Lion Clean Install Requires Snow Leopard Disk?

[robeddie]

You only have to do it once, because once Lion is installed, it will put a recovery partition on the hard disk. So you won't need a disc after the initial install.

yeah, well, unless your hard drive crashes, or you simply want to put in a larger brand new hard drive, and rather than bulk copy everything over you want to do a clean install and start from scratch.

Besides: WHAT ABOUT THE NEW MACS RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR?!?! WHAT IF YOU WANT TO DO A CLEAN INSTALL ON ONE OF THEM, BUT SINCE THEY SHIP WITH LION ---- THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO EVEN BOOT IN SNOW LEOPARD!!!

 

[seamer]

That's kinda ridiculous. I expect the TRIM partition to load enough data to allow an OS install over the air, or from a secondary device like a pre-loaded USB flash drive.

 

[baryon]

Guys don't panic! You can make a boot USB drive or a boot DVD from the installer by doing Show Package Contents and creating a boot disk from the DMG in there, via Disk Utility. That will allow you to clean install it, and you don't even need to have Snow Leopard at all, except to download the actual file from the App Store, but you can do that on someone else's computer first.

Alternatively, if you have Snow Leopard now, you can upgrade to Lion, and once that's done you can use its recovery partition to do a clean reinstall.

I don't know why Steve would suggest this, when there is clearly an easier solution (unless you have Leopard and you don't know anyone with a Mac that has Snow Leopard). I say the email is fake.

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

If it fails on a iMac you cant replace the HDD anyway so doesn't matter. Probably all Macs will ship with un-replaceable HHD's

This is the way it should be. People shouldn't be messing with the original way Apple designed it by putting in extra crap. It's perfect as is.

 

[smithrh]

One thought that comes to mind is that Apple would then be "restricting" Lion to people with halfway decent internet connections.

You know, those very same internet connections that iCloud will be using.

This way, they would be force selecting the population of people using iCloud to those with good connections.

Having said that, I'm suspicious of the whole deal...

 

[lucasd2]

Recovery Partition?

So what is the recovery partition used for, or how can we use it? Apple specifically says "Built into Lion
OS X Lion includes a built-in restore partition, allowing you to repair or reinstall OS X without the need for discs."

So could we do a clean install this way?

 

[BlackMangoTree]

This is the way it should be. People shouldn't be messing with the original way Apple designed it by putting in extra crap. It's perfect as is.

When your HHD dies on you out of warranty the computer becomes unusable with no way to replace the HDD.

 

[Icaras]

You have to have SL to use the mac store. That is part of the problem. The Mac Store does not work on Leopard.

Leopard discs are still sold through Apple over the phone. SL is still available through retail channels. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Leopard is a required part of the upgrade path for any PPC users still using pre-Leopard Mac OSX.

It is implied that SL will continue to be sold to allow an upgrade path for future Lion users. Seems to me they have their bases covered.

 

[DeaconGraves]

It's pretty sad how many people assume this rumor is true and respond with outrage.
It's very easy to spoof e-mail headers MacRumors. As if Steve Jobs is sitting around responding to these kinds of e-mails. It's laughable.
The current developer version does not require this and it is extremely unlikely the release version will either.
Happy now?

My outrage is more with MacRumors allowing a really sketchy rumor like this on the front page.

I think we need to bring back Page 2...

 

[themoffster]

Hi.
I don't own a mac yet and have been waiting for Lion to come out before i buy one as it will be preinstalled on the machine.

How am i expected to do a fresh install in this case?
Am i seriously being expected to buy an older version of the operating system so that i can install that to upgrade to the thing that i already bought when i purchased my machine?

 

[solace]

Guys don't panic! You can make a boot USB drive or a boot DVD from the installer by doing Show Package Contents and creating a boot disk from the DMG in there, via Disk Utility. That will allow you to clean install it, and you don't even need to have Snow Leopard at all, except to download the actual file from the App Store, but you can do that on someone else's computer first.

Alternatively, if you have Snow Leopard now, you can upgrade to Lion, and once that's done you can use its recovery partition to do a clean reinstall.

I don't know why Steve would suggest this, when there is clearly an easier solution (unless you have Leopard and you don't know anyone with a Mac that has Snow Leopard). I say the email is fake.

exactly. i've clean installed Lion DP2 and DP4 no problem on multiple machines.

 

[PigsOnTheWing]

...most of those "outraged" are the usual "concern trolls".

