Roll back from OS X Mavericks to Mountain Lion

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

Hello everyone, I have a very serious problem and I hope for your help!

Late 2012 iMac with 1TB FusionDrive, I installed Mavericks GM but I wanted to go back to Mountain Lion.

I can't do this with the Recovery HD partition because tell me to install only Mavericks and not Mountain Lion.

So, I deleted from Terminal with the command diskutil the Recovery HD partition and rebooted into Internet Recovery.

Now Internet Recovery suggest to install Mountain Lion but when I go to select the disk destination is gray and can't continue.

Into Utility Disk I can't format Macintosh HD "Volume", as locked!!!

So, the problem is that into Internet Recovery I can't select Macintosh HD Volume as destination for Mountain Lion, I doon't have the Recovery HD partition, I think that removing the Recovery HD partition my Macintosh HD Volume has lost the correct structure.

What can I do?

Any solution, for example, to erase all and recreate the FusionDrive structure/mapping partition?

matt2053 · Oct 8, 2013

Did you have Filevault turned on?

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Macintosh1984 said:
Into Utility Disk I can't format Macintosh HD "Volume", as locked!!!

Go back to Internet recovery and start Disk Util then look in the File menu for the unlock option.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

No FileVault turned on.

No unlocked option from File menu to select.

It seems that is damaged the partititions mapping!

If I select Macintosh HD Volume, and go to Partition Tab, If add a partition and click Apply, after some seconds the operation fail!!! The message is:

Partition failed
Partition failed with the error:
You can't perform this resize unless it has a booter (target partition is problably too small).

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Type "diskutil list" (without the quotes) into Terminal and post up the results.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

Weaselboy said:
Type "diskutil list" (without the quotes) into Terminal and post up the results.

Code:

-bash-3.2# diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         121.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         999.3 GB   disk1s2
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        *1.2 GB     disk2
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         30.7 KB    disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Mac OS X Base System    1.2 GB     disk2s2
/dev/disk3
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *1.1 TB     disk3
/dev/disk4
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk4
/dev/disk5
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk5
/dev/disk6
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk6
/dev/disk7
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk7
/dev/disk8
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk8
/dev/disk9
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *6.3 MB     disk9
/dev/disk10
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *2.1 MB     disk10
/dev/disk11
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *1.0 MB     disk11
/dev/disk12
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk12
/dev/disk13
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk13
/dev/disk14
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *1.0 MB     disk14

Dou you think that the FusionDrive is broken and it is a coincidence that it happened now that I'm reinstalling Mountain Lion?

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Okay... let's try to delete the Fusion core storage volume and recreate it.

Type "diskutil cs list" (again no quotes) in Terminal and post the result so we can ID the UUID of the Fusion logical volume group and kill it and recreate.

Code:

Logical Volume Group 529DC00D-FA54-49AD-B7F7-F98E33EBFCE8

It should look something like this.

----------

Macintosh1984 said:
Do you think that the FusionDrive is broken and it is a coincidence that it happened now that I'm reinstalling Mountain Lion?

I suspect you broke with the Terminal commands you used.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

Code:

-bash-3.2# diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group FB6D7F84-XXXXX
    =========================================================
    Name:         Macintosh HD
    Status:       Online
    Size:         1120333979648 B (1.1 TB)
    Free Space:   114688 B (114.7 KB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume DC9CB6A9-XXXXX
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk0s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     120988852224 B (121.0 GB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume FD6D3D88-XXXXX
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    1
    |   Disk:     disk1s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     999345127424 B (999.3 GB)
    |
    +-> Logical Volume Family DD89697F-XXXXX
        ----------------------------------------------------------
        Encryption Status:       Unlocked
        Encryption Type:         None
        Conversion Status:       NoConversion
        Conversion Direction:    -none-
        Has Encrypted Extents:   No
        Fully Secure:            No
        Passphrase Required:     No
        |
        +-> Logical Volume BABCE092-XXXXX
            ---------------------------------------------------
            Disk:               disk3
            Status:             Online
            Size (Total):       1111826497536 B (1.1 TB)
            Size (Converted):   -none-
            Revertible:         No
            LV Name:            Macintosh HD
            Volume Name:        Macintosh HD
            Content Hint:       Apple_HFS

XXXX are other character, if you need the long version, I publish it.

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Macintosh1984 said:
XXXX are other character, if you need the long vesrion, I publish it.

That's okay... I don't need it, but you will.

Code:

diskutil cs delete FB6D7F84-XXXXX

Do a command-option-r boot to Internet recovery and run the command above in Terminal. You need to use the UUID from that FB6D7F84 logical volume group but put the whole thing in there. This will kill the Fusion drive.

Now start Disk Utility and you should see the disk drives in red. Select the top drive and you should get a message in Disk Util asking if you want to "fix" the Fusion drive. Click fix and this should recreate the Fusion drive and also erase it. (Look at the very bottom of this page.)

Goes without saying here your data will be gone, so you will need a backup.

