thread.

(Is it possible that you can't find any timeline of the questions posted or the threads you're in, in discussions?).

Anyway, I am reading your 8:28 PM reply just now. And High Sierra is alive and well again, on that stunning iMac.

Thank you all.

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Answer 5

mafrom Author

Level 1

27 points

Oct 5, 2024 1:54 AM in response to HWTech

Thank you HWTech,

so you suggest to start with El Capitan, is it?

Somebody told me I would start with the original OS X originally installed and then follow all the updates in the chronological sequence.

I’ll make a try.

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Answer 6

HWTech

Level 9

60,098 points

Oct 9, 2024 5:00 PM in response to mafrom

You should be able to find your thread by clicking on your avatar in the upper right corner where you sign in & out of the forums, then select "My Subscriptions". If you have email notifications enabled, then you can check your email for one of the forum notification emails.

You can also try using the Forum Search function, then filter for your forum avatar name "mafrom" and maybe a couple of key words from your thread.

Thanks for the follow up. We are glad you were successful in your endeavors. Enjoy your older Mac.

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