ML Install image and Lion and Recovery

[dukebound85]

Now that ML is about out, will we be able to install Lion back on our system if we do not like it?

Will the recovery partition allow you to select either Lion or ML? (my mac shipped with lion)

Also, is there a way I can have Lion show up as a paid app in the MAS since it shipped with my device?

 

[arbitrage]

From reading about people using the GM and DP4 it seems like ML erases the lion recovery totally. Only ML recovery is on there. The only way people have been able to go back to lion is to force an Internet Recovery on boot. So yes there may be a way to go back but it isn't simple or obvious.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Downgrading to Lion requires deleting the entire partition so all your files and preferences are lost.

The best thing to do is to run a Time Machine backup before trying out ML GM and keeping that backup independent from any Time Machine backups you might run in ML.

Yesterday I downgraded to Lion, and the only way possible to do this was by wiping out the partition and then using the "Transfer files from backup" after the Lion installation was finished in order to recover old files. It did a very poor job since my Time Machine backup was one that I ran in the ML GM.

The best thing to do is to restore from a Time Machine backup, and that's why you will want to have Lion and ML backups that are separate, but that's just my experience.

Also, you better make sure you have Lion associated with your MAS before you try to install ML since downgrading will require that.

 

[dfine1966]

Couldn't you just create a USB drive of Lion. I guess this would have to be done before you installed Mountain Lion. Go to app store, hold option key before pressing purchased area. Download Lion and use to create a bootable USB flash drive.

But if you had already installed Mountain Lion, then I guess you would have to do it the hard way.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Couldn't you just create a USB drive of Lion. I guess this would have to be done before you installed Mountain Lion. Go to app store, hold option key before pressing purchased area. Download Lion and use to create a bootable USB flash drive.

But if you had already installed Mountain Lion, then I guess you would have to do it the hard way.

Even if you had a Lion USB, you'd still need to repartition, losing all data. The installer won't allow you to downgrade from a newer version of the operating system.

 

[2499723]

From reading about people using the GM and DP4 it seems like ML erases the lion recovery totally. Only ML recovery is on there. The only way people have been able to go back to lion is to force an Internet Recovery on boot. So yes there may be a way to go back but it isn't simple or obvious.

So, can I just confirm something with people who have used/know about the Mountain Lion Recovery situation? I am buying a retina MacBook Pro, which will have Lion installed. If I install ML when it is released, will I be stuck with an outdated Lion recovery partition or will that partition get updated to ML as well? It would seem senseless to have a Lion recovery partition (which shipped with the machine originally), but ML for the operating system. If something went wrong, would you have to revert to that older OS?

In another thread, someone mentioned that the EFI recovery tool also includes a copy of the recovery files. I would assume this is not updated when the computer is updated to ML from Lion. Is that correct? Here's a link to the thread I'm referring to.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1398531/

I apologise if this has been answered elsewhere many times before, but this thread seemed relevant enough!

Regards

 

[arbitrage]

So, can I just confirm something with people who have used/know about the Mountain Lion Recovery situation? I am buying a retina MacBook Pro, which will have Lion installed. If I install ML when it is released, will I be stuck with an outdated Lion recovery partition or will that partition get updated to ML as well? It would seem senseless to have a Lion recovery partition (which shipped with the machine originally), but ML for the operating system. If something went wrong, would you have to revert to that older OS?

In another thread, someone mentioned that the EFI recovery tool also includes a copy of the recovery files. I would assume this is not updated when the computer is updated to ML from Lion. Is that correct? Here's a link to the thread I'm referring to.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1398531/

I apologise if this has been answered elsewhere many times before, but this thread seemed relevant enough!

Regards

I know that on my 2012 Air the Recovery partition is turned into ML and not Lion anymore. I assume there must be some way to get lion back as it was the operating system that shipped with the system. If I was to sell my 2012 Air, and had purchased ML, I technically should be selling it with Lion and not ML.

However, from reading these boards it seems that some people say that holding down CMD+Opt+R on boot up will force the Internet recovery and that may still be Lion and still work. However, I've read some posters say this works and others say it doesn't work. I may give it a try with my Air as an experiment to find out.

I suppose if you just boot into Recovery mode and then go into Disk Utility you can format the drive and then try to install from there? You would need a copy of lion on a portable USB thumb-drive.

 

[2499723]

I know that on my 2012 Air...

Thanks for that reply. That really cleared up the issue about the recovery partition. That's my main concern, and I'm pleased to know the recovery partition gets updated to ML. It would be interesting to see what method exists to get the original operating system back onto the computer, and I look forward to hearing the results of your experiment.

When Lion was released, I made a USB stick out of the DMG buried within the installation program downloaded from the App Store. The only problem I now have is that is version 10.7.0. Attempting to use it on any computer released subsequent to that early version of Lion ends up a nonstarter, because a message states that the computer is incompatible with the earlier form of Lion. If I try the Option-Click method of redownloading the now updated Lion installation application from the App Store, I am presented with a message that this version of Lion is incompatible with my machine. It seems that Apple has wizened up. It either is only allowing me to download 10.7.0, as that was the version of my original download, or it is seeing 10.7.4 operating my machine and figures I don't need the 10.7.4 install file. Kind of a pain, if you ask me. I am now prevented from making a 10.7.4 USB image!

 

[Weaselboy]

If I try the Option-Click method of redownloading the now updated Lion installation application from the App Store, I am presented with a message that this version of Lion is incompatible with my machine. It seems that Apple has wizened up. It either is only allowing me to download 10.7.0, as that was the version of my original download, or it is seeing 10.7.4 operating my machine and figures I don't need the 10.7.4 install file. Kind of a pain, if you ask me. I am now prevented from making a 10.7.4 USB image!

Do you have a 2012 machine? I believe the 2012 models use a custom build of 10.7.4 that is not the same as the one on the app store, and this is the source of the problem. I know before the 2012 machines came out people were making USB installers with 10.7.4 and it was working.

I suspect once 10.7.5 comes and is updated to the app store, this problem will go away.