Installation problems

No need to bump. First of all, do the following:
0 - have a USB HDD on hand and make a FRESH Time Machine backup of your machine before touching Lion. This is just a precaution but it makes it easier to do a "clean install" should you require one. Do not merely update a previous TM backup. It is important you have a clean fresh TM backup so you know it is free of corruption and can really be used for fresh install migrate purposes.
1 - download the Lion app from the app store and STOP
2 - open Install OS X Lion.app in Finder with "show package contents" and find a file called InstallESD.dmg.
3 - Make a copy of that file! You might need it for restore later on.
4 - Once you know you have safely copied InstallESD.dmg and put it on an 8 gig or larger USB drive (it won't fit on a 4 Gig), you can run the Lion installer. It will DELETE ITSELF after the install so don't skip steps 1-3!

5 - If the install goes well, you are good to go. If not, there are other things you can now try which amount to a "fresh install"...


1 - Use disk utility to make a bootable USB stick from the InstallESD.dmg you backed up earlier. You will need to partition an 8 GB or larger USB stick as GUID partition scheme HFS+, then you can use Disk Utility to "retore" from InstallESD.dmg to the stick you just formatted. Don't use a 1 TB HDD. Don't use a disk you need for anything else. Spend the time to pick up an empty 8 GB USB stick at Walmart and use it, not a drive containing files you need or care about!

2 - Hold option while booting and boot from the USB stick you made above.
3 - Once you are booted up, launch Disk Utility from the USB stick and partition and format your Mac HDD as HFS+. YOU DID MAKE A FRESH TIME MACHINE BACKUP BEFORE GETTING THIS FAR RIGHT?!?
4 - Exit Disk Utility and install OS X to Macintosh HD you created in step 3
5 - When prompted, "migrate" from the fresh Time Machine backup you made earlier.

 

what did apple say?

 

Good point! As a new Lion user, you get AppleCare. Give them a call and see what they have to say. Though I must admit they aren't going to be very helpful about how to create your own USB install stick...