When trying to reinstall Lion OS on new mid 2011 Macbook Air, error msg 'This version of Mac OS X 10.7 cannot be installed on this computer' comes up. What should I do to reinstall?
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7)
OK, I have spoke to a member of the Apple Support. They appologised about the restore taking so long to restore and they have asked if everyone could fill out a feedback regards to the restore on and how they feel and if they require any new functions.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/
This is to allow the team to sort out an offline image, however I have also been informed that a Time Machine backup does MAC OS X restores from partitions / files so I suggest people use TM for now.
There is currently no solution to give their users the OS or if there will be even a USB feature in the future.
I hope this helps people who ask about creating a restore offline.
Internet recovery is nice but it is not quite as reliable as having an offline recovery. My macbook air 2011 for some reason similar to some other MBA 2011 and mac mini 2011 are unable to reinstall Lion from Internet Recovery.
One solution that I have is to clone a fresh install of Lion to an external drive (i.e. USB drive, SD card). To avoid having to download the Base System from the Apple servers and save time, I have also created a bootable Base System (look for BaseSytem.dmg (note: show hidden files) within the InstallESD.dmg). The Base System will also allow me to boot the Macbook air into recovery mode and access Disk Utility which I can use to clone/restore the Lion image from an external drive. I have not timed the total time it took me to restore to my macbook air but I would think that it would be faster than having to download Lion + install.
@idroid84, are you able to send me the InstallESD.dmg for a macbook air 2011 and I can take a look on how to create an offline recovery tool? From my discussion with the AppleCare support, I don't think Apple will create/provide an offline recovery tool going forward. I would send again another feedback via the link you provided but it could take some time before we see results. I rely on my macbook at work and at home thus I don't want to sit around waiting for Apple to make a move.
I thought I was replying to the original post 😉
Based on what I learned, the build you got from the AppStore is older than the one installed in mid 2011 Macbook Air (the original post is about). I learned it after spending a few hours to download (at home).
I didn't finish the Recovery HD option since it said about five hours to download (at work). I just went straight to Internet Recovery and yes it should include both download and installation (implicitly).
More I learned about Internet Recovery
I may have a solution to this.
I have not fully tested yet but I'm able to connect to WIFI and surf the net. 🙂
I may have a solution to this.
I have not fully tested yet but I'm able to connect to WIFI and surf the net.
dear rpagat1
Please explain more
Hi IMasterus.
First, you are correct. This is very annoying that:
That being said, my process works. Once it's done, you have a USB bootable, restore media. If what you are after is something to use in an "emergancy", follow my directions.
I ensure you, it works. I have done it, and rebuilt my MBA half a dozen times already, mostly to prove "I can".
For what it's worth, these days, depending where you live, of course, you can "find" a hot spot. My complaint is, it just takes so long!
I just wiped out all the hdd to reinstall a clean copy of Lion on my brand new mba mid 2011 (just received it today)
when i go through the internet recovery, and try to install the system, i got the same error than you.
what's going on ?
Got the same problem. I've logged a call with support aswell and gone through the whole process. Whole thing seems poor, a new product where you can reinstall the OS!!!! I'm hoping I don't have to ship the unit back as I will have to wait for the BTO option for another week !!!
update:
1. Called Support... and it didnt really help. basic troubleshooting etc.
2. continued my testing - restart CMD + R and connect to my office wifi (yesterday was at home) and start downloading the installer. after a while, got the installation popup prompting me to install, click next, then got finally to download the Lion source. However, my connection in office is so slow it was taking 7hours to get the whole thing.
3. I thought that the guy at the end of the line did something miraculous... I then disconnected and went back home trying the exact same steps... and I was impossible to get it work !!
This is really amazing, the worst piece of crap I have ever seen. Brand new macbook air shipped with Lion installed and I can't get to reinstall the whole system ?!? This is really ridiculous !
Another part is that I tried to install Snow Leopard from the USB key (provided with earlier mba 11") and it can't even get to the installer... that's another point...
Apple, can you get a fix?
Check the partition map scheme on the installation drive. I think I remember reading somewhere that Lion won't install unless it is a GUID partition scheme. You should be able to access the Disk Utility from the Recovery console to check it...
Actually I migrated all of my apps and extensions from my old mac (running Lion) to the laptop using the migration assistant and later decided I didn't need all of the apps and extensions so I decided to wipe the drive and do a fresh install as it seems to be the quickest cleanest way of doing this. Perfectly valid I think
Anyone managed to get this to work?
I need the same issue too.
As I had purchased lion before, I even tried to redownload but it prompt me the same error..
Using a new MBA 2011, this seems fustrating as I am not able to restore from my MBA 2010 backup as well
Still not working. This is really fustrating - my MBA 2011 is pretty much useless at the moment. The only thing I can think of is to boot up my lion (app store version) install from my old disk, download and install a copy of the 10.7.2 beta, clone this to my new air.
The new MacBook Air's ship with a special build of Lion, to get support for the new hardware in the OS (11A2063), pre-merge. The network install must be trying to apply the standard rlse build, which is why it would complain that it's not installable. But why the procedure isn't downloading the correct build for the new hardware is anyone's guess... 😟
So is the installed version of Lion different to the app store version you download and the latter not compatible with your MBA? Seems very strange.
Or is it a case of trying to install the app store version of Lion on top of your installed version of Lion?
Have you tried to do a clean erase and install? If you've got a USB disk drive it's easy enough to find the .dmg in the Lion installer and create a DVD.
Assuming you can still boot into your MBA I would also make a clone of your SSD to fall back on (using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper!) assuming you've got a usb HDD.
When trying to reinstall Lion OS on new mid 2011 Macbook Air, error msg 'This version of Mac OS X 10.7 cannot be installed on this computer' comes up. What should I do to reinstall?
