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IMHO not having install media as the default option is a problem. It doesn't matter if all the media does is boot up a network stack and FTP it from somewhere a

by cletus 14y ago

IMHO not having install media as the default option is a problem. It doesn't matter if all the media does is boot up a network stack and FTP it from somewhere and then run it but recovery scenarios aren't something you should have to twist yourself into a loop to solve. One of the advantages of the App Store model is that software is (AFAIK) easily redownloaded and reinstalled, so much so that I know people who have re-bought Aperture (for $80) on the App Store just for the convenience (plus then it can go on multiple Macs). Why Rob Pike wouldn't fork over $80 for Aperture and save himself the hassle is beyond me. You can say "it's the principle of the thing; I've already paid for it!" but really? What is your time worth? iWork can be had on the App Store too. Photoshop obviously can't but Photoshop should be recoverable somehow (right?). These days I have a box with the few disks I need (Win7, MS Office), I store my personal files on Dropbox and any media gets stored on a hard disk. If my Macbook Air got stolen or just died I'd be up and running within 2 hours of getting a new one. The only real annoyance for me is changing what computer your iDevices sync to. THAT is a major PITA. If you are migrating machines it's not so bad (but harder than it should be). But otherwise you need to backup, wipe it and reinstall everything and even then you lose all your iOS folders and so forth. I don't like the iMacs because they're not built for replacing hard disks (amongst other things). The Mac Mini however is. If this had happened to me I would've been shelling out money to avoid the hassle and the whole thing would've been over in a day or two. The moral I get from this post isn't how Apple is making things harder than they need to be (which they clearly are): it's that you shouldn't get caught up on the small shit that doesn't matter.

aidos 14y ago
I mentioned in another post - you can't always redownload. They don't keep older versions so you're screwed if you can't upgrade (I have an older machine stuck with Snow L).
- X-Istence 14y ago
  If you purchased it from the Mac App Store it is kept around and you can re-download older versions. http://imgur.com/m7tLP http://imgur.com/m7tLP that is a screenshot of my App Store purchases, notice that Mountain Lion and Lion are both available... --- Snow Leopard wasn't sold in the App Store and thus will not be available. You should have physical media for Snow Leopard.
  - aidos 14y ago
    Sorry, wasn't clear there - I have the physical snow leopard, iPhoto was the problem. I have the same screen as you but instead of the install button it says "Requires OS X v10.7". Right now you might have access but who knows when it'll be taken away and you'll be back to torrenting the content you paid for.
    - X-Istence 14y ago
      Actually I won't be torrenting anything due to having multiple backups in place. Just like I used to do with physical install media.
mhenr18 14y ago
When I had issues doing an install of Lion (I wanted Lion on an external HD before I upgraded to ML), I just drove out to an Apple Store and booted off one of their network images. What Apple should really do is ship an app with OSX that lets you create recovery boot media (either on DVD, a thumb drive or a full on external HD). That would make things so much easier for everyone.
- arrrg 14y ago
  It doesn’t ship with one, but you can download it here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433 http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433 (That link is placed on this page about OS X recovery, so it’s not hard to find: http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/ http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/ – though it’s important to note that this wouldn’t have solved his particular problem. You can only use this app on a system that already has Mountain Lion installed, so you have to think of this before you encounter the problem – or have a second Mac at hand with the right OS.) Current Macs also come with Internet Recovery, meaning it’s always possible to boot into the Recovery Manager, even with an empty HDD.
  - veridies 14y ago
    Which is great, except when I did it, it just... didn't work. Would download the recovery OS, then just shut off. I had to make a two hour drive to get to an Apple store where I could actually get a reinstall after my HDD broke.
comex 14y ago
Newer Macs have Internet Recovery, which connects to Wi-Fi from EFI firmware and downloads a recovery image. So you can do exactly that, except without the install media...
millerized 14y ago
many absolutes that are wrong with this story.. And if you wanna be a pseudo power user heres an FYI: the Lion installation app, as well as ML installer, is just a wrapper application with preflight functions for the installer. This app wrapper contains the disk image of the Lion installer that functions just like any other disk image of OS X. To find the disk image for lion in the "Install Lion.app" app wrapper, you right click on the app and click show contents, find a resources folder and bam, there it is. The disk image can be burned to DVD or restored to a flash drive using disk utility. No excuses now, they didn't fail anyone. He scratch his SL install disc, not apples fault.
dchichkov 14y ago
>>>> Why Rob Pike wouldn't fork over $80 for Aperture and save himself the hassle is beyond me. You can say "it's the principle of the thing; I've already paid for it!" but really? What is your time worth? Well, the trouble with that approach is that money votes. When you pay this extra $80 you reinforce the behavior.
- brianpan 14y ago
  And you wouldn't want to reinforce the behavior of providing a time-saving service for money?
  - zschallz 14y ago
    And they wonder why people pirate.
    - dchichkov 14y ago
      Yeah. Pirating is almost an ethical choice in these cases :) Unfortunately pirated packages are often filled with malware. Not exactly what you want. So a much better choice is just going with open source. Picasa, instead of iPhoto, etc...
      - runn1ng 14y ago
        I am not sure if pirating something you bought is actually technically illegal or not. You are not buying the disk with the data, you are buying a license to run the software. Even when you pirate it, the license should still apply.
        icebraining 14y ago
        The copying (distribution) is still illegal, and you're probably guilty of "conspiracy" to do it.
        14y ago
prodigal_erik 14y ago
> What is your time worth? Less than my self-respect? The iterated prisoner's dilemma cautions us against letting someone profit by screwing us over. And the very idea of Rob friggin' Pike embracing learned helplessness is very depressing. Of course, so is the idea of him not having the source to his system, when he wrote quite a bit of it.

