How to Re-Download Lion From the Mac App Store

Dan-- said:

Maybe a bit off topic - but I've got a late 2006 MB C2D, (soon to be replaced, but will live on as a secondary machine) that can't run ML.

If I could get Lion on there still, what would be the recommended OS for that machine. It's currently on Snow Leopard. I don't really need Rosetta much anymore since X-rite updated it's monitor calibration SW.

Machine (dead battery) will mostly likely be used as an iTunes server for the household, plus occasional other usage.

Thanks

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If it will be occasionally used to browse the Internet or to consume media that was obtained from the Internet, then I would strongly encourage you to use an operating system that is still receiving regular security patches.

OS X Lion is likely to continue receiving security patches at least until the follow-up to Mountain Lion is released; OS X Snow Leopard has likely already stopped receiving security patches. (Although Apple may break with their traditional behaviour and provide a little more support for Snow Leopard specifically because it represents the end of the road for 32-bit Intel machines.)

Therefore, personally I would strongly recommend you should upgrade to Lion if you can manage to get your hands on it.

error

Same here in UK. In Lion, App Store, option click, there it is and...

There was an error in the App Store. Please try again later. (13)

Bah Humbug!

Neat trick, worked for me

won't allow after on has ML on their machine!

adrian.oconnor said:

If Lion came on your MBA you already have a copy to keep -- in your laptop box you also got a tiny little white USB stick (with a grey Apple logo on it). That's the Lion install 'disc'. If you need to wipe the laptop, stick that in and hold down alt (or 'the option key') while the computer starts up.

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Um. No.

kcamfork said:

Um. No.

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In this case, if you can't get Lion from the App Store and have a spare external drive large enough to hold a Lion install, you can obtain a full, bootable Lion install image for your system via Internet Recovery: hold down Command+R while your Mac starts up to do a recovery boot, start a "reinstall" to the external drive, then wait for Lion to finish downloading from Apple, but unplug the external drive before the system reboots to complete the install.

At this point, your external drive should contain a file named "InstallESD.dmg". This is a Lion installer image, capable of booting your Mac, that can be restored to a disk (flash drive, SD card, external hard drive partition, etc.) or burnt to a DVD with Disk Utility. While a pain in the ass, this process should be reliable and, for machines that shipped with Lion, independent of App Store purchases and availability.

jasomill said:

In this case, if you can't get Lion from the App Store and have a spare external drive large enough to hold a Lion install, you can obtain a full, bootable Lion install image for your system via Internet Recovery: hold down Command+R while your Mac starts up to do a recovery boot, start a "reinstall" to the external drive, then wait for Lion to finish downloading from Apple, but unplug the external drive before the system reboots to complete the install.

At this point, your external drive should contain a file named "InstallESD.dmg". This is a Lion installer image, capable of booting your Mac, that can be restored to a disk (flash drive, SD card, external hard drive partition, etc.) or burnt to a DVD with Disk Utility. While a pain in the ass, this process should be reliable and, for machines that shipped with Lion, independent of App Store purchases and availability.

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Almost 100% correct, except that Command + R allows you to boot from a recovery partition created on the mac's HDD. That recovery partition is created whenever Lion is installed onto your machine, therefore, if you have Lion, then you can Always install Lion and reinstall it as many times as you want. What you are talking about, Internet Recovery, is slightly different. Internet recovery is Command + Option + R, and this pulls the install Image from Apple's server in the case that your hard drive fails or anything of the sort. Pretty nifty and smart thinking on Apple's art to include both options. (Although, the process mentioned by jasomill will work with either of these options)

Also, If your mac detects an error with you HDD, it automatically boots from the internet partition on the server.

As to the Lion being hidden in purchases, just unhide it by going into your account in the Mac App Store under quick links, sign in, and click on "View Hidden Purchases" From there, you can select Lion and "Unhide" it. Hope that helps people in the dark about this. And also, Lion is available by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE via the Legacy Store. Very simple process, just call, pay, and get emailed a redemption code for Lion!

hglk said:

... snip ...

