MacOS – Reinstalling OS X on old MBP. Tried Internet Reinstall and Newer OS X USB Install

installmacbook promacosusb

I have an old Macbook Pro running OS X Lion that has been completely wiped. I want to reinstall OS X.

  1. I first tried going into Recovery and using the Internet Reinstall, but the download/install timed-out and froze.
  2. I then used my newer MBP to burn a Mavericks USB with Diskmaker X. However, when I plug in the Mavericks USB into the older Lion MBP and select the Mavericks Install USB in recovery, it shows the Apple icon with a loader, and then boots into the Lion Recovery menu.

I'm stuck any suggestions?

Best Answer

You said "an old MacBook Pro." Perhaps if you could be a little more specific? This article from Apple will tell you if it is compatible:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5842

If it is not that may be why it didn't work.

Internet recovery may have timed out due to WiFi issues, besides no matter how fast your WiFi is its still slower and less reliable than an ethernet cable plugged directly into your router. You might want to try that.

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