Anybody use their USB restore drive yet?

[lily69]

Great instruction, I will try it later.
By the way, is it possible to copy the image to a dual layer DVD-R and make it bootable/installable?
DVD is always better than USB drive for storage.

 

[bcaslis]

I'm going to try and explain this step by step:

...

You now should have a working bootable copy with iLife installed on it. I've done it twice and booted several times from it, it works perfectly.

Good luck!

Thanks for the instructions, I'm trying them now. Also instead of using Onyx, you can simply use Terminal commands to mount the hidden disk image.

 

[kdoug]

Great instruction, I will try it later.
By the way, is it possible to copy the image to a dual layer DVD-R and make it bootable/installable?
DVD is always better than USB drive for storage.

Yes you can, but you need to follow my instructions first to make an image file. Once you've finished making the image file, than you can burn to a DL.

 

[kdoug]

Thanks for the instructions, I'm trying them now. Also instead of using Onyx, you can simply use Terminal commands to mount the hidden disk image.

I've never been much of a terminal guy, not smart enough I guess.

 

[bcaslis]

Hmm, not having any luck so far. I keep getting an error during the carbon copy that there isn't enough room even with the delete files option checked. I'll have to try this more later.

 

[tangoshukudai]

I couldn't get your commands to work. For my case the disk was disk1s3 (found using diskutil). However the dd command always gives an error that the of file doesn't exist even if I use touch to create a file. What am I missing?

that is because you only want /dev/disk1 and not /dev/disk1s3.

 

[kdoug]

Hmm, not having any luck so far. I keep getting an error during the carbon copy that there isn't enough room even with the delete files option checked. I'll have to try this more later.

If you follow the instructions it will work. I was able to boot my iMac from my newly cloned drive. Couple of things, make sure your 8GB flash drive is big enough. Some companies put extra software on that's not user removable. I'm using a Verbatim 8GB that i picked up at Office Depot. Make sure on the second time around you click the box "Delete items that don't exist on the source", otherwise you'll run out of room. My guess, even though you might be using an 8GB stick, there might be some proprietary software installed by the manufacturer.

 

[kdoug]

Hmm, not having any luck so far. I keep getting an error during the carbon copy that there isn't enough room even with the delete files option checked. I'll have to try this more later.

My Verbatim show's a 7.66 capacity with 255.3 MB available after cloning. It's almost exactly the same spec's as Apple's.

 

[kdoug]

Here's a few crappy pictures of using this flash drive to boot my iMac.

 

[kdoug]

And one more. If you want pictures of the MBA booting, let me know.

 

[ingramLee]

About how many gigs do you save when you reinstall without the extra languages? And I heard there was a way to get rid of them without re-installing the OS...

 

[bcaslis]

that is because you only want /dev/disk1 and not /dev/disk1s3.

No, if I try disk1 it doesn't work at all. You can't unmount it (because it's not mounted) and I get the same error about writing the output file.

 

[bcaslis]

My Verbatim show's a 7.66 capacity with 255.3 MB available after cloning. It's almost exactly the same spec's as Apple's.

I believe it works for you. I suspect it's because I'm trying write now to go to an 8GB SD card. I suspect the formatted 8GB SD is just a tiny bit smaller than a formatted 8GB USB. I don't have another USB drive to try right now though.

 

[frunkis54]

Here's a few crappy pictures of using this flash drive to boot my iMac.

It works on an iMac also? It no longer is limited to MBA?

 

[kdoug]

It works on an iMac also? It no longer is limited to MBA?

No it won't work on an iMac. If you look at the last picture you'll see what I mean. I was just trying to show that the disk was bootable. If I was booting from my MBA we could have gone into the installation screen.

 

[goodtimes5]

About how many gigs do you save when you reinstall without the extra languages? And I heard there was a way to get rid of them without re-installing the OS...

http://monolingual.sourceforge.net/

 

[Munch]

One other thing. the tape that holds the thumb drive in place on the packaging will not re-stick so there's no way for the drive stay put in the packaging once your done. The answer is to get a little piece of scotch tape, fold 1/4 inch of the end over to make a tab and stick it over the back. It holds it in place perfectly!

Mine sticks. Perhaps it's because I didn't rip the entire tab off when I first took it out.

 

[frunkis54]

No it won't work on an iMac. If you look at the last picture you'll see what I mean. I was just trying to show that the disk was bootable. If I was booting from my MBA we could have gone into the installation screen.

Ok thanks

 

[kdoug]

Here's some more crappy pictures using my Verbatim 8Gb USB drive to do a "full" boot of my new 13" MBA.

 

[kdoug]

4 more.......

 

[frunkis54]

would it be possible to do this with dvd disk also?

 

[kdoug]

would it be possible to do this with dvd disk also?

Possible but doubtful. Maybe try to compile a .dmg file than burn it.

 

[hsl]

I couldn't get your commands to work. For my case the disk was disk1s3 (found using diskutil). However the dd command always gives an error that the of file doesn't exist even if I use touch to create a file. What am I missing?

~/Desktop while doing sudo doesn't work you have to do /Users/username/Desktop/

I also had to use disk1s3, works like a charm with the DD command.

 

[frunkis54]

Possible but doubtful. Maybe try to compile a .dmg file than burn it.

Sorry I meant the put DVD info you get with a MacBook pro on a thumb drive.

 

[kdoug]

Sorry I meant the put DVD info you get with a MacBook pro on a thumb drive.

Oh that's different. Insert install disk, install flash drive, start CCC and let it do the rest.