As to the Lion being hidden in purchases, just unhide it by going into your account in the Mac App Store under quick links, sign in, and click on "View Hidden Purchases" From there, you can select Lion and "Unhide" it. Hope that helps people in the dark about this. And also, Lion is available by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE via the Legacy Store. Very simple process, just call, pay, and get emailed a redemption code for Lion!

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I've got Lion visible in my purchases list. I'm running Lion 10.7.4. Yet every time I click the download button, I get the same error I've previously detailed. <SNARK> How much later do I have to try? </SNARK>

I've never heard of the "Legacy Store." And since I've already paid for Lion, are they going to insist I pay again if I call them? (I ask this because I called Apple last night about an issue with my third generation AppleTV and the <ahem> helpful representative wouldn't talk to me about it unless I purchased an AppleCare contract. The fact that I had only connected the thing for the first time yesterday was irrelevant. I'm starting to believe that Apple is forgetting about customer service in favor of their infinite wisdom.)

I still maintain that Apple is going about this the wrong way. Not every consumer is a total idiot; let us choose for ourselves.

Acks101 said:

Hi i have tried the above method and it is not working for me. osx Lion is not coming up when i press the option key and click purchases.

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I do not even have to option click on purchases to see Lion in the list of my purchases. Even Xcode for Snow Leopard still appears in that list (and that is a different beast than the free Xcode for Lion/Mountain Lion). The strange thing is that Amazon's Kindle app NEVER shows up in my list of purchases - it's the only app that the App Store always "forgets" to list; the App Store's been doing that since Snow Leopard.

Primejimbo said:

sorry for the dumb question...
How do I get Mountain Lion with Snow Leopard? Will I get charged for Lion when I buy Mountain Lion then?

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No, you can upgrade straight from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. You don't have to have ever had Lion and you won't get charged for Lion either. Pay your $19.99 and enjoy Mountain Lion.

I just did this last night. I see my purchase but it wont let me download it due to being on Mountain Lion. So I just changed the OS X version number following this guide: http://justindaigle.com/blog/2010/02/tutorial-change-mac-os-x-system-version/

Change it to 10.6.6 and then it will let you download it. Then just change it back when you're done.

weckart said:

My MBP came with Tiger. Running ML right now.

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My mid-2007 24" iMac came with Tiger as well; and is one of the earliest Macs that supports Mountain Lion.

I haven't downloaded it yet... but soon.

I never needed the "Option Key Trick" to re-download Lion since it stayed under my Purchase tab, and the Download function kept being available, but I had a question... I downloaded it after the release of 10.7.5 and got an MD5SUM for the DMG that was different than that I confirmed was 10.7.4. (Back when Lion was actually available for purchase, it told me what version it was on the product page, now the product page in the app store is unavailable)

Does that mean that if I take the DMG and burn it to DVD, it will actually be 10.7.5 instead of 10.7.0 or some other point release?

If I bought it I should be able to redownload

I am replacing disc in my mac pro with SSD and things didn't go as planned,
but I have my 10.6 snow leopard disc so I can get back to life but now I can't download Lion because of so screwy scheme Apple has come up with , this sucks.

Apple software is getting a troublesome as MS to deal with. In the past if I bought the software I had a disc that I could back to use if an emergency came up now I have nothing. I'm not going to be buying software from the app store anymore as if I lose or change out discs I can loose all the apps I paid for.

I just called Apple and ordered Lion 10.7 for $29. After a couple days they emailed me a code to put into the AppStore which added Lion to my purchases.

djharris said:

I never needed the "Option Key Trick" to re-download Lion since it stayed under my Purchase tab, and the Download function kept being available, but I had a question... I downloaded it after the release of 10.7.5 and got an MD5SUM for the DMG that was different than that I confirmed was 10.7.4. (Back when Lion was actually available for purchase, it told me what version it was on the product page, now the product page in the app store is unavailable)

Does that mean that if I take the DMG and burn it to DVD, it will actually be 10.7.5 instead of 10.7.0 or some other point release?

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Yes