Reinstalling OSX Lion for sale

If your Mac is from March 2011 it came with Snow Leopard preinstall from the factory, when it was new, not Lion. So you can't reinstall Lion for resale as that version of OS X is tied to your Apple ID. You must use the original system reinstall discs that came with the system to reinstall Snow Leopard.

To do that you kput the OS X disc, disc 1, into the CD/DVD drive and boot the computer holding down the Option key. A Boot selection screen will come up and after a few seconds that DVD disc will appear as a Boot Option. Select it and the computer will start from it. From there you use Disk Utility, it is in the Utilities menu item, to repartition the drive as One Partition. you must do that to get rid of any Recovery HD partition that has been created by either Lion or Mt Lion. then proceed with the OS X install. When selling it you must give the new owner those original system disc.

Revert the machine back to Snow Leopard using these instructions and your install disks that came with the machine or call Apple with your serial/model identifier to reorder new ones. The 10.6 retail disk will NOT work for your model.

How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Make sure the ENTIRE internal drive is selected (drive makers name and size) at the top, and use the Erase with Security Option > Zero All Data or else someone can grab your deleted files using software.

All partitions on the drive will be erased, including RecoveryHD, EFI, MacintoshHD and BootCamp, so make sure your sure you have plenty of backups, do NOT only trust TimeMachine.

When OS X is done installing, it will reboot to the Welcome Video, press and hold the power button down to force a hardware shutdown, it will remain in that state for the new owner.

Here are directions:

http://www.thesafemac.com/how-to-prepare-your-mac-for-sale/

Ciao.

All early MBPs came with Snow Leopard. These MBPs were discontinued on October 2011, replaced by the late 2011 MBPs.

Call Apple Customer Relations and order replacement disks for your MBP. Have the serial number ready and there is a charge.

Ciao.

timeshootsonby wrote:

Actually, my total **** up - I meant 28th March 2012!! That must be Lion, right? Sorry about that....

If that is when you purchased you MBP, then it is a late 2011 MBP that came with Lion. Boot your MBP with the OPTION COMMAND R keys held down. This should access the Apple servers and the original OS should be installed. You should have a solid Internet connection when you do this.

Ciao.

timeshootsonby wrote:

Actually, my total **** up - I meant 28th March 2012!! That must be Lion, right? Sorry about that....

Yep, you goofed.

Follow my User Tip here, you still do the entire drive (disk0) scrub

Reset your Mac

Try these directions for a LION USB thumb drive.

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/08/11/build-your-own-lion-install-usb-thumb-drive-for-c heap/

If this approach fails, then it is time to take the MBP to an Apple store for assistance.

Ciao.

At startup hold down the Command + Option/Alt + r keys until you see a Globe on the screen. Then let them up.

It is best to have the system wired to your internet router, an Ethernet cable going from the system to your router.

If you still get the same error message then could be you bought a Used Mac or one leftover that originally came with Snow Leopard. You can check that by entering the serial number into this link.

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

timeshootsonby wrote:

Re: the LION thumb drive - does that mean I'll have to purchase it for $30 when I already paid for it when I bought it?

You may install it on an existing USB thumb drive that you may have in your inventory or on a DVD.

Ciao.