Offline Installer for Macbook Air 2011 & Mac Mini 2011

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

I understand that Macbook Air 2011 and Mac Mini 2011 uses a pre-installed OS X Lion with a different build number (11A2063).

However, it seems that with 10.7.2 , there is only 1 build number: 11C74 , as per http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1633 , does it mean that 10.7.2 is a unified version of the OS X Lion for all mac products?

Therefore, would it be possible to purchase & download the Lion Installer from Mac App Store , extract the InstallESD.dmg and use it as a offline Lion installer for Macbook Air 2011 / Mac mini 2011?

P.S. I am seeking an offline solution because the recovery partition has been damaged, the internet recovery doesn't work (error 3403F & 4403F), and the recovery disk I have created with http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433 showed an error "could not find installation information for this machine". And the Apple Authorized Service Providers are charging $150 for a simple restoration of the recovery partition.

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
I understand that Macbook Air 2011 and Mac Mini 2011 uses a pre-installed OS X Lion with a different build number (11A2063).

However, it seems that with 10.7.2 , there is only 1 build number: 11C74 , as per http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1633 , does it mean that 10.7.2 is a unified version of the OS X Lion for all mac products?

Therefore, would it be possible to purchase & download the Lion Installer from Mac App Store , extract the InstallESD.dmg and use it as a offline Lion installer for Macbook Air 2011 / Mac mini 2011?

P.S. I am seeking an offline solution because the recovery partition has been damaged, the internet recovery doesn't work (error 3403F & 4403F), and the recovery disk I have created with http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433 showed an error "could not find installation information for this machine". And the Apple Authorized Service Providers are charging $150 for a simple restoration of the recovery partition.

when your in the app store do you see OSX Lion in your Purchased Tab?

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
when your in the app store do you see OSX Lion in your Purchased Tab?

No, it's not in the purchased tab without or without holding "option" key before clicking on the Purchased Tab.

Without holding "option" key, it says "Installed". Holding "option" key before clicking on the Lion page, it shows US$29.99, and when i click again holding "option" key, it says "Buy Now".

Macbook Air 2011 and mac mini 2011 come with Lion pre-installed, thus is not eligible for redownloading the Lion from Mac App Store for free.

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
No, it's not in the purchased tab without or without holding "option" key before clicking on the Purchased Tab.

Without holding "option" key, it says "Installed". Holding "option" key before clicking on the Lion page, it shows US$29.99, and when i click again holding "option" key, it says "Buy Now".

Macbook Air 2011 and mac mini 2011 come with Lion pre-installed, thus is not eligible for redownloading the Lion from Mac App Store for free.

when did you buy your computer and in what country? you might be eligible for a free copy, even though you have it preinstalled, you might like i was still be eligible for the promotion code to download it for free, thus it will add it do your purchases

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
when did you buy your computer and in what country? you might be eligible for a free copy, even though you have it preinstalled, you might like i was still be eligible for the promotion code to download it for free, thus it will add it do your purchases

Are you saying Apple is giving away free OS X Lion installer flash drive for 2011 Macbook Air that comes pre-installed with OS X Lion?

As far as I know, the free copy of OS X Lion flash drive is only given to macbook air that doesn't come pre-installed with OS X Lion.

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
Are you saying Apple is giving away free OS X Lion installer flash drive for 2011 Macbook Air that comes pre-installed with OS X Lion?

As far as I know, the free copy of OS X Lion flash drive is only given to macbook air that doesn't come pre-installed with OS X Lion.

no but they dont take in to consideration if it was preinstalled, you fill out this forum and within minutes if your eligible you get a code for a free copy

you than enter that code into the redeem code section of the app store, it will than download the installer file that you need to make your own full retail version of OSX Lion on either DVD or Flash Drive

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
no but they dont take in to consideration if it was preinstalled, you fill out this forum and within minutes if your eligible you get a code for a free copy

you than enter that code into the redeem code section of the app store, it will than download the installer file that you need to make your own full retail version of OSX Lion on either DVD or Flash Drive

I see, what do you mean by "you fill out this forum"? Anyone with experience of getting the free flash drive with the 2011 macbook air that's pre-installed with Lion? I was on the line with AppleCare, and they do not ship out the Lion USB flash drive for 2011 macbook air, because it simply won't work with the 2011 macbook air (different build number for the OS X Lion)

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
I see, what do you mean by "you fill out this forum"? Anyone with experience of getting the free flash drive with the 2011 macbook air that's pre-installed with Lion? I was on the line with AppleCare, and they do not ship out the Lion USB flash drive for 2011 macbook air, because it simply won't work with the 2011 macbook air (different build number for the OS X Lion)

What country did you buy you MacBook air I'm trying to help and your avoiding the question

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
What country did you buy you MacBook air I'm trying to help and your avoiding the question

Sorry for missing out the question, I bought it in Singapore.