Once this is done you should be able to install the OS.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

Weaselboy said:
That's okay... I don't need it, but you will.

Code:

diskutil cs delete FB6D7F84-XXXXX

Do a command-option-r boot to Internet recovery and run the command above in Terminal. You need to use the UUID from that FB6D7F84 logical volume group but put the whole thing in there. This will kill the Fusion drive.

Now start Disk Utility and you should see the disk drives in red. Select the top drive and you should get a message in Disk Util asking if you want to "fix" the Fusion drive. Click fix and this should recreate the Fusion drive and also erase it. (Look at the very bottom of this page.)

Goes without saying here your data will be gone, so you will need a backup.

Once this is done you should be able to install the OS.

Great! FusionDrive recreate correctly (but not Recovery HD partition) Thanks!

However when I click to install Mountain Lion from Internet Recovery, appear a message like "Impossible write installation data to the disk. Contact AppleCare".

What do you think?

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Macintosh1984 said:
Great! FusionDrive recreate correctly (but not Recovery HD partition) Thanks!

However when I click to install Mountain Lion from Internet Recovery, appear a message like "Impossible write installation data to the disk. Contact AppleCare".

What do you think?

The recovery partition will get created as part of the OS install, so you are fine there.

Hmmm... do you see the Fusion now in Disk Util correctly as one drive? Can you select it at the top and erase it as Mac OS Extended? If that won't work, I think you have something else going on.

Did you get the "fix" Fusion prompt in Disk Util like I described?

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

Weaselboy said:
The recovery partition will get created as part of the OS install, so you are fine there.

Hmmm... do you see the Fusion now in Disk Util correctly as one drive? Can you select it at the top and erase it as Mac OS Extended? If that won't work, I think you have something else going on.

Did you get the "fix" Fusion prompt in Disk Util like I described?

Yes, I see, after click fix, in Disk Utility a Volume named Internal Drive an tab S.O.S. an Partitioning, no Erease. I do repair without error.

After have a partition named Macintosh HD, I do repair without errors and is formatted Mac OS Extended Journaled-

Is it really possible that it is broken? Can I can do some other test?

Thanks a lot for your help! At least if I need to contact Apple, I can be accurate.

dukebound85 · Oct 8, 2013

Buy ML from MAS and install it

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Macintosh1984 said:
Yes, I see, after click fix, in Disk Utility a Volume named Internal Drive an tab S.O.S. an Partitioning, no Erease. I do repair without error.

After have a partition named Macintosh HD, I do repair without errors and is formatted Mac OS Extended Journaled-

Is it really possible that it is broken? Can I can do some other test?

Thanks a lot for your help! At least if I need to contact Apple, I can be accurate.

In Recovery and while in Disk Util it should now look like this.

And running that diskutil list command again should get you a layout like this now except without the recovery partitions.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 8, 2013

dukebound85 said:
Buy ML from MAS and install it

My iMac late come with Mountain Lion preistalled.

----------

Weaselboy said:
In Recovery and while in Disk Util it should now look like this.

And running that diskutil list command again should get you a layout like this now except without the recovery partitions.

Image

Now this

Code:

-bash-3.2# diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         121.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         999.9 GB   disk1s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk1s3
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        *1.2 GB     disk2
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         30.7 KB    disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Mac OS X Base System    1.2 GB     disk2s2
/dev/disk3
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *1.1 TB     disk3
/dev/disk4
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk4
/dev/disk5
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk5
/dev/disk6
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk6
/dev/disk7
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk7
/dev/disk8
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk8
/dev/disk9
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *6.3 MB     disk9
/dev/disk10
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *2.1 MB     disk10
/dev/disk11
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *1.0 MB     disk11
/dev/disk12
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk12
/dev/disk13
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *524.3 KB   disk13
/dev/disk14
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                            untitled               *1.0 MB     disk14

Disk Utility is like yours but the volume at the top is named Internal Drive.

What is disk4, disk5, disk6, disk7, etc?

Weaselboy · Oct 8, 2013

Macintosh1984 said:
What is disk4, disk5, disk6, disk7, etc?

Those are there because you deleted the recovery partition. When you boot to the recovery partition it creates several RAM disks in memory for cache files etc. With no recovery partition and a Internet recovery boot those cache files get created in the main drive and that is what you are seeing there with that disk 4 and 5 business. One for each of what would have been a RAM drive.

Okay... let's try again and this time delete the logical volume and the logical volume group both in that order.

Do another diskutil cs list command. Note the UUID for the logical volume at the bottom then run this using your real UUID. This will be the very last UUID (disk3).

Code:

diskutil cs deleteVolume BABCE092-XXXXX

Okay, not let's do the delete for the logical volume group at the top like before. Again use the real UUID form the new diskutil cs list run.

Code:

diskutil cs delete FB6D7F84-XXXXX

Now go back to Disk Util and do the fix business again.

