Download for Mountain Lion on Apple site is not 10.8; it's a 10.7.1 update!!!

Problem Solved!

After many hours of searching, I finally found a ZIP file that DOES include a full macOS X Mountain Lion 10.8.0 installer that I successfully used to update from Lion to Mountain Lion, and I was then able to use the "combo" update, (OSXUpdCombo10.8.5), to get to macOS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5!

FYI, if you download the ZIP file, the only valid file is the one titled "OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.0". The rest of the files are garbage, including the one labeled as a 10.8.2 update; (it does nothing).

[Edited by Moderator]

BDAqua: To clarify, I'm sorry that you've burned up your data plan, but I wasn't talking about the links to the newer OSs that you provided, (i.e., High Sierra through Ventura, since I can't use them for my older Pro Tools setup; Mountain Lion is required).

I was talking about the one link from your Mar 25, 2024 4:44 PM comment about "how to get old macos...", etc., that immediately started downloading what MacWorld apparently "thinks" is Mountain Lion.

I don't know why it's labeled as it is; I just know that it doesn't work. However, since it appears to do "nothing", I'm concerned it may hold a "zero day" worm/virus/etc., based on the dialogue box that pops up when you first try to install it:

"The package was signed with a certificate that has expired. If you acquired this package recently, it may not be authentic. Do you want to continue with the installation anyway?"

(Options are: Show Certificate, Cancel, or Continue.)

And during the testing I did where it didn't do anything to any of the OS versions, I realized that it and the file that I started this thread about are one and the same, because I thought it update a 10.7 Lion install to 10.7.1, but I realized after a couple more iterations that the initial Lion install I was doing was actually a 10.7.1 install, so it's a "do nothing" file.

So, I'm deleting all of my test installs that involved it and trashing the file, which Apple should do, as well, and post a full install version of macOS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5, instead of leaving the "do nothing" file posted to frustrate everyone.

On another note, I found links on Wikipedia, (searching for "OS X Mountain Lion"), where I was able to download many Combo, Supplemental and Security Updates for different versions of Mountain Lion. Surprising that I couldn't find any of that info easily on Apple's site, (which is where they're located). I guess you just have to ask the right question...

Thanks, BDAqua. However, I believe I'm come to my next "Catch 22"...

While I have located a "real" OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.0 and the "combo" update, (OSXUpdCombo10.8.5), and now, (I think, though I haven't tested it), an 8.1 updater, OSXUpd10.8.1, Mac mini systems require 10.8.1 at a minimum.

So, while I can boot my older iMac off 10.8, 10.8.1, or even 10.8.5, I don't have a either a 10.8.1 full installer or a 10.8.5 full installer, and I think I'd need either of those full installers to install Mountain Lion 10.8.1, the minimum required OS for the Mac mini, since I'm guessing I won't be able to install 10.8.0 on the Mac mini, then update it from there.

Am I right that I need at least a 10.8.1 full installer?

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Dave

P.S. (I miss the days where you could just drag a system folder over to make a bootable drive...)

Thanks for the link. It'll be a little while before I can try it because I'm in the midst of checking out another installation package, but I suspect, (given the 4.45 GB size that exactly matches the size of the 10.7.1 updater posted on Apple's site as the 10.8 full installer that I complained about), that it may be that same file instead of a full 10.8.x install. Let's hope MacWorld has the "real deal"!

I'll let you know. Thanks again.

HWTech: Thanks for the tip. I haven't tried Command + Option + Shift + R. I'm hoping it does the trick. I'm in limbo at the moment; I just returned the first late 2012 Mac mini, (a 2.6 GHz i7), because I got a message on Mountain Lion 10.8.5 bootup that it wasn't compatible with Mountain Lion, (apparently due to a later ship date that included Mavericks instead of Mountain Lion). I'm planning on buying a 2.3 Ghz model tomorrow or Wednesday, (which Avid says on their website - with no caveats - is compatible with Mountain Lion for running Pro Tools 10.3.10). (See my other response in blue text above from 5:32 PM PDT.) I'll try your bootup suggestion once I receive the 2nd unit. Thanks again!

BDAqua - Follow-up to my post from 3/25 at 5:16 PM PDT...

I downloaded and tested the "InstallMacOSX.dmg" file from the link you provided, and it will not start an install on a drive that: (1) doesn't contain a bootable system, and: (2) is not the startup disk.

However, even at that, it doesn't do ANYTHING to the startup OS's that I've tried.

I tried installing it on Mountain Lion 10.8, which it appears to complete, but after rebooting the system, the OS is still Mountain Lion 10.8, and I get the same results when I "install" it on Mountain Lion 10.8.5 or on Lion 10.7.1 - the resulting OS after rebooting is whatever you started with before the "install" - so the installer is useless.

True Dat...

I had my 10.8.5 install down to the 10.8.0 full installer and the 10.8.5 Combo Update, (which isn't a full install), but now, with the Supplemental and Security updates I just found, it'll be a more intensive setup. I wish Apple would post an all-inclusive "full" Mountain Lion install including all of the supplementals and security updates. The tech I spoke with about my original issue/post said it would take a week or more before they'd do anything, and they won't notify me; I'll need to keep checking the site.