Here's a basic question....

[wimmer]

I inherited a Macmini A1176, after having alt/comm+R and erased the disk, then tried to reinstall over the net, I have made an App store account, now I can only get as far as entering id and password, (after getting a code which I input after password)? Now I can't get past 'This Apple ID has not been used with the App store'. I login into the app store - then what? thx.

 

[Boyd01]

That model number suggests a Mac from the 2006 - 2009 period. Which of these do you have?

Lookup Mac Specs By Serial Number, Order, Model & EMC Number, Model ID @ EveryMac.com

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup - lookup Apple Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad specs by serial number, order number, model number, model ID, EMC number and more.

everymac.com

What version of MacOS are you running?

 

[wimmer]

Lion

 

[Boyd01]

I'm not sure if the App Store still supports Lion, maybe someone else here knows?

 

[wimmer]

I'm not sure if the App Store still supports Lion, maybe someone else here knows?

Oh OK, I guess if they do not support it, then the OS is now freeware! Ha ha.

 

[niteflyr]

Try some different boot options to recovery then install.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

You can use macOS Recovery, your computer's built-in recovery system, to reinstall the Mac operating system. Reinstalling macOS doesn't remove your personal data.

support.apple.com

 

[niteflyr]

You also can buy a Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard install DVD on eBay if all else fails.

 

[wimmer]

Thanks all - I guess getting a disk is the best option.

 

[getrealbro]

Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 is available for free download (6.1 GB) if you search for it.

I was recently given an early model MacBook running Lion. I found my original Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 box but not the DVD. So I downloaded the installer, wiped the HDD, installed Snow Leopard, and applied the OS X 10.6.8 combo update. Running the legendary Snow Leopard again is way cool

GetRealBro

Edit: for those interested in how Snow Leopard became a legend...

The Mac, The Myth, The Legend: How Snow Leopard became synonymous with reliability - 9to5Mac

Following the news that Apple had refocused their plans for iOS 12 around stability and performance over new features, many...

9to5mac.com

 

[niteflyr]

Some of the newer MacOS features are nice, but nothing ran better than Snow Leopard.

 

[Boyd01]

I actually always liked Lion, and IIRC it was the last version to feature Rosetta for running old Power PC apps.

 

[r6mile]

I actually always liked Lion, and IIRC it was the last version to feature Rosetta for running old Power PC apps.

Snow Leopard was the last version with Rosetta - Lion was the first one without Rosetta.