I believe my error was the volume needs be killed before the volume group can be killed.

ssls6 · Oct 8, 2013

If you're gonna use "fix" from DU to recreate the fusion, at least reformat each drive first in DU to a single partition then do the fix. If you use the command line "diskutil cs create" then you can just use the device name.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 9, 2013

Weaselboy said:
Those are there because you deleted the recovery partition. When you boot to the recovery partition it creates several RAM disks in memory for cache files etc. With no recovery partition and a Internet recovery boot those cache files get created in the main drive and that is what you are seeing there with that disk 4 and 5 business. One for each of what would have been a RAM drive.

Okay... let's try again and this time delete the logical volume and the logical volume group both in that order.

Do another diskutil cs list command. Note the UUID for the logical volume at the bottom then run this using your real UUID. This will be the very last UUID (disk3).

Code:

diskutil cs deleteVolume BABCE092-XXXXX

Okay, not let's do the delete for the logical volume group at the top like before. Again use the real UUID form the new diskutil cs list run.

Code:

diskutil cs delete FB6D7F84-XXXXX

Now go back to Disk Util and do the fix business again.

I believe my error was the volume needs be killed before the volume group can be killed.

Weaselboy, thank you so much... it worked perfectly! Now start to reinstal Mountain Lion.

I'm reinstalling Mountain Lion from Mavericks GM because after 1 day of use without problem, my computer reboot automaticaly a lot of times during a day as if there was someone who disconnects the power cord, sometimes 3 reboot after few second from the bong.

What do you think, is Maverick incompatibility or hardware problem? In particular, it is possible that sometimes the computer do 3 fast reboot after the bong with still black screen? In 2 occasion I also heard 3 beeps that means problem with RAM.

An operating system can create these dysfunctions that seem mostly hardware?

For me operating system can create dysfunctions on software like crash of App, but not thinking are hardware problem.

Hardware test is OK.

What do you think?

Thanks, thanks, thanks!

Weaselboy · Oct 9, 2013

Macintosh1984 said:
Weaselboy, thank you so much... it worked perfectly! Now start to reinstal Mountain Lion.

I'm reinstalling Mountain Lion from Mavericks GM because after 1 day of use without problem, my computer reboot automaticaly a lot of times during a day as if there was someone who disconnects the power cord, sometimes 3 reboot after few second from the bong.

What do you think, is Maverick incompatibility or hardware problem? In particular, it is possible that sometimes the computer do 3 fast reboot after the bong with still black screen? In 2 occasion I also heard 3 beeps that means problem with RAM.

An operating system can create these dysfunctions that seem mostly hardware?

For me operating system can create dysfunctions on software like crash of App, but not thinking are hardware problem.

Hardware test is OK.

What do you think?

Thanks, thanks, thanks!

Glad this worked out. I had not heard form you and was getting worried.

That definitely sounds like a hardware issue. Three beeps means bad RAM.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 9, 2013

Weaselboy said:
Glad this worked out. I had not heard form you and was getting worried.

That definitely sounds like a hardware issue. Three beeps means bad RAM.

I'm reistalling Mountain Lion and if the computer do the same hardware symptoms as in Mavericks GM, is hardware problem, if not is then only Mavericks GM in some configuration with particular Apps.

During 13 reboot only 2 times I heard three beeps, non so at every reboot.

Fingers crossed!

Macintosh1984 · Oct 11, 2013

Weaselboy, I would like to ask you a question.

I reinstalled Mavericks because it was the only way to re-download Mountain Lion 10.8.5 from MAS, because the download by Internet Recovery falling for the Internet connection.

In this days Mavericks work without any problem, the Recovery HD partition was not recreated hoverer.

When I had problems days ago, I created the USB drive with this code

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

was present the Recovery HD 10.8 partition which was then upgraded to 10.9, but this time with my old MacBook Pro I used a different method to build the USB drive, found in the web, using Utility Disk and manually copying the Packages folder.

You may think that the previous installation was not completed properly because the USB stick had some problem or the files haven't been copied correctly? Files not copied correctly can produce those hardware dysfunctions that I mentioned earlier? It's possible that the EFI partition was corrupt and now with diskutil everything has been resetted and OK?

Thank you!

Weaselboy · Oct 11, 2013

I suppose that is possible. But those symptoms really sound more like a bad drive.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 12, 2013

Weaselboy said:
I suppose that is possible. But those symptoms really sound more like a bad drive.

I really hope in no hardware problems!

You think about a hard disk problem? It is weird because now do not have problems!

Do you also think that when the hard disk has problems, it can also report false signals to RAM problems? Because as I said, in some reboots I heard 3 beeps?

Now, after reinstalling Maverick I have no problems or heard beeps!

I remain very thoughtful about this fact, that's why I was glad your opinion because you are very good and have helped me to start again!

Weaselboy · Oct 12, 2013

That three beeps always means bad ram. It can just happen sporadically sometimes.

Macintosh1984 · Oct 12, 2013

Weaselboy said:
That three beeps always means bad ram. It can just happen sporadically sometimes.

OK, thanks!

Roll back from OS X Mavericks to Mountain Lion

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