Macbook a1342 no os, can't install, help!

[Cannont4]

Hi all,

I have a macbook a1342 that has no os installed, the drive has been erased. When I boot it opens os x utilities and if I try to reinstall os it opens to os x mavericks installer, I press continue and it says to download and restore os x, your computers eligibility will be verified. When I click continue it says a required download is missing. I have no cds or anything that came with it so I'm stuck as to what to do. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Cheers, Tom.

 

[ferrarr]

See if anything here, About macOS Recovery - Apple Support, helps with your situation?

 

[Cannont4]

Unfortunately it doesn't look like anything there helps, but thanks anyway. The only viable option I seem to have is to reinstall os x but like I said it tells me that's a required download is missing. The only thing I can think to do is try to install an os off a flash drive but I don't know which os to install or how. Unless there's something else I'm missing? I've tried googling which os to install for this model but nothing seems clear.

 

[Cannont4]

Would this work?

Mac OS X HIGH SIERRA 10.13.6 on a Kingston 16Gb USB2 drive. | eBay

Don't want to pay out if it wouldn't buy I haven't the foggiest!

 

[ferrarr]

Did you also look at all the links on that page? There is quite a few of them?

The model number can span multiple years, and configurations. See here, Mac Specs, Prices, Answers and Comparison: EveryMac.com, Est. 1996, it lists just about every Mac model, you should be able to look up your exact Mac, with the specs. Towards the bottom of each listing, it lists which OS it shipped with, and also the last OS it will accept.

 

[Cannont4]

There's no time machine backup so that won't work unfortunately. It appears it came with lion so should I be looking to reinstall that? I can't find the bit about the last os it'll accept. How do I go about installing it even once I have found out which os to install?

Thanks for you help. Please excuse my lack of knowledge!

 

[ferrarr]

If it came with Lion preinstalled, then it is either a late 2011, or a 2012 model year Mac. It will run any Mac OS X/OS X/macOS up to Mojave and possibly Catalina. You may want to start with High Sierra, How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra - Apple Support. You will need another Mac and an 8GB USB Flash drive, to create a bootable USB installer, How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support.

 

[Cannont4]

OK, thank you. I think I'll go for high Sierra then for now as I really only want to use it for general use so not overly fussed on os. Only problem is I don't have access to another mac to create a bootable USB installer. No way to do it with Windows? If not then is purchasing a high Sierra flash drive like the one I linked above the only way to go?