I have downloaded the InstallOSX.dmg, opened that to the InstallOSX.pkg Has anyone actually tried to install Mac OS X Lion using this new free download from Apple. I happen to have one of those here, too, among with another 8 or 9 Macs of various ages.

If you don't have another older Mac, other than the one you have on Big Sur - do you have a working drive, with a system already on it? Maybe the old drive that you replaced with the SSD? Can you install THAT old drive in the MacBook, so you can make that bootable installer? Once you have THAT, (the external installer), then you should be OK doing anything you like with your old MacBook. The InstallESD.dmg file is located in the SharedSupport folder inside the Lion Installer app.Īs you can see - it will help you - a lot - if you have an older Mac (that also supports Lion), with a somewhat older system. You can do this from Leopard or Snow Leopard, for example, using Disk Utility to do a Restore from the InstallESD.dmg to your USB volume. It's quite simple to make the bootable USB - if you are on an older Mac, running something older than El Capitan. Make the bootable installer from that app, then save it somewhere on a different drive. The installer app will delete itself if you let the install complete. When you get the Lion installer app in your Applications folder (which is your first goal!) don't run the installer from there.

Big Sur won't let you do the install - probably because the Mac that you are using does not support Lion. You run that to install, which at that point simply copies the files to make the installer app, and places the app in your Applications folder.

Download macos mountain lion installer