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?

Ross / Droid - I tried using an 8gb USB. Once booted into recovery mode, connected to wi-fi, it asked for what disk, but, it says the usb stick needs another 2+GB of free space.

Thoughts?

thanks!

BTW - I was going to go ahead an use my main disk, and interrupt after the download, but, it estimated 5 hours + on this wifi link! YIKES!

I may have a solution to this.

1. In my macbook white, I installed Lion from App Store (11A511) + 10.7.2 combo update.
2. In my macbook white, I boot into recovery mode using another USB drive then restore the partition using Disk Utility with the fresh install of lion into a second USB drive.
3. I then tried to boot the macbook air 2011 using the second USB drive and the macbook air started successfully into Lion!
4. I have also cloned the USB drive to the MBA2011 SSD and it's working!!!

I have not fully tested yet but I'm able to connect to WIFI and surf the net. 🙂

Ah, my apologies - I thought the drive I grabbed was 8gb, turns out it's 16.

All, AppleCare confirmed to me that they'll not be sending me USB restore tool anymore. The USB restore tool will only work for older macbook airs and macbooks but not for the new one.

I don't think it's as easy as we think. It is extremly hard to get the .DMG installer working like the old methods (USB Boot). I got the InstallESD.DMG but I failed to get the MBA to boot to it.

I am coming close to a conclusion that if the MBA recovery drive is broke then the only way to recovery is via command + r, which takes around 3-7 hours depends how fast the net connection is.

Cloning of the HD works fine only if the SSD partitions have not been touched. All the new MBA users really need to put pressure onto Apple to have an offline version.

I may have a solution to this.

1. In my macbook white, I installed Lion from App Store (11A511) + 10.7.2 combo update.
2. In my macbook white, I boot into recovery mode using another USB drive then restore the partition using Disk Utility with the fresh install of lion into a second USB drive.
3. I then tried to boot the macbook air 2011 using the second USB drive and the macbook air started successfully into Lion!
4. I have also cloned the USB drive to the MBA2011 SSD and it's working!!!

I have not fully tested yet but I'm able to connect to WIFI and surf the net.

dear rpagat1

Please explain more

Basically Apple does not allow us to install any lower version of Mac OS X (i.e. Snow Leopard) even lower builds (i.e. 11A511). In order to pass this validation, I need to install a higher version of Lion. I came across an unreleased 10.7.2 combo update. Now I install the Lion with build 11A511 which came from the app store into my Macbook white and then used the combo update thus making the build/version higher. I then clone that partition into a USB drive. I was able to boot the Macbook Air 2011 using that USB drive thus I decided to clone that partition into my Macbook Air and now my macbook air is working. No issues so far. I'm able to run my virtual machines, run lightroom, install Microsoft office, etc...

I'll try to create a test dmg later of a fresh lion install but I have run out of external drives. I'll let you guys know the result.

So, are folks trying to do this on something other than the new Macbook Air? Just wondering. Command-R works perfectly with a new macbook air and a good internet connection. I originally thought I had to create a USB copy or something but now wouldn't bother. Am trying to understand the problem.

In a nutshell. I want to use my new MBA as a "crash and burn" system. I may want to rebuild os "often", and think the download from Internet is not ideal. Thoughts?

Mc give some feedback at apple.com/feedback

Done. Please, everyone do the same.

I manage a small group of macbook airs - most 2010, a couple 2011. As a result I've upgraded and traded around some drives. I reformatted a couple last week, and did some other backup experiments. I used the internet restore 5 times and it worked like a champ. So I think you can rely on it. Again, as I said earlier, I'm certain there are some folks that are having problems. And I think it's wrong of Apple to assume that everyone has easy, instant access to broadband. Best of luck to all - I'll leave this thread alone.

Thanks for the anecdotal post. Can you post some metrics, like, how long does a reinstal on MBA take, and what is your ISP download bandwidth? Thanks.

15807 (Kbps) down. Initial download varied (based on fluctuating use in my building) but generally is about 30 minutes to an hour. It then let's you format a disk or restore from a time machine backup. If you're not restoring from time machine it will do a second download anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes.

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.