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
Sorry for missing out the question, I bought it in Singapore.

fill this in, it will email you a code if your eligible, if you get the code report back and i will give you then next steps

http://store.apple.com/1800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/singaporestore?partNumber=MD202Z/A

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
fill this in, it will email you a code if your eligible, if you get the code report back and i will give you then next steps

http://store.apple.com/1800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/singaporestore?partNumber=MD202Z/A

It says "Sorry, you have exceeded the 30 day period (from date of purchase) to qualify your system for the Up-To-Date program."

By the way, isn't this for people who purchased MBA(without Lion pre-installed) a few weeks before the latest 2011 version came out, as per https://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/21/os-x-lion-up-to-date-lion-free-for-recently-purchased-macs/ ?

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
It says "Sorry, you have exceeded the 30 day period (from date of purchase) to qualify your system for the Up-To-Date program."

By the way, isn't this for people who purchased MBA(without Lion pre-installed) a few weeks before the latest 2011 version came out, as per https://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/21/os-x-lion-up-to-date-lion-free-for-recently-purchased-macs/ ?

i think it would of worked if you did in the 30 days, my MBP came with lion preinstalled and it worked for me

check this thread the OP found a way to get a copy of that installer file

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1257114/

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
i think it would of worked if you did in the 30 days, my MBP came with lion preinstalled and it worked for me

check this thread the OP found a way to get a copy of that installer file

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1257114/

I see, so there's no way out for those 2011 MBA who missed the 30 days deadline?

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
I see, so there's no way out for those 2011 MBA who missed the 30 days deadline?

maybe if you call apple and explain you never knew about the program

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
maybe if you call apple and explain you never knew about the program

Yup, will do that. Thanks for your insights!

If that's not possible, would it be possible to purchase & download the Lion Installer from Mac App Store , extract the InstallESD.dmg of the 10.7.2 Lion Installer and use it as a offline Lion installer for Macbook Air 2011 / Mac mini 2011? ( I know that this method won't work with 10.7.1 because of a different build number required for 2011 MBA, but it seems that 10.7.2 is a unified OS X Lion version, so there's a chance that it may work?)

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
Yup, will do that. Thanks for your insights!

If that's not possible, would it be possible to purchase & download the Lion Installer from Mac App Store , extract the InstallESD.dmg of the 10.7.2 Lion Installer and use it as a offline Lion installer for Macbook Air 2011 / Mac mini 2011? ( I know that this method won't work with 10.7.1 because of a different build number required for 2011 MBA, but it seems that 10.7.2 is a unified OS X Lion version, so there's a chance that it may work?)

im not 100% sure but yes in theory it will work the whole point of making your own dvd or flash drive is that apple charges $79.00 for something you can make your self for $29.99 plus the cost of the DVD or flash drive

so even spending the $29.99 is a pain to pay becasue you already have lion but if you really want a bootable dvd its the cheaper way to get one

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
im not 100% sure but yes in theory it will work the whole point of making your own dvd or flash drive is that apple charges $79.00 for something you can make your self for $29.99 plus the cost of the DVD or flash drive

so even spending the $29.99 is a pain to pay becasue you already have lion but if you really want a bootable dvd its the cheaper way to get one

the Apple Lion Flash drive installer sold at Apple Store previously did not work with 2011 MBA (confirmed with AppleCare specialist) because the build number is different from what's required for 2011 MBA.

I don't mind paying US$29.99 to get a 100% working/reliable offline Lion Installer for 2011 MBA, but I am not sure if the new 10.7.2's InstallESD.dmg would work, since all previous versions of Lion downloaded from Mac App Store do not work with 2011 MBA (which require a different build number).

heisenberg123 · Oct 20, 2011

symentak said:
the Apple Lion Flash drive installer sold at Apple Store previously did not work with 2011 MBA (confirmed with AppleCare specialist) because the build number is different from what's required for 2011 MBA.

I don't mind paying US$29.99 to get a 100% working/reliable offline Lion Installer for 2011 MBA, but I am not sure if the new 10.7.2's InstallESD.dmg would work, since all previous versions of Lion downloaded from Mac App Store do not work with 2011 MBA (which require a different build number).

good question, if its the same build for all systems now than i would guess it would be fine but i dont want you to waste $29.99 on something that cant be of use

symentak · Oct 20, 2011

iisforiphone said:
good question, if its the same build for all systems now than i would guess it would be fine but i dont want you to waste $29.99 on something that cant be of use

I wouldn't have considered going down this path if not because my Internet Service Provider implements a transparent proxy which blocks port 80 and 443, both of which are required for "OS X Lion Internet Restore", as shown on http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1629

jela · Nov 7, 2011

symentak said:
I wouldn't have considered going down this path if not because my Internet Service Provider implements a transparent proxy which blocks port 80 and 443, both of which are required for "OS X Lion Internet Restore", as shown on http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1629

@symentak I have the same problem. Have you found any solution?

Was trying to migrate my time capsule MBP backup, some error occurred, got the flashing question mark, tried Internet recovery, 3403F error.

And I just bought this MBA a few hours ago... I wanna weep.

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