Can't Install Mac OS X 10.8 after erase

I was wondering if that may be the case.

Hi Kurt-

I think I'm having a similar issue and wonder if you can push me in the right direction. (Macbook air Model A1370 had been updated to Yosemite; am selling it so wanted to wipe first). I used the Cmd + R to erase the drive titled Macintosh HD

My Disk Utility menu reads:

60/67 GB Apple SSD....

--> Macintosh HD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

disk1

--> Mac OS X Base System

I'm guessing I erased the incorrect thing? I got an error message when I went to reinstall. So I restarted the computer using CMD + Opt + R and did the Internet recovery. Instead of trying to load Yosemite, it went for Lion (which was the original), but failed again. Error message says: An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again."

I'm the original owner so I can use my Apple credentials to verify + reinstall, but I'm just not getting to that point. Again, guessing I need to erase something else and repartition?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi trixiemargan,

Go back to the top of this article (page 1 of the current 4). The Solved solution spells out what you need to do. That is to restart the Mac using Command+Option+R, not just Command+R. That will boot the Mac to its firmware so you can completely wipe the drive. Follow the steps outlined there. The main point being you need to get rid of the current hidden Recovery partition on the drive, or the Mac will insist on reinstalling Yosemite.

Thank you...and can do!

One point of clarification though, please. When you say "the drive" exactly which thing am I trying to wipe? In my message above, I have 4 options that I can click on. Does the Macintosh HD (inset from the one above it) represent a partition, or are these separate drives?

I think this is where I got into trouble in the first place. 🙂

Second point of clarification: I DID do the CMD + Opt + R boot, and it did try to install Lion NOT Yosemite. Still got the same error message. So I'm not sure if this is the same issue as the one here or a different one?

Again, my thanks.

When you say "the drive" exactly which thing am I trying to wipe? In my message above, I have 4 options that I can click on. Does the Macintosh HD (inset from the one above it) represent a partition, or are these separate drives?

That's a tough one to answer without seeing Disk Utility on your Mac. But to use this image as an example:

Besides the two optical drives at the bottom (a DVD and a Blu-ray drive), this screen shot was taken with four physical drives installed. The Hitachi at the top, followed by three Western Digital drives (WDC for Western Digital Corporation). So the second drive, which is 298.1 GB in size, has two partitions. "Logical drive" is more of a DOS / Windows term. Both Microsoft and Apple call them partitions, but Apple also uses the term Volume (as does Unix).

So is that what you're seeing? One physical drive name to the far left with four indented partition names? If so, there's only one actual drive installed and it's been split into four parts. Very likely since we're talking about a MacBook Air which only has room for one physical drive. You would click the physical drive name, which will allow the Partition tab to appear in Disk Utility. Clicking any of the logical/volume names won't give you that option.

Be very aware that when you repartition the drive back down to one single partition, all of the data will be wiped out! So make sure you have everything backed up, first.

Second point of clarification: I DID do the CMD + Opt + R boot, and it did try to install Lion NOT Yosemite.

You don't get to choose what to install. If Yosemite is what's on the hidden Recovery partition, that's what it will try to reinstall if there is no other OS on the drive. If the startup drive is Lion, that's what it should reinstall, regardless of the Recovery partition. But you still want to get rid of that Recovery partition. If you don't, and the new owner does a Command+R boot and erases the startup volume, then it will try to install Yosemite. Which it can't do without your Apple ID and password.

If anything mentioned here doesn't line up, or make enough sense, startup to the Mac you're selling normally so you can take a screen shot of Disk Utility as I did here, and post that image so we can see exactly what drive and/or partitions are on that Mac.

Ok, I'm definitely using some incorrect terminology (and none of it is PC-based...ha!) so please forgive me if I sound dumber than I feel. Which is saying something...And thanks again for taking the time to help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

So, when I listed the drives in my previous message, that is ALL that I see on my Disk Utility. My computer doesn't have optical drives so really there's just what I listed. Hopefully this image helps?

If I'm understanding your directions, I *should have* originally erased by clicking on the one that starts "60.67 GB APPLE SSD..." instead of selecting "Macintosh HD" which is what I did. The indents make sense as partitions/volumes, there's just nothing on the screen that indicates that's what they are unless you know what you're looking for, I guess.

** I've had everything off this computer for months, so no worries about backups. All is good. I want EMPTY! 🙂 **

So from this point, I should select "60.67..." and go through the repartioning steps noted previously, yes?

Also, I didn't mean that I was trying to choose an OS. What I was explaining is that I bought this machine originally with Lion and upgraded through end of last year, or Yosemite. When I first tried to reinstall the OS (using CMD + R), it was looking for Yosemite; failed. Then I did the Internet Recovery, and it was looking for Lion; failed again, same error. Either way, I have the Apple ID account info and could verify, but I'm not getting to a place where it's asking for that. Anyway! Sounds like that won't be an issue if I can get rid of the partition correctly, and reinstall the OS. Did I translate that right?

Again, thanks.

So from this point, I should select "60.67..." and go through the repartioning steps noted previously, yes?

Yes, exactly. Startup into Internet Recovery Mode (Command+Option+R). Launch Disk Utility and select the drive name 60.67 Apple SSD. That will allow the Partition tab to appear at the right. Then follow the steps to repartition the drive to fully wipe it. It's important to do the step to change Current to 1 Partition even though the drive already has only the one partition. If you don't, the current recovery partition will remain on the drive and the Mac will try to reinstall Yosemite instead of what it shipped with.

That said, some users have noted that even after fully wiping the drive, Internet Recovery still installs a newer version of OS X than what the Mac shipped with. I believe that comes along with a firmware update. Apple changes the "default" OS for that model without notice. Much like my example in this topic where if I were to apply the last firmware update for our Mac Mini, it would always want to install Lion, and block the ability to install Snow Leopard from the disks it came with.

hey

i tried doing what you said above but after partitioning the disk and then going to install mac os x lion it still says "this item is not available" when i put in my apple ID. i bought this laptop from someone else and I need urgent help thanks

That one I've never heard of. Try contacting Apple's customer support. Given the age of the Mac, they may want to do a tech support call charge.

Are you booted into Internet Recovery (command - option/alt - R on a restart)?

I have the exact same problem. Any luck?

I tried to use the Internet recovery mode bc I wasn't able to partition or anything bc it said the disk couldn't be unmounted. Now, in the Internet recovery mode I get the error message -6003F. I can't reinstall OS X at all now. Please, help!

That code doesn't seem to be documented, but it's believed to mean that your Mac can't connect to Apple's servers in order to install its default OS.

It's also possible the drive has failed, but that is strictly a guess.

Hi there I've just tried everything that was said but seems not to be working.

I got my disk from Apple. It was either that or get service from an outside company that works with Mac. $20 for a cd is very cheap.