I didn't miss your crossing fingers statement, I misinterpreted it. I don't remember you saying I should bring it to the Apple Store so I thought you meant you hoped that what I did to reinstall Mavericks onto my hard drive worked.
A Mac tech once told me on the phone that I could call after AppleCare expired and still get free help, depending on the tech I got. I didn't have the nerve to do that considering everything I need help for takes a lot of time.
The customer I sat next to when at the Apple Store did experience that, though. he had a problem and had come in two weeks in a row. The tech told him they figured out it was the power cord and they would give it to him for free! Nice.
When going over your steps to install a new OS I got a little confused.
First, I am not married to Mavericks. So, if there is another version or even Sierra available, I will download that.
1. I understand that I attach my external hard drive (already attached).
2. Go to App Store and blah blah blah and get to the OX I want.
3. Download the OS to my internal hard drive
The part that confused me was
If you do get lucky, I suggest that you launch /Apps/Utilities/Disk Utility and erase your old MBP's HDD before you install the new OS.Do you mean download the OS but don't install it until I know it's completely downloaded? I still won't know if I got lucky and it was a good d/l. Plus when I d/l the new OS don't I have to pick where I want it to download first. If so, erasing the HD afterward erases the OS. I know I'm missing something.
Then I erase the Mac HD and THEN install the new OS?
Also, this line didn't show the image. But, in Mavericks there is no second line. The Disk Utility looks very different. But if I install Sierra then it WILL look like the one your are describing I am assuming.
Oops!!! You missed my "I've got my fingers crossed for
both of your MBPs."
Specific instance: Apple discontinued install discs secure in the knowledge that everybody in the entire world has access to high-speed internet, but just on the
very outside chance that there
might be a handful of people in some obscure corner who haven't got it, they provided these helpful options:
- imposing on a friend,
- imposing on your boss,
- imposing on a neighbor,
- imposing on a relative,
- aaand just in case none of those options is viable, bringing your Mac to an Apple Store.
And the bottom line of all that is since you couldn't connect to the internet they'd have installed an OS on your old MBP at no charge.
In general: From all accounts, the Geniuses are very accommodating (They've given me two new batteries for out-of-warrantee Macs.), and assuming that they WON'T do something can be a BAD mistake. Give them a chance; you can always say no if they want to charge you more than you're willing to spend.
As for your old MBP, yeah, I remember what you want to do, but I'm still wondering why you want to perpetuate an old OS rather than keep it up to speed.
Things absolutely can go wrong with an OS installation, particularly a d/l, and it's most likely that your problems with your new MBP resulted from a bad install, as your current problem with your old MBP certainly did.
And also as for your old MBP, I realized that we've been obsessing with getting into it through the back door and have overlooked the fact that there may be a front door, so here you go:
- Boot your MBP from your external.
- Navigate to the App Store.
- Click on the "Purchased" tab.
- Enter your Apple ID and password.
If you're lucky, Mavericks will be listed with an appended "Download" button, and since you'll already be connected to the internet you'll be able to download it, select "Macintosh Hard Drive" (or whatever it's called on your old MBP) as your destination volume, and install it with no problems.
If you do get lucky, I suggest that you launch /Apps/Utilities/Disk Utility and erase your old MBP's HDD before you install the new OS.
More: I'd erase
the second line, your boot volume, rather than the top line, your entire HDD. [/quote]
