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User profile for user: Jocau
Jocau Author
User level: Level 1
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How to create bootable USB thumb drive from Lion on Mac Mini 2011?

Hello folks


Yesterday my new Mac Mini (Core i7 2,7 Ghz, 4 GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD6630M 256 MB) arrived. It replaces my old Mac Mini (Core Duo 1,83 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, Intel GMA950 64 MB). One day I'll replace the 500 GB 5400 RPM HDD in this Mini by an Intel SSD drive (just like I did with my previous Mini). I'll do a fully clean install then (formatting the SSD drive in Disk Utility and then installing Lion on it from a bootable USB thumb drive). The only problem is I can't seem to download Lion for free from the Mac AppStore (MAS) although I have bought a new Mac Mini which came with Lion pre-installed. I know how to create a bootable USB thumb drive with Lion on it when you download it from the MAS. But that's the problem... I can't seem to download Lion from the MAS for free. When I open the MAS while holding down the Option key I can download Lion but it will charge me for it. Is there any way I can download Lion from the MAS without paying for it? Since it already came with my new Mac Mini 2011 this should be possible I guess?


And will I still be able to download the iLife '11 apps (iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband) for FREE that came with my new Mac Mini when I do a fully clean install as described above? Thanks in advance. 🙂


Greetings


Jocau

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Sep 7, 2011 4:33 AM

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6 replies
User profile for user: woodmeister50
woodmeister50
User level: Level 6
19,675 points

Sep 7, 2011 6:30 AM in response to Jocau

Since the Mini is new, why not just clone the disk

an external hard drive? Good idea any way because

anything can happen to corrupt the internal drive

at any time. You can use Carbon Copy Cloner

or Super Duper to create a bootable backup. Then,

when you put in the new drive, boot from the external,

format the internal, then clone back.


Or, just get a USB or USB/Firewire enclosure, and when

you install the new drive, put the old one in the enclosure,

boot from it, and then format the internal then clone back.


You can also create a recovery volume by:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20089757-263/apple-releases-lion-recovery-d isk-assistant-tool/


or create a Recovery HD and a clone by:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20083166-263/managing-the-os-x-10.7-lion-re store-drive/

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User profile for user: John Beatty1
John Beatty1
User level: Level 6
12,020 points

Sep 7, 2011 3:20 PM in response to Jocau

FYI,


On my new Mini server, I ended up doing a complete re-install after messing up Lion with Migration Assistant and stuff from my old G5.


After a complete re-install of Lion, I was able to download iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, and even PSE (which I bought from the App store before the fracus) without incurring new charges....


Then, as woodmeister suggests, I cloned a backup of the entire startup drive to and external HD.


jb

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User profile for user: Jocau
Jocau Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Sep 8, 2011 5:56 AM in response to Jocau

After doing some research, it seems that there are only 2 WAYS to do a complete reinstall of Lion on the Mac Mini 2011 without paying for the Lion download in the Mac AppStore (i.e. recreating every partition, also the Recovery HD partition, from scratch e.g. when installing Lion on a clean HDD/SSD).


1) COMPLETELY clone the Mac Mini 2011 HDD including all of its partitions to an external drive and restore it when you want to do a complete reinstall.

2) Use the LION INTERNET RECOVERY feature built-in into new Macs that ship with Lion (this feature is present in new Macs starting from the Mac Mini 2011 and Macbook Air 2011).



OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery


Lion Internet Recovery

If you happen to encounter a situation in which you cannot start from the Recovery HD, such as your hard drive stopped responding or you installed a new hard drive without Mac OS X installed, new Mac models introduced after public availability of OS X Lion automatically use the Lion Internet Recovery feature if the Recovery HD (Command-R method above) doesn't work. Lion Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's Servers. The system runs a quick test of your memory and hard drive to ensure there are no hardware issues.


Lion Internet Recovery presents a limited interface at first, with only the ability to select your preferred Wi-Fi network and, if needed, enter the WPA passphrase. Next, Lion Internet Recovery will download and start from a Recovery HD image. From there, you are offered all the same utilities and functions described above.


As with the Recovery HD, reinstallation of OS X Lion from Lion Internet Recovery requires an Internet connection. See "Supported network configurations and protocols" below.


Restoring iLife applications after Internet Restore of OS X Lion

If you reinstall Lion on a new Mac that shipped with OS X Lion installed, on an erased or replaced hard drive, you can download iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand from the Mac App Store.


  1. After installation, start from Lion.
  2. Double-click the App Store icon in the dock.
  3. Enter your Apple ID and password.
  4. Click Purchases.
  5. If you haven't previously accepted your bundled iLife applications within the Mac App Store, you should see your iLife applications appear in the Accept portion of the screen. Click Accept.
  6. You may be asked for your Apple ID and password once again. Your iLife applications now move to the Purchased section. These applications are part of the software that came with your Lion based computer. Your account will not be charged for them. Click Install to compete installation of your applications.


Source: Lion Recovery


It's a bit sad that these seem to be the only 2 options. Lion Internet Recovery is the preferred one here since my monthly internet traffic limit isn't a problem (but my download speed is). This problem could have been easily solved by Apple by just checking the system specs or serial number when trying to download Lion from the Mac AppStore. By using one of the 2 options in my previous sentence the Mac AppStore could see that I have a new Mac Mini 2011 that ships with Lion which would give me the option to download Lion from the Mac AppStore for free and eventually create a bootable USB thumb drive of it.

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User profile for user: woodmeister50
woodmeister50
User level: Level 6
19,675 points

Dec 2, 2011 3:23 AM in response to Jocau

An interesting little tid bit I found out recently about cloning.

If you have a new Mini or a new Lion install, do your first clone

to external drive using Disk Utility.


Format the external drive to one partition GUID. Boot a Recovery

USB stick created by any of the various methods and go to

Disk Utility on it. Then, select your internal volume (not the drive).

Click the Restore button. If you selected the internal volume it

should appear in the Source, if not drag it there. Then drag the

desired volume you want for the clone to the destination. Then

press Restore.


Two things interesting will result. One, automagically the Recovery HD

will also get cloned to the external drive. You can verify this by going

to terminal after rebooting and typing


diskutil list


You will find that an identical copy of the Recovery HD will be present

as will your OSX volume.


The second thing, at least with Carbon Copy Cloner, you can then

use it to update your OSX volume on that drive, and it won't go

through a full clone if it is set up for incremental update.

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How to create bootable USB thumb drive from Lion on Mac Mini 2011?

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