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Lion USB Keys Available For Some via AppleCare

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Lion USB flash drives are available for customers who are unable to use Lion's built-in recovery tools, according to an internal AppleCare document obtained by 9to5Mac. The document notes that "the ability to use this USB drive depends on how the customer purchased Lion and what computer they are using." The document doesn't go into any further detail, but it could be that new Macs with the Internet Recovery feature don't require the USB drive.

Further, these drives aren't necessarily the same as the thumb drives Apple plans to put on sale sometime this month for $69. Those USB drives aren't available yet.

However, for customers who are having difficulty with their Lion installations, a visit to an Apple Store or a call to 800-APL-CARE may be helpful.

It is also possible to make a bootable Lion installer on a DVD or on a USB flash drive using a small AppleScript application to automate the process. Some recommend the flash drive instead of the DVD, as it reportedly is much faster to install the OS in that manner.

Article Link: Lion USB Keys Available For Some via AppleCare
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/04/lion-usb-keys-available-for-some-via-applecare/
seems like the Lion OS on a USB stick will become very common ... not everyone wants to only have the download option
 
balamw said:
Does Lion Disk Maker (linked) do anything more than copy the DMG to the USB or optical media?

B
Click to expand...

I just went over the code, and no, all it does copy the disk image to the disk, with some conditionals for optical or non-optical media.
 
A word to the wise: Be aware that the AppleScript erases anything that was previously on the target drive.
 
42streetsdown said:
is this supposed to be just for app store purchases of Lion, or could i get this for my new MacBook air?
Click to expand...

Since you have a new MBA, it has the built-in internet recovery feature. It states in the article it's not for those who have it, so one can assume it's for those downloaded from the app store.
 
C00rDiNaT0r said:
will regular USB drives install Lion faster than those "class 10" SD cards?
Click to expand...

Some of todays USB flash drives reach the USB 2.0 limit (around 33 MByte/s), if they read data (that is what the installer does). The exact brands vary from country to country, but you can use Google to find tests & other important info.

Class 10 cards can only reach 10 MByte/s for write operations, and probably not more than 20 MByte/s for read operations.
 
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Class ten requires a minimum of 10mb/s, but many go several times higher than just ten.
 
I'm considering calling AppleCare to see if they will send me one.. I bought lion, but I LOVE free stuff. LOL.. Don't we all love free stuff? I'm not going to lie to them or anything to get them to send me a free USB stick, I will just see if they are willing to send me a complimentary one.
 
AlphaDogg said:
I'm considering calling AppleCare to see if they will send me one.. I bought lion, but I LOVE free stuff. LOL.. Don't we all love free stuff? I'm not going to lie to them or anything to get them to send me a free USB stick, I will just see if they are willing to send me a complimentary one.
Click to expand...

haha try it and get back to us
 
The question for me is will these USB key versions of Lion be installable to the new Mac Mini and MacBook Air. This is what I want to know. I do not want to have to rely on getting my OS from Apple via the Internet everytime I want to reinstall.
 
belltree said:
The question for me is will these USB key versions of Lion be installable to the new Mac Mini and MacBook Air. This is what I want to know. I do not want to have to rely on getting my OS from Apple via the Internet everytime I want to reinstall.
Click to expand...

I doubt they will as the MBA uses a different build of Lion. I tried the Mac App Store version via USB and DVD and neither worked for the MBA so I doubt the USB would too, in fact thats probably why they won't be releasing these USB sticks to MBA/mac mini 2011 customers (presuming the mac mini also uses a different build).

You won't have to rely on the internet every time you reinstall, if you use the recovery HD, unless you wipe the HD. In my experience once you've downloaded the additional components on the MBA, they're there for good (on the main partition, not the recovery HD) but I totally agree with you anyway. It took me five attempts to restore my MBA (on a good connection!) and I still can't reinstall Lion on my iMac due to it timing out on the downloads. Might have to see if I can get the USB stick in the UK for the iMac.
 
Ubuntu said:
I doubt they will as the MBA uses a different build of Lion. I tried the Mac App Store version via USB and DVD and neither worked for the MBA so I doubt the USB would too, in fact thats probably why they won't be releasing these USB sticks to MBA/mac mini 2011 customers (presuming the mac mini also uses a different build).

You won't have to rely on the internet every time you reinstall, if you use the recovery HD, unless you wipe the HD. In my experience once you've downloaded the additional components on the MBA, they're there for good (on the main partition, not the recovery HD) but I totally agree with you anyway. It took me five attempts to restore my MBA (on a good connection!) and I still can't reinstall Lion on my iMac due to it timing out on the downloads. Might have to see if I can get the USB stick in the UK for the iMac.
Click to expand...

Le sigh. You'd think with all the $$ we are paying the least they could do is allow us to create our own bootable media with custom builds for our hardware. :mad:
 
tecHunger said:
If anybody is interested in making there own key (to save a crap load of money) Click here to see the simple tutorial I made. I just show how to do it the easiest way possible.
Click to expand...

only thing my friend is that it doesn't work for Airs that shipped with Lion for the simple reason that it is a later version than the GoldMaster released as 10.7 and App Store does not allow a download of this version, as yet.
thus thousands of users in my situation will have to await 10.7.1 and then shell out $ to Apple for the download to be able to have a backup - or else, just stick with the status quo
 
halledise said:
all this recovery partition crap and having to download a re-install from the AppStore via internet only smacks of being just a wee bit Microsoft-ish :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yes it does seem to, the last time I saw a recovery partition was on my brothers acer laptop.
 
halledise said:
that's what I reckon too.

all this recovery partition crap and having to download a re-install from the AppStore via internet only smacks of being just a wee bit Microsoft-ish :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

My mum's £400 HP laptop has a recovery partition (and a lot of bloatware in the OS itself, its like HP-styled Windows 7, ouch) and it actually works fine.

Its an insult for Apple to drop optical media like this and then expect us to pay $69 for a USB stick some owners should have been entitled to in the first place.
 
Why would anyone pay $69 for a Lion USB when they can burn the Lion Intsaller from Disk Utility in Snow Leopard after downloading but not installing Lion from the MacApp Store?
DVD cost $1
 
vartanarsen said:
Why would anyone pay $69 for a Lion USB when they can burn the Lion Intsaller from Disk Utility in Snow Leopard after downloading but not installing Lion from the MacApp Store?
DVD cost $1
Click to expand...

This. People also have to stop complaining about the lack of a DVD drive. Last i checked, you can get an external one from Apple. I'll bet that's a rather common purchase in fact. For the rare times you need a DVD/CD, just pull out the drive and you're good to go.
 
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