mountain lion is not compatible

The Mini6,2 is able to run ML.

Something went wong.

So I have no idea where lowendmac is coming up with any 10.8.3 or 10.8.4 information.

I don't either since there is no publicly released 10.8.3, much less 10.8.4 - I know that for a fact. They might have just used that as an example explaining what a Combo update does but they should not be using updates which have not even been publicly released. I think I'll bring that link mentioning them to the attention of the hosts - what do you think?

@ KatieIII -

Buying a new OS after juat buying a new machine doesn't make sense

Not sure what you mean with buying a new OS; once 10.8.3 is released, it'll be an update (free) and so will 10.8.4 (if there is such a thing). A "new OS" would have a different name and be offered as a purchase upgrade. As long as the updates stay with 10.8.x, it is still Mountain lion.

Ahh, thanks for clarifying.

lol this is outa control 🙂

my Macmini6,2 came with 10.8.1 without any possibility of updating to 10.8.2 via the updates feature, because the "this computer is not compatible with Mountain Lion" message would appear even though this mac is running Mountain Lion already.

Also when attempting to download a full Mountain Lion so I could clean install from a USB thumb drive to a new higher performance drive I am unable due to the same error.

A few days ago, a 10.8.2 update for the Mac mini was made available from Apple download site and has been installed. However the issue of not being able to clean install to any new drive remains. the issue is well know and the installer is suspect not the OS itself, in the meantime we wait for a fix.

Sorry if I missed that in this thread, but did you try to go to your Purchases in the App Store, not the page where Mountain Lion is advertised? If you launch the app store, there should be several choices in the upper bar - click on Purchases and see if it is listed. It is supposed to be. If it is, it should say "download" meaning it is available for a download at any time.

So where did 10.8.4 come from then ?

There is no 10.8.4; it was most likely a typo on the low end Mac website. They should have used an existing OS version as an example, such as 10.6.8 or 10.7.4, not a version that simply does not exist.

Sorry if I missed that in this thread, but did you try to go to your Purchases in the App Store, not the page where Mountain Lion is advertised? If you launch the app store, there should be several choices in the upper bar - click on Purchases and see if it is listed. It is supposed to be. If it is, it should say "download" meaning it is available for a download at any time.

I already have a copy of Mountain Lion 10.8.2 I had purchased for an other Mac, apparently the mac mini requires a modified version and selecting to download it or attempting to purchase it again from the app store or web site while using Mac mini results in the same (or similar) ridiculous message.

the previously downloaded copy of Mountain lion 10.8.2 is not compatible (actually is not recognized in the boot menu as a bootable option) with the Mac mini (Late 2012)

I'm embarrassed to have the original Hard Disk Drive which came installed in my Mac mini in my possession, i use it only to clone OSX to superior performing drives untill a new Mountain Lion download is available from the App Store which is compatible wih the new Mac mini's

Furthermore Apple Support have failed to folow up on my support case.

Also, this recently released update will bring OSX 10.8.1 the Macmini Late 2012 up to 10.8.2 but is only an update, no full installer available as of today.

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1603

Okay, I did not realize the extent of the problem - another thing to consider:

You buy Mountain Lion and can install it on any mac you own......... however,

you have a Mac which has Mountain lion preinstalled, that license is only for that particular Mac, so that is most likely why you cannot use the app store version of ML.

Apple released a new update of 10.8.2 a couple of days ago - does that one not work either? (The date still shows as the previous date released, but this is the new one):

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1603

If that does not work, I would certainly take that Mini to an Apple store and insist very politely that you want this issue addressed.

AFAIK you do a full reinstall through the Restore Partition. If you do not have the Restore Partition, you do the Internet Restore. In both cases you need a good stable internet connection. It will not work to download the (M)L and do the restore "from the outside", as Babowa already said.

Much better detail than my reply! Yes, because of the somewhat confusing licensing of ML purchased in the app store vs. it being preinstalled, a Mac with ML preinstalled cannot re-download from the app store. One needs to use the recovery process to do that....... or:

@ dummnut:

If I may suggest and your machine is pretty new (not much/any tweaking done), I'd make a bootable clone of your "pristine, out of the box" system for emergencies. That would mean you do not have to download the entire system again. I did that when I got my new MBP a couple of months ago (which came with Lion preinstalled). One of my reasons: I do have a monthly bandwidth cap and not the fastest connection speeds, so I'd rather not have to download a 4 GB file if I don't have to. I do not update that particular clone - it is meant for dire emergencies where a clean install is necessary. I have another clone which is updated regularly.