Is this machine any good

[Pete&&1937]

Hello Spawn_Dooley, I will do as you suggest above.
I have just logged into the Mac site o.k. and got the message, "This item is temporarily unavailable, please try later!" so, at least I can get there now, and understand how..
I will return a little later..
Thanks

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I just found the link to purchase Mac OS X Snow Leopard, it's available from the US Apple Store

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

I would recommend at any stage you go ahead & either purchase this or Mac OS X Lion 10.7, the installation using the actual install media will be straight forward now you have erased the hard drive.

 

[Ormond]

I have heard of Spotify, you must think it better that iTunes?

Spotify is a music streaming service, while iTunes is a Mac app which plays music files. Spotify is $10 per month, but it pretty much removes the need to buy, borrow or steal music files ever again. Spotify has a huge library of music and for the monthly fee you can play any tune, any time, as often as you like.

Spotify is like iTunes in the sense that you can create playlists of your favorite tunes and organize the lists etc. The difference is that with Spotify you don't buy or download files (as with iTunes), the Spotify tunes are streamed over the web in real time as you listen to them.

I used iTunes for years, but Spotify just seems easier, so it's worth the subscription fee for me. In our house Spotify has replaced iTunes, just as Neflix and Amazon Prime has replaced cable TV. Spotify is like Netflix, except that it streams music instead of video.

If you were interested in Spotify, you may not be able to run the latest version of the Spotify software on an old version of OSX. Should that be a problem I have an old version of Spotify software for Mac which I can pass along to you.

Spotify is not a Mac thing specifically, so you can also run it on Windows, and probably Linux too.

If it interests you, educate us further regarding ease of use comparisons between Windows, Linux, and once you get up and running on your new machine, Mac. Personally, I know I don't want Windows, but I'm open to learning more about Linux.

 

[Pete&&1937]

Hello Spawn_Dooley,
I have never bought anything from America before, but I have had a look at the link , thank you. I notice that it says "3 -4 weeks to ship" that seems an awful long time these days, but I will have a look at Apple UK.

Have I got this right in my mind?

It is the "Mac OS X Base system" that holds the Restore info? :
If so, could this have been corrupted?
Is "disk0s2" beneath "160.04GB" supposed to be an empty partion?

If "Mac OS X Base System" is the Recovery Disk, it should be the "Source", and the "160Gb HD" the Destination.

If I get Snow Leopard, do you think it will erase everthing on the HD that is there at the moment, including the recovery partition, and start with a totally clean install?

Thanks.


Ormond,
Have a read of the Preface on this link, it may give you a better insight to Linux than I can.

http://www.daveoncode.com/2015/05/2...-on-an-apple-macbook-pro-with-retina-display/

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Yes the restore partition is created when you install Mac OS X onto a hard drive that has been partitioned as 1 whole partition. It holds the necessary tools to get you going again if you are having problems. I don't think it's been necessarily corrupted it all depends on what the last owner did in the way of erasing the HD when they parted with the MacBook.

Disk0s2 is where Mac OS X would be installed. Once again the previous owner likely erased it then created an empty partition.

Regarding the "Source" & "Destination" ... this is completely different & during our messaging back & forth you should not have been bothering with that as it's not part of the Recovery process. For our situation we were just investigating whether or not the Recovery Partition on your MacBook could be used to reinstall a fresh Mac OS X Lion. You would just let it do it's work without needing to do anything else other than click through the prompts to select your hard drive then click continue & the rest would look after itself.

Dragging things to the 'Source' & 'Destination' is something that is done from the desktop, using Disk Utility which is an app too. If you were restoring a disk image then this is when you do that dragging here & there but not when booted into Mac Recovery.


UK Apple Store Mac OS X Snow Leopard

UK Apple Store Mac OS X Lion

Snow leopard doesn't include the Recovery Partition, buy Lion does.

I feel it's now time for you to go ahead, buy the Install media then insert the disc & using Disk Utility on the disc - completely erase the hard drive & proceed with installation.

 

[Pete&&1937]

Thank you very much Spawn_Dooley,
I'm taking on board what you have said. the good news is that my son has decided that I should not be putting myself through unneccessary stress (what stress?) ...at my age (80). he has decided to take the machine away and get is sorted, most probably by the method you have suggested......the bad news is that where I want to get things done the day before yesterday, my son tends to lean towards manana....(bless 'im).
Please don't think you have wasted your time with me, I have learned a great deal from you and it is much appreciated, I hope others have too.
I will bring you up to date on the results that I eventually get, and I will be using this mac machine ..,,once again, thank you.

Pete.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hi Pete, it's been an absolute pleasure helping you with this. That MacBook is a fine machine & I'm sure that you'll thoroughly enjoy using it. It's great to have a son that is caring & wants to help you out even if you were on the cusp of resurrecting the MacBook it's still a win win. I'm a lot like you with regards to wanting it yesterday but it's a good lesson to have to wait too. I look forward to learning about your new experiences using the MacBook & Mac OS X in general. Cheers, Marty

 

[Pete&&1937]

Hello Marty.
Cracked it.....I had packed the machine ready for my son, then decided that I would get the disk anyway from one of your links. There was an 0800 number.

The guy was very helpful after I had told him the problem I had and the help you had given.
He suggested that I unpack the Mac, set it up and call again.
I did this, another guy spent nearly twenty minutes talking me through stuff, the end product being that I was ending up ready to download and restore, then being told that the item was not available and to try again later, just as I had found before.

