Thank you tsialex for sharing this with us. Would you also be ok in sharing those workarounds for older Macs with firmware password enabled as I wouldn't mind learning more tricks. Thank you.
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install MacOS on older MacBook Pro
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Thank you tsialex for sharing this with us. Would you also be ok in sharing those workarounds for older Macs with firmware password enabled as I wouldn't mind learning more tricks. Thank you.
With Macs that have memory slots, just changing the memory quantity, like removing one DIMM/SODIMM, is enough to remove the firmware password. This works for almost all Macs released before 2010 and some of the 2010/2012 Macs, like MP5,1.
For newer Macs, that involves firmware reconstruction and I'm not going to explain how to do that for obvious reasons.
Yes you're good to go. If you want to sell the Macbook Pro, you need to delete your Apple ID account from your computer.
1, Launch iTunes
2, Choose > View Accounts
3, Enter your password
4, Click Manage Devices under iTunes in the cloud
5, Click Remove next to remove each devices associated with your account
6, Click Done
7, Choose Store > Deauthorize This Computer
After that, do a clean 2 pass or more wipe of your hard drive and then re-install a fresh OS and after that, you can sell it to the next owner. Following tsialex advice, you can alter the memory configuration of your Macbook Pro 2008 to remove the firmware password if there is any.
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Thank you again and very much appreciated!
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iluvmacs99
Thanks! Wow, I've discovered quite a complicated world it seems! I didn't know that. I was lucky then that this MBP was "easy" to fix!
Still, even if I was the original owner and had lost my DVDs, it's not an easy fix. I suppose Apple's perspective is "if the system is still supported, you can pop into an Apple Store where we would be happy to sell you a new set of install DVDs"
Am I correct?
Thanks! Wow, I've discovered quite a complicated world it seems! I didn't know that. I was lucky then that this MBP was "easy" to fix!
Still, even if I was the original owner and had lost my DVDs, it's not an easy fix. I suppose Apple's perspective is "if the system is still supported, you can pop into an Apple Store where we would be happy to sell you a new set of install DVDs"
Am I correct?
iluvmacs99
Thanks! Wow, I've discovered quite a complicated world it seems! I didn't know that. I was lucky then that this MBP was "easy" to fix!
Still, even if I was the original owner and had lost my DVDs, it's not an easy fix. I suppose Apple's perspective is "if the system is still supported, you can pop into an Apple Store where we would be happy to sell you a new set of install DVDs"
Older MBP are easier to fix than newer T2 equipped MBP if you have the right install ISO disks as well as the knowledge and tools. Apple stance has always been to sell you either a new computer or a new set of install DVDs whenever possible or available to maintain sales growth.
OP wrote in post 12:
"this morning I was able to "buy" El Capitan from the app store - took me a while to find the link but it took me to the app store where I could "download" the install file. It downloaded ok on my laptop and I'm trying to create a bootable disk right now - do you think it's not going to work?"
Yet, didn't you tell us in post 8 that you have ALREADY INSTALLED El Cap by "setting back" the date?
And does this mean the MacBook is now booting and running El Cap ok?
If so, WHY ARE YOU GOING TO MESS WITH IT?
I suggest you go back and re-read my post 6 to you above...
More...
Post 22:
"I have now managed - using an ISO found somewhere - to install El Capitan and I have logged in using my Apple ID so I should be good to go now?"
I think you ought to let things go at that and be happy that it's up and running.
"this morning I was able to "buy" El Capitan from the app store - took me a while to find the link but it took me to the app store where I could "download" the install file. It downloaded ok on my laptop and I'm trying to create a bootable disk right now - do you think it's not going to work?"
Yet, didn't you tell us in post 8 that you have ALREADY INSTALLED El Cap by "setting back" the date?
And does this mean the MacBook is now booting and running El Cap ok?
If so, WHY ARE YOU GOING TO MESS WITH IT?
I suggest you go back and re-read my post 6 to you above...
More...
Post 22:
"I have now managed - using an ISO found somewhere - to install El Capitan and I have logged in using my Apple ID so I should be good to go now?"
I think you ought to let things go at that and be happy that it's up and running.
No, the last Installer that you can buy is the Lion USB key, last DVD is Snow Leopard.iluvmacs99
Thanks! Wow, I've discovered quite a complicated world it seems! I didn't know that. I was lucky then that this MBP was "easy" to fix!
Still, even if I was the original owner and had lost my DVDs, it's not an easy fix. I suppose Apple's perspective is "if the system is still supported, you can pop into an Apple Store where we would be happy to sell you a new set of install DVDs"
All Macs after 2010 can use Internet Recovery (except 2009/2010/2012 Mac Pros). All Macs after 2012 have macOS for free.
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No, I hadn't reinstalled 10.11 by post 8. Can I say that you sound a bit aggressive?
Well, thanks for your advice but this is not how I learn things
As I mentioned before, this morning I managed to "purchase" El Capitan on the Apple Store. I then run DiskMaker X and made a USB drive using the El Capitan installer I found under Applications.
This evening I tried installing MacOs again from that USB - first because I am a curious person, second because this OS comes from Apple and not from a random place on the Internet.
At first, it did not work and it would come up with the "corrupted media" - which I understand it could be the expired certificated. Indeed my date had been reset to today's date. I changed to to 2015, but still no luck. I changed to 2017 and... it worked. It happily reinstalled 10.11 on my MBP.
Not sure whether this is because I had installed 10.11 on this laptop again? Please note that I did wipe the whole disk before installing.
So... now I am confused as you said it was not supposed to work! I have rescued an SSD so I'll have to install again!
Unless Apple radically changed things in the last week, you didn't acquire the MAS El Capitan, Mac App Store don't offer it since Sierra was released.
What you can get today is the Apple Support El Capitan that download an InstallOS.dmg from the MAS servers.
Where did you got, link, the old MAS version?
El Capitan is still available at the App Store, I saved the link from past access, but it is not the "official" Apple way to get it and the certificate may have expired:
The Apple official way to get El Capitan is via this Apple Support page (see Steps 4-6):
How to download and install macOS – Apple Support (UK)
Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.
Don't work here, I'll check from an earlier macOS release. Anyway, it's not the ProductID from the MAS version. Maybe it's the previous version of the Apple Support release that have the old certificates - that version could be used to create an createinstallmedia USB installer, the new one can't.
MAS URLs are country agnostic, it's not this. Some old macOS versions can't be downloaded from newer macOS releases, you have to use a previous one - maybe it's the case here.
Works here. When I click on the link a web browser page opens and automatically connects to the App Store and I get access to El Capitan at the App Store (I'm currently using Mojave):