Mac mini 2011, restore to factory default - FAILED

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Raj S Author

Level 1

9 points

Mac mini 2011, restore to factory default - FAILED

MAC mini 2011 model wchih came with LION preinstalled.

Wanted to reset it back to the Factory setting as given in the document provided.

From the Mac OS X Utility

1. Erased the Hard drive as specified from the Disk Utility

2. Selected Install a new copy of Lion, which starts a download of about 3.76 GB and displays 5Hr 50Mins pending to complete.

3. After about 4 hours it complets the download and in the recovery log it says Validation token Timeout and Validation failed.....

As I have Erased the HDD to do a facory default there isn't an OS present in the Disk but my question is how should I further proceed with the installation ?

There are no good documentation from apple given for this thing !

Can someone give me some light on this or should I take it to a Apple care ? 😢

PS: Tried both in Wifi and in Ethernet.....

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7), Reinstalling Lion

Posted on Sep 6, 2011 12:44 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,885 points

Sep 6, 2011 12:52 AM in response to Raj S

Have you reviewed: OS X Lion- About Lion Recovery?

Boot to the Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

Try this first as you can simply reinstall Lion directly from the main menu. However, if you cannot boot to the Recovery HD then you have several other options suggested in the above link.

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Answer 2

t33b0n35

Level 1

0 points

Sep 13, 2011 9:56 PM in response to Kappy

I tried booting from the recovery partition and followed the steps to install. Lion recovery downloaded everything it needed (took about 4 hours) and restarted. Once it restarted it didn't automatically boot into the recovery partition as I expected, and instead showed the No OS icon. I rebooted with COMMAND+R and it said "INSTALLING" for over 1.5 hours. I suspected that something was wrong so I restarted the mini and tried booting with COMMAND+R again to start everything over, however now when it boots to the recovery it just says "Installation Failed Try Re-Installing" But there is no option to re-install.

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Answer 3

Raj S Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 13, 2011 10:35 PM in response to t33b0n35

Sounds exactly the same way its happening to me but with a different time left to complete.

I have taken it to the Apple Care and they reinstalled the OS again as it failed for me and gave a unacceptable answers

1. Issue might be with the ISP filtering out from downloading ( No Way 😁 )

I live in Singapore and have tried the same with both the ISP's (Starhub & Singtel - Speed 15Down 6Up) which didn't work, on top of that I even tried in my office network which is a SDSL network. All Failed.

2. Might be some Firewall or Proxy issue ( Pathetic Answer 😝 )

No way I would buy this as a reason for the issue as I am sure there aren't any in my home for both the ISP's and the same has been tried from office without any firewall or proxies.

Solution Given to me : Taken it to the shop you've bought it from and ask for a replacement if its <14 days from purchase as adviced by the apple executives. Most probably they will not accept for a replacement (as they did for me) and they will reinstall the OS for you and 'SMIRK 😀' at your face saying { HOW COME WE ARE ABLE TO INSTALL WITHOUT ANY ISSUES }. And you will have to live with a feeling of ownig a Refurbrished/Defective device which is what I am right now feeling for.

Problem is either with the Hardware or with the Apple servers from when the recovery data is being downloaded.

APPLE CARE WAS REALLY Unhelpfull in this.... And I am really unhappy with the device

The recovery system in the MAC Mini is sure shot a fail.

New issue after the installation, The system is getting over heated within an hour of use......

PS: Today is the 10day from the Mac Mini's purchase and I regret going with a MAC + 2 Year Apple care. 😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

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