He put me on hold, eventually coming back to explain the problem.
Whoever had cleaned the MacBook before giving it to me had also removed a particular file, this in turn prohibited Apple on line from finding any trace of this machine.
He went on to say that even buying a Disk from Apple would not solve the problem and that it need to be taken to an Apple Store where it could be fixed, possibly for free, or to an Apple Engineer, he even gave me the nearest Apple store and Engineer.

To sum it up, everything that you had been telling me to do was correct, it was the machine that has the problem, I am really chuffed (pleased) about the result, because all of your effort would have sorted me, and I am sure that other readers will benefit.

I shall return..........who said that around 1943?

 

[honestone]

So, one moral of this saga is to exercise EXTREME caution when purchasing a used machine, especially one that has been completely cleaned.

It would be educational to know what particular file was removed which would cause such headaches.

 

[Pete&&1937]

You are correct there honestone, you know the saying...Buyer beware, luckily the machine was given to me.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

You are correct there honestone, you know the saying...Buyer beware, luckily the machine was given to me.

Hi Pete, as I've said it's a fine machine to have been given & to use to discover the world of Mac OS!

Your post was quite extraordinary & I'm glad you decided to have another crack at it.

I'm curious about the part where the Apple support person told you that even with the proper Install media you would have trouble!

I'd like to know what it was the previous owner had done to the machine so that it would not allow a fresh installation of the OS to go ahead. I've never encountered that scenario ... normally with the Install disc you can totally wipe a Mac but then again I learn new things every day!

I look forward to your return once you get the MacBook on the road again

 

[Pete&&1937]

Well here I am, typing a reply on the Mac.
I was at the Apple Store as it opened, and I got nothing except excellent help! It took the Technician nearly an hour to overcome whatever was the problem.
The result is that the machine is now Lion 10.6 rather than 10.7, 10.6 was the original.
The only downside is that it will not support my iPhone 6. the machine is so old.
I'm not too worried about that, I still have the Windows 10, this Mac is now up and running for me learn on, the Technician told me that some of the more modern apps will not work either, but again I'm not too concerned, he also told me that I could move up to 10.7 if I wanted, but again it is not too important, I may try at some time just for the experience of doing it.
I was told the problem that had been causing this issue, but in all honesty I could not take it all in, I just know that every effort was made to help me.
At the moment I am using a Ethernet cable Cat 6, I just followed the the instruction on screen, I am not sure what I am doing at the moment, but I will get there.
I will be in touch again.
Pete...........................isn't this great??

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hi Pete, woohoo! This is great news indeed. Look upon our earlier conversations as a sort of experiment to see whether the MacBook was capable of recovering itself along with showing you that side of things which is really part of the Mac OS experience too but hopefully a very small part.

10.6 is Snow Leopard which is what the MacBook would have shipped with. A very good OS version indeed & you have headroom for expanding the RAM too if you choose ... the OS is unsupported which means you no longer receive security patches from Apple but your MacBook isn't so outdated a machine, being 64 Bit architecture which is what all modern Macs run on & if you maxed out the RAM then your MacBook would be more than capable of running modern software albeit not the very latest version of that software as you were told already.

As far as your iPhone goes, I had the same issue, updated my phone to iOS10 & as my Mac was an older one, lost the capability to sync with iTunes. Luckily I was able to downgrade my phone back to iOS9 again but that window is likely now closed for everyone. I would suggest you use the Window's version of iTunes as Windows 10 is compatible with iOS10 so you'd be able to sync your music from the computer to the iPhone.

iTunes 12.6 for Windows 7 or later

Your MacBook should be able to connect to your WiFi if you have it set up doing away with the need for the cat 6 cable.

Now you have Linux, Windows & Mac OS ... the set! I'd be most interested to learn how you find the experience after you settle in.

A little suggestion is first port of call ... the desktop in Mac OS X is called Finder ... when the Finder (the desktop) is active have a look in Finder ~> Preferences & View ~> Show View Options.

Again, fabulous news! Inspirational even!

 

[Pete&&1937]

Hello Spawn_Dooley,
Thank you, I would not have got there without your help, so I achieved my original objective of getting it up and running again, but as iTunes is a non event I am not sure what to do with it at the moment!

It's a pity that I can't use the Mac for iTunes, as I was hoping, Windows 10 is a fine, free OS, but I like Linux better, in fact, I thinking about it, I am now only using Windows 10 for iTunes and Paintshop Pro!
Linux has an excellent art(?) programme called Gimp, but I can't get my head around it just now.
As for the Mac RAM, I will not be doing much about that at the moment, my budget will not allow, but it is something to think about, again, the issue would be that iTunes would still not be availble according to the Apple Tech.

btw, I did not mention that for all the time that was spent in the store there was no charge!

And yes, Wi-fi is set up fine (no Cable)

My other problem that I have got is that of space! our small box room also contains my wifes Windows, she has her own desk and chair behind me, my desk has my printer, laptop and tower, really cramped, so at the moment I am packing and unpacking the Mac each time, but I will think of something, I suppose my wife could move out (after 59 years!).
And I will follows your Finder tip.
Thanks again

 

[Pete&&1937]

Hello Ormond
Thanks for the info about Spotify, to be honest I cannot afford more monthly payments (my wife says!!!!), and thank you for the offer of an older version.

Interesting thought about Netflix and Amazon Prime, food for thought there.

Thanks again.