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The Lost Strawberry X-Mas Edition Mac OS

The Lost Strawberry X-Mas Edition Mac OS

May 23 2021

The Lost Strawberry X-Mas Edition Mac OS

Mac users who seek to upgrade to High Sierra or Mojave from previous versions of Mac OS sometimes encounter the following error: “Computer is missing a firmware partition”. This error, if anything, indicates that the upgrade cannot be effected because of some internal problem with your Mac, and in this article, we offer workable solutions on how to go about solving it.

What is the cause of the “Computer missing a firmware partition” error?

Just like many PC problems, this particular error could result from any number of things. Your computer could be low on storage space, for instance, or a malware infection might have interfered with system settings, or perhaps a piece of the Mac’s hardware is damaged or not properly configured. To troubleshoot as many problems as possible, it is recommended to first try a Mac repair tool such as before pursuing any other solution. Outbyte MacRepair will scan your entire system to find and fix any performance-limiting issues that may exist. If the “Computer is missing a firmware partition” error persists even after cleaning your computer with a Mac repair tool, the following other solutions will be of great help to you on the matter.

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Check Compatibility

To upgrade to Mac OS High Sierra or to Mojave from previous versions of OS, such as OS X Mountain Lion, your PC must meet several minimum requirements. Apple, for instance, recommends at least 2GB of memory and 14.3 GB of available storage space. However, to be on the safe side, make sure that your computer exceeds these minimum requirements by at least 20%. The following is a list of devices that are compatible with Mac OS High Sierra and Mojave:

  • MacBook released 2009 or later.
  • MacBook Air released late 2010 or later.
  • MacBook Pro released mid-2010 or later.
  • Mac mini released mid-2010 or later.
  • IMac released late 2009 or later.
  • Mac Pro released mid-2010 or later.

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If your device is not on the list above, then trying to install the latest versions of iOS on your device will result in failure no matter what you do. You can check whether your device meets these minimum requirements by choosing About this Mac from the Apple Menu.

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Update Your Drivers

Drivers are what allows hardware devices to communicate with the operating system. When drivers are out of date or misconfigured, they can cause all sorts of problems on a computer. To make sure drivers are not responsible for the “Computer is missing a firmware partition” error, you will have to update them. To update drivers on the Mac, take the following steps:

  1. Click on the Apple icon and select App Store.
  2. Click UPDATE for the specific update that you want or choose UPDATE ALL to make all updates at the same time.

NB: It is important that you always keep your system up to date for security and performance reasons.

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Bypass Method

The following technique that involves using the Carbon Copy Cloner and VMware Fusion software seems to work in eliminating the error under discussion. Carbon Copy Cloner is a special kind of backup app that can copy the entire operating system and files onto a bootable device, while VMware Fusion is a software hypervisor that allows Intel-based Macs to run other operating systems like Windows and Linux virtually. These software tools can be combined to overcome the “Computer is missing a firmware partition” error. The following is how it is done:

  1. Install VMware Fusion on your Mac.
  2. Download Mojave or High Sierra from App Store. Don’t open the app, close it.
  3. Create a new VMware machine using the OS you have just downloaded.
  4. Select the installation file and wait for it to be fully installed on your virtual machine.
  5. Download a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner on the virtual machine.
  6. Select to copy your virtual machine to a USB drive or an external SSD.
  7. After it’s done cloning, you will be prompted to create a recovery partition on the USB; accept and wait for it to finish.
  8. After it’s done, shut down the virtual machine and boot from your USB or external SSD.
  9. To now install on your internal drive, open Carbon Copy Cloner and select USB as the source and your device as the destination.
  10. You will be prompted to create a recovery partition; accept and close.

This process will install Mojave or High Sierra OS on your device and bypass the errors that you are experiencing.

Check Your Disks for Damage

It could be that you are experiencing the “Computer is missing a firmware partition” error because of a hardware problem. And if this is the case, you can always troubleshoot hardware issues with the help of Apple Diagnostics.

How to Conduct Apple Hardware Test

  1. Disconnect all external devices except the mouse, keyboard, and Ethernet connection- where applicable- and power connection.
  2. Put your Mac on a hard, flat, stable and well-ventilated work surface.
  3. Shut the Mac down.
  4. Turn your Mac on and immediately press and hold the D key on the keyboard. Keep holding the D key until the Apple Hardware Test icon appears.
  5. Select your language preference and then click the right arrow. If you are only using a keyboard, you can use the up and down keys to select the language.
  6. To begin the test, click the Test button, T on the keyboard or the Return key. If you want to perform a more thorough test, select “Perform extended testing” from the list of options. This will, however, take more time to complete.
  7. After the test is complete, review the test results that will appear in the lower-right section of the window.
  8. To quit the Apple Hardware Test, restart your computer or shut it down.

If the results of the test indicate that something is wrong with your hardware, you can choose to replace it, and this will probably do away with the errors that you might be experiencing. If the “Computer is missing a firmware partition” error persists even after all these solutions, you should probably visit a Mac clinic.

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So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.

A list of all Mac OS X versions

We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.

Cheetah 10.0Puma 10.1Jaguar 10.2
Panther 10.3Tiger 10.4Leopard 10.5
Snow Leopard 10.6Lion 10.7Mountain Lion 10.8
Mavericks 10.9Yosemite 10.10El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12High Sierra 10.13Mojave 10.14
Catalina 10.15

STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:

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  • Uninstall large unused apps
  • Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
  • Locate the biggest files on your computer:

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.

How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store


If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
  3. Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
  4. Click Download.

This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.

Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

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You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8

The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:

1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.

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“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”

If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.

After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.

STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive

The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.

  1. Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
  2. Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
  3. Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
  4. Select external drive as a source.
  5. Enter your Apple ID.

Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.

  1. Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
  2. Connect the external drive.
  3. Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.

Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version

Mac

If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.

The Lost Strawberry X-Mas Edition Mac OS

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