USB Install?

yeldarbnamdlog · Jun 3, 2014

tywebb13 said:
Perhaps you may have seen that the "recovery partition" will be deleted if you "upgrade" to yosemite.

The recovery partition is all-but-useless in this build, anyway, for most people.

If you try to use the recovery partition to repair or reinstall 10.10, it connects to a server to verify that the computer is registered in the Mac OS X developer program, and if it isn't, or even if you aren't connected to the internet, it won't let you continue with the repair/reinstall!

aholeinthewor1d · Jun 3, 2014

Getting very confused with the info going around. My goal is to make a seperate partition and install Yosemite onto it..and not touch my mavericks partition. I have the 10.10 DMG file. Can someone explain the best way to so tthis. I have a USB drive to use. Just don't know if it matters if its a DMG compared to the installer app

cambookpro · Jun 3, 2014

*****inthewor1d said:
Getting very confused with the info going around. My goal is to make a seperate partition and install Yosemite onto it..and not touch my mavericks partition. I have the 10.10 DMG file. Can someone explain the best way to so tthis. I have a USB drive to use. Just don't know if it matters if its a DMG compared to the installer app

No need for a USB drive if you're installing on a partition. Follow this guide:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/06/how-to-create-a-test-partition-for-the-os-x-yosemite-beta/

yeldarbnamdlog · Jun 3, 2014

cambookpro said:
No need for a USB drive if you're installing on a partition. Follow this guide:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/06/how-to-create-a-test-partition-for-the-os-x-yosemite-beta/

Where the hell was that guide eight hours ago!?!

Edit: Just noticed: That guide assumes you're doing an upgrade...If you want a clean install, you still have no choice but to read through this thread!

cambookpro · Jun 3, 2014

yeldarbnamdlog said:
Where the hell was that guide eight hours ago!?!

Edit: Just noticed: That guide assumes you're doing an upgrade...If you want a clean install, you still have no choice but to read through this thread!

It also works of you do a clean install on a new partition? I did it this morning. Just follow the steps. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

nahive · Jun 3, 2014

I can't get it to boot installation. Getting can't find mach_kernel problem. Anyone know the solution? I used that copy paste usb method from few posts above.

Nintendolinky · Jun 3, 2014

Guys to do a clean install using USB can anyone provide a full proof guide covering all aspects including the commands to unhide files etc, I'm having a hard time getting the USB to install properly, I'm currently sat with a circle with a line through it, going to go back to mavericks and try again.

aholeinthewor1d · Jun 3, 2014

Nintendolinky said:
Guys to do a clean install using USB can anyone provide a full proof guide covering all aspects including the commands to unhide files etc, I'm having a hard time getting the USB to install properly, I'm currently sat with a circle with a line through it, going to go back to mavericks and try again.

Yea i am still not sure about using the 10.10 DMG compared to the installer app

mmomega · Jun 3, 2014

Ok, this works perfect. Apparently it was my USB stick that was giving me problems.
Tried the same method on a different USB drive now it is cruising right through the install.

tywebb13 · Jun 3, 2014

Restore from time machine backup is referred to when booted up from the usb, but the utilities menu (where it is supposed to be) does not have it.

Maybe this is why they did not include the InstallAssistant.app yet.

So I will not discard my lion, mountain lion or mavericks bootable usbs in case I do have to restore from a backup.

6footGeek · Jun 3, 2014

Hey Guys, thanks for the tips. I found this:

Use and 8GB+ USB stick and format it with GUID partition mapping and a partition named Untitled, then run the following in terminal:

sudo hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/Install\ OS\ X\ 10.10\ Developer\ Preview.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg
sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/Untitled -erase -format HFS+
sudo rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System

Seems to be really good and quick

Found it over at http://pastebin.com/ZnZm22DV

aholeinthewor1d · Jun 3, 2014

Has anyone used just the DMG file and not installer app. I have that and a flash drive but still don't know exactly what to do.

tywebb13 · Jun 3, 2014

6footGeek said:
Hey Guys, thanks for the tips. I found this:

Use and 8GB+ USB stick and format it with GUID partition mapping and a partition named Untitled, then run the following in terminal:

sudo hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/Install\ OS\ X\ 10.10\ Developer\ Preview.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg
sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/Untitled -erase -format HFS+
sudo rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System

Seems to be really good and quick
Found it over at http://pastebin.com/ZnZm22DV

You might have to change the first command to have /Applications instead of ~/Downloads since it probably resides there instead:

sudo hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ 10.10\ Developer\ Preview.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg

sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/Untitled -erase -format HFS+

sudo rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System

This basically does the same thing, but I actually like it better because it is safer. You don't have to unhide hidden files which renders your computer into a very vulnerable state.

m4v3r1ck · Jun 4, 2014

mmomega said:
Ok, this works perfect. Apparently it was my USB stick that was giving me problems.
Tried the same method on a different USB drive now it is cruising right through the install.

