About to do a clean install from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 to Mavericks

[JayS90]

Hi all,

I'm about to update my 15-inch, Mid-2010 Macbook Pro from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 to Mavericks. I just wanted a little advice and maybe a heads up if anyone can spot any potential problems I may run in to with the method I'm taking!

I began with creating a bootable OS X Mavericks install on a USB drive, so that's all sorted and ready to go. I'm currently in the process of backing-up my Macintosh HD. I used to use Carbon Copy Cloner and have a .sparseimage file of my Macintosh HD from a back-up performed in December. I decided to use SuperDuper! this time around have gone for using the 'Smart Update' feature which 'updates' the .sparseimage file in order to have a more up-to-date back-up, whilst saving a fair bit of time.

Once that process has completed I plan to restart my laptop, hold down the option key, choose the USB installer, select Disk Utility to erase my Macintosh HD (to achieve a truly clean install), then select Resinstall OS X and install it from the USB drive. Then, from the research I have done, I believe it's possible for me to use Migration Assistant to put my documents, settings, applications etc. back from my .sparseimage back-up?

Let me know what you think, and if I've missed out anything glaringly obvious I'd appreciate your input! Thanks!

 

[tywebb13]

How did you make the bootable USB installer?

I'd test it out first. Just hold down the option key when booting up. I always do this when I make a bootable USB of anything.

I hope you didn't just restore the InstallESD.dmg file to the USB. If you did, then that won't be bootable.

Also apple's createinstallmedia method isn't compatible with snow leopard.

 

[JayS90]

How did you make the bootable USB installer?

I'd test it out first. Just hold down the option key when booting up. I always do this when I make a bootable USB of anything.

I hope you didn't just restore the InstallESD.dmg file to the USB. If you did, then that won't be bootable.

Also apple's createinstallmedia method isn't compatible with snow leopard.

Hi tywebb13, thanks for the reply!

I followed these instructions (option 2: Use Disk Utility) on Macworld to create the bootable USB installer. Do you think that would be ok? I think when I followed those instructions I did something with the InstallESD.dmg file though...

 

[tywebb13]

I see.

Well I think that will install mavericks for you, but not a recovery partition.

You can use this script file afterwords to make one:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13872235/Musings/Recovery Partition Creator 3.7.zip

If you are going to do this, make sure you have backed up the Install OS X Mavericks.app and have it in your Applications folder when you make your recovery partition.

After installing mavericks, I think it would be a good idea to make your bootable USB installer again using the createinstallmedia method because if you ever have to use it again, it will install the recovery partition for you without using the script.

 

[JayS90]

I just tested the bootable USB drive and it seems to work as it should. I restarted my Mac, held down the option key and selected the drive which wasn't my Macintosh HD (I forget it's specific name) but I assume that was the USB drive inserted and it started the Mavericks installer. I was able to navigate to Disk Utility, so the next step would be to format my Macintosh HD drive and then install Mavericks cleanly. As long as I can use Migration Assistant with my sparseimage back-up of my Macintosh HD I should be a-ok?

----------

I see.

Well I think that will install mavericks for you, but not a recovery partition.

You can use this script file afterwords to make one:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13872235/Musings/Recovery Partition Creator 3.7.zip

If you are going to do this, make sure you have backed up the Install OS X Mavericks.app and have it in your Applications folder when you make your recovery partition.

After installing mavericks, I think it would be a good idea to make your bootable USB installer again using createinstallmedia because if you ever have to use it again, it will install the recovery partition for you without using the script.

Thanks for the advice and info! Is it absolutely necessary for me to create a recovery partition? I'm not aware of one existing at the moment on my laptop with Snow Leopard... What say you?

 

[tywebb13]

I think a bootable usb is superior to a recovery partition because with the usb you can do a clean install if necessary and with no internet - whereas the recovery partition needs internet connection to reinstall.

So if you carry the USB with the computer all the time, maybe you won't need the recovery partition.

However I still install the recovery partitions on my computers because there are many occasions when I don't have my USB with me. If I have to reinstall, I still want some way to do it.

So it's up to you if you want the recovery partition.

Also, you'll need one if you use FindMyMac.

 

[JayS90]

I think a bootable usb is superior to a recovery partition because with the usb you can do a clean install if necessary and with no internet - whereas the recovery partition needs internet connection to reinstall.

So if you carry the USB with the computer all the time, maybe you won't need the recovery partition.

However I still install the recovery partitions on my computers because there are many occasions when I don't have my USB with me. If I have to reinstall, I still want some way to do it.

So it's up to you if you want the recovery partition.

Also, you'll need one if you use FindMyMac.

Cheers for everything, I think I'm going to go ahead and skip installing a recovery partition. I generally have my USB handy as it attaches to my phone case I'll let you know how the format and install goes!

 

[JayS90]

Just in case any one comes across this thread and wonders how it all went in the end, everything was fine and went as planned

I formatted my Macintosh HD using Disk Utility and completed the Mavericks install, and as I was using an external hard drive that wasn't a dedicated back-up I had to go through the Mavericks Setup Assistant and create a new admin user, skipping using Migration Assistant on first boot. Once I created a new user this enabled me to connect and mount my external. This is where I got a bit stuck however, no matter how many times I mounted my .sparseimage back-up file from my external and launched Migration Assistant it wouldn't find the drive or the back-up image. I managed to find a work around so I got unstuck pretty quick, if you go to Time Machine and select the drive with your back-up on it to use as a Time Machine back-up (but don't actually back-up to it and just turn off Time Machine again) so your drive now has a green icon Migration Assistant will magically recognise it! I hit the button to get it started and around 3 hours later (on a FW800 connection) my Macintosh HD drive backed-up from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 has successfully copied over to Mavericks 10.9 - and to my surprise there was very little software that was incompatible!

All in all a smooth transition, now I can finally use Messages and Facetime on my laptop! It feels good not to be stuck in the past

 

[lilymbula]

upgrade

Hi,

Trying to do the same will let you know if I get stuck n need help cool?

Just in case any one comes across this thread and wonders how it all went in the end, everything was fine and went as planned

I formatted my Macintosh HD using Disk Utility and completed the Mavericks install, and as I was using an external hard drive that wasn't a dedicated back-up I had to go through the Mavericks Setup Assistant and create a new admin user, skipping using Migration Assistant on first boot. Once I created a new user this enabled me to connect and mount my external. This is where I got a bit stuck however, no matter how many times I mounted my .sparseimage back-up file from my external and launched Migration Assistant it wouldn't find the drive or the back-up image. I managed to find a work around so I got unstuck pretty quick, if you go to Time Machine and select the drive with your back-up on it to use as a Time Machine back-up (but don't actually back-up to it and just turn off Time Machine again) so your drive now has a green icon Migration Assistant will magically recognise it! I hit the button to get it started and around 3 hours later (on a FW800 connection) my Macintosh HD drive backed-up from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 has successfully copied over to Mavericks 10.9 - and to my surprise there was very little software that was incompatible!

All in all a smooth transition, now I can finally use Messages and Facetime on my laptop! It feels good not to be stuck in the past

 

[JayS90]

Hi,

Trying to do the same will let you know if I get stuck n need help cool?

Sure thing! ^_^