Lion refuses to download from App store stating " unable to install on this machine"

I am unable to get Lion to download and uprgrade my Mac Mini as it gives an error message - "We could not complete your purchase. This version of Mac OS X 10.7 cannot be installed on this computer." My Mac Mini originally had a Core Duo in it but was upgraded with a new Core 2 Duo 2Gz processor and it has 2 Gb of memory. About this Mac confirms this setup. I am using an external drive to boot from. There are two users on the Mini, and seperate drives to boot from. Neither the internal drive when booted from will allow to upgrade to Lion or my external one. I have contacted Apple Support and they had me capture and upload my complete system configuration to them using a little program they emailed to me. I sent this over a month ago now and have not had a response.

Has anyone else had this issue and found some way to resolve?

Solution 1:

Apple determines Lion compatibility based upon the original shipping configuration of your machine. Since there was never an "official" upgrade offered from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo, according to Apple your machine is not supported.

But...

There are workarounds out there, if you are willing to get a little creative.

The simplest method is to install Lion onto a drive using a supported machine. Once Lion is installed, it will boot and run just fine on your upgraded Mac Mini.

Solution 2:

Lion requires a 64-bit processor. As you stated, your Mac Mini now has a Core 2 Duo (a 64-bit processor) but originally shipped with a Core Duo (32-bit processor). Although your machine may meet the technical requirements for Lion because of the CPU upgrade, it may be a configuration untested by Apple and therefore unsupported for Lion. The App Store is likely basing the installation requirements from your machine's model name (e.g. MacMini1,2) or the part number (e.g. MA607), rather than just the CPU.