Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

tywebb13

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 21, 2012
2,955
1,649
Here is how to make a bootable usb of the yosemite installer after you download the full installer app from the mac app store.

Format an 8 GB USB drive which should be called Untitled and formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The installer should be called Install OS X Yosemite.app and should be in your Applications folder.

Run this in terminal and wait about 20 minutes:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction

You can boot up from it by selecting it from the startup manager you get when starting your computer and holding down the option key.
 
Last edited:

johnnnw

macrumors 65816
Feb 7, 2013
1,214
21
Hmmm is it correct for me to say people should be warned not to have any other files titled "Untitled" because they will be deleted?
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 21, 2012
2,955
1,649
I wouldn't worry about files as such. But maybe for drives and partitions, I would say yes. That would be wise.
 
Last edited:

ABC5S

Suspended
Sep 10, 2013
3,395
1,646
Florida
Hmmm is it correct for me to say people should be warned not to have any other files titled "Untitled" because they will be deleted?

Had issues a while back with this and finally realized it was the "Untitled" thingy that I had to change :mad:
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,416
3,158
You can install Yosemite directly to a SDXC card and choose that as the startup disk as an easy way to dual boot without partitioning or carrying an external usb drive with you. However, the card will get quite warm after a while and performance will take a bit of a hit.
 

definitive

macrumors 68020
Aug 4, 2008
2,052
895
Just download the beta (http://diskmakerx.com). Scroll to the bottom of the page. The beta seems to work just fine with the final Yosemite build.

had an error pop up saying that the disk couldn't be finished, after a large portion of files were copied when using the current version available.

will the terminal method create a recovery partition?

the recovery partition will probably be made during the installation of the os
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 21, 2012
2,955
1,649
You can install Yosemite directly to a SDXC card and choose that as the startup disk as an easy way to dual boot without partitioning or carrying an external usb drive with you. However, the card will get quite warm after a while and performance will take a bit of a hit.

That may be so. But this thread is for a bootable usb installer, not for running the whole system on a usb.

Anyway, for external drives, for this, you'd be better off with an extenal HD or external SSD rather than a usb or sd card.
 

tom vilsack

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,880
63
ladner cdn
had an error pop up saying that the disk couldn't be finished, after a large portion of files were copied when using the current version available.

the recovery partition will probably be made during the installation of the os

Diskmaker worked fine for me (made from mavericks)

Yes it makes a recovery partition (just did clean install using diskmaker)
 

Regbial

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2010
848
742
Here is how to make a bootable usb of the yosemite installer after you download the full installer app from the mac app store.

Format an 8 GB USB drive which should be called Untitled and formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The installer should be called Install OS X Yosemite.app and should be in your Applications folder.

Run this in terminal and wait about 20 minutes:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction

You can boot up from it by selecting it from the startup manager you get when starting your computer and holding down the option key.

Could we maybe change the USB name to something else as to not have our "Untitled" files deleted?
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 21, 2012
2,955
1,649
Yeah. But my experience with people who change things with this is that they stuff it up.

You might not though. So if you call it something, you can then run this:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/something --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction
 

VacTacks11

macrumors member
Aug 24, 2009
65
3
I can confirm that both the terminal and liondiskmaker methods do not create a recovery partition.
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 21, 2012
2,955
1,649
A recovery partition will be created by the usb made this way, if you use it to installl yosemite. But the installer may also create core storage logical volumes which prevents the recovery partition from showing up in the startup manager.

If the yosemite installation creates a core storage logical volume you can revert it to get partitions back to normal by running these 2 commands in terminal.

diskutil cs list

and then

diskutil coreStorage revert lvUUID

where lvUUID is the last lvUUID reported by the previous Terminal command.

Then restart for everything to get back to normal after you have run these commands in Terminal.

The recovery partition will then show up in the startup manager.
 
Last edited:

fnq v much

macrumors newbie
Mar 25, 2007
16
1
So I could update our laptop as well without downloading twice
and just in case (touch wood/hasn't been needed before...) wanting
Boot-ability I did something for Mavericks and not recalling procedure exactly have found what sounds like it in Apple Community
https://discussions.apple.com/message/21202933#21202933
and I've prepped a thumb drive accordingly - just wondered if there is any new method of doing this or do i go boldly into where i've never gone before; terminal?
i have downloaded Yosemite now, just not launched ... Thanks in advance ...
Steven
 

Regbial

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2010
848
742
Yeah. But my experience with people who change things with this is that they stuff it up.

You might not though. So if you call it something, you can then run this:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/something --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction

NVM I decided to just rename all my "Untitled" documents, and/or put them in folders. I have a lot of "untitled folders" but hopefully those wont be affected.

Thank you though.
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 21, 2012
2,955
1,649
NVM I decided to just rename all my "Untitled" documents, and/or put them in folders. I have a lot of "untitled folders" but hopefully those wont be affected.

Thank you though.

I don't think it is a problem for documents and folders. It's drives and partitions named Untitled (other than the one you want to put the installer onto) which could cause a problem.
 

joecool99

Suspended
Aug 20, 2008
726
69
USA
A recovery partition will be created by the usb made this way, and installing yosemite from the usb will create a recovery partition. But the installer may also create core storage logical volumes which prevents the recovery partition from showing up in the startup manager.

If the yosemite installation creates a core storage logical volume you can revert it to get partitions back to normal by running these 2 commands in terminal.

diskutil cs list

and then

diskutil coreStorage revert lvUUID

where lvUUID is the last lvUUID reported by the previous Terminal command.

Then restart for everything to get back to normal after you have run these commands in Terminal.

The recovery partition will then show up in the startup manager.

Is there an error / bug creating install media with terminal command?
I know it's creating the partion - first 3-5min of the install, but as others, it's not visible after install completes with Option key at start.

I would want a method that creates this partion properly (as is 10.9). Avoiding any extra terminal commands as you suggest.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.