Swapped my 8Gb for a 16GB (other brand) and this method worked perfectly for me too!

PowerBook-G5 · Jun 4, 2014

Excuse my ignorance, but once I have a bootable copy of Yosemite on a USB drive, I can run it from the USB, right? Meaning not having to install Yosemite on my internal HDD?

tywebb13 · Jun 4, 2014

We have been talking about how to make a bootable INSTALLER on usb, not SYSTEM.

It wouldn't work very well if you install the system onto a usb stick anyway.

PowerBook-G5 · Jun 4, 2014

tywebb13 said:
We have been talking about how to make a bootable INSTALLER on usb, not SYSTEM.

It wouldn't work very well if you install the system onto a usb stick anyway.

But, it WOULD be possible to create the installer on one USB key and install it on another USB 3.0 flash drive to run Yosemite, correct?

tywebb13 · Jun 4, 2014

You'd be better off putting it on a partition on an external SSD rather than a thumb drive.

For installers, thumb drives are OK. But for the whole system, an SSD would be better.

Klack3er · Jun 4, 2014

Big thx for all your answers here in that thread! Helped me a lot! I installed Yosemite using USB yesterday on my secondary Mac (Mac Mini Late 2012) since i didnt wanna risk my Macbook Pro Retina yet

It worked without a problem and so far Yosemite is running nicely. Couldnt find any bigger bugs yet. Just some invisible icons in Dashboard and the Dock but they came back when u used the apps

mmomega · Jun 4, 2014

Applefan 2013 said:
But, it WOULD be possible to create the installer on one USB key and install it on another USB 3.0 flash drive to run Yosemite, correct?

For testing, yes it is possible but I would prefer a thumb stick with excellent read write times or you're going to experience quite a few spinning beach balls.

A USB 3 with over 200MB/s+ read/write will do just fine.
You have to remember some of the laptops being tested with 5400 rpm drives only have 70-100MB/s read/write.

aholeinthewor1d · Jun 4, 2014

Can someone explain why everyone is trying to make a bootable USB installer?
If you have the installer.app you can just create a new partition in disk utility and install 10.10 right to that.

If you have the .DMG only then you can mount it, drag the installer to your Applications folder, open it and install to the partition you made..

tywebb13 · Jun 4, 2014

Of course you can install it without making the usb.

But the usb is a very good thing to have.

For a start, if you install directly from the installer app it will delete itself.

So if you want to install on several machines, the usb is better because you won't have to redownload it every time.

You can use it to wipe a drive to do a clean install.

You can also use the disk utility inside it to repair disk (although permissions repair seems disabled at the moment).

Usually you can also use it to restore from a backup (but that also seems to be missing at the moment).

I actually did it both ways with Yosemite for 2 computers and the bootable usb was faster than running the installer app.

PowerBook-G5 · Jun 4, 2014

mmomega said:
For testing, yes it is possible but I would prefer a thumb stick with excellent read write times or you're going to experience quite a few spinning beach balls.

A USB 3 with over 200MB/s+ read/write will do just fine.
You have to remember some of the laptops being tested with 5400 rpm drives only have 70-100MB/s read/write.

Seeing as this drive has faster speeds than my hard drive, it could work, correct?

NightFox · Jun 5, 2014

6footGeek said:
Hey Guys, thanks for the tips. I found this:

Use and 8GB+ USB stick and format it with GUID partition mapping and a partition named Untitled, then run the following in terminal:

<snip>

Great find, thanks! I've reposted that below but formatted as code as the line breaks in your post could have led to problems for people not familiar with terminal - I also changed ~/Downloads to /Applications as this would be the normal location - I hope you don't mind!

Code:

sudo hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ 10.10\ Developer\ Preview.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg
sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/Untitled -erase -format HFS+
sudo rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System

tywebb13 · Jun 5, 2014

NightFox said:
I also changed ~/Downloads to ~/Applications as this would be the normal location - I hope you don't mind!

Thanks.

But you should change ~/Downloads to /Applications

ie., the /Applications should have no ~ before it.

EDIT: NightFox has now corrected it. Thanks again.

USB Install?

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