Yes, everything I needed was provided.
I validated that in stating that these resources were part of my initial research.
References to Snow Leopard restore discs and reinstalling Lion ARE outdated when restoring El Capitan.
Once upgraded, Online Recovery does not allow the install of Lion over El Capitan. The response is that an upgraded OS already exists and Lion cannot be installed. There was no option to reinstall El Capitan. I never had Snow Leopard or discs. These are the main points that are not viable.
I acknowledge I have no choice in what OS to install with Online Recovery and Lion is the only option my MacBook gives me. I stated that it'd be nice to have an option of OS to restore to since the Lion reinstallation is not viable once the OS is upgraded. Purely an opinion/side-comment.
I'm glad you told me they weren't changing anything anytime soon. It's always good to know inside information, especially regarding support.
I did read the entirety of your response and linked literature, and I described what worked when replying to the demarked solution from Carolyn Samit.
Her post displayed before yours (even though your timestamp is earlier) and I went back to work before your post was visible. She must have posted while you were compiling literature for me. Either way, I wasn't discrediting your post, I was already up and running, which is why I detailed what worked and what didn't work.
The restore options you proposed were not viable except for Time Machine Restore. The disk repair options did not work. VRAM/PRAM reset did nothing to improve the issue.
Safeboot and then multiple restarts in and out of Safeboot finally made something happen and functionality returned.
Not a viable solution, but also nowhere close to the resource instructions.
I demarked the solution that worked for me and I replied with the steps I'd taken prior to my reply to you. Which in fact was to thank you for your help and to clarify what doesn't work. It's not your fault, it's troubleshooting a new OS update with Apple support documents and 3rd party support documents created prior to the update and the issue. Even after regaining functionality, there is no clearly defined path for a solution.
I'm sorry if my question wasn't written effectively. You sourced plenty of material around it still though, so I appreciate the effort.
I reread the resource for writing effective questions again. My impression is that the only thing I didn't add were screenshots, but I don't see how that would've been more beneficial. How should I have formulated my question? I want to ensure that I offer the most direct resources for possible future support needs.
At least I didn't have my entire question in the subject line and then copy/pasted into the body.
I know these are external resources and not your own, so please don't accuse me of not reading the resources as I'm only offering experience based edits. Especially if something doesn't work. Just because part of your posted solution didn't work doesn't mean you need to defend the legitimacy of the information. These docs have been great resources for years. I'm only trying to add definition to an issue that isn't directly documented.
I'm not sure why your final impression is that I didn't ask my question correctly, but your follow-up reply is nuanced with condescension and defensiveness. Unnecessary to say the least.
I'm sorry I was so much trouble for you. The next time I ask for assistance, I'd just ask you to not reply.
I appreciate your time.
Thank You Again.