I've had Mac OS X Lion installed on a mid-2011 iMac. I've erased the main partition and when I try to repair OS installation it connects to the Internet and says that it can't continue and I should contact Apple Support. I don't have original CD which should've come with an iMac.
How can I install at least some version of OS X? Update: I've downloaded what looks like an installation app for Mac OS X Lion with a 4.6Gb InstallESD.dmg file but can't open it on Windows. I've tried PowerISO and MagicISO to no effect.
Is it possible to create Mac OS installation media on Windows? If you don't have access to another computer:. Try and get Internet Recovery to work. Apple has details on this here: – basically, given high speed internet access and enough time, the recovery partition installed with Mac OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion should enable you to download the installer. You can then reinstall the system. Given your vague error description it's hard to diagnose the problem here, but this is the usual way to go. Apple used to sell USB keys with a Mac OS X Lion installer on it for around $60.
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was released on. See Installing OS X 10.4 Tiger on DVD-Challenged Macs Using FireWire Target Disk Mode and Using FireWire Target Disk Mode to Install OS X on Macs without DVD Drives. Download the one(s) you need and install them after mounting the disk image and launching the Installer program. Sep 1, 2009 - Insert the Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) DVD into the Mac with a DVD drive. On the mounted DVD, navigate to System/Installation/Packages/. Number of retailers, and will allow you to use a Mac OS X 10.4 disc on older systems. Download the CNET app About CNET Sitemap Privacy Policy Ad Choice Terms of.
They don't appear to do this anymore but maybe you can find one. If you have access to another Mac:. Download the OS X Lion installer from another Mac's App Store using your Apple ID. Once you downloaded the installer you can create a bootable flash drive using /Applications/Install OS X Lion.app. Ars Technica has an in-depth guide on how to do that:. Not feeling like hacking?
Let do the job for you: Lion Disk Maker is an application that you can use to burn a DVD or build a bootable drive from Mac OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion Installation program. It requires you to download the installer through the App Store just like above, but creating the USB drive is now way easier.
If you don't have access to a Mac with App Store installed, you need to find your installer elsewhere. The internet is full of 'places' where you can find installer images for OS X versions. I'll leave it up to you to find them. These installers contain a.dmg disk image, which you can restore to a USB key the same way as explained in the Ars Technica article above.
Basically, you'll need to open Disk Utility, then select your 8 GB USB key, partition it fully with Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then from the Restore tab, restore your.dmg to the newly created partition: You can now use your USB key like an installation disc.
For older versions of OS X (10.5, 10.6), you will also have to find an installation medium since there's no way to get them from the App Store, but the rest of the process is the same. If you only have access to a Windows PC:.
You will need the OS X install disk image (see above for various methods on how to obtain one), then use the 15-day free trial of to copy the disk image to your USB drive. Be aware that other Windows tools might not be able to read the Apple-native DMG files. The right-side panel of TransMac allows you to right click your USB drive, the format the disk with the disk image. Point it to your.dmg file and click Open., which offers a 5-day trial, probably does the same, but I haven't been able to verify this yet.
. Download macOS from the App Store, using a you're downloading.
To for use with a bootable installer, be sure to download from a Mac that is currently using High Sierra, Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server. When the macOS installer opens, quit it without continuing installation. Find the installer in your Applications folder as a single ”Install” file, such as Install macOS High Sierra.
After, connect the USB flash drive or other volume that will be used as the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume that will be used as the bootable installer.
If it has a different name, replace MyVolume accordingly. After, follow these steps to use it. Connect the bootable installer to a compatible Mac.
Use Startup Manager or Startup Disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to. Learn about, including what to do. Choose your language, if prompted.
A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.