MAC OS LION FAQ's

I recommend caution to any user who used, or will use, the ESD alone for 10.7 (Build 11A511) — without Apple's .app — to produce a USB flash drive or DVD. For your consideration:

http://identi.ca/conversation/76905136#notice-79505996 —

#Lion #FileVault 2 users: never attempt reinstallation of Mac OS X 10.7 from a Recovery OS where the #USB flash drive or #DVD was #hacked …

Thank you

Graham,

Well, it was worth the effort, but no cigar:

I moved the installation.dmg from inside the install-lion.app to a 4GB USB-Stick using the disk utility (on a SnowLeo).

on a SnowLeo equipped with the USB stick holding ALT at start up shows the USB stick as one startup volume. Use it and select "New Lion install": worked perfectly for me in any cases.

the starup menu contains some more options, that can be used to e.g. prepare for a clean install.

The pictured topic do I have to pay twice for OS X lion since I have a laptop and desktop discusses none of the things for which I suggest caution. In that topic, so far, all is good.

Clarification

Some people take risks with home-produced bootable media not provided by Apple. The risk-taking:

• began long before Apple released 10.7 (Build 11A511) with a primary focus on download
• might continue until Apple provides Lion (maybe something greater than 11A511) on a bootable USB thumb drive
• might continue after Apple provides Lion on bootable media.

Metaphorically

I can stack some milk crates, drape velvet over the stack, sit on it, call it a chair. To a degree, I can rock back and forth. If I rock too far, the thing will collapse, I might knock myself unconscious:

it is not a rocking chair.

From an image of a disk (a .dmg) I can create a disk, boot from it, call it a bootable disk. To a degree, I can do things with it. If I do some things, the system might become unusable:

my home-produced bootable thing hacked from a part of Apple's installer is not Apple's rocking installer.

Test results

With a hunch that damage might be caused, I tested just one thing. The first run of the test did cause damage.

I doubt that the many people who promote hacked use of the ESD (electronic software distribution) performed more advanced tests.

Please

Begin above with the conversation in Identi.ca, not only the quote; please read everything below the part of the conversation that offers caution, follow links from each lower part of the conversation …

… duplicate post deleted (some problem with Apple Support Communities).

I produced a bootable 4GB USB stick using disk utility and the install-lion.dmg contained in the install.app under SnowLeo.

Installing Lion booting from that stick worked perfectly on 4 different machines. I did not try a DVD, but should be the same.

So the warning should be: use the well defined way how to produce a new bootable medium from a disk image, containing a bootable system: use disk utility !!!

… Apple sold USB thumb drive …

+1

… home-produced media. …

Media not provided by Apple is fine.

See for example Apple's PDF attachment to Apple's [Apple] Mac OS X Lion Upgrade Information (2011-06-17), in particular Deploying Lion.

If (within the terms of a license/agreement) a customer wishes to use a DVD or USB thumb drive to copy the whole installer, that's fine.

Clarification

Problems may arise from people ignoring the installer .app as a whole. Nowhere does Apple recommend ignoring the whole. Nowhere does Apple recommend using the .dmg part of the .app for 11A511 in isolation to create something removable and bootable.

I know well a method to quickly work around at least one situation in which a home-produced bootable USB flash drive left a system unusable. That method is off-topic.

The longer method is far longer and potentially frustrating.

It will happier for everyone if people do not risk putting themselves in situations such as this 🙂

You maybe replied to my previous message whilst it was incomplete; Apple Support Communities seemed to cause some loss then duplication. I encourage readers to follow the links from my microblog on Identica.

Thanks again!

Graham

RaiMan wrote:

… the warning should be: use the well defined way how to produce a new bootable medium from a disk image, containing a bootable system: use disk utility !!!

Sorry, no, it's not so simple.

I did use Disk Utility to produce my USB flash drive. With that drive and with a hunch of what to test, I quickly and easily turned a system that was previously good into a system that was completely unusable.

A good number of people might not encounter such difficulties, but are you (as a promoter of home-produced bootable media) willing to provide technical support to people whose systems do become unusable as a result of your promotion?

Warnings should take account of things that are necessarily discussed elsewhere. Please follow the links from fuller conversation on Identi.ca …

Those with problems using USB might consider the fact

that the USB stick itself may be at fault. Not all USB sticks

work well as bootable media. And can generate corruption

even if they appear to boot cleanly.

Hi myimagination!

I am specifically sending a link to you because after reading some of your posts, I think you can help me. You seem to have a good handle on some of these Lion issues and eventhough this one seems outside the FAQ realm, I think you can help me find an answer.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3217523

I hope this is not an inconvenience and I truly appreciate it.

Have a great day,

AppleLisa Rose

😀

The flash drive that I used for testing was well tested immediately before my test.

Immediatly after my use of the hacked USB flash drive, the FileVault 2 system to which I reinstalled was unusable. To me, the test result was an unmistakable echo of Apple's advice, "… Please note that Recovery HD must be … not an external Recovery HD …".

A subsequent reinstallation to the same volume, using the Apple-installed Recovery OS, did not resolve the issue. My initial conclusion was that damage caused by use of a hacked USB flash drive is not easily reversible.

(What Apple provides, what Apple writes to the minimal hidden partition on the hard disk alongside the Core Storage encrypted volume, is designed more for proper reinstallation than for attempting to repair damage caused by hacks.)

On a different computer with FileVault 2 enabled, reinstallation using the method recommended by Apple worked flawlessly first time.

I've read your posts and others here with great interest. Your sound advice clarifies to me that so much of which has been written about hacking the Mac OS X Lion Installer and creating a "bootable install disc" is far to simplistic. My gut instincts alone tell me that these hacking methods are critically flawed and, as has been discussed here at great lengths, a rather inept way of circumventing Apple's own prescribed methods of safely installing, re-installing Lion, etc.

You only need to Google the hack and you get the same run down, a mere 2 hours after Lion was available for download! Yet none seem to have actually tried to use their "bootable install disc", let alone extensively test their systems, post install hack.

Result: my faith in Mac sites and their glaring nepotism is seriously dented, but my faith in those who have not jumped the gun, read Apple's own advice, particularly these excellent posts in the Apple Support Communities, shows to me an understanding of where Apple is going with this method of software distribution and installation.

Me, well I'm going to sit tight for a couple of months, read and learn, perhaps do a RAM upgrade, and then download Lion, the right way.

And as the man said "Think Different"