by cletus 14y ago

aidos 14y ago

I mentioned in another post - you can't always redownload. They don't keep older versions so you're screwed if you can't upgrade (I have an older machine stuck with Snow L).

X-Istence 14y ago
If you purchased it from the Mac App Store it is kept around and you can re-download older versions. http://imgur.com/m7tLP http://imgur.com/m7tLP that is a screenshot of my App Store purchases, notice that Mountain Lion and Lion are both available... --- Snow Leopard wasn't sold in the App Store and thus will not be available. You should have physical media for Snow Leopard.
- aidos 14y ago
  Sorry, wasn't clear there - I have the physical snow leopard, iPhoto was the problem. I have the same screen as you but instead of the install button it says "Requires OS X v10.7". Right now you might have access but who knows when it'll be taken away and you'll be back to torrenting the content you paid for.
  - X-Istence 14y ago
    Actually I won't be torrenting anything due to having multiple backups in place. Just like I used to do with physical install media.

mhenr18 14y ago

When I had issues doing an install of Lion (I wanted Lion on an external HD before I upgraded to ML), I just drove out to an Apple Store and booted off one of their network images. What Apple should really do is ship an app with OSX that lets you create recovery boot media (either on DVD, a thumb drive or a full on external HD). That would make things so much easier for everyone.

arrrg 14y ago
It doesn’t ship with one, but you can download it here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433 http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433 (That link is placed on this page about OS X recovery, so it’s not hard to find: http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/ http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/ – though it’s important to note that this wouldn’t have solved his particular problem. You can only use this app on a system that already has Mountain Lion installed, so you have to think of this before you encounter the problem – or have a second Mac at hand with the right OS.) Current Macs also come with Internet Recovery, meaning it’s always possible to boot into the Recovery Manager, even with an empty HDD.
- veridies 14y ago
  Which is great, except when I did it, it just... didn't work. Would download the recovery OS, then just shut off. I had to make a two hour drive to get to an Apple store where I could actually get a reinstall after my HDD broke.

comex 14y ago

Newer Macs have Internet Recovery, which connects to Wi-Fi from EFI firmware and downloads a recovery image. So you can do exactly that, except without the install media...

millerized 14y ago

many absolutes that are wrong with this story.. And if you wanna be a pseudo power user heres an FYI: the Lion installation app, as well as ML installer, is just a wrapper application with preflight functions for the installer. This app wrapper contains the disk image of the Lion installer that functions just like any other disk image of OS X. To find the disk image for lion in the "Install Lion.app" app wrapper, you right click on the app and click show contents, find a resources folder and bam, there it is. The disk image can be burned to DVD or restored to a flash drive using disk utility. No excuses now, they didn't fail anyone. He scratch his SL install disc, not apples fault.

dchichkov 14y ago

>>>> Why Rob Pike wouldn't fork over $80 for Aperture and save himself the hassle is beyond me. You can say "it's the principle of the thing; I've already paid for it!" but really? What is your time worth? Well, the trouble with that approach is that money votes. When you pay this extra $80 you reinforce the behavior.

brianpan 14y ago
And you wouldn't want to reinforce the behavior of providing a time-saving service for money?
- zschallz 14y ago
  And they wonder why people pirate.
  - dchichkov 14y ago
    Yeah. Pirating is almost an ethical choice in these cases :) Unfortunately pirated packages are often filled with malware. Not exactly what you want. So a much better choice is just going with open source. Picasa, instead of iPhoto, etc...
    - runn1ng 14y ago
      I am not sure if pirating something you bought is actually technically illegal or not. You are not buying the disk with the data, you are buying a license to run the software. Even when you pirate it, the license should still apply.
      - icebraining 14y ago
        The copying (distribution) is still illegal, and you're probably guilty of "conspiracy" to do it.
        14y ago

prodigal_erik 14y ago

> What is your time worth? Less than my self-respect? The iterated prisoner's dilemma cautions us against letting someone profit by screwing us over. And the very idea of Rob friggin' Pike embracing learned helplessness is very depressing. Of course, so is the idea of him not having the source to his system, when he wrote quite a bit of it.