birgit c.

Q: I am trying to reinstall OS X Yosemite but keep getting "this item is temporarily unavailable"?

Hi all

I am trying to reinstall OS X Yosemite onto a MacBook Pro Late 2008 version. We are selling the Mac, and have conducted the steps described in "What to do before selling or giving away your Mac", i.e. deauthorizing from iTunes etc, and erasing all data from the harddrive. I am using an ethernet connection.

 

When trying to install Yosemite, after entering my Apple ID and password, I keep getting the message "This item is temporarily unavailable".

 

I found members stating that this can be due to the App Store being flooded with requests, but this has been going on for three days now, and I find that a bit unusal.. Especially since the first installation onto our old Mac took one evening..

 

Thank you all for any help and advice you can provide!

B

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10), MacBook Pro Late 2008

Posted on Nov 7, 2014 10:58 AM

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Q: I am trying to reinstall OS X Yosemite but keep getting "this item is temporarily unavailable"?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 7, 2014 11:03 AM in response to birgit c.
    Level 10 (271,291 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2014 11:03 AM in response to birgit c.

    You cannot install any other version of OS X than the one that came with the computer originally or the retail version of Snow Leopard. Anything from the App Store is not transferrable upon sale.

  • by birgit c.,

    birgit c. birgit c. Nov 7, 2014 4:32 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2014 4:32 PM in response to Kappy

    Thanks for replying Kappy

     

    I am a bit puzzled though. It would not be a "transfer", as it is a reinstall onto the same Mac it was installed on initially, with the initial Apple ID etc.

    OS X Yosemite is free of charge, so no sale..

     

    Furthermore, OS X Utilities does not offer me an option, i.e. any other version than Yosemite to reinstall - so even if I wanted, I wouldn't know how to choose Snow Leopard or the last version it ran on, Mavericks.

     

    When I click onto "Reinstall OS X", OS X Yosemite comes up automatically.

     

    What would you do?

     

    B

  • by Kappy,Solvedanswer

    Kappy Kappy Nov 7, 2014 7:04 PM in response to birgit c.
    Level 10 (271,291 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2014 7:04 PM in response to birgit c.

    As I stated you must install what came on your computer when it was new. Yosemite may be free to purchase, but it's installed under another's Apple ID so you cannot include on the computer when you sell it or give it away. To determine what to do see the following. You will start be completely erasing the drive and installing the original version of OS X that came with the computer.


    Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:

     

    Step One - Back up your data:

     

           A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must

               be shut down from inside Windows.

           B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.

     

              1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.

              2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.

              3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right side.

              4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be sure

                  to opt for that.

     

              Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

     

    Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:

     

              1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.

              2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.

              3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.

              4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.

              5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See What to do with iCloud before selling your computer.

     

    Step Three - Install a fresh OS:

     

         A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X

     

              1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.

              2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.

              3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.

                  Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.

              4. Install OS X.

              5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.

              6. Shutdown the computer.

     

         B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)

     

             Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible

                        because it is three times faster than wireless.

     

              1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X

                  Utilities window appears.

              2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.

              3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list.

                  Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.

              4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button

                  and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.

              5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.

              6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.

              7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.

              8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.

     

    *If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

  • by birgit c.,

    birgit c. birgit c. Nov 9, 2014 4:00 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2014 4:00 AM in response to Kappy

    understood thank you! I am currently reinstalling the original OS X version from the DVD. Hope the new owner is able to upgrade to Yosemite though :-)

  • by ibmacguru,

    ibmacguru ibmacguru Dec 8, 2014 4:25 AM in response to birgit c.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 8, 2014 4:25 AM in response to birgit c.

    This predicament almost mademe pull my hair out.  The fix is to hold down COMMAND-OPTION-R on startup to bring up the Internet connected live restore.  You'll know you've found it if you see a spinning globe on startup!  This was phenomenally awesome.  So again apple; Make me an Evangelist.

  • by BrandonFromTX,

    BrandonFromTX BrandonFromTX Sep 15, 2016 7:26 AM in response to ibmacguru
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Sep 15, 2016 7:26 AM in response to ibmacguru

    Super helpful, thanks so much!
    This saved a ton of frustration. All we needed to do was erase and reformat the partition, and then use this CMD + Option + R. Fixed itself within about 35 minutes.

     

    Old solution, but definitely the correct one.