I think so! It appears that no one is actually reading this topic before flying off the handle. It has already been explained numerous times how to create a Lion boot disc (I used a USB thumb drive, myself) and do a clean install without needing a copy of Snow Leopard.

 

[BlackMangoTree]

My outrage is more with MacRumors allowing a really sketchy rumor like this on the front page.

I think we need to bring back Page 2...

Well how does one do a clean reinstall of Lion on a new HDD officially ?

 

[longofest]

Of course that is assuming that the reason for the new install isn't a.) your old disk failed b.) that you are upgrading your disk.

Heh... funny you should mention upgrading your disk. Wonder if that's really going to be an issue for much longer, with Apple using proprietary interfaces on the new iMacs. If they make everything proprietary, then users don't have that issue, as they would have to go to an Apple Store to upgrade their disk anyways.

Such scary thoughts...

 

[HiVolt]

I'm sure people with the MBA's and the small 64GB SSD's will be very happy about having to surrender an additional 5-6GB for Lion recovery partition...

 

[matuzalem]

Simply not true.

This is NOT TRUE. KThnxBye.

 

[Icaras]

My outrage is more with MacRumors allowing a really sketchy rumor like this on the front page.

I think we need to bring back Page 2...

Not sure about the Page 2. I like the simplicity of having one page with complementaty blogs for Mac and iOS now, but I agree with what you're saying that this article was a little ridiculous to get the spotlight. See what happens when MR stirs up the hornet's nest?

 

[Vader]

The fact remains that it is a poor method to not offer some kind of bootable media. You must either have another working computer or make your current computer a working computer (be it by booting from an os on a usb or installing SL) before installing Lion. I am sure when Lion starts shipping pre-installed on machines, they will include a Lion restore disc.

 

[DeaconGraves]

Well how does one do a clean reinstall of Lion on a new HDD officially ?

Don't ask me. I haven't used Lion yet.

All I was saying was that I don't believe that the e-mail from Steve is Authentic and that MacRumors needs to go back to its old ways and only post rumors that have some grounding of authenticity in them.

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

When your HHD dies on you out of warranty the computer becomes unusable with no way to replace the HDD.

Step 1: Get a job.
Step 2: Buy a new mac.
Step 3: End.

 

[Yamcha]

I don't like this at all, for some users this will mean buying both Snow Leopard & Lion, and not to mention its just a major inconvenience having to install 10.6 first..

But honestly I'm not too worried, I know people with the hackintosh team that are already working on making a bootable OS X Lion Disc..

 

[tripjammer]

I'm sure people with the MBA's and the small 64GB SSD's will be very happy about having to surrender an additional 5-6GB for Lion recovery partition...

Dude you can do a clean install on with just the LION os.

Do a bit of research and you will find out.

 

[Anaemik]

I think so! It appears that no one is actually reading this topic before flying off the handle. It has already been explained numerous times how to create a Lion boot disc (I used a USB thumb drive, myself) and do a clean install without needing a copy of Snow Leopard.

This is missing the point imo. Apple is waiting to launch new products so that they can ship with Lion. One of those products is targeted at a market sector that will include many newcomers to Apple and OS X. Expecting them to have to "hack" their way into getting an installable version of the OS would be a huge fail on Apple's part, and they're smart enough to know that.

Personally I put the chances of there being no way to easily create a bootable version of the OS at close to 0%.

 

[DeaconGraves]

Not sure about the Page 2. I like the simplicity of having one page with complementaty blogs for Mac and iOS now, but I agree with what you're saying that this article was a little ridiculous to get the spotlight. See what happens when MR stirs up the hornet's nest?

Fair enough. I keep forgetting about the blogs. But maybe that's where a story like this should go.

 

[Kyahx]

How are people still freaking out about this?

Facts:

1. All preview releases of Lion so far have been able to be burned to physical media and used to do a clean install. There is no reason to expect the final release to be any different.

2. When installing Lion, a separate bootable Restore partition is made. This partition can be used to preform disk maintenance, restore from a Time machine backup, etc.

Keep in mind that the Apple sanctioned method of upgrading the OS has *always* been to restore the machine with the media that originally came with the computer, and then use any retail upgrade discs (NOT to do a clean install, even thou it works fine). Any machine currently for sale with Snow Leopard will be told to restore using their original media, then to upgrade to Lion -- while any machines sold post-Lion will come with physical restore media already on Lion. Again, this will be the method that Apple officially recommends and supports, but other methods will still exist to do a clean install.